Crystal Palace and Chef Mickey's.

[lilo88]

Okay so you all probably know now that were planning on going to WDW in November for my birthday. Well I got to thinking the other day that we have never done Crystal Palace for breakfast and we've heard that its really good and its cool to walk down a almost empty Main Street. Well we usually do Chef Mickey's for breakfast and Crystal Palace for dinner. So my question is does Chef Mickey's serve dinner and is it a character meal. And How is Crystal Palace's breakfast and is it a character meal. Thanks for all and any input!

[BamaJenn]

Yep Chef Mickey's does dinner!! That's exactly what we're doing on this trip in May. Crystal Palace for breakfast then a snacky for lunch and then heading over to Chef Mickey's for dinner.

May 5th
Breakfast at the Crystal Palace @ 8:05am
Dinner at Chef Mickey's @ 5:20pm

EDIT: Both are character meals... sorry forgot to mention!

[HauntedGabe]

We did Chef Mickey's several years ago for Dinner for Christmas Eve.
It was so wonderful. We have now gone to eating dinner there since the food was so much better than the breakfast for the $$$. (Still like breakfast)

Plus traveling to the Contemporary early in the morning before the parks open is a pain from resorts that solely use the bus.

[lilo88]

Thank you both. I will have to try Chef Mickey's for dinner and Crystal Palace for breakfast. Jenn when you get back let us know what you thought abot Crystal palace's breakfast! Thanks agin Jenn and HG!

[Sorria]

Yep, Crystal Palace does breakfast and it is a character meal. They have the Winnie the Pooh characters. The food is really good, especially the french toast and the breakfast lasagna they have.

Chef Mickey's also does dinner and is also a charcter meal. I haven't eaten at Chef Mickey's since when it used to be located at Downtown Disney. However, I'll be returning to the restaurant later this year for dinner so maybe I'll have some comments on Chef Mickey's at dinner then.

[Thumper10]

My family did Crystal Palace for breakfast and loved every minute of it, I definitely recommend!

[lilo88]

Thank you both,
Sorria: I never knew that CM was in DTD. It must have been a long time ago.
Amanda: Thank you.

I think we are going to do this for a change in November.

[HauntedGabe]

Chef Mickey's also does dinner and is also a charcter meal. I haven't eaten at Chef Mickey's since when it used to be located at Downtown Disney. However, I'll be returning to the restaurant later this year for dinner so maybe I'll have some comments on Chef Mickey's at dinner then.

I have enjoyed both Chef Mickey's but they are absolutely nothing like each other. The first time we did the one at its new location in the Contemporary I was disappointed, but I guess only because the only thing the same was the name. DTD was a nice sit down restaurant. This is a nice buffet. One of my new Disney cookbooks has a DTD Beef Stew recipe that was so good. Now I believe Rainforest took over that space and then some.

[smith913]

We had breakfast at the Crystal Palace during both of our trips. We loved it! I hate that we won't make it on our next trip, but we want to try 'Ohana. Okay, maybe we should do both!! We did Chef Mickey's for dinner, also. I feel bad saying this, but we did not love the buffet. The characters and atmosphere were awesome, but the food was not a favorite.

[MandaBella]

We did Chef Mickey's for dinner, also. I feel bad saying this, but we did not love the buffet. The characters and atmosphere were awesome, but the food was not a favorite.

FINALLY!!! Someone else has had a similar experience with Chef Mickey's food. It's so popular, so I keep wondering what we missed. We did breakfast there years ago and we felt the same as you. It's the only "bad" dining review I wrote for that trip. The characters and atmosphere were great, but the food on the buffet was not that great and rather disappointing. I wouldn't do breakfast there again unless someone else paid. There are better character breakfasts out there with great atmosphere and character interaction.

Interesting to hear this also happened at their dinner meal for you...

[smith913]

Glad you responded to this! I really did feel like I missed something at dinner. When my little one rejected the mac and cheese, I knew we were in trouble! They did treat her like a princess, though! It was her birthday, and they announced it over the intercom. Minnie and Chip came over and danced with her!! Fun!

[Disney05]

I don't know, I don't think you can call it a fine dining experience. It's..ok. I don't have a 5 star palate so it doesn't really bother me.

[MandaBella]

I don't know, I don't think you can call it a fine dining experience. It's..ok. I don't have a 5 star palate so it doesn't really bother me.

I never expect a 5 star meal at any Disney character, buffet, or AYCE type of meal, nor did I ever call it fine dining. I don't think anyone would. I do expect some palatable food, which there was not an abundance of that morning. And now, I'm finally hearing I'm not the only one with this experience despite the overwhelming popularity of this restaurant with frequent WDW visitors. I very much understand the appeal of the character interaction here because it was fantastic!

Crystal Palace's breakfast food offerings are much better and consistent IMHO, so I'd always opt to go there over Chef Mickey's...and we do. Both have excellent character interaction. The service at Crystal Palace has been better for us than Chef Mickey's. It's also nice walking into the MK early before it opens. It's a great time to get some photos with minimal people in them.

[Disney05]

Crystal Palace's breakfast food offerings are much better and consistent IMHO, so I'd always opt to go there over Chef Mickey's...and we do. Both have excellent character interaction. The service at Crystal Palace has been better for us than Chef Mickey's. It's also nice walking into the MK early before it opens. It's a great time to get some photos with minimal people in them. [/quote]

Totally agree. And isn't it a great feeling walking into the Magic Kingdom that early. It's almost sureal.

[HauntedGabe]

And I think this is what the Dining Plan is doing to our 'ole favorites. Cheaper food, worse service and being herded in and out like cattle. We eat far more sit downs now than we used to, as do many, so it is putting more pressure on these places. And they make more $$ if they offer less. It reminds me of the food from the mid-80's again, yuck. They recently out-sourced the CM's food too, my DS wasn't so happy with that either.

Dinner was better than the breakfast by far but the buffets are getting very similar for dinner. That Salmon keeps rearing its ugly head everywhere.
Wish they'd walk over to the Sea's and see that there are other fish in the sea.