MissMagnolia
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Nov 17, 2003
Yeah! I love your reviews. I need to subscribe so I don't miss your review of Crystal Palace.
BOYS MEET WORLD... NEW! Crystal Palace review on p. 6
- Thread starter kahluacream
- Start date
Disney owl
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Apr 28, 2001
great reviews, thanks
katiesmomluvsdizne
Miami Student & fan. Miami U in Ohio, the one that
- Joined
- May 28, 2006
Just don't want to miss your reviews that are still to come.
Great details thus far!!
Leaving in 40 days and this helps the days go by.
Great details thus far!!
Leaving in 40 days and this helps the days go by.
kahluacream
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Jun 29, 2005
Lunch at Crystal Palace
Thursday, May 11
If youre still with me, this dining review is from our last full day of our familys first Disney World vacation. (The end is in sight Scouts honor!) Heres a little recap in case youre just tuning in:
Cast of Characters:
Me (DW) SAHM, also the one who makes the ADRs
Him (DH) Workaholic, also the one who loves to eat
Dash (DS-5) Picky eater, also the one who would rather be dining with the Incredibles
Little Mickey (DS-2) Human garbage disposal, also the one who just loves that Mouse
About US:
Its our first family trip to Disney World, and were staying at the Wilderness Lodge. (Woo Hoo!) We have a big boy who will start Kindergarten in FIVE days (Yikes!!!) and a toddler, both very active kids. Clearly, Victoria and Alberts was not going to be an option for us
These reviews are based on what mattered most to our family : the quality of food we ate, the amount of fun we had, and how fast the service was.
And now, finally, the review:
Weve already dined with Chef Mickey for dinner and Donald for breakfast. Today, were meeting another bunch of characters for lunch at the Crystal Palace. The boys were really excited about this meal after a chance meeting in the Magic Kingdom yesterday. We had a little pixie dust sprinkled on us at Toontown when Pooh came right up to the rope at its opening, took Dash by the hand, and they skipped along together to open Toontown Fair. Little Mickey happily waved to Tigger. The boys couldnt wait to see their favorite Hundred Acre Woods characters again for a special lunch. In fact, Little Mickey actually thought we were staying IN the Hundred Acre Woods this week at the Wilderness Lodge. Every time we walked along the tree-lined path to our villa, he would ask: Wow! Is this the Hund-wed Acre Woods? Wheres Pooh?
And so we headed the Magic Kingdom to find Pooh and his gang. The Crystal Palace contains no Hundred Acre-type forest, just lots and lots of windows. Its bright and airy atmosphere puts you in a great mood right away! As I walked over to the front porch to check in, a mother duck waddled by with three sweet little babies following along behind her in a straight line. Why cant my babies follow me in such an orderly fashion?, I thought. DH corralled our offspring into the double stroller for a scenic tour of Adventureland to afford me enough time to wait in line. The line was long . Verrrrrrrrrry long Heck, they might make it to Tom Sawyer Island and back before our pager flashes!
When I made my ADRs months ago, I asked what the earliest seating would be for lunch. 11:00 was the answer, so 11:00 it was! I reckoned that there would be little or no wait since it was the FIRST lunch seating. Makes sense, right??? Wrong! What I neglected to figure into the equation was that the CP also serves a very popular breakfast. Apparently, the latest seating for breakfast is 10:30 a.m. The Crystal Palace waits for the breakfast crowd to clear before seating lunch-goers. If you figure that it takes at least an hour to eat, you can see why our wait was so long.
Heres a big tip for anyone lunching at the CP: AVOID THE 11:00 RESERVATION!!! The turnover from breakfast makes it impossible for you to be seated quickly, and youll be doing a whole lot of waiting in a potentially hot part of the day. If I had to do this over, I would try for an 11:45 reservation for lunch or an 8:00 breakfast reservation on a non-EMH morning to get into the MK before opening. Please learn from my mistake 11:00 CP ressie = Loooooooong wait!
Fortunately, our meal at the CP more than made up for the wait. We passed a very cute Piglet, stationed in front of the buffet, as our hostess seated us at a table next to one of the restaurants many windows. The buffet beckoned, so DH and I each took turns filling plates for the boys and ourselves. Although Im not a huge fan of buffets, I really enjoyed the variety of food served here. Heated foods were actually hot-- not lukewarm. The ingredients in all of the salads also appeared to be fresh. I could live on bread alone, and the CP had a great selection of rolls. There was a flavored butter with sundried tomatoes or something that was so yummy! My favorites from this meal were the corn spoon bread, pork tenderloin, flank steak and a penne pasta dish with mushrooms and chicken. I also enjoyed sampling the salads, one with couscous was really tasty. The boys ate typical kid food, chicken strips and pizza, with a little bit of fruit. The restaurant offered plenty of desserts to satisfy any sweet tooth, but the quality of the cakes and cookies was so-so IMHO. I just went back for more bread!!!
As for the characters, the boys loved the opportunity to meet Tigger, Eeyore, Piglet and Pooh up close. There was a very large school group of about 60 middle school students seated in the center of the restaurant who took quite a bit of the characters' time. They wanted pictures in every possible configuration whole group, individual, just the girls with the character, just the boys with the character, three best friends with the character You get the idea!
It took awhile for the characters to make their rounds. Tigger seemed to be the most popular, and he had his own special handler to facilitate his autograph signing and picture taking. Dash was so cute when Tigger finally made it to our table; he literally bounced up and down! Tigger, always in character, bounced right along with him. Eeyore moped over in a rather sad way. When Pooh arrived, Dash asked if he remembered him from the opening of Toontown Fair yesterday. Pooh nodded yes, and that made Dash so happy!
Watching the boys interact with the characters was probably the highlight of this trip for DH and me. Their little eyes just lit up with excitement because these characters were absolutely REAL to them. Many say that you shouldnt take a child to Disney until theyre old enough to remember the experience. Well, our youngest may not remember this trip five years from now, but I will never forget the precious look on his face when he leaned over and kissed Piglet right on the snout. And Ill never forget the way Dashs eyes sparkled with excitement as he bounced with Tigger or hugged Pooh. Our family would definitely return to the Crystal Palace again. The next time, our oldest son might realize that the characters are just costumes. It will still be fun, but Im so glad that we got to experience this character meal while the magic was still real.
Ratings for the Crystal Palace:
Food: A (Very good overall)
Fast: C- (Long wait to check in, long wait to be seated, long wait to see all characters)
Fun: A (We had a really great time despite all of that waiting!)
Next up:
Our last night of Disney dining, and scuba divers wave to us as we eat our meal Can you guess where?
Thursday, May 11
If youre still with me, this dining review is from our last full day of our familys first Disney World vacation. (The end is in sight Scouts honor!) Heres a little recap in case youre just tuning in:
Cast of Characters:
Me (DW) SAHM, also the one who makes the ADRs
Him (DH) Workaholic, also the one who loves to eat
Dash (DS-5) Picky eater, also the one who would rather be dining with the Incredibles
Little Mickey (DS-2) Human garbage disposal, also the one who just loves that Mouse
About US:
Its our first family trip to Disney World, and were staying at the Wilderness Lodge. (Woo Hoo!) We have a big boy who will start Kindergarten in FIVE days (Yikes!!!) and a toddler, both very active kids. Clearly, Victoria and Alberts was not going to be an option for us
These reviews are based on what mattered most to our family : the quality of food we ate, the amount of fun we had, and how fast the service was.
And now, finally, the review:
Weve already dined with Chef Mickey for dinner and Donald for breakfast. Today, were meeting another bunch of characters for lunch at the Crystal Palace. The boys were really excited about this meal after a chance meeting in the Magic Kingdom yesterday. We had a little pixie dust sprinkled on us at Toontown when Pooh came right up to the rope at its opening, took Dash by the hand, and they skipped along together to open Toontown Fair. Little Mickey happily waved to Tigger. The boys couldnt wait to see their favorite Hundred Acre Woods characters again for a special lunch. In fact, Little Mickey actually thought we were staying IN the Hundred Acre Woods this week at the Wilderness Lodge. Every time we walked along the tree-lined path to our villa, he would ask: Wow! Is this the Hund-wed Acre Woods? Wheres Pooh?
And so we headed the Magic Kingdom to find Pooh and his gang. The Crystal Palace contains no Hundred Acre-type forest, just lots and lots of windows. Its bright and airy atmosphere puts you in a great mood right away! As I walked over to the front porch to check in, a mother duck waddled by with three sweet little babies following along behind her in a straight line. Why cant my babies follow me in such an orderly fashion?, I thought. DH corralled our offspring into the double stroller for a scenic tour of Adventureland to afford me enough time to wait in line. The line was long . Verrrrrrrrrry long Heck, they might make it to Tom Sawyer Island and back before our pager flashes!
When I made my ADRs months ago, I asked what the earliest seating would be for lunch. 11:00 was the answer, so 11:00 it was! I reckoned that there would be little or no wait since it was the FIRST lunch seating. Makes sense, right??? Wrong! What I neglected to figure into the equation was that the CP also serves a very popular breakfast. Apparently, the latest seating for breakfast is 10:30 a.m. The Crystal Palace waits for the breakfast crowd to clear before seating lunch-goers. If you figure that it takes at least an hour to eat, you can see why our wait was so long.
Heres a big tip for anyone lunching at the CP: AVOID THE 11:00 RESERVATION!!! The turnover from breakfast makes it impossible for you to be seated quickly, and youll be doing a whole lot of waiting in a potentially hot part of the day. If I had to do this over, I would try for an 11:45 reservation for lunch or an 8:00 breakfast reservation on a non-EMH morning to get into the MK before opening. Please learn from my mistake 11:00 CP ressie = Loooooooong wait!
Fortunately, our meal at the CP more than made up for the wait. We passed a very cute Piglet, stationed in front of the buffet, as our hostess seated us at a table next to one of the restaurants many windows. The buffet beckoned, so DH and I each took turns filling plates for the boys and ourselves. Although Im not a huge fan of buffets, I really enjoyed the variety of food served here. Heated foods were actually hot-- not lukewarm. The ingredients in all of the salads also appeared to be fresh. I could live on bread alone, and the CP had a great selection of rolls. There was a flavored butter with sundried tomatoes or something that was so yummy! My favorites from this meal were the corn spoon bread, pork tenderloin, flank steak and a penne pasta dish with mushrooms and chicken. I also enjoyed sampling the salads, one with couscous was really tasty. The boys ate typical kid food, chicken strips and pizza, with a little bit of fruit. The restaurant offered plenty of desserts to satisfy any sweet tooth, but the quality of the cakes and cookies was so-so IMHO. I just went back for more bread!!!
As for the characters, the boys loved the opportunity to meet Tigger, Eeyore, Piglet and Pooh up close. There was a very large school group of about 60 middle school students seated in the center of the restaurant who took quite a bit of the characters' time. They wanted pictures in every possible configuration whole group, individual, just the girls with the character, just the boys with the character, three best friends with the character You get the idea!
It took awhile for the characters to make their rounds. Tigger seemed to be the most popular, and he had his own special handler to facilitate his autograph signing and picture taking. Dash was so cute when Tigger finally made it to our table; he literally bounced up and down! Tigger, always in character, bounced right along with him. Eeyore moped over in a rather sad way. When Pooh arrived, Dash asked if he remembered him from the opening of Toontown Fair yesterday. Pooh nodded yes, and that made Dash so happy!
Watching the boys interact with the characters was probably the highlight of this trip for DH and me. Their little eyes just lit up with excitement because these characters were absolutely REAL to them. Many say that you shouldnt take a child to Disney until theyre old enough to remember the experience. Well, our youngest may not remember this trip five years from now, but I will never forget the precious look on his face when he leaned over and kissed Piglet right on the snout. And Ill never forget the way Dashs eyes sparkled with excitement as he bounced with Tigger or hugged Pooh. Our family would definitely return to the Crystal Palace again. The next time, our oldest son might realize that the characters are just costumes. It will still be fun, but Im so glad that we got to experience this character meal while the magic was still real.
Ratings for the Crystal Palace:
Food: A (Very good overall)
Fast: C- (Long wait to check in, long wait to be seated, long wait to see all characters)
Fun: A (We had a really great time despite all of that waiting!)
Next up:
Our last night of Disney dining, and scuba divers wave to us as we eat our meal Can you guess where?
MomPlanner22
If you don't have anything nice to say, come sit b
- Joined
- Apr 21, 2006
Thanks so much for your reviews! They have been really really helpful. We are going in December with our kids who will be 4.5 and 2.5 and also have the one hour max meal attention span! All of our ADR's and CS lunch plans are 11:00 to 11:30 and 5:00 to 5:30. We are also doing several buffets because I figure at least we can get them some food quickly, if nothing else!
We are going to have to forego WCC and I am so bummed! We are only there for 4 days/3 nights and have opted to do Grand Floridian instead of CRT. At least this way we will see Cinderella but at a much reduced cost and not taking time out of the park. Besides, I hear the food isn't great and the options won't be good my kids.
Again, thanks for sharing!!!
We are going to have to forego WCC and I am so bummed! We are only there for 4 days/3 nights and have opted to do Grand Floridian instead of CRT. At least this way we will see Cinderella but at a much reduced cost and not taking time out of the park. Besides, I hear the food isn't great and the options won't be good my kids.
Again, thanks for sharing!!!
seven dwarfs
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jul 8, 2006
I have enjoyed reading your reviews! Thank you so much for taking the time to share. 
daisy_77
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- May 31, 2005
Thank you so much for your reviews!
We are taking our DD for her 3rd birthday next year and it was nice to hear what restaurants are preschooler friendly! Chef Mickey's, WCC, Crystal Palace and Concourse are some TS's that we will definitely be trying out! Thanks again!
We are taking our DD for her 3rd birthday next year and it was nice to hear what restaurants are preschooler friendly! Chef Mickey's, WCC, Crystal Palace and Concourse are some TS's that we will definitely be trying out! Thanks again!
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