Crystal Palace is the one restaurant to book if you’re a fan of Winnie the Pooh and his friends.
There’s no denying this is a dining experience with super cute characters, but is it worth your time and money, especially for breakfast? Spoiler: my meal did not go as expected and I won’t be returning anytime soon.
Keep reading for my full review of my Crystal Palace breakfast from when I dined here on August 15, 2024.
In this article
What is Crystal Palace?
Crystal Palace is inspired by a Victorian greenhouse, where you also get the chance to meet Winnie the Pooh, Piglet, Tigger, and Eeyore.
You can find the sit-down character meal just off Main Street, U.S.A. next to Casey’s Corner inside the Magic Kingdom.
During breakfast, lunch, and dinner, there’s an all-you-care-to-enjoy buffet and the chance to meet the adorable characters from the Hundred Acre Wood.
Typically, reservations are pretty easy to snag at Crystal Palace, but I always recommend booking dining reservations as soon as possible.
How much does Crystal Palace cost for breakfast?
Excluding tax and gratuity, breakfast at Crystal Palace costs $48 per adult and $30 per child (ages 3 to 9). You will be charged an additional cost if you order alcohol or a specialty beverage.
A full breakfast buffet is provided, including pancakes, waffles (including Mickey churro waffles!), eggs, cereal, pastries, fruit, and more. An allergen guide is available upon arrival to the restaurant.
If you’re on the Disney Dining Plan, it is accepted here (1 Table Service credits per person for breakfast, lunch, and dinner). Annual Passholders and Disney Vacation Club Members also receive 10% off the regular price of food and non-alcoholic beverages (excluding tax and gratuity).
Because this is a buffet, there isn’t a full food menu to share. However, I can show you the drink menu.
Drink Menu
Which characters appear at Crystal Palace?
You can meet the following characters at Crystal Palace during breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
Note: The lighting was terrible, so some of my photos did not turn out well.
Winnie the Pooh
Piglet
Tigger
Eeyore
Do characters sign autographs at Crystal Palace?
Yes, all characters sign autographs at Crystal Palace. You also get a cute autograph card to take with you.
Crystal Palace Breakfast Review
This was my first time having breakfast at Crystal Palace and it was quite a good buffet filled with a variety of vegetarian options.
First, let’s talk about the cheesy potato casserole, which was loaded — and I mean loaded — with cheese. If you love potatoes and cheese, this is for you.
The scrambled eggs were exactly what you’d expect, but still tasty.
Another one of my favorite dishes was the Mediterranean frittata, which was filled with spinach, tomatoes, and feta cheese. When you cut open the frittata, it is stuffed with feta cheese!
There’s even a plant-based Keralan tofu curry is a lovely bite of spice and flavorful tofu. I appreciated that this was a more unique breakfast buffet option.
I also tried the chocolate chip French toast from the kid’s station. This tasted more like a piece of chocolate chip bread than French toast and was super chocolatey, but something little ones will most likely love.
Finally, it’s time to discuss the Mickey churro waffles. These were so good, I had three. I could’ve eaten more, but I tried to control myself.
They had the right amount of crispiness on the outside and the interior was perfectly fluffy. Yes, they are also beautifully coated with cinnamon sugar. The Mickey churro waffles definitely lived up to the hype.
Because we had a later breakfast reservation at 10:30 a.m., one side of the buffet actually switched over to lunch, while the other side continued serving breakfast. Lunch begins at 11 a.m. and breakfast is officially listed as running until 10:45 a.m., but we had longer than 15 minutes to enjoy the buffet.
It was also nice to be able to try some of the lunch items. I tried a little of the mashed potatoes, broccoli, macaroni and cheese, glazed carrots, basmati rice, and vegan vegetable chana masala.
The dessert are also super cute and extremely well themed.
Overall, I think breakfast is better at Crystal Palace compared to lunch (and dinner, which serves the same options).
Now, for the worst part of the meal… meeting the characters. To be clear, the characters were beyond adorable and lovely when they finally arrived at our table. However, the character rotation at Crystal Palace needs a lot of work.
It took 45 minutes to meet our first character. That’s right, we ate and then sat waiting, and waiting, and waiting. I expressed frustration to our server (it wasn’t his fault by any means; he isn’t in charge of the characters), but all he kept saying was, “This is a 90-minute experience.”
On the Walt Disney World website and in the My Disney Experience app, it does state the following, “Please plan to stay in The Crystal Palace for 90 minutes in order to engage with all available characters.”
Full disclosure: I did not know this prior to dining here. I think it’s fine that Crystal Palace is a 90-minute character dining experience, but there needs to be a better system when it comes to the characters.
No one should be done eating and then sitting twiddling their thumbs after 45 minutes has already passed waiting to meet the characters, like we and several other tables nearby did.
I think one of the main issues is all of the characters start on the same side of the dining area and make a loop. While that should work fine, it doesn’t at Crystal Palace. I, personally, think two characters need to start on one side and then two start on the other. This way there is a constant rotation of characters.
Our table was one of the last to meet the characters, hence why we waited so long. Plus, the characters would start, then stop for a break, and then go back to the same side. Sometimes instead of picking up where they left off, they would start at the beginning of the set of tables again and work their way through.
To say I was frustrated by the end of the meal is an understatement. My experience here was not great and I won’t be going back to Crystal Palace anytime soon.
This, obviously, won’t be the case for everyone who dines at Crystal Palace. I’ve spoken with several people who have had wonderful experiences and were even able to meet the characters twice during their meal. However, I’ve also heard from others who had the same experience I did and they refuse to eat here ever again.
It’s important to keep in mind that you may end up waiting a long time to meet all of the characters. When they say budget at least 90 minutes for this character meal, they mean it.
Is breakfast at Crystal Palace worth it?
Breakfast (really, no matter the meal) at Crystal Palace isn’t worth it for everyone.
I’m someone who likes to have somewhat of a quick meal — be in and out in around 60 minutes or so. I’m not made for a 90-minute meal. I might be able to handle Crystal Palace for 90 minutes, but only if the characters flowed better with the meal, which isn’t always a guarantee.
If you love Winnie the Pooh and friends, are fine with having a longer character dining experience, and don’t mind waiting to meet characters (even if it takes 45 minutes for the first one to arrive at your table), then you probably will enjoy Crystal Palace.
I will say it’s nice the characters take their time at each table, but this just isn’t my style. They rotate way too slowly between the guests. I’d rather go have breakfast with characters at Topolino’s Terrace.
While I really enjoyed breakfast, including the Mickey churro waffles, that’s not enough to sway me to book another dining reservation at Crystal Palace. Not everyone will (hopefully) have the same experience as I did, but it’s important to note that you could.
Have you ever eaten at Crystal Palace? What did you think?
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