I booked my ADRS this morning, and I just don't know what to do with Crystal Palace. What would you do? We are 5 adults and one infant 10.5 months old during the trip. Staying at Kidani for 6 nights. Option 1: Crystal Palace Dinner, 5 pm on Arrival Day. Plane Arrives 11:50 am and we plan on relaxing at resort and watching Spectro/Wishes that night (7/8pm). Option 2: Crystal Palace Breakfast, 8:05 am, 3rd full day at WDW. 9 am MK opening. If you choose Option 2, what would you recommend for our first meal on arrival day?
We love the Crystal Palace! I think this will be the first trip when we don't eat there - just couldn't fit it in. Last August we did the early breakfast ADR - I think everyone should do this at least once. It was so cool being in MK with virtually no other people there - we got some great pictures. However, I don't think I'd do it again - only because my kids are not big breakfast eaters, and I don't think we got our money's worth. My husband and I filled up, but the kids were hungry again at 10am! They're much bigger lunch/dinner eaters, so we would go for that. If you do the breakfast, I would suggest one thing. Ask for your check early on - we had finished eating and were ready to hit the park for rope drop, and couldn't find our waitress to get the check. DH took the boys and I waited for the check, but I missed the first ride on BTMRR. Have a great trip!
I'd go to CP on any other day than arrival day. Reasoning.... the baby. I'm thinking that whatever you plan for arrival day, keep it low key, and be flexible. After a day of travel the baby could well be overtired & cranky or just "off" from all the new stimulation & input or from having their usual schedule out of whack. When dinner time rolls around, if the baby is not fit company, mom & dad could well decide that they should take the baby back & put him/her to bed -- which could be difficult in an entirely new environment -- and hope for a better day tomorrow. If thats the case, well.... CS may be the ticket or the group might split up for dinner.
I would choose the second option, primarily because I don't enjoy the dinner buffet at Crystal Palace. It's a lot more difficult to ruin eggs and waffles than meat and fish, and I don't trust Crystal Palace enough to adequately prepare fancier dishes. Also, the experience of an early meal there is too alluring to skip. Walking down an empty Main Street will provide one of the greatest memories of your trip. There are plenty of wonderful restaurants in the Magic Kingdom area you can tray and still make the fireworks. Have you considered Kona Cafe at the Polynesian? It's one of my favorite places on property, and it's a short monorail ride away from the park entrance.
We love CP for breakfast - it's our favorite breakfast in WDW and is a "must do" for us on our trips. We also tried CP for dinner last year & found it to be just ok - we've found the dinner buffets at WDW to be rather subpar. You have a great breakfast adr @ 8:05 am on a non-emh day (this is what we always do) - you will get to walk down a near-empty main street which is pretty neat & makes for great castle pics + you should be done in time for rope drop The breakfast buffet has lots of good items - my favorite is the puffed french toast.
I vote for option 2 also for reasons stated by pp s.....arrival day may be tough with the baby adjusting to new environment, sleep interrupted, etc..also the dinner buffet....much prefer the breakfast...and think of the pictures with a wide awake baby rather than the ones with a possibly tired cranky one
Definitely 2! Nothing better than Main Street before the Park opens and CP breakfast is really good. I would just take it easy and eat at your Resort on arrival day.
I would do option #2. We have eaten at Crystal Palace for both dinner and breakfast. The breakfast buffet was very good. The dinner buffet was AWFUL. One of the worst meals I have had in Disney!
Ww like both breakfast & lunch at crystal palace. Not so much for the dinner. if we've been in the park since opening, a nice relaxing lunch gives us time to recharge our batteries. it's nice for the kids to have such a big selection too.
I completely agree- I thought the dinner at CP was just so so, and I feel buffets are a big PITA when you have little ones (one of you has to wait at the table with baby while the other goes to fix their plate- and then switch so the other parent can eat. I just prefer my server brings our meal to the table- but my kids just had to see Winnie and Tigger...). If you could eat first thing in the morning and be among the first to enter the park- that would get my vote- plus I have heard breakfast is pretty good at CP. For arrival day- maybe early dinner at Boma and then head to MK for the evening. Or if you want to be in the park perhaps try Tony's or Plaza...
since i always do crystal palace for dinner on arrival day im going to have to suggest that theres no better way to start a vacation then with dinner at crystal palace the atmosphere is truly disney the food is good and the characters are good
Breakfast is excellent, and you get early entry into the park. That means you can get decent photos of the Castle without a crowd in the way.
Definitely CP in the AM. It's so nice to be there before the crowd. I don't really have a suggestion for dinner the night before, but I would say something low-key. After traveling all day everyone is going to be pretty tired. Maybe something at DTD? Or does your hotel have a restaurant?
Thank you everyone for your answers! I think we'll keep the breakfast option and cancel the dinner on our arrival day. I'm also considering breakfast at Tusker House our first full day.
