Any recent dinner experiences at Crystal Palace?

[Weather_Lady]

Hello! Yes, I have already checked the reviews page... and Yelp... and a bunch of other sites with WDW restaurant reviews, but none seem recent enough (or specific enough) to be of help.

We are booked for an early dinner (5pm) at Crystal Palace on our upcoming visit (with "free" dining) -- it will be DH, me, my MIL, and our 10-year-old son and 8-year-old daughter. I've been browsing reviews and they seem so schizophrenic and inconsistent that I can't figure out whether we've scored a lovely ADR, or made a terrible mistake! Can anyone with recent experience with CP weigh in on the following two aspects...?

(1) Wait times. Breakfast reviewers (it seems like more people review breakfast than any other CP meal) seem to complain about long waits to be seated and snail's pace character visits, but I can't find enough dinner reviews to make an assessment as to whether it's the same for all meals. I was assuming we'd probably have at least a few minutes' wait to be seated (as is typical anywhere at WDW), but that we'd still be in-and-out in 90 minutes or less, but I just want to make sure we allot enough time and don't have to rush off mid-meal to get to a FP+ or something.

(2) Food quality. We are not picky eaters and we're not expecting four-star gourmet dishes, but we do appreciate when hot foods are served hot, cold foods are served cold, salads and seafood items (we live far from the coast, so things like shrimp or paella, etc. are a huge treat for us and something we flock to on a buffet) are fresh and tasty, and proteins (carving station meats, etc.) aren't overcooked. What are your thoughts on the dinner buffet food? How does it compare to, say, the quality of the food at Liberty Tree Tavern (an American all-you-care-to-enjoy meal which my family loves) or Hollywood & Vine (an American buffet that was a giant disappointment to us, due to the food being bland, tepid, consistently over or undercooked, and unappetizing)? I can find a lot of reviews where people say the food at CP's dinner buffet is "great" or "awful," but they don't tell me why anyone thought so, so your thoughts would be much appreciated.

(For what it's worth, and to put it in context, our other dinner ADRs are: Skipper Canteen, Akershus, Restaurant Marrakesh, Boma: Flavors of Africa, Hoop-de-Doo Musical Revue, and 'Ohana, plus we have a CS lunch ADR at Be Our Guest. While Crystal Palace may not end up being a standout favorite, I'm hoping it won't seem "below par" compared with the other restaurants we'll be visiting.)

Thank you!

 

[Schneewittchen]

I had dinner at Crystal Palace in late March this year. I've had dinner there several times.

There was always a brief wait before seating. For the earlier meals, it was shorter, maybe 10 minutes, but for later meals it was longer. The restaurant just gets busier. There's a definite rotation for the characters around the room, and then a parade. I wouldn't call it slow, it just depends on when you are seated and where the characters are at in the room. I think it can be up to about an hour to see them all if you're seated after they've been through your section.

For the buffet, the food is always served at the right temperature. Disney is one of the few places that I'm comfortable with eating buffet food. They seem serious about food safety in my experience. As for taste, you know it's not exciting. It is frequently bland and kid-friendly, but the roast meats tend to be good quality, the salad bar is fresh and the servers keep your glasses full.

I mostly appreciate having a place to sit still in the AC for about 80 minutes after a hot day running around the park. Pooh and iced tea are nice too.

 

[Weather_Lady]

I had dinner at Crystal Palace in late March this year. I've had dinner there several times.

There was always a brief wait before seating. For the earlier meals, it was shorter, maybe 10 minutes, but for later meals it was longer. The restaurant just gets busier. There's a definite rotation for the characters around the room, and then a parade. I wouldn't call it slow, it just depends on when you are seated and where the characters are at in the room. I think it can be up to about an hour to see them all if you're seated after they've been through your section.

For the buffet, the food is always served at the right temperature. Disney is one of the few places that I'm comfortable with eating buffet food. They seem serious about food safety in my experience. As for taste, you know it's not exciting. It is frequently bland and kid-friendly, but the roast meats tend to be good quality, the salad bar is fresh and the servers keep your glasses full.

I mostly appreciate having a place to sit still in the AC for about 80 minutes after a hot day running around the park. Pooh and iced tea are nice too.

Vielen dank, Schneewittchen!

 

[JennSmith]

We had dinner there last September on a Saturday - the 19th @ 5:55pm. Party of 6. I don't think we waited more than 15 minutes to be seated. I am a super impatient person and I do not remember feeling like we were there too long. I also did not feel like we were rushed with the characters either and I had 3 kids and a mother that all wanted their own pics with each of them and then a group photo of the kids with each...and also autographs. The food was okay/good. I had no complaints but probably would not go back for dinner just because we did eat at so many other places that were much better. So I'd rather pick one of those places to visit again or someplace entirely new. I do NOT regret going there at all though

 

[DisneyFans4Life]

You will read mixed reviews about any buffet at WDW and how they're "all the same" and "hit or miss."

I've always enjoyed my meals at CP and love that Pooh and friends come visit you. I think you will certainly enjoy your time and feel leaving satisfied and full!

 

[sophie_the_pooh]

We had dinner at Crystal Palace last September at 5:15pm, on a MNSSHP night. We got there at 5pm, and waited about 5 minutes to be seated. The food was very good, of course not the best meal I had at WDW (I would say my best meal was at California Grill), but still very good for a buffet, especially the dessert area. We stayed for a little more than an hour and got to meet every characters, my son even got to hug Piglet a second time on our way out! We did not feel rushed, characters would stay for pictures and hugs with both my son and I (DH only wanted a picture with Tigger, which he got!). Crystal Palace is one of my favorite restaurants at WDW, obviously because I am a huge Pooh fan, but also because the food and service are good, and the atmosphere is very pleasant!

 

[carriebeth]

A little less than a year ago we ate at the Crystal Palace. And although it was breakfast we had a great experience and in a couple weeks when we return to WDW we have a dinner booked. There was a great variety of food. There were a couple really delicious items, but as you can expect with a buffet, most were not truly special but were good. We had no wait to speak of. The characters came at just the right pace. I do hate it when you are waiting to meet the last one or two when your meal is finished and even more I hate when they come so fast you can't get a bite or two in before you are rustling up kids to try to get pictures.

I think as long as you realize the food at a WDW buffet is not going to be a world famous mind blowing experience put on by a top chef but more like a filling meal with a few pretty good items you will enjoy it.

 

[parkhopper1213]

We splurged and had Christmas luncheon at the Crystal Palace. It was our first time. The wait was fine and we had a very nice server. They advised us how things work there. The characters come to each table and you can take pictures. They said our meal would take about an hour. (hint hint)
The buffet food was fine. We had more than enough to eat. The dessert selections were not so good. After you pass the Main street Candy store with giant cupcakes and sweets, what they had at the Crystal palace was puny and a bit tasteless. It was about $97 for the two of us to eat Christmas lunch. It was a big splurge for sure, but we didn't need to eat any more that day. We walked off our meal in the Magic Kingdom. Who could ask for anything more?

 

[22YrsDVC]

Weather_Lady, your ADR list makes mine look so pitiful. I decided not to do CP because I'm solo on my free dining trip, and buffets are always problematic for one. I hate leaving my table with no one there to protect food/drink from by-passers or over eager servers!
Have you considered the Cape May Cafe at the Beach Club? No characters at dinner, but the food has always been top shelf.

 

[Weather_Lady]

Have you considered the Cape May Cafe at the Beach Club? No characters at dinner, but the food has always been top shelf.

Actually, we almost did make an ADR there -- it didn't make the cut for this trip (just due to other people's preferences and our touring itinerary schedule, with 3 adults and 2 kids weighing in with various preferences -- if I'd had my druthers it would have gone in place of Restaurant Marrakesh but my husband had a sudden and overwhelming desire to appreciate Morrocan culture once he learned there was belly-dancing) but it's on the list for next time! Thanks for the suggestion!

 

[DrummerAlly]

Actually, we almost did make an ADR there -- it didn't make the cut for this trip (just due to other people's preferences and our touring itinerary schedule, with 3 adults and 2 kids weighing in with various preferences -- if I'd had my druthers it would have gone in place of Restaurant Marrakesh but my husband had a sudden and overwhelming desire to appreciate Morrocan culture once he learned there was belly-dancing) but it's on the list for next time! Thanks for the suggestion!

Funny. Ever since we went to Marrakesh on our honeymoon, its the only restaurant my husband keeps talking about...

 

[Chipster]

My most recent experience was in January 2016 and I won't be going back. Much better buffets on property for the price. Actually I would prefer a sit down waitress meal for the price.

 

[BlackCauldron]

We just ate there for dinner on September 17. We had a 6PM reservation and checked a few minutes early. I would say our wait for a table was around 5 minutes. The restaurant was busy at the time, but didn't feel overly crowded. There was a bit of a wait in the buffet lines. We also found the character experience a little rushed. Each character only came by once, and for about a minute or two - basically enough time for an autograph and a quick picture or two.

The food was mostly ok to me. I felt like much of it needed a good dose of salt. I did quite enjoy the salads. The true standout to me was the clam chowder. Beef was fairly dry. My son really enjoyed the mac and cheese (I really enjoyed it as well). Our meal took us a little over an hour.

Would I be back? Probably not. We did dinner at the Garden Grill earlier that week and I felt that experience was far superior, with MUCH better food (I thought that meal was fantastic) and significantly superior character interactions (they came around 3 times in an hour and spent a fair amount of time at the table.)

 

[carriebeth]

We loved our Crystal Palace Breakfast experience about a year ago. Food--fantastic, characters--great, wait staff--wonderful, time spent--perfect amount

A couple weeks ago we tried dinner. Not so good. We went at around 6 pm on a light park attendance day. Wait time for our table was acceptable but one of the longest waits we experienced our 11 day trip...but still not ridiculous. We were informed that it would be about 1 1/2 hours for the characters to cycle through but I dismissed that because never has it taken that long to get 4 characters around. The food was the worst of the trip. Nothing was really good where you would turn to someone in your party and tell them to try the whatever. It was basically "I can eat this but I won't get more" type food. I wasn't expecting much, its family buffet at Disney, yet I was very let down. A lot of the containers on the buffet were nearly empty/not being refilled fast enough. Our waitress was also the worst of the trip. Where was she? Not at our table clearing things or refilling drinks. We try to make things easy on wait staff since we have 2 rooms for our family, we sit everyone from each room together so they can easily see and divide the check between the rooms. She still could not get how to divide it up after explanations and visuals. Even after breaking it down into numbers for her...3 adults 2 children and an infant on room 1...etc she still was either confused or not trusting our numbers or something and repeatedly had to readd and reaccount for everyone at the table a couple times.

So after an hour we had me one character. One. After an hour and a half we had character 2 in our sights a few tables away. My infant was ready to be done with sitting and waiting...we were all done eating and just waiting. I left to let the baby walk around outside and others stayed to meet the characters. It was over 2 hours total time until they finally met the last character. The interactions were basic and nothing special. The characters were more like "hello, take a picture, goodbye". GIven that I am not sure why it was taking so long for them to get around.

We could have just been there on the perfect storm of a night where everything just ended up wrong. However, since there are so many other choices I enjoy more or would like to try, it will be quite a while before we are willing to give this another attempt. There was just nothing there to draw us back.