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Crystal Palace (MK)
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Who: Shaw Family - 3 adults, 2 kids
Where: Crystal Palace
When: Thursday, Sept. 11, 2008
What: Dinner Character Buffet. There is a kid's buffet which
included mac and cheese, chicken nuggets and green beans. The main
buffet line included salads, a carved meat station, hot pasta dishes,
and a dessert station that includes soft serve ice cream and
pastries/cakes.
Approximate Price of Entrees: Total was approx. $120...we were on
DDP, so we only paid the tip.
Rate the following (1-5, five being the best!)
Food: 4
Service: 2
Atmosphere: 4
Okay for Children: Yes.
Okay for Couples: Not really...very crowded and noisy (tables
are close together)
Be Sure to Try: The salads were good...there was a lentil salad and
an edamame salad that were both good.
General tips: Definitely make sure you have an ADR because this place
gets very crowded. There are two identical buffet lines.
TheMouseForLess tips: easonable as part of the DDP, but there wasn't a
huge amount of variety, so I'm not sure it would really be worth it
if you were paying out of pocket. It's fun if you enjoy Winnie the
Pooh characters.
Who: McKenna Family
Where: Crystal Palace
When: August 19, 2008
What: Lunch
Approximate Price of Entrees: $20.99 per Adult & $11.99 per Child
Rate the following (1-5, five being the best!)
Food: 5
Service: 3
Atmosphere: 4
Okay for Children: Yes.
Okay for Couples: Yes, if you like Pooh, character meals,& lots of children around while you're eating.
Be Sure to Try: The Flank Steak, Garlic Mashed Potatoes, delicious side dishes including wonderfully prepared vegetables & corn spoon bread. Save room for the Pecan Bars & Chocolate Whiskey Cake.
General tips: Make your ADR for around 11:45. Lunch starts at 11:30 officially, but they didn't start seating until around 11:40 & if you go toward the later part of the lunch service, we noticed they didn't replenish the desserts. Not sure about the lunch foods.
TheMouseForLess tips: I was getting tired of what I felt was being truly ripped off at Character Breakfasts, so we decided to try this lunch & were pleasantly surprised. The food served was Dinner food, plenty of it, & absolutely delicious. Will definitely return!
Extra Comments: Don't be put off by what looks like a mob scene waiting for tables. It disappears rather quickly once they start seating people. Some of the tables were too close together & it took long for some of the characters to get to our table (we never did wait around for Piglet to get to us), but still had a great time.
Who: The Johnsons +1 (DH30s, DW30s, DS4, Granddad 60s)
Where: Crystal Palace
When: 6/7/2008
What: Brunch
Approximate Price of Entrees: Child $10.99, Adult - $18.99
Rate the following (1-5, five being the best!)
Food: 5
Service: 5
Atmosphere: 5
Okay for Children: YES! Character meal w/ Pooh, Tigger, Eeyore + Piglet
Okay for Couples: Yes, if you like noisy fun
Be Sure to Try: Everything!
General tips: I made the ADR about a month before our trip. No problem securing our preferred time spot (10:15 am).
TheMouseForLess tips: like to eat a late breakfast here. We didn't eat again until suppertime.
Extra Comments: We lingered after eating because Granddad wasn't yet feeling up to walking. Good thing we did -- Pooh and Tigger must have gotten bored while waiting for the lunch crowd to arrive, so they came over to play privately with us! DS4 had *so* much fun!!!
Crystal Palace Breakfast (1 table service)
Amie - 5/15/08
Really enjoy this one and it is nice if you get in early to be in the park
when it opens...you get great Castle pics. The food is a nice variety of
breakfast foods...Characters are Pooh, Eeyore, Tigger and Piglet...they also do
a cute little parade at one point....Great service and yummy food. A Perfect
Place to Eat in Magic Kingdom..One of our families Favorites!
Who: Judy NYC
Where: Crystal Palace
When: 2/24/06
What: Dinner
Approximate Price of Entrees: Adult Dinner & KM Dinner - $43.65 (before DDE discount, $42.00 (after DDE discount) a savings of $8.20
Before discount is without tip, after is with tip
Rate the following (1-5, five being the best!)
Food: 5
Service: 5
Atmosphere: 5
Okay for Children: Yes
Okay for Couples: Yes (a great way for some character interaction without having to get in lines in the park
Be Sure to Try: The food is amazing here, there is something for everyone. Even my DD who is the pickiest child on the planet, always find something that she likes.
General tips: Use your DDE card here
TheMouseForLess tips: Use your DDE card here
Extra Comments: DD also loves to spend time with the character. It is great to see the innocence of childhood that comes out when she is around the characters. If you are on your first trip you should plan at least one character meal. A trip to Disney is not complete for our family without at least one character meal. Also if you are on the dining plan, this is a great place to your sit down credit, as there is something for everyone to eat.
Who: Judy NYC
Where: Crystal Palace
When: 2/22/06
What: Breakfast
Approximate Price of Entrees: Adult Breakfast 18.99 and Kid Breakfast 10.99 (Total before DDE discount $31.54, total after DDE discount $31.54) savings of $6.00
Before discount is without tip, after is with tip
Rate the following (1-5, five being the best!)
Food: 5
Service: 5
Atmosphere: 5
Okay for Children: Yes
Okay for Couples: Yes (great way to spend some time with characters
without having to get in the lines throughout the parks where you
stand in the heat sometimes)
Be Sure to Try: we loved everything that was on the buffet, they have
great bacon
General tips: You may want to take turns going to the buffet if you
have bags, so there is always one person with your stuff
TheMouseForLess tips: Use the DDE card here
Extra Comments: The characters make their rounds to the tables. They will come to every table at least once, if you are two adults with kids. Have one adult stay at the table with the kids, while one adults gets there food, this way the kids will not miss any characters. Also there were children rushing the characters, the characters were at a table down the way from where we were, making their way toward our table, and the table next to us the kids went down there and kept trying to get an autograph, even though the character was trying to pose with the family at the table they were visiting. They did this for every character, finally someone said something to them. Because it was just quite rude.
Who: Wendy in the UK and Alan
Where: Crystal Place MK
When: Feb 2006
What: breakfast character buffet
Approximate Price of Entrees: Adult - $17.99
Rate the following (1-5, five being the best!)
Food: 5
Service: 5
Atmosphere: 5
Okay for Children: yes Ð character meal Ð the kids we saw loved having
the characters come to the table
Okay for Couples: yes Ð we were a little nervous to begin Ð our first
character meal Ð but it was sooo much fun. The people at the next
table were great about taking photos of the two of us with the
character
Be Sure to Try: All of it! Ð The food here was wonderful. DH and I
were very good and had little bits so we could try everything LOL. If
you want an omelette you can order form the chef and watch him make
it.
General tips: Definitely make a PS. Depending on the time of year it
maybe possible during your trip. I booked Thursday at Guest relations
for the following Tuesday and managed to get 8.10.
TheMouseForLess tips: get PS as early as possible and go to the park a
little earlier than that. This meant that as the park wasn't opened
so we were able to walk up Mainstreet while it was virtually empty and
get pictures in front of the castle Ð just me and him :o) being there
for 9am (park opening) was fun too.
Who: The Achterberg Clan (me, dh, dear twins 8)
Where: Crystal Palace
When: Feb 1, 2006
What: breakfast Buffet!! We had a little bit of everything (fruit, waffles, rolls, scrambled eggs, sausage, bacon, hashbrown casserole and too much else to remember) except our plates were full by the time we saw there were many flavors of pancakes and made to order omelets. (I really would have had an omelet if I would have known....)
Approximate Price of Entrees: $17 for adults, less for kids
Rate the following (1-5, five being the best!)
Food: 5
Service: 4 (We had more service here than at the castle!!)
Atmosphere: 5
Okay for Children: Yes, Yes, YES!!
Okay for Couples: Yes, but really geared toward the kids
Be Sure to Try: Omelets looked wonderful.
General tips: make your ADR's as soon as possible
Extra Comments: The kids really enjoyed interacting w/the characters there!! Tigger really bounced around alot and played w/the kids and Pooh was sooooo Sweet. (He hugged and kissed a letter my daughter brought him.) Eyeore and Piglet were great too!!
Who: Dan (40), Tracy (39), ds (9), dd (turned 5 on this day), MIL, FIL
Where: Crystal Palace
When: October 6, 2005
What: Character buffet dinner
Approximate Price of Entrees: Free dining plan ($87.43 for Dan, Tracy, ds
and dd)
Rate the following (1-5, five being the best!)
Food: 4
Service: 4
Atmosphere: 5
Okay for Children: Absolutely
Okay for Couples: Yes if you love Pooh!
Be Sure to Try: we all enjoyed everything we ate
General tips: Don't be a character hog! There was an obnoxious family near
us who took their photos with Piglet, then stole him back again from another
family when one of their party returned from the buffet.
TheMouseForLess tips: f you are celebrating anything, MAKE SURE you tell the
person at the reception podium. Since it was dd's actual birthday, our table
was decorated with Mickey confetti and streamers - it made her feel VERY
special!
Extra Comments: Be patient. The characters WILL get to you. IF you miss
one, just politely tell their handler and you will get character time and then
some. Tigger bypassed us and dh told his handler. A few minutes later,
Tigger was back, tried to lift dd up onto his lap and missed the chair and the
both fell on the floor! It was quite a sight and after determining they were
both OK we got a good laugh out of it! After the little parade, Tigger came
back again and SAT at the table for a minute or two!
Who: The Hicks FamilyÑMe, DH, DD 5
Where: Crystal Palace
When: August 13, 2005
What: Buffet Character Dinner
Approximate Price of Entrees: 2 Adults, 1 child Buffet, $65.00
Rate the following (1-5, five being the best!)
Food: 5
Service: 5
Atmosphere: 5
Okay for Children: Yes. The Parade was a lot of fun. Piglet came
back and picked DD to lead the parade!
Okay for Couples: Yes, if you like the characters. Pooh, being my
favorite was so much fun. He even made a point to flirt with me, to
my DH's and DD's amusement.
Be Sure to Try: There was this terrific salmon. The choices were
all great, and so many desserts to choose from. I wish I had taken
notes on this location to give better details.
General tips: ADR's are a must. We did have to wait for about 15
minutes, even though we had them.
TheMouseForLess tips: I can't say enough about the Dining Plan. We are
a family that prefers sitting to eat, rather then eating on the
run. The Dining Plan is the only way to go in this case!
Extra Comments: he waiter was terrific. He explained the route of
the characters and told us not to worry if one missed our table
while we were at the buffet, he would make sure they came back to
our table. We wound up missing Tigger, and the waiter escorted us
to the door, sat us at a table and told us to wait. We got a
private audience with Tigger! My daughter even got bouncing lessons
from him. We will certainly be returning to Crystal Palace.
Who: The Revis Family (me) Karen 34, DH William 38, DS Matthew 11, DD
Maeghann 10, DS Mason 8, DS Mackay 6, DS Malone 2
Where: Crystal Palace in MK
When: August 4, 2005
What: Dinner
Approximate Price of Entrees: 2 adults $49.98, 4 kids $43.96, Malone was
free. $18.79 off with our DDE card. Total WITH tip (we were dining with friends so there was more than 8) $96.95
Rate the following (1-5, five being the best!)
Food: 3 (normally would have been a 5)
Service: 3 (normally would have been a 5)
Atmosphere: 5
Okay for Children: yes- definitely
Okay for Couples: yes- DH and I ate here on a "adult" only trip on another
trip and we still had great character interaction even though we had no kids.
Be Sure to Try: My DH loves the Salmon here!
General tips: MAKE AN ADR!
TheMouseForLess tips: Make sure to use your DDE card here.
Extra Comments: We usually LOVE this restaurant. For some reason we had bad
service and not so great food. But usually it was great. We do it on every
trip. We will definitely do again, it was just too bad it was not as great as
usual. My kids saw each character at least twice if no 3 times each!
Who: The Waite Family Ð Mary and Bob
Where: Crystal Palace at The Magic Kingdom
When: May 23, 2005
What: Two Adult Breakfast Buffets. There are Pooh and Friends waffles on the kids buffet. There are several selections of fruit and yogurt as well as bacon, two kinds of sausage, hash browns and scrambled eggs on the buffet. There is a made to order omelet station. There is a yummy French toast dish here that is to die for (at least in my opinion). It is deep fried French toast which is then rolled in cinnamon and sugar Ð yummmm!! There is also a station with breads Ð coffee cake, bagels and a very yummy breakfast lasagna which has blueberries and bananas layered amongst what seemed to be like a bread pudding. It was very yummy as well.
Approximate Price of Entrees: $30.65 with the Disney Dining Experience Card Ð otherwise would have been $38.32
Rate the following (1-5, five being the best!)
Food: 5
Service: 5
Atmosphere: 5 Ð Gotta love Pooh and Friends
Okay for Children: Yes. Especially if they love Pooh and Friends.
Okay for Couples: Yes unless youÕre looking for romantic. If youÕre looking for romantic, then this is not the place. :o)
Be Sure to Try: The made to order omelets, the cinnamon and sugar French toast puffs, and the breakfast lasagna.
General tips: You definitely need an Advance Dining Reservation here.
TheMouseForLess tips: If you have a DDE card Ð use it for the discount.
Extra Comments: Your server will bring out a pitcher of orange juice and pour everyone a glass when you arrive. You are not limited to just the orange juice as your beverage Ð if youÕd like coffee or milk or a soda, ask and you shall receive. Also, if you choose to have an omelet, get in line and order your omelet first as the lines can be kind of long Ð otherwise if you go through the buffet first and then order and omelet, the rest of your food will be quite cold before you get back to your table. Or you could go ahead and dine on your food while waiting. :o)
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