Who's been to both Crystal Palace & Breakfastosaurus?

[LisaDKG]

I need help figuring out which character meal. I know there are people here who absolutely do Crystal Palace or Chef Mickey's as tradition. I picked Breakfastosaurus last year b/c of the traditional characters, good food, and an early ADR helped with getting into the AK park early. We also did Akershus, which was good but I don't think we need to do it again. Which characters we see this year are not really important. I am leaning toward CP to get an early view of MK but there is no real menu posted on allears. Good food is important to me and so I am looking for the best of these breakfasts. Your thoughts?

 

[gypsydoodlebug]

Hands down CP. The breakfast lasagna is TDF, as is the puffed French Toast. SOOOO good. Jeez. Now I want the breakfast lasagna now. (The coffee is good, too!)

Try to get an 8:05 a.m. ADR (don't worry -- the busses run early enough by a long shot). You can be done eating and seeing all the characters by 9:30 or earlier or so. Then get your pic taken outside the castle and then hustle back to Fantasyland. Youll be done there by 10:30. That's always our game plan and it works great -- we ride Dumbo, The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh and the Snow White rides in that order first since they're slowest to load, then hit Flight of Peter Pan and the Carousel next.

 

[audisight]

CP has very good food, and I have only had bad service once in the many times I have been there. The food is your traditional breakfast fare. One of my best moments at CP was on a day I really wanted blueberry pancakes, I asked the cook if they had any and he said no, I guess I may have had a sad look on my face because he smiled and said "But for you, I can make it happen". He made me a huge stack of the best blueberry pancakes I have ever had! If you have an early ADR before the park opens make sure to bring your camera and take advantage of taking a picture in front of the castle when there are not nearly as many people around. Enjoy your vacation!

 

[bradk]

as character dining experiences, they're both at the bottom of my list.

foodwise though, i can't argue with anyone above, the food at CP is one of the largest selections i've seen and was great. i fell in love with the vegetable fritata and i am so looking forward to eating it again within the next week.

the character experience however is very hit and miss. the problem is that the building is so large and the character flow is so controlled (can't dare have pooh and eeyore next to eachother), that if a character gets hung up in one spot, they're all hung up. and there's constantly a 25% chance of that happening. in almost 40 mins, all I saw was pooh. not everyone has this experience of course but it's not an isolated case either from what i've heard.

but i do highly recommend it (1) for pre-opening breakfasts (make sure it's not an EMH morning!), (2) for the relatively rare chance to meet piglet, and (3) for infant birthdays (if they can cope with characters).

this shot was taken at 8:15 am (which made me quite late for my 8:05, but that's a whole other story)

now as for breakfastosaurus, the food selection i found to be much more limited (not the smallest of any character meal mind you, but darn close) and not all that impressive.

the exact opposite of crystal palace, they made sure you saw every character. they seat you systematically in different parts of the building, let you get your food and then march the characters in. you get your photos, you get your autographs, but the interaction in my experience (and many others whose ive read) is overall rushed. if you get a late ADR or if it's your first character meal, it seems to be more impressive in those respects.

i also see no advantage of getting into DAK early, especially for photo-ops, depending on the time of year. since DAK closes earlier, during the summer-early autumn months, the sun can be up when the park closes. just wait like half an hour at most and you can get all the clear shots you want - they don't kick you out of the park and buses run for 2 hours after park close.

 

[Alice Sr.]

Which characters we see this year are not really important. I am leaning toward CP to get an early view of MK but there is no real menu posted on allears. Good food is important to me and so I am looking for the best of these breakfasts. Your thoughts?

The food is significantly better than Breakfastosaurus (in my opinion), with a very nice selection and a wonderful atmophere. We have had good and bad greeting experiences but mostly good. Walking down Main Street 1st thing in the morning before the park opens is a great bonus.

Alice

 

[party of 3]

crystal palace for sure! it was way better. the food was really good. i'm mean really good. the puffed french toast. yumm-o! don't get me wrong the breakfastosaurus was good, but cp was just great. just my opinion of course!

 

[MickeyNicki]

DH and I do the breakfast buffets not for the characters but for the good food!

We love CP and the fact that I can get in at 8:05 is a huge plus. The food is very good, the puffed french toast is awesome and I like the fresh strawberries and cream.

Donalds is very good too, love the 3 kinds of Krispie Kreme Donuts. When we go to AK this is our 8:05 place to eat...now with it closing we will try the new Tusker House buffet.....

Cape May Buffet is our hands down favorite breakfast buffet, the food is awesome, delicious bread pudding, asparagus and all the fresh fruit you can think of. Since the place is not that busy you get alot of character time.

 

[mlill]

Hi Lisa! I'll put my vote in for Crystal Palace, too. Try to get the very first seating, like others have said. That way, you can get into MK before it opens and have a nice somewhat quiet breakfast and get more character interaction. The later seatings are crowded and the restaurant gets noisy. Plus, if you get there first, the food is hot, fresh & untouched!

Happy Planning!
-Michelle

P.S. I like your doll avatar MUCH better!

 

[txmomto1]

We went to both in January, and will do both again in September. I really liked the characters at CP, but I actually liked the food at AK more. DH liked food at CP more. CP does the parade, and the atmosphere is great.

 

[wilde_oscar]

For food I think CP... better varity. Breakfastasouras had better bacon though.

If you do decide on Breakfastasouras, ask to try to get Mikeasouraus as your server. In my grey bearded life time, there are very few servers that stand out by name... we go out of our way to eat with Mikeasouraus. Anyone else back me up on the Mikeasouraus?

 

[michelle1]

We enjoyed both but CP was a little nicer atmosphere. We were there for the first seating which was nice to take pictures in front of the castle with no one else in the picture and to walk down main street empty is neat. The only downside to being in early is you miss the opening ceremony of the park.

 

[kelma]

We definitely enjoyed the food more at CP. It's our favorite character meal and we eat there more than one time a trip. Have fun!

 

[beattyfamily]

We've done CP several times and finally tried Breakfastosaurus last year.

We prefer CP to Breakfastosaurus because of atmosphere and food offerings. I don't remember seeing an omlet bar at Breakfastosaurus?? There is an omlet bar at CP and you can also request a choc chip mickey pancake so CP gets my DDs vote as well.

 

[LisaDKG]

Thanks so much for your very helpful responses! I have made an executive decision and booked CP for 8:10am (earlier wasn't available but I'll keep checking back. If I've already made and cancelled a billion ADRs, others must be too?)
I think we should be ok with 8:10 as we usually don't eat that much at these breakfasts, and I can't us see waiting past park opening just to get a view of a character. Unless they get trapped, as bradk mentioned... Why do these meals get to be so stressfull? I remember checking at Akershus to make sure there were no other new princesses about to pop out as we were leaving!

Hi Lisa!
P.S. I like your doll avatar MUCH better!

Thanks Michelle! She didn't get a lot of support but I think as far as toilet paper roll scary dolly cozies, she has a certain something!

 

[bradk]

characters for a particular meal are set. but not set until that day. your server should be able to tell you who will be there during that meal so you can be sure you see them all, but i wouldn't worry about having to look over my shoulder for someone new to pop out.

but CP is pretty set with pooh, eeyore, tigger and piglet. as per previous discussions, if one of them can't make it, you'll most likely be blessed with rabbit. and if rabbit can't make it, the gods smile upon you with kanga.

 

[disneymom2twins]

I personally like CP. If you are going to AK, want to be there first thing, then keep Donald's. If it is purely a decision about food and characters, then keep CP. CP has more of a selection, the decor is better, and I thought the character interaction was about the same

 

[pumba]

I have been to both and have enjoyed both equally. Also depends on which characters you want to see. I enjoy seeing Donald, pluto and goofy too......so we did that for breakfast and then CP for dinner......

 

[pozey]

We've been to both as well. We have thoroughly enjoyed both. In my very humble opinion, Crystal Palace seems to be a little more “refined”, while Donald’s is more “fun”. The waitstaff at Donald’s are part of the show……….some of them will have fun and have some antics up their sleeve. The waitstaff at Crystal Palace are dressed up and very cordial. Two totally different styles…….but both wonderful.

I have found the food at both to be standard breakfast buffet fare. But very good.

I don't remember seeing an omlet bar at Breakfastosaurus??

Yes, Donald’s Breakfastsaurus had an omelet bar as well.

 

[ILVPOOH]

CP is the better breakfast, but my boys (age 10) would vote for Donalds or Chef Mickey's. They don't want to have a character breakfast with Pooh and friends.

 

[Miz Diz]

We've done breakfast at Breakfastasaurus twice. Our last trip (in April) we did Crystal Palace for breakfast for the first time and loved it - much better than AK. We are doing CP again in Sept.