The Crystal Palace: A Review
The Crystal Palace Restaurant in Magic Kingdom is one of the best character dining restaurants in Disney World. Enjoy a meal with Pooh and Friends right off Main Street.
Choosing the best restaurants for your Disney vacation can be such a stressful part of the vacation planning.
The dining budget will be a significant part of your expense for the trip, so you want to be sure that your meals are delicious and as enjoyable as possible.
If you’re planning to visit Magic Kingdom during your next Walt Disney World vacation in Orlando, Florida, you’re probably wondering which restaurants should top your list.
One of my favorite Disney vacation planning tips is the strategic inclusion of a breakfast at The Crystal Palace in Magic Kingdom.
Learn how we use this restaurant to get not only a great meal, but make our day at Magic Kingdom a million times better!
Jump to:
- Our Review of The Crystal Palace Restaurant in Disney World
- What is Character Dining?
- Know Before You Go
- Reservations Required
- Timing Tips for Your Reservation
- Park Ticket Required
- Map It:
- Find It By Foot In Magic Kingdom:
- Hours:
- What’s On the Menu?
- Does The Crystal Palace Serve Alcohol?
- What is the Restaurant Like?
- More Magic Kingdom Tips
Our Review of The Crystal Palace Restaurant in Disney World
There is a lot to love about The Crystal Palace but a few things you need to know before you go.
What is Character Dining?
If you’ve never been to Disney World before, you may not be familiar with what the term “character dining” means.
There are certain restaurants throughout the park that offer a meal, usually buffet-style but sometimes table service, and a certain set of characters will come out to visit you at your table while you eat.
The characters change from location to location, but at The Crystal Palace you’ll be treated to a visit from Winnie the Pooh and a few of his friends from the Hundred-Acre Wood.
During our visit, we were tickled pink to meet Pooh, Piglet, Eeyore, and Tigger.
Know Before You Go
If you’re considering The Crystal Palace for a meal, here are a few things you should know first.
Reservations Required
The Crystal Palace is a table service restaurant in Magic Kingdom.
Reservations are required in advance.
The easiest way to make reservations is to use the My Disney Experience site.
Timing Tips for Your Reservation
Since The Crystal Palace offers breakfast, lunch, and dinner, my all-time favorite Disney vacation planning tip is to make a reservation for breakfast as early in the morning as possible, preferably on a day when the park opens later.
For example, make a reservation at 8 am on a day the park is scheduled to open at 9 am.
Why? Because with a dining reservation, you will be allowed early access to the park before other park guests. This means you’re first in line for a family picture in front of the castle before the park gets crowded.
It also puts you closer to the hub so that you can quickly get to your first ride of the day after you dine.
HOWEVER: If you plan to make the meal a leisurely experience, this could backfire and put you later in line for rides. Don’t rush your meal, but be efficient with your time if you’re using the reservation to get you inside the park early.
Park Ticket Required
The only way to dine at The Crystal Palace is to have a valid park pass for Disney’s Magic Kingdom.
The restaurant is not available for guests outside of Magic Kingdom.
Map It:
The Crystal Palace
1365 W. Monorail Way
Orlando, FL 32830
Find It By Foot In Magic Kingdom:
The Crystal Palace restaurant is located right off of Main Street of Magic Kingdom. You’ll find it on the left just at the end of the street before the castle.
Hours:
Change depending on Magic Kingdom’s park hours for the day.
What’s On the Menu?
The Crystal Palace breakfast is offered as a prix fixe buffet. It offers the typical Disney breakfast including Mickey shaped waffles, pancakes, eggs, bacon, fruit, and assorted pastries.
You can check out the full Crystal Palace menu and pricing here.
The lunch and dinner buffets offer country fried chicken with gravy, prime rib, ravioli, mashed potatoes, salads, and desserts.
Mickey Waffles
When you have the chance to eat Mickey waffles, take it. There’s magic in that waffle batter!
My kids dream about those magic waffles all inbetween our Disney trips!
Special Celebration Items
Disney will treat you like royalty if you let them know you are celebrating something special.
We visited Magic Kingdom a month after our daughter’s birthday, it was part of her birthday present that year.
When we mentioned it at The Crystal Palace, they even brought her a birthday cupcake to enjoy after her breakfast.
Does The Crystal Palace Serve Alcohol?
It used to be the standard that no restaurants in Magic Kingdom would serve alcohol.
They’ve since changed that rule and now the table service restaurants do serve beer and wine with dinner.
The Crystal Palace takes it one step farther and offers specialty cocktails including mimosas, homemade sangria, bloody marys, and more. We were so excited for this change in policy!
What is the Restaurant Like?
Restaurant? What restaurant? All we could focus on was our amazing breakfast and the adorable Disney characters who kept stopping by for a photo op!
However, the restaurant is themed as a Victorian era greenhouse and is filled to the brim with topiaries and tropical palms.
The restaurant is stunning on a sunny morning with all the natural light streaming in through the glass windows.
It is one of the best places for character photos in all of Magic Kingdom.
More Magic Kingdom Tips
Planning a visit to Magic Kingdom? Don’t miss our family’s best advice:
