It is Travel Tuesday and it is time for another travel review. This week we are heading back to Disney World’s Magic Kingdom to review dinner at the Crystal Palace. Disney has been great character dining venues and it had been a while since I had been at this one. When I say a while, I mean since I was a child. Let’s get the magic started.
The Basics of Crystal Palace
The building itself is located off of Magic Kingdom’s Main Street USA, in full view of Cinderella’s castle. It is inspired by an 1800s Victorian style greenhouse. The character’s available at this venue are our good old friends from the Hundred Acre Woods! That’s right! You will be dining with Pooh, Piglet, Eeyore and Tigger! This is a buffet experience venue available for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Tips for dining at Crystal Palace
- Make reservations as soon as possible. Reservations for dining at Disney World open up 180 days in advance.
- Keep checking your reservation times. You may find as you are setting up your fastpass selections at 60 days out or when you are pulling your trip together, that these don’t coordinate with your dining reservation. If you keep checking, other times will open up that you can switch to.
- Bring the memory essentials. Your family is going to be able to spend some one on one time with the characters. Have your autograph books ready and cameras for pictures!
- Look at the menu. The last thing you want is to pay big bucks for dinner and not like the menu. They do have a cute little kids but that I did take macaroni and cheese from (no shame in my game). Here are the menus for Crystal Palace: https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/dining/magic-kingdom/crystal-palace/menus/lunch/
- Your reservation time is not your sitting time. This is a very busy venue due to location and you will more than likely be waiting past your assigned time. We were seated about 15 minutes after our scheduled time.
My Opinion aka The Review
Crystal Palace is a cute venue. We had an 8pm dinner so that we would be in perfect view for Happily Ever After Fireworks. The plus to the later time is that you get a bit more time with the characters as they are not being rushed from table to table. The food was descent. It is a buffet and when you’ve worked in catering, it isn’t appealing. There is a great variety of items that will even be enjoyed by the pickiest of eaters.
This venue is a good option if you want to see Winnie the Pooh and friends and if you’d like to get into the park semi early before open. I personally think there are better character dining options but you cannot beat the location of this place.
Looking for more Disney World reviews? Check out my other reviews:
I’ve dined here a few times and agree that there are much better character experiences. However, the ability to make reservations here before the park opens (if you aren’t going to dine for the longest time) will get you good positioning for starting your day off “ahead” of other guests. If you finish your breakfast prior to park opening you can meander towards the ride you want to start with (like Peter Pan that has no fast pass) to enjoy a “little to no” wait time for that first ride.
I love getting the early breakfast times so I can get a head start!