Crystal Palace with a teenager?

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

Looking for some guidance from all you experienced DISers....

Our first Disney adventure is happening this January. We are on the dining plan. Our family consists of myself, DH, and our DS (who turns 13 on the trip).

DS and myself are rather finicky eaters (okay, okay.....we are downright FUSSY....but that's not such a bad thing, is it??? )

One of our TS ADR's is currently for Boma. I am so, so worried that DS and I will be too turned off by the spices to try anything, and end up going away hungry. The atmosphere sounds absolutely terrific (which is why we ended up making this reservation in the first place), but .......

So were wondering if we should juggle our ADR's a bit, and replace our Boma meal with Crystal Palace. That would mean ending up with 2 CS meals on our AK day and 2 TS meals on our "off" day, but one of those TS meals is breakfast and the CP reservation would be for dinner. Not so worried about ending up with 2 CS meals in a day because neither DH nor DS really care much about that kind of thing.....they are happy as long as their stomachs are full!!

So my question is.....would we feel out of place at Crystal Palace without little kids? Do the characters still interact with the older kids/teens among them? Is the food appealing to those of us with more limited palates? Is the "atmosphere" as pleasurable here as at Boma (it would be wayyyyy different, I know....but is it just as nice in its own way?)

Honest opinions welcome.....

 

[kristenhh]

If you are really cautious eaters, I would go with Crystal Palace. (Even though I love Boma). I have been to CP twice and I think they have one of the best buffets. We have also gone with a group of only adults and we didn't feel out of place and just had fun as the characters came around.

 

[PatsMom]

We took two teenagers to the Crystal Palace last February. They had a great time. You won't feel out of place at all. If you are fussy eaters, you might like the CP better than Boma. Although I doubt anyone needs to leave a buffet hungry - anyone is free to eat from the kids section which is about as blah as you can get! Boma is great but so is the CP. They are just quite different.

 

[sardanem]

My family of 5 are also very picky eaters, and after looking at the menu for Boma, I realized that there was really nothing that any of us would probably enjoy, so rather than chancing it, we went with plain and boring buffets the whole trip. We did do CP one night and I have 2 teenagers and a DD6. The characters were just as nice to my teenagers as they were to my 6 yr old, but my DS, who is 13 thought he was too cool and pretended not to care. As his mom, I could see it in his face he was loving every minute of it. My suggestion, go with CP and have fun.

Lisa

 

[princesswendy720]

I'm 22 and my Dbf is 25 and we'll be going to CP on our trip. I don't think anyone is too old for a character meal = )

Also if you really want to eat at Boma but are afraid of the spices maybe you could try it for breakfast. We also have that booked on our upcoming trip and the menu is a little more traditional for breakfast. I know both the breakfast and dinner get good reviews around here.

 

[musicmama]

CP (breakfast) is DD-15's MUST DO for any Disney trip. It's also a favorite for DH and for me. The character interaction is great - we've seen the characters be just wonderful even with adults.

We've done breakfast and dinner, and we all much prefer breakfast. I've never eaten at Boma, but we've looked at the menu and always found an alternative because the dishes are a little more adventurous. If you're concerned about the picky eaters, I would agree that CP is a much better choice. Even with dinner, they were much more flexible.

 

[pooh2001]

When we went in 2007 our DS was 15 - CP- he was OK with Pooh and friends, Our DS did get up for pictures - but not with a great big smile. When we went to a princess breakfast in Norway (I think) - EPCOTS - When Mulan came to our table in an almost bikini type of an outfit, our DS had no problem standing next to her with a nice big smile on his face.

Let your DS decide if he wants to do a picture or not with the characters. You can always just take a picture of the character solo and add it to your photo album.

We take pictures of our family/kids outside the restaurants. This way we have a picture of our teens without being next to a character, but still of the restaurant. Most places have a great picture spot.

CP has a great garden in front of it.
Tony Town square has a bench with a statue of the dogs.
Cindy's has a castle doorway.
Garden Grill has a nice sign just outside the restaurant.

Enjoy !

 

[KatMark]

Looking for some guidance from all you experienced DISers....

Our first Disney adventure is happening this January. We are on the dining plan. Our family consists of myself, DH, and our DS (who turns 13 on the trip).

DS and myself are rather finicky eaters (okay, okay.....we are downright FUSSY....but that's not such a bad thing, is it??? )

One of our TS ADR's is currently for Boma. I am so, so worried that DS and I will be too turned off by the spices to try anything, and end up going away hungry. The atmosphere sounds absolutely terrific (which is why we ended up making this reservation in the first place), but .......

So were wondering if we should juggle our ADR's a bit, and replace our Boma meal with Crystal Palace. That would mean ending up with 2 CS meals on our AK day and 2 TS meals on our "off" day, but one of those TS meals is breakfast and the CP reservation would be for dinner. Not so worried about ending up with 2 CS meals in a day because neither DH nor DS really care much about that kind of thing.....they are happy as long as their stomachs are full!!

So my question is.....would we feel out of place at Crystal Palace without little kids? Do the characters still interact with the older kids/teens among them? Is the food appealing to those of us with more limited palates? Is the "atmosphere" as pleasurable here as at Boma (it would be wayyyyy different, I know....but is it just as nice in its own way?)

Honest opinions welcome.....

My DH and I go to CP every year for breakfast and we travel without our kids (and we are 50 and 55) yars old. The characters still come over pictures. This year we traveled with my best friend and her DH (he had never been) and all four characters spent as much time with us as we wanted...we did couple pictures and then a group shot without a problem. Four years ago, we took our oldest DS and his "then" girlfriend for his high school graduation trip. My son loves to eat and two of his and the girlfriend's favorite places were Crystal Palace and Chef Mickey's--and they had a blast with the characters and they were 18 and 17 at the time.

 

[dseth]

We (2 adults) did Boma and CP for breakfast last month. I am a picky eater! I want to know what is in everything before I eat it Therefore, Boma is off my "must eat at" list. Crystal Palace for my husband and I was great. We loved the characters and the food was really very good. Good service too!

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

I had our TA make the changes, and we're now booked for CP instead of Boma....no problem getting the date and time we wanted either .

DH & DS are even pretty excited about meeting the characters....seems my big, macho guys have a tender side after all .

Many thanks for sharing all your points of view.....it helped so much!

 

[Mick&Minn]

Nothing like crystal palace

 

[durango kid]

I love CP, as far as buffets go it's one of the better ones. My DS(18) and I had dinner there recently, just the two of us, sort of a guys night out. He enjoys the characters as much as the little kids, and as you can see he's far from little

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

I love CP, as far as buffets go it's one of the better ones. My DS(18) and I had dinner there recently, just the two of us, sort of a guys night out. He enjoys the characters as much as the little kids, and as you can see he's far from little

LOVE IT!!!!!

Can't wait to show DS this one.....

 

[ROEDISNEY]

I have 5 boys ages 15 to 24 & they all love CP

 

[webray]

Looking for some guidance from all you experienced DISers....

Our first Disney adventure is happening this January. We are on the dining plan. Our family consists of myself, DH, and our DS (who turns 13 on the trip).

DS and myself are rather finicky eaters (okay, okay.....we are downright FUSSY....but that's not such a bad thing, is it??? )

One of our TS ADR's is currently for Boma. I am so, so worried that DS and I will be too turned off by the spices to try anything, and end up going away hungry. The atmosphere sounds absolutely terrific (which is why we ended up making this reservation in the first place), but .......

So were wondering if we should juggle our ADR's a bit, and replace our Boma meal with Crystal Palace. That would mean ending up with 2 CS meals on our AK day and 2 TS meals on our "off" day, but one of those TS meals is breakfast and the CP reservation would be for dinner. Not so worried about ending up with 2 CS meals in a day because neither DH nor DS really care much about that kind of thing.....they are happy as long as their stomachs are full!!

So my question is.....would we feel out of place at Crystal Palace without little kids? Do the characters still interact with the older kids/teens among them? Is the food appealing to those of us with more limited palates? Is the "atmosphere" as pleasurable here as at Boma (it would be wayyyyy different, I know....but is it just as nice in its own way?)

Honest opinions welcome.....

First off, the food at Boma is not spicey, it is the African sauces and such that are on the side that are spicey, but, you can certainly eat the food without it. Don't cancel Boma, the food is fantastic, and it is the number one buffet on disney property.

We did celebrate our daughters 13th birthday at Crystal Palace (breakfast), she loved it, lol, but she is a huge pooh fan.

 

[DisneyWorldbuff]

Crystal Palace is probably our favorite restaurant at WDW. I am a vegetarian, so I have food "issues" too. I always have options there, so I imagine you will too. My non-veggie family always enjoys it too! The characters are great and interact with everyone in a great way. Go with the CP- it's in the Magic Kingdom and a good experience. Good luck! Have fun!