Liberty Tree Tavern Vs. Crystal Palace

[lebeau]

Several points to consider:

1. We have never eaten at either restaurant
2. We have 2 girls ages 3 and 7
3. The 3-year old will eat anything. But the 7 and 32-year-old are extremely picky eaters.
4. Although the kids like characters, no one is an especially big fan of Pooh in particular

Currently, I have ADRs at Crystal Palace at 5:50. The MSEP starts at 7:00. Originally, I thought this would be plenty of time. But now I am second guessing myself. Sticking around to see all the characters really isn't that big of a deal. And we don't usually stake out a parade viewing spot in advance. So I think it's possible to hit the buffet hard and fast and then run out to see the parade from a less than ideal spot.

On the other hand, I can get a reservation for Liberty Tree Tavern at 5:15 which should allow for plenty of time to dine before the parade. But Josie is pretty picky. She probably wouldn't eat any of the meat offerings at LTT. Depending on her mood, she may not eat much there at all. On Thanksgiving, she usually eats rolls and maybe some mashed potatoes or veggies. CP seems more kid-friendly.

Any recommendations?

 

[Crush Dude!]

Several points to consider:

1. We have never eaten at either restaurant
2. We have 2 girls ages 3 and 7
3. The 3-year old will eat anything. But the 7 and 32-year-old are extremely picky eaters.
4. Although the kids like characters, no one is an especially big fan of Pooh in particular

Currently, I have ADRs at Crystal Palace at 5:50. The MSEP starts at 7:00. Originally, I thought this would be plenty of time. But now I am second guessing myself. Sticking around to see all the characters really isn't that big of a deal. And we don't usually stake out a parade viewing spot in advance. So I think it's possible to hit the buffet hard and fast and then run out to see the parade from a less than ideal spot.

On the other hand, I can get a reservation for Liberty Tree Tavern at 5:15 which should allow for plenty of time to dine before the parade. But Josie is pretty picky. She probably wouldn't eat any of the meat offerings at LTT. Depending on her mood, she may not eat much there at all. On Thanksgiving, she usually eats rolls and maybe some mashed potatoes or veggies. CP seems more kid-friendly.

Any recommendations?

Never done dinner at CP! Going on the details id say stick with it! Many more options

 

[Pooh Lover]

The rolls and special butter at LTT are awesome! They also have very good macaroni and cheese. Since characters aren't an issue, you might actually be able to get in and out of CP quicker than LTT. The girls won't eat much so its basically how fast the adults can get the food for the kids, themselves and eat. CP does tend to be a madhouse though and you could possibly end up waiting for a table although I've waited equally as long at LTT. I'd stick with the CP if time is your main concern.

 

[coltow]

LTT is a place my 8yo asks to go back to. He likes the food there and that it's "American" aka Red White and Blue, in fact he calls it he "america restaurant." We like the food there just fine. It's Thanksgiving and who doesn't like a nice turkey dinner? You also have the food brought to you so no need to wait in buffet line.

Last time we ate at CP we were not impressed with food or characters. My sister was there a few days ago and said the food was nothing special, but her nephew (3) loved meeting Pooh.

 

[MissM]

There will definitely be more options at Crystal Palace. Especially since there is both an "adult" buffet and a "kids" buffet. I think when we went, all told we were there for about an hour and saw all four characters. It moved pretty efficiently when we went.

Liberty Tree Tavern is good too, despite the lack of characters. It is expensive for the fixed menu though. We were just there in February for Love's birthday. You can get as much of anything that you want but that said, you can only get what's on the menu. Salads and bread (really yummy) to start.Turkey, beef (my favorite) and pork plus mac and cheese, mashed potatoes, a veg (think it was green beans?) for dinner. A Craisins Apple tart for dessert. (The old dessert was better.)

If you're afraid your daughter won't eat LTT, then it seems like CP is the better option. Just because there are a lot more offerings at CP.

Is there a second parade showing that night? Can you just do the second show instead?

 

[crispy]

My first thought would be CP since you have two picky eaters and a buffet offers a lot of options. The service we have had there, however, was painfully slow so if you need to be somewhere quickly it may not be a good option. What does your daughter like to eat? It's possible that LTT may be able to get her something she enjoys (like chicken fingers or a PBJ sandwich) which would make everyone happy.

 

[wannab@dis]

The buffet at CP is a great choice with picky kids. We didn't have an issue with our 2 kids finding plenty to eat and they enjoyed it.

 

[GenerationX]

I'd stick with the Crystal Palace and show up 20-30 minutes early for the ADR. They may be able to get you in early.

 

[WDWisAMAZING22]

Based on what you wrote, I'd say Crystal Palace is the way to go. There is variety for picky eaters and the characters are a nice touch for younger children.

 

[lebeau]

Thanks to everyone for the feedback.

Over the weekend, I had a surprising development.

I ran this question past my wife first. No preference. So I went to Josie, my picky eater. I had the laptop and was prepared to show her pictures of the food at LTT, CP and the parade. I started off with broad questions.

"Do you want to see the night-time parade?"

"Yes, I guess so." (Tone: Interested but not overly so.)

"We have two choices for dinner. One is a Thanksgiving-style dinner."

"I want that one!" (Tone: Suddenly very excited.)

"Okay. Well, it's turkey."

"I love turkey!"

"And salad..."

"Salad - YUM!"

This went on a little while longer. I started showing her pictures. I got as far as the salad and Josie had made up her mind. She wanted the "Thanksgiving" dinner. We never got to pictures of CP. She's 7 years old and typically doesn't eat much at Thanksgiving. It is sometimes embarassing, honestly. But apparently she had turkey at the school cafeteria one day and decided she loved it.

I eventually convinced her to look at pictures of the rest of the meal. She decided everything looked good. She's pickey about her mac and cheese, but deemed this acceptable. If she doesn't like the dessert (which I bet she won't) she'll eat the ice cream. She is on a salad kick right now. And you can't go wrong with rolls. So, long story short, the kid I was worried about now has her heart set on LTT.

Eventually, both girls were climbing on me. Their mom was upstairs napping and I still had the laptop pulled up to some Disney sites. So, I pulled up some info on the Main Street Electrical Parade. Kara, the three year old, was mezmorized. So moving our dinner reservation to accomodate the parade seems like a pretty good idea.

Thanks again to everyone for the helpful feedback. Looks like it's going to be LTT this time!

 

[jpittore1]

I wish they would bring back the '76 style characters to LTT. We just ate at both CP and LTT in early June....it will probably be our last time at CP. The buffet was fair for lunch and it took the all characters over an hour to get to our table...LTT will bring you as much food as you want. I love the turkey, too. They changed the desert and improved the apple and ice cream dessert.

 

[Ariel484]

In June 2011 we actually watched MSEP sitting on the steps of LTT...so you can basically run out the door and the parade should be right there.

 

[ScoutN]

Past two times I have had CP my family, friends, and myself hated it. We vowed to never go again for quite a while and switched loyalty to LTT. Everything from the sides to meats at CP were very low par. I stand by my statement of "Character meals truly jip you out of much better restaurants at WDW."

 

[lebeau]

In June 2011 we actually watched MSEP sitting on the steps of LTT...so you can basically run out the door and the parade should be right there.

So I have heard. Hopefully that will work out for us as well!

 

[BrerPete]

Love both, but CP is probably your best bet.

 

[DsnySodec]

I have only eaten at the CP once and it was for breakfast. We had tried many times previously to get in there. Our last trip my wife, my daughter and mother loved the CP. However, I'm not a huge fan of buffets for dinner. If you want a good breakfast in a park I recommend going to the CP in the morning.

This way you could eat at LT the for dinner, and have the opportunity to eat at both.

Hope this helps

 

[lebeau]

I have only eaten at the CP once and it was for breakfast. We had tried many times previously to get in there. Our last trip my wife, my daughter and mother loved the CP. However, I'm not a huge fan of buffets for dinner. If you want a good breakfast in a park I recommend going to the CP in the morning.

This way you could eat at LT the for dinner, and have the opportunity to eat at both.

Hope this helps

That's a good idea, but I'm not sure my stomach (or my wallet for that matter) could handle it!

 

[flavious27]

From what I have heard in the past, CP is good for breakfast and lunch. LTT has a nice sized menu of kid's options for lunch; I don't know if it is the same for dinner because all I see online is one entree for dinner.