Breakfast at The Crystal Palace

[kingphil]

Contemplating booking an ADR for our first morning at Disney at The Crystal Palace.

I've a couple of questions which I hope some of you will be able to advice or share their experience.

My first question is -

Is it actually worth it ? The reason I ask is that one of the main perks (albeit never did it) was to be able to walk into a more or less empty MK prior to your dining time and see it in all it's glory. Now that rope drop kind of occurs in or around The Hub and gates open at 8.00am, do you lose some of this magic ?

What is The Crystal Palace like ? None of us are great Winnie the Pooh fans, but like the idea of dining inside the MK and of course some character interaction.

Is it a waste of two hours ? I'm guessing the dining experience could last up to two hours, so say you have a booking for 8am, but don't finish until 10.00am - MK will have filled up by then, so you have kind of lost the benefit of getting there early.

Just interested in people's thoughts and any recommendations

[Bads]

i am thinking about doing the same thing, and would be interested to see other peoples views on this

[sha9]

The early park advantage of a pre park opening Crystal Palace breakfast has essentially gone in my opinion. As for worth, I can’t really say. We normally do it on dining plan but I don’t think I’d pay OOP unless I (or someone in my party) loved the characters. The food is good but probably not worth the price.
I wouldn’t say it takes 2 hours though. You can be done in an hour.

If you want an early park breakfast in MK then Be Our Guest is cheaper and gives you early access to 7 dwarfs mine train.

[Guest]

The empty park bit has gone now but it's mine and the wife's favourite buffet and we always go on the first morning. It can take as long as you want and the food is great, I think it's worth it and have a good feed , they never have fried eggs out but I ask for them at the omelette counter and they do them no probs . Great place.

[pegasus928]

Is any WDW sit down meal actually worth the price tag? I personally don't think so and this is my view of CP. We have been here twice for breakfast. Both times were because of the advantage of having an empty Main Street for photos, but as this has now gone we won't bother anymore.
You are paying for the experience of the characters with this one but on our last trip they had just gone by the table we were led to, and our server was more intent on getting our table back 20 minutes in rather than making sure we had everything we needed. My wife made it perfectly clear that until we had had the interaction we were paying for we weren't going anywhere - empty plates or not. Cue lots of banging, clattering and tutting - and that's before we reduced the tip size.

[Scaramouche]

We always do this on our first MK day . We really like the food and the atmosphere. For the past 3 years we have paid OOP as we were on the QSDP. This time we are on the DFP so will use credits.

Worth it for us (2adults, no kids)

[Apricota]

We paid oop this year. We did have a good time, it was about £130 inc tip for 3 off us. Interaction was great. Took about 90 minutes. Eat all you like.

[anna68]

I personally prefer chef Mickey to Crystal Palace I find it too loud and the furnishing/look to cold. Having said that it wins on location obviously!

[Dutchdisneyfan]

Breakfast at Crystal Palace is a favorite with us.
We make a reservation for 10.30, so we get to do some rides before and then have a quiet "brunch".
The restaurant is nearly empty by then.

[Helen & LittleD]

personally i prefer chef mickeys, the characters are more suited for us and the surroundings, food and staff are always amazing, we make this tradition for our first morning every trip now.
I do enjoy crystal palace, but we did it so we could get early access and an empty main street, now thats gone so its not such a big draw for me, but saying that we still do it. Ive never spent 2 hours in here though, max 1.5hrs but i suppose the more of you there are the longer it will take :-) plus you can make it as leisurely as you like.
To sum up, its a fab breakfast buffet but given the choice id go for chef mickeys every time :-)