Rank the Breakfast Character Buffets!!

[Mousemommy1]

We have reservations for Crystal Palace in August. We aren't huge breakfast people, but I booked it in order to get into the park before opening.

We have done breakfast at Chef Mickeys (Strongly DISLIKE this place ). We have also done Tusker House, which was a lot better.

How does Crystal Palace rank??? Just looking for opinions so I can know what to expect.

 

[huggiebear23]

Crystal Palace is great.. I'm not a breakfast person either. But everything is really good. We have a before park opening ADR which makes it even better.

 

[MisterGoofy1]

1) Cape May Cafe
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Everything else.
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Chef Mickey's

 

[jenjersnap]

Am I ranking on only food? Or, overall experience?

Ranked by food (only breakfast and only buffet options, so no Akershus, 'Ohana or CRT):

Tusker House
Crystal Palace
1900 Park Fare
Cape May
Chef Mickeys and Hollywood & Vine are pretty much even and in last place

I have had enjoyable meals at every one of them, but lots of blah meals too. We are total breakfast people and hit as many as possible, lol.

Ranked by overall experience, it would be a different order with Crystal Palace a bit further down the list. We have had some really crabby characters at CP, for some reason. Luckily, only the adults, not my kids, noticed and they love it there. Have fun!

 

[TheRustyScupper]

OUR WDW CHARACTER MEAL & BUFFET RANKINGS (*JANUARY 2014*):

Best Food (quality first, then variety):
. . . Tusker House
. . . 1900 Park Fare
. . . Ohana
. . . Garden Grill
. . . Garden Grove
. . . Akershus Royal Banquet
. . . Cape May Café
. . . Hollywood & Vine
. . . Crystal Palace
. . . Cinderella Royal Table (since new menu)
. . . Chef Mickey's

Best Character Interaction (time with guest first, then friendliness):
. . . Tusker House
. . . Akershus Royal Banquet
. . . 1900 Park Fare
. . . Garden Grill
. . . Ohana
. . . Garden Grove
. . . 1900 Park Fare
. . . Chef Mickey's
. . . Cape May Café
. . . Hollywood & Vine
. . . Cinderella Royal Table
. . . Crystal Palace (barely enough time for a photo)

Best Atmosphere (surroundings and ambiance):
. . . Cinderella Royal Table
. . . Tusker House
. . . Akershus Royal Banquet
. . . Ohana
. . . 1900 Park Fare
. . . Garden Grill
. . . Crystal Palace
. . . Hollywood & Vine
. . . Cape May Café
. . . Garden Grove
. . . Chef Mickey's


NOTE1: Results are listed from best to worst. Overall, Tusker House wins due to best
food and the length of time the characters stay at each table. A close second is 1900 Park
Fare. By far, Chef Mickey's is the loser, due to mediocre character interaction and almost
terrible in quality. The very distant second worst is Cinderella Royal Table, due to brief
time at tables for characters and the new menu.

NOTE2: Characters
. . . 1900 Breakfast: Alice, Mad Hatter, Mary Poppins, Pooh & friends
. . . 1900 Dinner: Cinderella, Prince Charming, Lady Tremaine, Step Sisters
. . . Akershus Banquet : Belle, Snow White, Aurora, Jasmine
. . . Cape May Café : Mickey, Minnie, Pluto, Goofy
. . . Chef Mickey : Mickey, Minnie, Chip-n-Dale, Goofy
. . . Cinderella Royal Table: Cinderella (downstairs), Ariel, Aurora, Snow White, (maybe Belle, Jasmine)
. . . Crystal Palace : Pooh, Tigger, Eeyore, Piglet
. . . Hollywood and Vine : Disney Junior Characters
. . . Ohana : Lilo, Stitch, Mickey, Pluto
. . . Tusker House: Donald (outside only, unless heavy rain), Mickey, Goofy, Daisy

 

[stitchaholic]

1) Cape May Cafe . . . . . . . . . Everything else. . . . . . . . Chef Mickey's

Yup , I'm in agreement , but I could put 1900 park fare in second

 

[Mousemommy1]

Hmmmmm.....I'm really waffling (forgive the pun) about keeping this one.

 

[tcherjen]

Only done 1900 fare, but we enjoyed it.

 

[Lindaland]

We have done CP every visit because I love Tigger. . The food is average but the characters were great. That being said, I am going to try 1900 Park Fare because the menu looks much better and includes champaign! I am also looking forward to seeing the Mad Hatter this time. (As well as Tigger )

 

[Mousemommy1]

We are staying at GF, so 1900 PF would be very convenient. We have had dinner at 1900, but never breakfast.

However, that then defeats the whole purpose of getting into the park early.

 

[Frozen2014]

Can I ask what is so bad about Chef Mickeys? i'm thinking of booking it for the morning that we leave DW. The atmosphere looks fun and typical breakfast buffet food. So is it the food that is bad, or just that expectations are high? It seems to get really mixed reviews...and not good at all when compared wtih other breakfast buffets.

 

[Mousemommy1]

Can I ask what is so bad about Chef Mickeys? i'm thinking of booking it for the morning that we leave DW. The atmosphere looks fun and typical breakfast buffet food. So is it the food that is bad, or just that expectations are high? It seems to get really mixed reviews...and not good at all when compared wtih other breakfast buffets.

For my family, we have eaten there three times (gluttons for punishment I guess).

Each visit was progressively worse, with issues from food not being served at proper temps, messy/dirtyness. The character interactions were not great, IMHO, because for some reason, we have found that at Chef Mickey's people don't wait for the characters to come to their table, they will get up and get in the characters faces, and the character ends up losing track of where they were and skipping some tables. (This has happened to us twice)

The last visit was a combo of the three and also when I unwrapped my silverware and found a squished, partially eaten brownie in it....

Seriously, not good experiences. After that third time, even my kids were like "NO MORE".

 

[E&As Mom]

If this question had been asked a year ago, I would have said that Cape May was without a doubt the best breakfast experience we've had. That being said, our trip there in September 2013 (our 4th trip for breakfast) was not nearly as good as our previous trips. In fact, the last 2 times we've eaten there, something has been missing. Our experience in 2011 was rough, due to a large, rude group of people... I'm talking kids crawling on the floors, under the table, eating off of the floors, bumrushing the characters instead of waiting for them to come to their tables, parents pretty much ignoring all of the goings on. This last trip was just... eh... blah. They had taken away some of our favorite items, and it felt very rushed. Goofy didn't even stop by our table until we asked. He had walked by us 3 different times. But, I digress.

We did try Crystal Palace for breakfast this last trip and all agreed that it was at the top of our "must do" breakfast places going forward. We did not do an early experience, instead choosing more of a late breakfast/brunch time (10:30ish). We had good character interaction, in fact getting to see Tigger and Piglet twice because it was later in the service. The food is pretty standard, it seems, at most breakfast places anymore (with the exception of Chef Mickeys... did it once, won't do it again). So, my list of favorite breakfast places that we have done would be:

Crystal Palace
1900 Park Fare
Cape May
Tusker House
Chef Mickeys

 

[drew64]

Crystal Palace
Tusker House
Cape May

then much further down:


1900 Park Fare
Chef Mickeys

 

[mmtravel]

We've done the pre-park opening CP breakfast twice, including DS' 7th birthday. The food is good - it's buffet food, which I never think is great. There are plenty of choices, so everyone should find something. Love the Mickey waffles, though you can get them in a lot of restaurants.

The real appeal, and why I'd recommend doing it at least once, is the feeling of walking down a nearly-empty Main Street U.S.A. and getting a few pictures of your family, almost alone, in what can be the most crowded place on earth.

I'd keep it.

 

[Mousemommy1]

If this question had been asked a year ago, I would have said that Cape May was without a doubt the best breakfast experience we've had. That being said, our trip there in September 2013 (our 4th trip for breakfast) was not nearly as good as our previous trips. In fact, the last 2 times we've eaten there, something has been missing. Our experience in 2011 was rough, due to a large, rude group of people... I'm talking kids crawling on the floors, under the table, eating off of the floors, bumrushing the characters instead of waiting for them to come to their tables, parents pretty much ignoring all of the goings on. This last trip was just... eh... blah. They had taken away some of our favorite items, and it felt very rushed. Goofy didn't even stop by our table until we asked. He had walked by us 3 different times. But, I digress.

We did try Crystal Palace for breakfast this last trip and all agreed that it was at the top of our "must do" breakfast places going forward. We did not do an early experience, instead choosing more of a late breakfast/brunch time (10:30ish). We had good character interaction, in fact getting to see Tigger and Piglet twice because it was later in the service. The food is pretty standard, it seems, at most breakfast places anymore (with the exception of Chef Mickeys... did it once, won't do it again). So, my list of favorite breakfast places that we have done would be:

Crystal Palace
1900 Park Fare
Cape May
Tusker House
Chef Mickeys

Crystal Palace
Tusker House
Cape May

then much further down:


1900 Park Fare
Chef Mickeys

We've done the pre-park opening CP breakfast twice, including DS' 7th birthday. The food is good - it's buffet food, which I never think is great. There are plenty of choices, so everyone should find something. Love the Mickey waffles, though you can get them in a lot of restaurants.

The real appeal, and why I'd recommend doing it at least once, is the feeling of walking down a nearly-empty Main Street U.S.A. and getting a few pictures of your family, almost alone, in what can be the most crowded place on earth.

I'd keep it.

This all helps. Thanks!

I am not expecting 5 star dining. I just want some edible breakfast fare in a setting that won't gross me out.

And, nearly empty Magic Kingdom....

 

[TLSnell1981]

I am not expecting 5 star dining. I just want some edible breakfast fare in a setting that won't gross me out.
.

It's sad, that this is now acceptable. The food used to be very good.

 

[njmom76]

We have enjoyed CP on 2 occasions. Cape May was okay and Tusker House is our favorite. The only other breakfast buffet we have done is H&V andI will not go back. Food was bad and character interaction was horrible.

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[disneyAndi14]

I love Tusker house I've eaten there 3 times and it's delicious. The characters are really cool because they are everybody's favorites.

 

[HollenAngi]

I've only done CP and 1900 for breakfast and liked both of them. 1900 had great character interaction.