Eating at Crystal Palace before the MK opens...

[BabyFu18]

Even at 180 days out, the earliest reservation I could get for breakfast at Crystal Palace was for 8:20 on a morning where the park opens at 9am. Does anyone have experience eating here for breakfast, about how long does it take for all the characters to get around to your table? I'd love for an earlier reservation, so I will keep checking and maybe I'll get lucky to find one, but if not we will keep this one.

We ate here once for dinner and we didn't mind that it took awhile since it was nice to get out of the heat, but I really wanted to experience breakfast at the park too without being to far behind the rope-drop crowd.

How does entering the park early to get to the restaurant work? Once we get to the park (hopefully buses/monorail will get us there early enough), is there someone outside the gates you are supposed to talk to so they know why you are there early?

 

[DISNEYaddict4evr]

The food is AWESOME! by the way...

as per getting in we went on an EMH day so there was a line. Though I think you need to go to the right to check in at a window if it is not an EMH day. When we were there their was a line and they let the ressie people in about 10-5 minutes early. Our ressie was for 8:05, say all characters very quickly and were out within the hour if I recall. I suggest going early so you can get a pic with the castle with no one around, if it is a EMH there will be a Photopass photographer who can take it with their camera or yours. Have fun! if you are still not sure when you get there just keep asking CM you will find your way eventually

 

[anjalee6]

We usually go on an EMH day, but the one year that we did go to eat before the park opened there was a special line for reservations and we went to that line. A CM then checked our name off of the ADR list and let us in to the park. We headed to the Crystal Palace. It was so nice to not have a lot of people walking down Main Street and this was the year that we got the best picture of our family in front of the castle. It generally takes our family about 45 minutes to eat breakfast. If you have an 8:20 ADR hopefully you will be done by 9:00 or a little after. If you see the characters right away, then it could be done sooner. It just depends on where they seat you and where the characters start making their rounds.

 

[BabyFu18]

Thanks for the info everyone, I will keep checking for an earlier ADR but if not I don't think we'd be out of the restaurant to late so we should be fine.

I am excited to try and get a nice picture of us in front of the castle without to many people around, that should be nice. I've also heard good things about the breakfast items, so hopefully we all enjoy it. I'm a little worried that we might be the only adult-only party that early in the restaurant, but who doesn't love Pooh and friends, young or old?!

 

[SPOERLX3]

We had an 8:15 ressie last year, we got there at 7:45 and they let us in at the special line set up for reservations. We did not have to wait for 8:15 to get in. We went straight to CP and checked in, took some pictures and they called us in straight up 8:15. It really worked out perfect.

To me, it seamed that the characters are slower here than any other character breakfast, I can only assume that it is because it is such a large restraunt. It also depends on what side of the room your are on. They only go one way. Even if they walk right by you, they will not stop, they have to go to each table in order. And be real careful cause if you get up to get your food and the characters come around while you are at the buffet, you have to wait till they come around again or miss them all together. My grandaughter was with us and all she wanted to see was Eeyore and wouldn't you know that he was the last to come out, then he had to make the entire room before he got to us. But..............we did make rope drop!

The food is very good. Not our favorite (our favorite is Tusker House----a MUST for our family) but I do LOVE the puff french toast!

Have fun and enjoy!

 

[starrysky]

Thanks for the info everyone, I will keep checking for an earlier ADR but if not I don't think we'd be out of the restaurant to late so we should be fine.

I am excited to try and get a nice picture of us in front of the castle without to many people around, that should be nice. I've also heard good things about the breakfast items, so hopefully we all enjoy it. I'm a little worried that we might be the only adult-only party that early in the restaurant, but who doesn't love Pooh and friends, young or old?!

We LOVED CP when we went for breakfast. We had a ressie near to 9am but we made sure we got to MK probably about 1/2 hour before so we could get pics in front of the castle. I also have an awesome photo of fantasy land from The castle with no one in it.

Don't worry about being the only two adults its just me and DH and we had a great time. If you are in a hurry and don't feel you can wait or have missed a character just ask your server and they can help you out. We got special permission to go over and see pooh in another area because we wanted to get going and not wait another 1/2 hour for him to get to us but this might have been an exception rather than the rule.

Food and selection was fab and we loved it.

 

[eyor44]

Since it is a buffet, ask for your check when you first sit down. I always get this out of the way early at buffets and then just leave cash for a tip. One these thing to worry about when you want to make rope drop.

In January, we had a ressie for 8:15 and made rope drop.

 

[Mrs Grumpy]

Even at 180 days out, the earliest reservation I could get for breakfast at Crystal Palace was for 8:20 on a morning where the park opens at 9am. Does anyone have experience eating here for breakfast, about how long does it take for all the characters to get around to your table? I'd love for an earlier reservation, so I will keep checking and maybe I'll get lucky to find one, but if not we will keep this one.

We ate here once for dinner and we didn't mind that it took awhile since it was nice to get out of the heat, but I really wanted to experience breakfast at the park too without being to far behind the rope-drop crowd.

How does entering the park early to get to the restaurant work? Once we get to the park (hopefully buses/monorail will get us there early enough), is there someone outside the gates you are supposed to talk to so they know why you are there early?

Just curious how far into your trip were you trying? We also really want that first ADR if possible. I put this one for our last day (10 day trip) so hopefully it will help our chances. Don't know if it will work but that is what I am trying.

 

[DISNEYaddict4evr]

yeah I agree... adult only is just fine. It was just my BF and I last September and we had a great time. I was quiet and relaxing

 

[BabyFu18]

Just curious how far into your trip were you trying? We also really want that first ADR if possible. I put this one for our last day (10 day trip) so hopefully it will help our chances. Don't know if it will work but that is what I am trying.

I put this at the beginning of our trip, it's on our first park day of a 12 day trip, I could move it later in the trip but I'd really prefer not to.

 

[DisMullins]

Has anyone gone to CP for breakfast on an EMH morning? I would like to make rope drop (never done before!!) but in order to do that, would I need to make a ressie for a day that isn't EMH?

Love this thread. It's helped me immensely

 

[ROEDISNEY]

They open @ 8:00 for bk. So be at the MK Before 8 am get in the line for CP.
You have a chance to maybe get seated a lil bit sooner.

 

[Dacky619]

Even at 180 days out, the earliest reservation I could get for breakfast at Crystal Palace was for 8:20 on a morning where the park opens at 9am. Does anyone have experience eating here for breakfast, about how long does it take for all the characters to get around to your table? I'd love for an earlier reservation, so I will keep checking and maybe I'll get lucky to find one, but if not we will keep this one.

We ate here once for dinner and we didn't mind that it took awhile since it was nice to get out of the heat, but I really wanted to experience breakfast at the park too without being to far behind the rope-drop crowd.

How does entering the park early to get to the restaurant work? Once we get to the park (hopefully buses/monorail will get us there early enough), is there someone outside the gates you are supposed to talk to so they know why you are there early?

We do this usually our first morning of each trip. The earliest ADR you can get is 8:05, so 8:20 isn't too bad. You can probably check in with the 8:05 ADRs anyway. In our experiences, it takes a little over an hour for all of the characters to pass through. If we want to be outside as the park opens, we ususally won't see all of them. We'll also (as eyor44 mentioned) ask for the check and pay it when we get our drinks, so that way we can leave whenever we are ready.

 

[nejjie]

Has anyone gone to CP for breakfast on an EMH morning? I would like to make rope drop (never done before!!) but in order to do that, would I need to make a ressie for a day that isn't EMH?

Love this thread. It's helped me immensely

I originally book CP for before RD but the week before our trip - Disney extended their hours and the park opened an hour earlier. But we decided to do the breakfast.. we were in there for an hour from 8-9. We actually were fortunate and able to still follow our tour plan and got many rides in fantasyland done except Dumbo. The meal overall was great, really enjoyed it. Was slightly disappointed with the character interaction - we never got to see Eeyore but we saw Piglet 3 times who was so sweet.

 

[nycolebenjamin]

I have a ressie at 915 will i be let in early or will i have to wait til rope drop?

 

[aras4007]

Thanks for the info everyone, I will keep checking for an earlier ADR but if not I don't think we'd be out of the restaurant to late so we should be fine.

I am excited to try and get a nice picture of us in front of the castle without to many people around, that should be nice. I've also heard good things about the breakfast items, so hopefully we all enjoy it. I'm a little worried that we might be the only adult-only party that early in the restaurant, but who doesn't love Pooh and friends, young or old?!

No way! My family is going in May that early and I'm the youngest (21)!! I say who cares

 

[becauseisaid]

I'm planning on booking Crystal Palace for breakfast one morning while we are there in October, but I was curious if the buses are running that early to the parks or will we be forced to hitch hike.



Christy

 

[NewsiesGoil]

My sister and I had an 8:20 ADR last year and we were able to get our first plates just before the characters started making their rounds. We were the fifth table to see them and they were actually going around a second time just before we left. I think we must have been done in under 40 minutes (or we were seated earlier) because we were able to get the picture with Naveen in frog form (the photopass photo) and still make rope drop. We are 23 and 29 and we can't wait to have breakfast again there this year!

 

[BabyFu18]

My sister and I had an 8:20 ADR last year and we were able to get our first plates just before the characters started making their rounds. We were the fifth table to see them and they were actually going around a second time just before we left. I think we must have been done in under 40 minutes (or we were seated earlier) because we were able to get the picture with Naveen in frog form (the photopass photo) and still make rope drop. We are 23 and 29 and we can't wait to have breakfast again there this year!

Awesome to here! I've been checking everyday to see if anything earlier opened up for CP but no luck, but I think we will be okay with our 8:20 reservation. I am the youngest in my family going on the trip and I'm not exactly a child anymore, but I think from what I've read it really isn't going to matter the ages of those in our party we all still love the characters no matter what!

 

[TiggerTrigger]

We had an 8:20a ressie at CP back in December on a non-EMH morning. We got to the MK just before 8 and were allowed into the park immediately. We checked into CP just a little after 8am and our table was ready in under 5 minutes. i.e. we were seated before our ressie time. Of course this was the morning that DD4 had to have an accident and DD2 had my soda spill all over her then her OJ spilled all over her- so that slowed up the dining process. As for the characters...we didn't even have time to take off our jackets and we had Piglet at our table. In fact...we had Piglet, Tigger and Pooh before I even had a chance to run to the buffet for food. The character rotation was running so well that morning that we had second visits from both Tigger and Piglet. Had it not been for the accidents/spilling described above, we would have been out of there before rope drop. I too thought I should try for an earlier time slot, but from our experiences- 8:05 and 8:20 really didn't make a difference. At least we got in a few pictures of the empty park before going in to eat.