The Crystal Palace

This was my second visit and a few things changed, but to be fair it had been about 8 years and a major pandemic. The food was good, I tried the shrimp and grits, pork, mashed potatoes, tri colored carrots, peel and eat shrimp and salad all was delicious. My little enjoyed the kids buffet selection and of course the ice cream machine. Our server Gustavo made our experience special and ensured we got face time with each of the traveling characters and reminded us to visit pooh before we left. He is a stationary character now. Our experience was top notch considering they completely changed my reservations by several hours to accommodate our needs.

I’m going to preface this review with saying I went into this knowing I was paying more for an “experience.” Disney did much better here regarding food quality than other places we have eaten in the parks. The grits, rice and potatoes were tasty. The ice cream was delicious. The chocolate chip cookies were pretty good too. The pork tenderloin was tough though. The waitress was attentive and helped remind me of the pass holder discount. This is a buffet style restaurant and they charge based on age even though my children basically ate from the kids area. We were seated within a few minutes of checking in. The restaurant was not busy with many of the tables empty when though we were there around 4:30 PM. It was a weekday when most schools were in, but the park was still busy enough. The characters therefore made their way through quickly and we definitely didn’t wait as long as some other reviewers. We saw all of them within 30-45 mins. Given the food is basically unlimited, including the drinks which is not the case at multiple other food places in the park, the price wasn’t horrible. Would I recommend it for everyone, especially those on a tight budget? Absolutely not. If you aren’t hungry when you come here, you will feel like it was a waste. Gratuity is not included. They really should given the international travelers that aren’t accustomed to tipping.

Very cute dining experience for a Winnie the Pooh aficionado! There’s always a line to get a table so make sure to make the reservation with ample time via the Disney app. Once inside, the restaurant is nicely decorated according to theme. Our server was extremely sweet and attentive throughout our entire time there. We got to meet Pooh, Eeyore, Tigger and my personal favorite…Piglet! The characters will visit your table and will make you feel so special. Making time for pictures and autographs. My one complaint is the food. It’s nothing out of this world and you find yourself making long, slow lines to get food. So we found ourselves battling making the line for food and running back to the table to not miss the characters. Like any of the Disney character dinings, expect to spend a lot of money but make good use of your Disney Annual Pass for the discount. The price wasn’t worth the food but well worth the character dining experience!

The only good thing about this restaurant is the characters. Our server was rude and didn’t refill drinks. They charged us a gratuity, which is not a problem if the server was tentative. Unfortunately, she was not. The food was mediocre at best. I really wanted it to be good, but it just was not. There are lots more options at Disney World that are way better than this one. My kids really didn’t eat anything because they did not like the food. Only two of the characters really stopped at our table. The other two just waved and didn’t even stop.

Magical buffet with Pooh and his pals!! You get to meet Pooh eyore piglet and tigger. Food was so good! Patrick was the best server!! He was really fun and attentive! It’s a good place to dine if you want to meet characters and have a nice variety of food to choose from! We were pleased. I also recommend the margarita on the menu it was very well balanced. Altogether a very magical time.

While I appreciated the opportunity to meet Winnie the Pooh and friends, it is not worth the price we paid for this character dining experience. We had a reservation for 7:20 P.M. the other night and didn't get seated until 7:45 or so even though the ticket was printed at 7:35. Me and my partner were ready and waiting while other parties who weren't altogether were still admitted first. The food was okay, nothing stellar and it took an hour and a half to meet all the characters. For over $100 for 2 people to dine here and no gratuity that is factored into the price, it is criminal. I do not recommend the Crystal Palace, not even for viewing the fireworks.

I’m a bit torn on this place. The restaurant itself is lovely inside. Like a gilded age greenhouse. We had an early reservation before the park opened. It was easy. We’re resort guests so they let us in at 8am. The Main Street area is open then they rope you off from the lands but you can walk right to the restaurant. We grabbed a few photos in front of the castle with very few people around. We were seated pretty quickly and had a window table with a castle view. It was so magical for our daughter. From there its buffet, which I kind of hate because I never eat that much at breakfast but what can you do. The food, however, was excellent. We loved the grits, the potato casserole, the churro Mickey waffles are omgggg. Plenty of kids options to choose from. Just wish I could have made the most of it. The characters are cute. Eeyore, Pooh, tigger, and Piglet. They spend a couple minutes at each table which is really nice. The tables along the outside windows have plenty of room for interact. The tables in the middle are TIGHT though. They’re bigger tables for larger groups so didn’t matter to us but the chairs are back to back. The only disappointment was the staff. We normally have great staff interactions but the staff here were so cranky. It was really early but barely a smile from anyone. Our server was just okay. Professional but again, not friendly.

Gorgeous restaurant with awesome theming. I got to try the dinner here and it was very cute. I was excited that it was all Winnie the Pooh themed. However the food was pretty terrible. It looked cute, especially the desserts. But they were not at all good. For the price, it’s not worth it for dinner. I ended up eating some of the kids menu items. It’s okay maybe for lunch if you use the dining plan but not if you pay. If you LOVE Winnie the Pooh it’s a great photo opportunity for sure though.