We just ate there less than 2 weeks ago. I guess if you like buffets, you will probably like Crystal Palace. They had an extensive selection of cold salads (my favorite part of the meal here), including a fairly good edamame salad, and small shrimp to peel (OK, but my children love shrimp, so this is all they ate that night). For hot foods, they had 1-2 soups (OK), a few carved meat-type of things (OK, nothing truly exciting, I can't remember what I ate), and various side-dishes (ratatouille, potatoes, etc). There's a kid station with 3 dishes, including nuggets and mac and cheese. For dessert, there's a self-serve soft-ice cream machine, with various toppings (chocolate, sprinkles), and 3 desserts (the pumpkin cheesecake was the best part of this meal, very creamy). There was nothing particularly "good" about the buffet or particularly "bad." It's a buffet, and most dishes are fairly standard/unexciting, meant to appeal to a wide variety of people. I think truly good food is hard to pull off at a buffet, and Crystal Palace was no exception, but if you have picky eaters, there certainly was enough variety so that everyone will find something to eat. If you're on the
Disney Dining Plan, it's a good choice with kids because they can eat from the regular buffet instead of being limited to the uninspiring children's menus. But, we will not be eating at Crystal Palace, or any buffet at Disney again. They are loud, and the food is just OK.
The characters were not important to us, but we did get a few nice photos with them.
