Would you add a Crystal Palace breakfast reservation?

[disneybliss2]

I made our dining reservations in Dec. for our trip in June. At the time I never even considered a reservation for Crystal Palace. We've been to WDW twice before. We ate CP for dinner on our first trip. The food was okay--not great, not bad. The characters were good, but took an absolute eternity to get to us. We literally waited almost an hour extra for Pooh to come by our table. We weren't for sure if this was standard or if it was an off night. Needless to say, we decided for future trips to try other restaurants. Being the obsessive, compulsive, over planner, I keep contemplating various things about our trip--one of which is the dining. I recently saw a few threads on here about CP's breakfast and it got rave reviews. One of the threads was a "Which would you choose--between Chef Mickey's and Crystal Palace?" and it was an overwhelming response for Crystal Palace. It got me wondering what was so special about CP's breakfast. Even the ratings on Allears is overwhelmingly positive. Seeing all of the positive ratings has made me rethink giving Crystal Palace a second chance and trying the breakfast. Now I'm thinking why on earth am I thinking of changing dining reservations three months after I initially booked the others? The remarkably high ratings for their breakfast has me curious to try it. Here's the rub: we already have a breakfast booked for Chef Mickey's. I still want to keep it because on both of our previous trips, it was my daughter's favorite restaurant. Knowing how much she loves it, I just can't find it in my heart to cancel it and switch it to Crystal Palace. I don't want an additional breakfast to interfere w/ the EMH mornings I have scheduled. In the past we've booked a breakfast on our last day. My DH hasn't liked that, though, because we're already rushed due to flight out. This year our flight is later (leave park at 1:30 for Magic Express), though, buying us some time. I've thought about adding a breakfast on our last day since we'll have three more hours in the park on the last day for this trip, we'd get to try CP's breakfast, and we'd get that magical feeling of entering the park before it was open to everyone. However, I really don't want to give up any of my current reservations, so we'd be paying for this one or the cheapest meal of them out of pocket. Would adding this breakfast be worth the $70 out of pocket?
Sorry so stinking long!!!!!! I'd appreciate everyone's advice/two cents!

 

[luvthemouse71]

I'm partial to Crystal Palace for breakfast because the food is good, it's beautiful in there and it's just a nice start to our day. It's actually become a tradition now...I make the ADR for a Sunday morning.

I've never eaten at Chef Mickey's but I have gotten the impression from here that it's kind of overrated..I've also heard the food is so-so.

 

[DH-2-mamaduck]

In Oct '06 visit I went to the Crystal Palace for breakfast and really liked it. Can't go wrong w/ a bfast buffet, especially with the kids. Food was good. I had it scheduled in my June '09 trip, we had dinner at Chef Mickey’s and the food was horrible, but the pics we got were great! (see my trip report for more details). Ended up canceling the bfast @ Crystal Palace. EMH is what, 8am -9am. When we did it, we booked a late bfast. Got to park early, then when ready for a break, went for bfast. Kids all had light snack/drink when we got up so they could last.

So to answer your question, I’d do both if in your budget!

 

[jacksmom]

We always look forward to eating at CP!

 

[PoohsFan1]

I am like you, the last time we ate at CP was back in 2005 for dinner and we thought the whole experiece was really good, but for future trips, we wanted to try other character meals. Now fast forward to New Years Eve 2009, DH, DFIL, DMIL, and I all decide to book a trip for Disney during our DDs Spring Break and one of the character breakfasts that we thought about trying was Crystal Palace. Now I too read all of the positive reviews and was very excited about eating there and trying it out. Well, after DH looked over our ADRs (that I had already booked), he decided that the CP would cut into our early Magic Hours and said we should get rid of it and just do the Main Street Bakery. I was kind of let down by this, but understood so I got rid of my ADR. Well thankfully my DH wanted to book another vacation for September and I immediately told my DH that we are definitely going to try CP for breakfast and my DH's response was as long as we get an ADR before the park opens....so now I am holding a 8:05am ADR on one of our MK days , and I am not going to get rid of this one

 

[MinnieLovesMickey]

DH and I did an 8:05am ADR last Dec. If your family members are early risers this is a perfect time for family photos. We got great photos all the way up Main Street and in front of the castle. We saw a couple taking a picture of their daughter walking up to the castle all by herself with no one else around.

 

[Disney Crazy Debbie]

We love CP for breakfast (never eaten any other meals there)! Great character interaction and the food was good. It is on my list and ADRs for August this year. Remember, they just renovated the place.

 

[Faldred]

I've done breakfast and lunch at CP, and thought that breakfast was significantly better.

 

[dawnbu40]

Breakfast is the best meal CP offers. My family does not care for the lunch or dinner but breakfast is really good. We were there earlier this month and had an 8:20 adr which had us in the parks before opening which is great for taking pictures and there were even pp guys there to take pp pics on Main Street. The characters made their way to our table twice in an hour so we had a lot of great pics and interaction.

The food at CP is much better then at Chef Mickey's and the atmosphere is much nicer. We don't like how loud CM can get.

 

[JoePa4Ever]

Crystal Palace brkfst is our favorite brkfst in WDW - fortunately we have been able to score 8:05 adrs on non-emh days and this has become a tradition for us. We love getting into MK early and finishing brkfst in time for rope drop. The brksft buffet is good - I especially enjoy the puffed french toast We've always had good character interaction & we enjoy the bright/open atmosphere of CP.

Besides CP for brkfst, we also tried CP for dinner last year and thought the food was just ok. We did not have any issues with the character interaction, but we will definitely stick to CP for brkfst only from now on.

Chef Mickey's brkfst is also a favorite of ours - we do both CM & CP brksfts on our trips - if you can do both, then I would say go for it - I don't think you'll be disappointed.

 

[tami82]

I added one even though i really dont like to eat breakfast due to eating too much. There are so many pos reviews i just have to try it.

 

[StitchandPooh'sMom]

We love CP breakfast the best, although we have enjoyed the lunch and dinner as well. Eating at CP is a must do each trip, and we get an ADR before the park opens. CP was closed in January when we went to WDW, so we added a MK day to our Universal trip this summer. It's a family tradition!

 

[ToyStoryBo]

We've never eaten at CP for breakfast, either.....but just wanted to say that I've added it to our upcoming trip as well. We were planning on eating there for dinner instead, but with all the rave reviews and the idea of getting in the park early, I've decided to add it. We will also have to pay for one meal OOP.