If you’re planning your next Disney World visit and are not sure where to begin, we have a few tips to help you! There’s a lot to prep for your upcoming trip to Disney World and finding the proper meal that won’t leave you hungry AND feeling like you’ve wasted time you could have been standing in line can be a tough call to make. Luckily, you’ve chosen to come to the experts first!
Here at AllEars, we know a thing or two about the best places to choose for when you want to dine with characters at Disney World restaurants — we’ve done them ALL! We recently stopped by The Crystal Palace at Magic Kingdom for a quick meal (with a couple of hugs) and are bringing you our FULL review!
Background
Here’s what you need to know about dining at this restaurant.
Atmosphere
Disney World’s also done great job of incorporating Winnie the Pooh throughout the restaurant without sort of torpedoing the classiness of the building.
There’s also a feature inside that we don’t feel like gets enough love — the beautiful glass ceiling in the center dome. You’ll also find a gorgeous living garden just underneath it along with topiaries of the Winnie the Pooh characters and a homemade banner that reads, “Welcome to our Friendship Day Celebrashun.”
As a whole, it’s a pleasant restaurant to be in, however, you’ll want to watch because it can get quite loud inside. The space is pretty echoey and when coupled with the fact that there’s likely lots of kids dining inside (since it’s a character meal) it stands to reason that this restaurant could be a louder, more high stress meal than something that might induce a more relaxing vibe. However, that’s not atypical of really any character dining meal at Disney World since they’re known to cater to families with lot of high energy flowing about.
As for the characters, it was actually quite busy this day and Winnie the Pooh was our first opportunity to meet with a character in the center of the restaurant. There was a short line to meet him, which you could do anytime you wanted throughout your meal here, and he was there the entire time (so if you want to wait until you’ve finished your meal before you meet with him there’s really no harm in doing this in whatever order of your preference).
When you’re ready to meet with him, you’ll find him right by the same garden we were just telling you about with the character topiaries. There’s also a
character attendant accompanying Pooh in case you’d like someone to take photos with your phone for you.
After you’ve been seated for your meal, this is where you’ll meet the other characters! We had opportunities to meet with Tigger…
…Piglet…
…and Eeyore…
…however our interactions were more brief (since our reporter is an adult) than we would have ideally liked. Each of the remaining characters were able to come by the table, snap a few photos with us, and send us off with a hug before they moved on to the next table. There’s also a good chance that a Cast Member may come by your table afterwards to be certain you’ve had a chance to meet with all of the characters before they need to check on Christopher Robin for a few minutes. Admittedly though, our reporter did tell Eeyore that he was her favorite so he did end up spending a little longer with her at the table than the rest did during their interactions!
But enough about that, what are we eating?!
Food & Drinks
SInce this is a buffet meal, you’ll pay one price for all of the entrées, sides, dessert, and a non-alcoholic beverage like soda, tea, or milk. For adults, lunch or dinner here will cost you $62 and for children ages 3-9, the price for the same meal is $42 (plus tax and gratuity). While Disney World’s menu only lists a partial menu for the buffet options, you won’t have much of an issue finding something for everyone here. The buffet highlights popular items like seasonal salads and pastas, fresh vegetables, Country Fried Chicken with Black Pepper Gravy, mashed potatoes, and even shrimp creole!
There are assorted desserts line to choose from filled with delectable treats that will make your mouth water just looking at them!
Of course, there are a few other specialty cocktails you can also choose to order if you’re looking to switch things up a bit!
The first plate you’ll see from us is our salad plate — we think this is where The Crystal Palace really shines! Salads can be boring, but with such a great selection of everything from toppings to dressing and more, everything was fresh and delicious!
Don’t sleep on the pre-made salads, peel and eat shrimp that’s yours for the taking over ice, and bread options, either!
The next plate we picked up covered more of the entrée food options. This is what you’d probably pick up as the bulk of your meal with meats and sides. We chose several of the crowd pleasing classics that are more suited for a wide variety of palates.
We caution you not to expect any bold flavors out of these since they are made to cater to so many different tastes, but our winners were the country fried chicken with gravy (we loved the peppered in hot honey which we would have appreciated more of), creamy grits, and the vegetable chanamasalfa (which was one of the slim pickings for vegan options).
Overall, we thought the selection that’s available from the entrée perspective wasn’t lacking, and we would also go as far as recommending the carved meat station complete with horseradish sauce! Ohh, and don’t forget to try the gumbo when you stop by either! (See, we told you there’s A TON here — you might even have to go back for multiple plates.)
To round out our meal, desserts were next! We loved the Honey Panna Cotta and Carrot Cake.
While we thought the carrot cake was fine, it was a bit on the drier side. We grabbed the panna cotta solely because it was super cute, and when we bit into it, we were floored by its honey flavor. We also mentioned to Winnie the Pooh how tasty it was, and it seemed that was just the “smackerel of honey” he’s been searching for, too!
Magic or Tragic?
This Disney World restaurant is a must-visit if…
- You’re looking for one of the most consistent character meal experiences with Disney World. This one ranks high on our list of character dining meals, and for good reason.
- Finding something to please everyone all at once feels like a chore. Seriously there’s a LOT of food to choose from here with plenty of popular items for both kids and adults alike.
- Time is of the essence but, hey…you gotta eat! If you’re worried about losing precious time taken but know you’ve GOT to stop for a decent meal portion, this is an excellent option to consider. Not only will you be able to knock out a hearty meal pretty quickly, you’ve also got ample opportunity to meet with multiple popular characters and save time you could have been waiting in line.
You should skip this Disney World spot if…
- A la carte eating is more your vibe. If you’re looking for an ordered dish prepared and served right to your table, you just won’t find it here.
- You’re looking for a relaxing meal to unwind. We get it — Disney World can bring the stress, and sometimes you’re just looking for a short escape for a few minutes while you eat. If that’s your ideal meal and goal, this probably won’t suit you best.
- You’d prefer not to be interrupted with characters while dining. Kinda on the nose, but character meal implies yes, you’ll probably be at least extended the opportunity to see the characters as they come by. If you’re not even looking for a quick tap on the shoulder and dual wave of hi and bye, this might not be the best place for you to choose to dine.
Crystal Palace Restaurant
Services: Buffet/All You Care to Eat
Overall, we think the Crystal Palace shines as a character meal. It’s got a great location within the shadow of Cinderella Castle just steps away, and it’s an ideal option for introducing some of the youngest kids to character meals since the character look like giant stuffed animals. While the buffet is good, it’s not exceptional. But if you’re looking for a failsafe option that will please almost everyone in your group, this is certainly ranked in our top 5 character meal restaurants.
In the meantime, we’ll be on the lookout for more restaurant updates from Disney World and beyond. Make sure you stay tuned to AllEars for the latest Disney news and more!
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Have you eaten at this Disney World restaurant before? Tell us in the comments.
My daughter and i just ate there in February 2025! We absolutely loved and thought it was a good price! ❤️❤️❤️ will eat there again!