Garden Grill or Crystal Palace???

[waltdisneyworlddreamer]

Looking for a character meal at one of the parks, traveling with 3 kids, all boys, ages 2, 6 and 7. How do one of these rate??

 

[goofy4tink]

We enjoy them both. But they are different. Cystal Palace has Winnie the Pooh and friends and is a true buffet. Garden Grill has Mickey, Chip and Dale and a few others but I can't remember right now. The food is served family style, on big platters. You don't have to get up and down which is nice, especially with little ones. It is also more subdued than Crystal Palace. We do enjoy both.

 

[waltdisneyworlddreamer]

Family style..... I've read that in the guidebooks, Is it still all you can eat?? We are going with a couple of hefty male eaters, I would hate for the rest of us to be shortchanged.

 

[sharon78]

We had the breakfast at CP with Pooh and friends it was our fav breakfast
my DD's are 7 & 9 the food choice and the service was 1st class,we had a 8am PS it was so peaceful
We also did the Ice cream social at the garden grill we had such a lot of fun there the characters were great, Chip and Dale are great with the children they interact with them so well
I must admit both of these were our top two

 

[henrylovespooh]

I've been to Crystal Palace and would recommend it. Food is good.

Family style is all you can eat - they will keep bringing it if you ask for it.

We also really liked Chef Mickey's - had you considered that?

 

[F1Julie]

I've done both CP and GG for dinner. DD4 and I both liked GG much better. There's nothing wrong with CP, but the character interaction was much better at GG. The characters all came around several times and spent a lot of time with DD. Also, the food was so good at GG. It comes in a skillet and you can ask for more of anything. The food was all really fresh and delicious. It was nice not having to get up and go to the buffet line. GG is in a slowly revolving restaurant that goes around the Land attraction. It's a really nice atmosphere. GG is our favorite character meal and a must do for each trip.

 

[got2lovedisney]

Just a note...as far as I know...Garden Grill is closed with the Land rehab until April 2005.

 

[4mykids]

Our family goes to the GG every trip! Our kids are now 14 and 11 and they still love it! The food has always be wonderful and the characters are awesome. In fact, one night (a few years ago) we were about the last customers in the restaurant. My husband and son started joking with Chip, Dale, and Pluto and it ended up in a HUGE "food fight" with thrown sugar packets, colors, bread! Chip tied Pluto's tail to the chair and Dale tackled Chip and pulled his overalls off! My kids still talk about it and it is one of their favorite Disney memories! We are just sad it is closed for our Feb trip!

Our 2nd favorite (and favorite for breakfast) is CP. The food is very good and the restaurant is beautiful! We find it much better than Chef Mickey's and CRT. Also, my best friend had dinner at CP and said the food was great and the desserts were awesome!

 

[eeyore0062]

When are you going? Garden Grill will not reopen until mid April, due to construction and refurbishment needed to accomodate the new attraction, Soarin', which will open in May.

 

[waltdisneyworlddreamer]

We will be going in November. We are planning some other table service meals, but I thought it might be nice to try a character meal in the parks just to save on travel time. We have done Chef Mickey's in the past, so I'm looking for something different. Although, the character interaction was great, I wasn't that impressed with the food. I know I'm probably in the minority, but I woudn't go back for the food.

 

[swilphil]

Crystal Palace has a great breakfast. My sons, ages 2 and 4, loved the food and characters. I loved starting the day in such a pretty atmosphere. If you're family can get up early enough, make an 8-8:15 PS on a non EE day. You will get into the park before anyone else (great for Castle pictures) and you will be done eating right when the park opens.

 

[eeyore0062]

If you are going in November, no question about it... GARDEN GRILL!!!!!!

 

[sha_lyn]

Have you considered breakfastosaurus at AK? IMHO the theming is great for boys.

However we love CP for breakfast or lunch.

 

[bigbabyblues]

We had breakfast at Crystal Palace and dinner at Garden Grill and we really enjoyed both. With 3 kids, I might choose Garden Grill just so I didn't have to get up and take go to the buffet so many times....two kids was hard enough with that!

Steph

 

[QueenOfCelts]

The food is great at either one. The Crystal Palace is a bit more adventurous and the Garden Grill is a bit more like home cooking as far as the menu goes.

Crystal Palace is a buffet where you serve yourself. So the kids would be able to get up and get their own food and dessert. This can be a burden or a blessing, depending on how you want to look at it, LOL. Garden Grill on the other hand is family style which means they bring the food to you. At either place you wait at your table (kids sit near the aisle so the characters and be near them for photos) and the characters come to you.

I see you are going in the fall of 2005 so the rehab of The Land shouldn't be a problem for you. The Garden Grill revolves very slowly and a meal usually gets you one spin through the Living with the Land attraction. It's overall a pretty relaxing experience.

Crystal palace can be crowded and can get loud. I am not complaining, just trying to show you the contrasts between the two.

We eat at Crystal Palace every trip to MK because we really like the food and the character interaction.

We have eaten at Garden Grill atleast 4 times and if it wasn't closed we would be eating there this upcoming trip too! :jumping4:

Sorry I can't say "Oh, this ONE definitely" but I think either one is a great choice yet they are different enough for you to choose one if you must.

BTW, if you do choose Garden Grill, ask Pluto what happens when you scratch behind his ears and then do it.................

Have a great time!