The Crystal Palace

[Sunshineglow68]

I made reservations to eat at The Crystal Palace restaurant while we're in WDW in September. We have the Dining Plan and I just realized this morning that I have to use 2 Sit Down Meals for this one reservation. Is it worth it? My daughter is 10 and is really not big into the Characters.

 

[Master Yoda]

Crystal Palace only charges 1 table credit service per person. You might be confusing it with Cinderellas Royal Table which charges 2.

 

[jesemeca]

Crystal Palace only uses 1 Table Service credit per meal. Trust me, I know. We eat at Crystal Palace multiple times each trip and it has always been 1 credit.

 

[I_heart_Tigger]

Yes, you only have to use one table service credit however on my last trip this was easily the worst meal we had. The food was ok, nothing great...basically edible. The character interaction was terrible. This was our first meal on our first evening there and I was hoping it would help set the mood - being in Magic Kingdom, meeting some of our favourite childhood characters and having a good meal and it was embarrasingly disappointing. I kept reassuring my friends that the meals the rest of the week would be better. Luckily they all were.

We mostly wanted to see Tigger and Eeyore but wanted a photo with each character and we basically refused to leave our table until we got to see them. Two hours later our server took us from one side of the restaurant to the other to get a quick photo with the characters - no interaction at all. In the two & a half hours we were there the only character that actually came to our table was Piglet - we had to hijack Tigger from another table since he skipped ours and we had to get a quick photo with Pooh and Eeyore at someone elses table on our way out.

 

[Sunshineglow68]

Thank you...........it helps if you read it entirely. LOL

 

[mrsdanalind]

Yes, you only have to use one table service credit however on my last trip this was easily the worst meal we had. The food was ok, nothing great...basically edible. The character interaction was terrible. This was our first meal on our first evening there and I was hoping it would help set the mood - being in Magic Kingdom, meeting some of our favourite childhood characters and having a good meal and it was embarrasingly disappointing. I kept reassuring my friends that the meals the rest of the week would be better. Luckily they all were.

We mostly wanted to see Tigger and Eeyore but wanted a photo with each character and we basically refused to leave our table until we got to see them. Two hours later our server took us from one side of the restaurant to the other to get a quick photo with the characters - no interaction at all. In the two & a half hours we were there the only character that actually came to our table was Piglet - we had to hijack Tigger from another table since he skipped ours and we had to get a quick photo with Pooh and Eeyore at someone elses table on our way out.

We've eaten there over 20x and not every time were the character interactions the best. I would estimate that about 98% of the time the interaction was fantastic, but it's the 2% that was bad. The food was fine, not gourmet, but good with plenty of good solid edible food. We always book Crystal Palace, and have only had bad experiences 2% of the time, on the same par as our favorite restaurant at home.

 

[I_heart_Tigger]

We've eaten there over 20x and not every time were the character interactions the best. I would estimate that about 98% of the time the interaction was fantastic, but it's the 2% that was bad. The food was fine, not gourmet, but good with plenty of good solid edible food. We always book Crystal Palace, and have only had bad experiences 2% of the time, on the same par as our favorite restaurant at home.

Unfortunately that hasn't been my experience. If I didn't have a huge Eeyore fan in my group last visit I wouldn't have booked it. In my 7 visits (that I can recall) I had a great experience once. The other times either the food was so bad we ate afterwards or we only got to see 1 or two characters because the others never came to our table.

My last visit was the 3rd time I had to ask the server to help us get a photo with the characters because they never came to our table at all. One just passed right by without stopping and 2 others started to come to our side of the restaurant then took a break, returned about 10 minutes later and went back to the same tables they just visited instead of coming to the side they hadn't yet (I realize that different people were in the costumes but their handlers should have organized this much better)

This last time we were there at around 6pm - there was no bread, burnt pizza, the potatoes were cold, no fish or chicken when we first went up - just a bunch of empty trays. When they did finally put chicken out it was really greasy and not cooked all the way through so we threw it out and told the CM who cut into a piece, apologized and took it away - no more chicken the rest of time we were there. Also, it's pretty bad when even the desserts are awful because I love desserts. Cookies were so hard when I bit into it I looked at the bottom and it was completely black. In my opinion it is the worst character meal on property and a meal credit or money is much better spent at any of the others.

Lets just say I'm glad it was just a meal credit or we would have spent $150 on Piglet and some salad :lol:

Unfortunately I always seem to be traveling with people who insist on going there because they think that it's the best way to see their favourite character from the 100 acre wood. :brick:

 

[Cosmic Commando]

I've only eaten at Crystal Palace for breakfast, but I've thought the food was pretty good. Plus, it's cheaper. Pooh's puffed french toast and the breakfast pizza are great! I've never been disappointed with the service or the character interaction, either. The worst thing that happened was just bad timing instead of poor service: we sat down when Piglet was like a table or two past us and then with character parades and break time, we were ready to go for a while before we got to see Piglet. The server was very nice and made sure Piglet came to us first after his break, and we got some kind of handwritten fastpass for our trouble.

 

[Pooh Lover]

We normally eat lunch at CP every year and have always felt the food was good (on par with most other buffets at WDW) and great character interaction. I've never left there feeling the food was disappointing. The only problem I've ever had there was from parents wanting immediate character interaction for their child, holding the characters up from reaching other tables. Do try it once. Its a great chance to see all the Pooh characters.

 

[finaldynasty]

In our past three trips, we have eatin at CP for breakfast and dinner...breakfast was better than dinner, but it was not bad for either. We usually go during the third week in June so it is pretty busy and we have had a good experience. One time with a total party of 12, all on the dining plan. The other plus about going for breakfast is that you are in the park before the mass crowds and can get some very, very good pictures on main street and be one of the first folks to get a fast pass at the ride of your choice.

Enjoy!

 

[LuvtheGoof]

We have simply got to be the luckiest people around, because we have had breakfast there 12 times in the last few years, excellent hot food, and awesome character interaction, even if it was just my wife and I. We would not eat there for dinner, so maybe convince your friends to change the time of day that you go. I'm really sorry to hear that you have had such bad experiences, but that has not been our experience at all.

 

[Paul G.]

The Crystal Palace is definitly only 1 credit.Some of the comments about the food and charecter interaction suprises me.We have eaten there at least 20 times and the food is always good and plentiful.As for the charecters they usualy visit our table 2 or 3 times.

 

[Lucky]

We've been there for the breakfast and dinner, & had good character interaction. The food isn't anything special - the location is the main selling point for CP. CRT is the only other place in MK with characters, and it's far more expensive (or if you're on the DDP costs 2 credits instead of the 1 at CP).

 

[Spikerdink]

I have only been to CP a few times (surprising since my bedroom looks like it belongs to a 5 year old with all of the Winnie plush and knick knacks...) and never had a bad time --- But since I have had horrible experiences at Chef Mickey's and people swear by that....must be an off night for our experiences....

 

[bgraham34]

I have only been to CP a few times (surprising since my bedroom looks like it belongs to a 5 year old with all of the Winnie plush and knick knacks...) and never had a bad time --- But since I have had horrible experiences at Chef Mickey's and people swear by that....must be an off night for our experiences....

We don't do Chef Mickeys anymore. We felt the food was not as good as Crystal Palace and we always felt rushed at CM as well.

 

[Eldon_Brasche]

Crystal Palace is off the list for us. In my opinion, the food is just so-so, kind of a scaled down version of a Golden Coral.:hurl: I can't tell you when they have changed the menu last. It's the same tired old selections year after year. Kinda feeling the same way about Boma.

 

[disneygirl76]

We are trying it for dinner for the first time this trip. I have been there loads of times, but only ever for breakfast. Its one of our favorite places to dine for breakfast. :slurp:

 

[71dsp]

We don't do Chef Mickeys anymore. We felt the food was not as good as Crystal Palace and we always felt rushed at CM as well.

Been to CM 3 times and Crystal Palace twice. Both Crystal Palace experiences were sub par (one breakfast and one lunch). We most likely won't be going back.

We've enjoyed Chef Mickey's each time (dinner) we've gone. Food was only 'ok' this past time, but was very good the first two times.

Character interactions at CM's has been better than CP's for us.