Crystal Palace question

[pwdebbie]

The Crystal Palace menu looks pretty good to me but dh and I aren't really interested in seeing the characters. There's a part of me that hates to take away a character dining opportunity for a family that would enjoy it more than we would but there's another part of me that would like to eat there any way. What do you think? Should we go for the food or step back so someone else can have the experience?

[Lynn J Mc]

I say go for the food. You may even enjoy the characters!

[Jasper]

Let's put it this way, two weeks ago when my family which consists of myself, wife, 23 year old daughter, 20 year old son, and 12 year old son were at the Hollywood Studios we ate at the Hollywood & Vine Restaurant because my 20 year old had been bugging us to hit one of the Disney buffets all week. Since we had only decided to take this trip 4 weeks in advance we had not gotten any adrs and were just picking up meals where we could.

Now I knew that the restaurant had characters but the last time we ate there several years ago it was the classic Disney characters like Mickey and Minnie. We had no idea until we walked in and sat down and found that it was now the Playhouse Disney characters who we didn't even know or recognize.

When my wife asked the waitress if we were taking a seat away from a family with young kids she said that with the large number of people who make adrs and then don't keep them we should never feel bad about eating anyplace at Disney. So take it from our waitress and some rather embarrassed Hoosier that it is no problem to eat where you like even if you don't want to see the characters!

[ghowlett]

The characters go around to the tables & they move along pretty quickly. I wouldn't worry about taking time away from anyone else. Plus I think the characters can tell who's really excited (ie tables with children) & who just wants a picture or two (ie tables with adults) and spend the appropriate amount of time with each.

[HndrdPrcnt]

I say that if the menu looks good to you, then go for it. If you make your reservation and get a table, all is fair!! And while you don't necessarily find enjoyment in the characters yourself, you may find enjoyment by seeing kids' faces light up when they see the characters. I know that it always brings joy to me to watch the reactions of the kids throughout the restaurant!

[kathiep]

Go and enjoy yourself. If you are really worried about taking the characters time - just wave them through to the next table. The characters are good at anticipating who really wants to see them, who might be scared or who doesn't need to see them. If I ever get to go without my kids, I will still have breakfast here. I will let the characters pass me by and watch with delight as little ones get to greet them.

[Goes4FastPass]

Go and enjoy yourself. If you are really worried about taking the characters time - just wave them through to the next table. The characters are good at anticipating who really wants to see them, who might be scared or who doesn't need to see them. If I ever get to go without my kids, I will still have breakfast here. I will let the characters pass me by and watch with delight as little ones get to greet them.

CP is a plesant break from the MK for everyone including adults traveling without kids.

As indicated before characters respond to a wave by... but a photo with Winnie or Tigger or Piglet or Eeyore is fun for all ages.

[pwdebbie]

I did it -- made my ADR today for Crystal Palace. Thanks for the encouragement!

[Natazu]

I'm going to chime in here. I mean no disrespect it's just my unqualified two cents. Crystal Palace's food is ok at best. You're paying a premium for the characters. I'd hate to see someone pay $30 a person for a buffet that isn't very good. Just an FYI thing.

[mickeys_princess_mom]

I'm going to chime in here. I mean no disrespect it's just my unqualified two cents. Crystal Palace's food is ok at best. You're paying a premium for the characters. I'd hate to see someone pay $30 a person for a buffet that isn't very good. Just an FYI thing.

Let's make that four cents--I agree. Wasn't going to burst the bubble, and I hope you enjoy it, pwdebbie, but we wouldn't do this one again unless we were bringing small children who really wanted that character experience. Noise level is pretty high, and we would choose other places.

[pwdebbie]

I hadn't given the noise level a thought. Dh ("invisibly" disabled) can't take a lot of noise. I had been considering Trails End at Fort Wilderness as a way to get away from it all for a little bit of time in nature. Any thoughts?

[squijee]

We are trying Trails End when we go..breakfast and lunch. I have heard good things about it.

[kathiep]

We never found CP to be overly noisy - certainly not anywhere near the noise level at Chef Mickey's but we are always among the first seated for breakfast. Maybe it gets louder later.