Tony's/Crystal Palace/Chef Mickey's for Dinner?

[Karbase8]

Hi,
I am headed back to WDW in 8/2012 and trying to pre-plan my ADR before my window opens.

I will be at MK and I didn't want to do LTT due to mixed reviews now and eating at 50's prime time the day before so felt it was too similar. Me and my son did CP dinner and my son was ok about it I thought it was pretty good. I have heard both negative and positive about Tony's and Chef Mickey's. My son and bf are meat and potato guys and picky eaters. This is my bf first trip to the world and would like to pick something decent. I thought I would like Tony's due to the atmosphere alone. We are doing CRT and HDDR I have looked at other even signatures and I know both their tastes and unfortunately they won't like them. Any help would be appreciated.

 

[mommyof3princess27]

I havent done Tony's(we are this trip) and we loved Chef Mickeys(even though the reviews are so so) I have learned however to try everything atleast once reguardless of reviews. Sci-Fi had really bad reviews and we LOVED it. HTH even a little bit

 

[MichiganKris]

I think all 3 of them are OK, not really good, but not really bad either. If they are meat and potato people maybe you should check out the Kona Cafe at the Polynesian, my meat and potato husband thought that was the best dinner he had on our last trip.

 

[disneybliss2]

If you're willing to leave MK and go to the Contemporary to eat at Chef Mickey's, why not go to the Polynesian and eat at O'hana instead. It's our favorite restaurant of all!!!! It's very close to the MK and the food and atmosphere is amazing!
If you are set on one of the three choices you listed, I would go with Crystal Palace. I love Chef Mickey's for breakfast. Dinner...not so much. Food quality is bad (and I'm not that picky of an eater). Tony's..think Ragu. Crystal Palace isn't my favorite buffet, but there's something for everyone. In my opinion, it's not bad, but not great either. It hits the spot, but doesn't leave any fireworks.

 

[FunFamily]

Tony's is the weak sister of the ones that you list. It is a shame, the location is very special. The menu lacks value, even by Disney World standards. The menu lacks taste, by any standard.

I don't see 50's Prime Time and LTT as that similar. At minimum, they are separated by 180 years Order the fried chicken for lunch and have ham and beef for dinner.

Enjoy!

 

[goofyintoronto]

Tony's is the weak sister of the ones that you list. It is a shame, the location is very special. The menu lacks value, even by Disney World standards. The menu lacks taste, by any standard.

I don't see 50's Prime Time and LTT as that similar. At minimum, they are separated by 180 years Order the fried chicken for lunch and have ham and beef for dinner.

Enjoy!

I agree with this 100%!! First of all, Tony's is just awful in every way. The atmosphere is cold and uninviting. The food is MUCH worse. we ordered the chicken parm and spag/balls, and they were both gross. The spag/balls were the most disgusting of the two. I would NOT recommend this to anyone. The only thing they have going for them is the location.

50's & LTT are nothing alike in my opinion! The food at LTT is good! I think lunch is better, but dinner is MMMMMMMMM tasty too!

If your son wasnt crazy about Crystal Palace, then i wouldnt bother with Chef Mickeys! It isnt that great to be honest. Food quality isnt there. I liked C.Palace way better.

I would definitely without a doubt recommend LTT over Chef Mickeys & Crystal Palace. Or as PP said, why not try ohana's for dinner? Yum!

Good luck deciding.

 

[eliza61]

Avoid Tony's at all cost. Pretty much it's Chef Boyardee in a really nice setting.
We go, have our pictures taken in the front and then leave.

 

[Tinker Pam]

I second the vote for LTT.
We ate there in December for the first time and the whole family loved it.
My meat and potatoes DH and my VERY picky DS both have told me it is a must do from now on.

 

[goofyintoronto]

Avoid Tony's at all cost. Pretty much it's Chef Boyardee in a really nice setting.
We go, have our pictures taken in the front and then leave.

I actually like Chef Boyardee's food better than Tony's!!

 

[North of Mouse]

Of the three you mentioned - Crystal Palace

 

[cathydwin]

If you are leaving the Magic Kingdom, my vote is for The Wave at Contemporary then Kona. We have found the character locations have medium to poor food or attendance from staff. Easy walk from the buses if staying on property, even from the front gate or on the Monorail.

 

[angierae]

I always have to pop into threads about Tony's and say that my daughter, my MIL and I got a last-minute lunch seating at Tony's in May of 2010 and we absolutely loved it. We ate out in the area with the big glass windows and it was light and airy and our waitress was awesome and we liked the food. So much that my daughter specifically requested a lunch reservation there for our next trip.

Food is subjective. I have learned that other people's opinions about the service or the location are things I will pay attention to, but other people's opinions about the food - I don't even pay attention anymore. Everyone's tastes are different.

 

[02AggieGirl]

We love Crystal Palace!

 

[mdelano4]

Of those three, it's CP.

We love CM for breakfast, but have seen too many negative reviews to try dinner. Tony's? Don't walk, RUN from there. The worst food/atmosphere/service in all WDW.

I don't find LTT like 50s PTC at all. We were back to LTT last summer for first time since they took the characters out and liked it just as much.

 

[Julie711]

We have eaten at all 3 places for dinner before and like them all. We tried Chef Mickeys for the first time last year and really enjoed it. We like CP for the location, the characters plus the food is good, but Prefer Chef Mickeys food over CP. Tonys the first time was 06 on our honeymoon and we didnt care for it, but tried it again our next trip in 2010 and really enjoyed it, they had changed the menu and we went again last year and it was still good.

 

[tarheelmjfan]

I'm going to disagree with many & say I'd choose Tony's out of the 3. I agree Tony's isn't a fabulous meal, but I preferred it to the others. IMO, Ragu was an apt assessment for their tomato sauce. Personally, I think it's much better than Chef Boyardee. To me, they aren't even in the same league. My DH had the pasta dish. I had fish. It was a bit too salty, but was cooked perfectly. The desserts were great.

I would also choose Tony's over LTT dinner. We've eaten at all 4 & LTT dinner would be my last choice. It's comfort food that isn't nearly as good as I can quickly throw on the table. That said, I'm from the Southeast. Everyone I know can prepare a meal much better than that. If you haven't been exposed to the type of country cooking most any southerner can easily prepare, you may be impressed. If not Tony's, I would probably give CP an edge on food, & CM an edge for the quintessential Disney atmosphere.

All that said, I wouldn't choose any of these, if there were other options. How about LTT for lunch? They have an a la carte menu at lunch. I would also choose the Poly & Grand Floridian restaurants over these. The guys can get steak at any of the Poly & GF restaurants.

 

[Fire14]

I like Crystal palace It has buffet with meat and potatoes
Tony's is good and I like it but each their own
I personally didn't care for Chef Mickey's and found food to be tasteless and cold at peak of dinner rush and I just found noise level beyond enjoyable
I personaly can take or leave LTT but found it to be Cafertia quality food IMO
Never done Ohana Dinner but Brfst was very good