Donald's Safari meal vs. Crystal Palace Character meal?

[kjccr]

We are trying to decide between these 2 character meals...actually I guess btween 3 as I am also thinking about the Garden Grill one at Epcot too. Anyone have a favorite or opinion on any of these character meals?

 

[ROEDISNEY]

My favorite one would be Chef Mic's. But if I am choosing from your 3 then it would be CP.

 

[chunky_azz]

Now we did Crystal Palace but at dinner time and food wise, I enjoyed the breakfast at Donalds Safari, and the characters were fun, but they were fun at Crystal Palace too, but if I had to choose between the two I would go with Donalds Tusker House. Sorry never ate at the Garden Grill.

 

[tarheelmjfan]

Last October, we ate breakfast at TH & CP. We will return to TH soon. It will probably be a while before we return to CP. It's been years since we've been to Garden Grill, but I remember it being a good experience.

 

[kjccr]

Thanks! We too love Chef Mickey's but have been there several times and want to do something different. It sounds like Donalds Safari is a favorite, which is good since thats the one I was leaning towards!

 

[ktlm]

We did both TH (breakfast) and CP(lunch) in December. For us, CP was by FAR the better of the two. We had great time with the characters and the food was great. The characters even came by our table twice and DD loved being in their parade. We did not have very good luck at TH. The breakfast was really good, but it was much louder and way more chaotic than CP. That doesn't bother me, but what did was that we did not get very good character interaction. I think it was because of where we were seated. We were put next to the half wall near the restrooms. The other tables were so close, that the characters barely had room to get to our table and there really wasn't even room to stand in the the aisle for picures with my not quite 3 year old or for them to lean over to interact with her. Because of that, we really did not get very good interaction with any of them- they moved through as quick as they could, basically stopped long enough for me to hit the button on my camera once. Their parade started far from where we were seated, the CMs didn't come get the kids, and you couldn't really hear them announcing it because of the noise level. My DD tried to get over to join it the minute it started, but she was way in the back and got left behind. I had to go get her from between some tables as she got separated from the parade by some people and got kind of "lost". Of course, which you choose really depends on what characters you want to see and what fits with your schedule. I had heard lots of good things about TH before we went. I would try TH again to see if we have better luck. It looked like the people on the other side of the restaurant were getting better interaction and had more space.

 

[MJAJmom]

CP and TH are both very good places to eat. The breakfast buffets are about the same quality. I think you need to decide what your schedule is and how convienent the meal is. Plus what characters are you looking for.

CP offers bfast, lunch and dinner so it's pretty easy to fit it into your schedule. The characters are Pooh, Piglet, Tigger, and Eeyore. The atmosphere is casual and traditional decor. The characters circulate very quickly so you can probably see them each twice.

TH only offers a character bfast. I like doing an 8am ADR before the park opens at 9am. It's less busy earlier in the morning. The characters are Mickey, Donald, Daisy and Goofy dressed in safari clothes. The tables/chairs are dark wood and the walls/decor are of animals. It's a festive place. It's the only place that you can see Daisy. The characters do a parade and the kids get musical instruments, that's fun.

Have fun choosing!

 

[cjlvsccm]

We are trying to decide between these 2 character meals...actually I guess btween 3 as I am also thinking about the Garden Grill one at Epcot too. Anyone have a favorite or opinion on any of these character meals?

Haven't done the others, but we can give a to Garden Grill. EVERYTHING was very tasty and the service was good. As long as you know it's a homestyle meal, I think you'll enjoy it if it's as well-prepared as our dinner was. To us it was a terrific break from "restaurant food". I was pleasantly surprised, considering the so-so reviews usually mentioned on the DISboards.

We had several individual visits and photo-ops with each of the characters. Seems like with the way the booths are arranged, it's easier for them to give you personal attention, which is always fun! Chip and Dale are big cut-ups, Pluto is always happy to see you, and Mickey is really cute in his overalls.

Happy planning!

 

[disneypolybride2008]

we just ate at both of these. they both had good points, we loved the cheese blintzes at Donald's and we loved the puffed french toast at Crystal Palace. We liked Chef Mickey's breakfast the least. This time we are going to eat at both places.

 

[ilandrazdsw]

TH was yummy and smelled so sweet, but was cramped.

CP had good food (loved the french toast), but the characters took a long time to come around. However, it is not table on top of table which makes trips to the buffet and pic with characters SO much easier.

 

[Disnsyncey]

I would say yay to Tusker House....I just love the restaurant....