A Quintessential Character Breakfast in the Magic Kingdom
Visiting the Crystal Palace in the early morning is really nice, when compared to going later in the breakfast period. I'm talking about seeing that crazy early 8:05am time slot in the old reservation system – and going for it. The park doesn't open until 9:00am... Early Entry for Disney Resort guests is at 8:30am... but you've got a reservation for 8:05am at the Crystal Palace. That's the kind of "early" I'm talking about.Getting into the Magic Kingdom that early is different now, than it used to be. Without getting into the bothersome details of "rope dropping". On most days (unless there's an operational issue), the digital "turnstiles" at the front of the park open 45 minutes prior to the "Early Entry" period or one hour and 15 minutes before the posted "park open" time. Basically, whatever early morning time you can secure for the Crystal Palace Breakfast – you'll be able to walk back there at least 15 minutes before the reservation – even if you're not staying at a Disney resort.
There's something very fresh and new and especially clean about the streets and walkways, the background music that you can actually hear because there's very few people around, the very air doesn't smell like old popcorn butter – and if you're lucky, you might even get a wafting of coffee smells pouring out of the Main Street Starbucks as you walk by. Seeing the castle with only a couple families standing in the courtyard, blue skies that don't disappear when you take a photo of Walt and Mickey in the courtyard – it's all a little nicer, really early in the morning.
The check-in process at the Crystal Palace is easy and almost wait-free because at 8:00am ... you're among the first guests to be seated – there shouldn't be any waiting on the outdoor porch for your table. Even if you've booked a little later in the breakfast period though – the wait for your table to be ready, is shorter than it would be for dinner.
Ahhhh... the main entrance to the Crystal Palace. There's a little line at the Check-In podium, but once you're checked-in, guests can wait on the shady patio on the far left.
There's even a soft, early morning feeling inside the Crystal Place. Oh... all the cast members do this every day – they're up to speed and 100% right at the first seating of guests – but even those guests seem fresh and new. Children are a little sleepy and quieter at 8:00am, the parents are busy trying to decide if they want coffee or just go straight into the Mimosas – "light on the OJ heavy on the sparkling wine please".
This is a look at the west dining area, while standing in the west-most point in the restaurant, and pointed toward the center. If you look way off in the background of this photo, you'll see the buffet line (beyond the seating/planter feature).
It's all very fresh and new – special, if you take the time to appreciate all of it – but like an early morning fog, all of that evaporates after the restaurant has been open for 45 minutes. So if you're going to go, and don't mind putting in the extra effort to get out there and be ready to go at 8:05am on your vacation – I highly recommend those first time slots.
Since I've already blown past Google's word count limit for indexing my breakfast food photos for this review, I'm just going to stay on the "things I appreciate about the Crystal Palace" theme for a couple more paragraphs. If you want to scroll down and just see the food, I totally understand. Actually, our photo gallery page for the Crystal Palace Breakfast show all the food photos first – if you would like to look at those, click here.
The Crystal Palace was built and first opened back in 1971. It's one of the original Magic Kingdom spaces – and although it's going to make me sound really old – they just don't build dining locations like this any more.
The Crystal Palace has two main seating areas, both are nearly identical (the dining area on the west is little larger), and they take the form of a giant hexagon. This is a look at the west dining area.
The exterior and interior are both inspired by different Victorian greenhouses and Renaissance era buildings that were popular in the mid to late 1800s. If you look at some of the wall art hanging in the entryway that leads to the center atrium – you'll see some of the prints and paintings that the imagineers used as inspiration when building this space.
This print reads "Vicenza Basilica Palladiana". The Basilica Palladiana is a Renaissance age building in the central Piazza dei Signori in Vicenza, Italy. The print was used for architectural inspiration when designing the Crystal Palace building.
The center atrium is one of the first things you'll see once you step inside the Crystal Palace. It's unique and detailed with design nods to both the Victorian era and Art Nouveau design styles. I always take a few seconds to just look around and up at the ceiling in this area.
So this is a combination photo, but I really wanted to show the center
atrium and some of the paintings and renderings that are hanging on the
walls around the atrium. These were all created for a inspiration wall
that was used during the design of the Crystal Palace building. Disney
simply does not build like this anymore – this is the amount of detail
they used to put into interior design and architecture 50 years ago.
It's a beautiful, memorable, unique space.
Now I don't know how they calculate facilities management costs at Disney – but if you're looking for some plausible reason why this buffet costs a little more than other Disney buffets – maintenance costs on just the roofing is one thing that comes to mind.
If you're not so inclined to be fully immersed in the magic of a character breakfast – just ask yourself, how much would it cost to put a skylight like this in my living room, and what happens when it hails or if a bird poops on one of these panels?
Just as you walk into the Crystal Palace, there's a center atrium and foyer area that separates the two dining areas. This is a look up at the ceiling in the foyer. You can't stand directly in the center of the glass ceiling, because there's a small topiary garden featuring characters from Winne the Pooh underneath.
There's a lot to take in, no matter how you look at it – and Disney has done well and right by keeping this building looking as good as it does – for over 50 years.
There is more to the center atrium than just the plants though – in-between the plants you'll find four topiaries that just so happen to be the same four characters you'll meet at breakfast!
Hey there! It's the Tigger and Piglet topiaries, located in the center atrium area at the Crystal Palace! Hey look, the Tigger topiary really does have eyes! (You have to hold your camera or phone really high to get a photo of Tigger's face.)
This is a great opportunity to double up on your photos of these four hard to find Winnie the Pooh characters.
Here's a closer look at the Winnie the Pooh topiary in the center of the Crystal Palace. He's got a handful of honey!
This Eeyore topiary doesn't want to bother anyone, so he's hiding deep in the plants in the center atrium at the Crystal Palace.
The Seating and Dining Areas Inside The Crystal Palace
The seating areas at the Crystal Palace set up in a "mirrored" format. The left side and the right side are (practically) identical. There is a large planter, the same size as the center atrium planter, located in both the east and west sides. The dining room planters do not have topiaries mixed in with the plants – but the planter box does function as half-booth style seating for several tables positioned around the planter.
The "Friendship Day Celebration" banner hangs near the center of each of the dining areas. The center feature itself is a mix of planter, air conditioning system, and bench style seating
Most of the chairs at the Crystal Palace are wrought iron, open back chairs. They definitely look very Victorian, but they might be a little hard on some guest's backs. The chairs are all lightly padded though, so there's some cushy for your tooshie. I'd say they're moderately heavy – not the easiest to move, but not the worst either. Elderly and small children may need help with the chairs. Highchairs are also available.
There are a number of tables that offer half-booth and half-chair configurations – there are not a lot of these, but there's enough where you should be able to make a request for a "half-booth" when you check in – especially if there's someone in your party that's going to find the chairs difficult to move around and sit in.
On the left-hand side of this photo – there's a look at one of the half-booth / half-chair tables. Everyone on the "booth" part is, more or less, on one giant communal booth the wraps around the planter.
Most of the tables are a decent size as well, however there are some "terribly tiny two-tops" here that are very, very tiny. If you read enough of my reviews, you know I despise those Disney style "tiny two-tops". The two "chair" version of the table for two are the smallest – while the half-booth, half-chair two tops that (mostly) surround the planters are a little larger, and are almost tolerable.
So how crowded does it get when there's actually people in the restaurant? Here's a photo that was taken around 10:00 – so there's about a hour of breakfast yet – the lunch crowd doesn't start showing up until 11:50-ish. (Exact times will change seasonally.)
This is the north west side dining area at around 10:00am. It seems to be in a little more shade at this time in the morning because of the way the building is shaped. Other than the lighting angle, to two main dining areas are basically identical.
While the photo may make it look densely populated – it's actually not that bad in-person. The characters do still have room to move around and interact with everyone at the table.
Photo-wise – pretty much every character you could take photo with in here – is going to have someone, from someone else's party in the background. There does seem to be enough room to take a couple of steps back and get a good wide shot of a couple people in your group with Tigger (or any of the other characters) when they visit your table. Full family photos with the characters? Maybe, if you really squeeze together.
Here's another photo of the second dining area on the opposite side — taken at about the same time. The higher elevation in this one shows the separation between the tables a little better.
The two dining areas at the Crystal Palace are (more or less) identical. They do look a little different at various times over the course of a day. While both rooms have sun roofs – the light entering the side windows changes how much light there is in each room. This is the east side dining room at around 10:00am.
The Characters at Crystal Palace
It's always so much fun to see Winnie the Pooh, Piglet, Tigger and Eeyore here at the Crystal Palace. I don't know what it is about them – maybe it's because they're not really plastered all over the place like some other Disney characters are, or maybe their bright colors and familiar appearance just make me happy – they just seem easier to interact with and they all perform the different character's traits so well.
Winnie the Pooh and Piglet are two of the characters you'll meet at the Crystal Palace breakfast.
In addition to meeting with your group, one-on-one, at your table – they also do a little "friendship day parade" around the restaurant a couple times each hour to pre-recorded music.
Tigger and Eeyore are the other two characters that meet and interact with guest at the Crystal Palace.
Actually, over the course of a typical breakfast, they'll be around your table a couple of times — but usually the first meeting is the longest and most meaningful.
Tigger and Eeyore are the other two characters that meet and interact with guest at the Crystal Palace.
If Piglet seems a little timid about meeting with you, that's just in his nature. Keep in mind, he loves acorns and is not too fond of Heffalumps or Woozles — strike up a conversation with him, and he'll open up a little more.
Piglet is Winnie the Pooh's closest friend. He's a little timid around people and his favorite food is acorns... an interesting nugget of information while trying to interact with him at breakfast.
Tigger is extremely bouncy and the most fun of the group to interact with. He has tons of energy and you'll often see him dancing around – even when he's not meeting with guests!
Tigger is the most energetic character you'll meet at the Crystal Palace Breakfast period. He's very up-beat and exuberant – just exactly as most Tigger's are.
Poor old Eeyore is the character I most relate to. He may seem a little pessimistic and unmotivated to some, but really... he's just a donkey that accepts any situation as it is, and prepares to deal with it accordingly – which I admire greatly.
Contrary to their opposing personalities, Eeyore and Tigger are good friends. Interestingly — while Tigger's do not like thistles, they are one of Eeyore's favorite foods.
The Buffet Setup at the Crystal Palace
The dining areas are the same on both sides – and the buffet line is the same on both sides too! The Crystal Palace features a mirrored buffet line – so there's a "center station" and this is where they make made-to-order omelets, and you can stand to the left or the right of the station to get one of those.
Here's a photo of the very center of the buffet at the Crystal Palace. Everything on the right – is a mirrored version of everything on the left – and the center point is the dividing point.
Everything else you can see on the left side of the buffet tables – is exactly the same as the items you can get on the right side! This is actually a really great system that keeps lines at the buffet to a minimum, even when the restaurant is full of guests. If you are sitting in the right side dining area (for example), you can totally go on the left side, or the right side to get food... it just doesn't matter. There's not ropes or boarders set up in the buffet area to keep you on one side or the other.
The buffet area at Crystal Palace is quite large. The area is divided into a left and right side, and both sides have the same food items. Guests can visit either side. If you look really close in this photo, you'll a dividing rope. That rope only goes up when they're switching one side of the the buffet from breakfast food to the lunch/dinner food – or when it's very close to closing time.
You kind of have to read the room when you go, with regard to "line rules". There's not really an official "start" to the buffet. I guess some people are used to grade school cafeteria style line system ... and some try and hold on to that rule of "no skipping".
Honestly though, things seem to happen in waves at the buffet. Sometimes, I've seen a line forming near one of the tables – like all you want is a couple more strips of bacon and there's six people lined up to get to the shrimp and grits – and they're totally blocking your access to the bacon. My tip of the day — just look over on the other side. Nine times out of ten — the same line isn't forming on that side — just walk over there and pick up some fresh, hot bacon!
I'm going to start on the left side here (but again, it's all the same on the right side). The first buffet table you'll see is kind of low and small – that's because it's the "kids" table.
Here's a look a the children's buffet table. It's located at the very beginning of the main "grown-up" buffet line. It's placed here (presumably) so even the little ones can go up to the buffet and grab something to eat, and still be visible to family members that are sitting in the dining area or in the grown-up buffet line.
There's fresh plates on both sides of the kids table so if you need a new plate, this is where you get them (your silverware and a cloth napkin are part of the table set up – if you need a new fork or something – you'll have to ask your server for that).
Some of the stuff on the kids table actually sounds pretty good (like that Chocolate Chip French Toast), and I can tell you from experience – no one is going to look at you funny for scrunching down in there and getting something, even if you don't have a child with you. If you want a slice of Chocolate Chip French Toast – get in there and grab one (p.s. - that Chocolate Chip French Toast is really great with soft serve ice cream... I'm just saying).
Here's a closer look at the items that are on the children's buffet table. Just in case you were wondering, you don't have to be a child to try some of the items... I mean, Chocolate Chip French Toast sounds pretty good and this might be the only location on the buffet you can get a plain Mickey waffle with maple syrup.
The next table you'll find contains the pastries, chilled items (such as cut fruit), some chilled condiments like whipped butter, marmalade and even salsa, yogurt with topping — and all the makings for a smoked salmon bagel.
Here's a look at the pastry and chilled items buffet counters (on the right). The smaller counter on the left is the children's counter. There's a "plate pickup" in between those two stations.
So how do you tell what everything is? There's these cool little signs sitting on a shelf above the glass protectors. At the Crystal Palace, these are made out of wood and have little printed paper inserts. The food items do change every now and then, and the paper inserts make it easy to update the menu signs.
The buffet name plate signs are acutally little paper inserts – which is a good thing, because items do change every now and then.
Most of the time, there's multiple items listed on each of the cards — but it's usually pretty easy to figure out what each item is.
It's not really useful or practical to show all the items listed on the day that I went — like it was a "menu" because things on the buffet do change seasonally — and what was available on the day I visited, might not be what's on the buffet when you visit. They have done a pretty good job of keeping the number, diversity, and quality of the items the same over the years.
Here's a collection of just four of the wooden menu signs that I took photos of on the day I visited...
Here's some of the "hot, savory items" that were on the menu on the day I visited the Crystal Palace for breakfast.
If you would like to see all of them — I did take a photo of everything I found during my visit (naturally). Those photos are located in our Photo Gallery Page for the Crystal Palace Breakfast — they're directly under all the plated food photos.
Here's a photo of some of the pastries on the pastries and baked goods table...
Ahhhh... the joy of "Assorted Danishes" on the menu! There's so many choices here at Crystal Palace — and that may be one of the reasons this buffet is a couple dollars more than something like Hollywood and Vine. The number of pastries they have over there, is only a third of what's being shown here. There's Apple Puffs, Cinnamon Swirls, Pecan Puffs, Raspberry Danish, Chocolate Chip Puffs, and Lemon Curd Danish – all in this one photo!
The chilled items are kept in various bowls...
Here's a selection of mixed, cut fruit. There's a couple of mellons and some grapes in there.
The smoked salmon is located on a chilled plate with all the other items you'll need to make a classic salmon bagel (cream cheese, onions capers, etc.)...
Here's the section for building a salmon bagel. Naturally, it's in the chilled section of the buffet. There's smoked salmon, red onion, capers, tomatoes and cream cheese. The bagel's are located over by the toaster in one of the center islands (next to the soft serve ice cream machine) – so you can toast an open bagel first, and then bring it over here to build it up!
Everything except the bagel. The bagels are located in a mini island directly opposite of the kids station (there's one of these on the left and right sides) — along with a four slice toaster — which you'll need to get your bagel warm and crunchy!
The bagels and some bread for toasting are located in one of the center islands (this is also duplicated on the other side of the buffet area). The soft-serve ice cream machine is located to the right, just outside the frame.
The final buffet table is a wide one and it connects directly to the center station (which is where the omelets are served). This station is where most of the hot breakfast items are kept (and so this is the station I walk up to the most)...
The longest of the buffet lines along the back wall of the buffet area is where all the hot items are kept. There's a station located outside the frame, on the left, that is chilled for all the fruit and keep-cool items.
Most of the items are kept in medium sized, commercial buffet pots and trays – which are refreshed often. Here's a look at just a couple items...
It's a little hard to tell what these are when they're organized like this on the buffet line — but these are silver dollar buttermilk pancakes with blueberries, strudel topping, and vanilla cream drizzle.
Oh, I do like seeing good, old-fashioned scrambled eggs on any breafast buffet line. The sign says these are cage-free scrambled eggs!
Ahhh... a big, fresh pot of Shrimp on the buffet line – for a build your own plate of "Shrimp and Grits" (the grits were close by in their own hot pot). These little shrimp were properly prepared in a mild, tomato-based Creole Sauce using the "holy trinity" veggie mix of onions, celery, and green bell peppers.
There's soooooo many photos of the items I found on the day I visited. To see all of those, check out our Photo Gallery Page for the Crystal Palace Breakfast.
The Frittatas, are sometimes confused with potatoes or scallops or something else — a Frittata is just a formed scrambled egg disc with "stuff" inside (like onions and ham, etc.) . So... kind of like a little pre-made omelet cake. It's just not alway easy to see what they are in the keep-warm tray.
Here's a fresh plate of Denver Frittatas. It's a little scrambled egg cake with ham, green bell peppers, onions, and cheddar cheese baked in the mix! Incidentally, when the buffet tray is full like this – you know they just came out of the kitchen.
If anything looks like it's "down to the last serving" — don't get any. Fresh hot food is the best. Getting back to my first "Crystal Palace Tip of the Day "— just check the other side!
I know, I know — I'm creating chaos on the buffet line. But only the smallest fraction of people eating at breakfast at the Crystal Palace actually read anything on Mealtrip.com — so this can be our little secret.
Use the "mirrored" buffet to your advantage. If the Cheesy Potato Casserole looks like this...
If you're going to try some of the Cheesy Potato Casserole – make sure you get some of that cheesy topping. Otherwise, you're just getting plain Potato Casserole.
... don't get any of that — go to the other side and see what it looks like over there. The real secret to getting great food that's on-par with a sit down style table service restaurant — is never take the last helping of anything.
Disney buffets are not like any other buffet — they really do a good job of keeping everything fresh and they don't wait until something is gone — to start working on it's replacement portion. It really seems like everything is on a timed schedule — like every ten minutes a new Cheesy Potato Casserole is going to come out, no matter what — the old one goes away and a new one shows up — so you might as well get a hot, fresh sample. Having the same items on the left and right side of the buffet actually increases your odd of finding the best stuff, you just have to do a little extra walking and observing.
There's only two exceptions to the Disney buffet rule — I have seen, an entire tray of Frittatas (among other things over the years) been dropped somewhere in-between the kitchen and the keep-warm line. That's an unavoidable operational error that puts a kink in the "timed schedule for hot fresh food" method... but things seem to get worked out and back on track really quickly.
The only other thing that derails the Disney buffet rule is — the time that you booked the buffet. At a certain point — they have to stop prepping breakfast items and start making lunch items... and so they'll stop bringing out new, hot, fresh breakfast items.
If it states on the Disney app or website that breakfast is served until 11:00am — don't make a reservation for 10:30am. There's just not going to be enough time for you to get the best of what the buffet has to offer. An hour and a half (90 minutes) before the end of the breakfast period is my personal cut-off... but really, the earlier, the better.
The last little station I wanted to show is on the other side of where the bagels and toaster is located. These are just the coolest looking cereal tubes!
These cereal dispensers are very cool. One turn of the handle equals one portion of cereal. With so much great, warm food available though – I usually forget to try those out. I've always wanted to put some Fruit Loops on top of a bowl of soft serve ice cream!
There is also a soft-serve ice cream machine on the other side of these cereal tubes — and that machine is pumping out vanilla, chocolate, and vanilla chocolate swirl soft-serve ice cream at breakfast!!!! There's always people lined up at the machine though — so it's tough to get a photo of.
Breakfast Food at the Crystal Palace
It's impossible for me to eat one of everything on the Crystal Palace breakfast buffet — but I try!In general terms, Character Buffets are right about in the middle of our list of "Where to Find the Best Place to Eat at Disney World" chart. A non-character breakfast buffet would usually score a little better in terms of food quality and diversity, but there aren't too many of those around (Boma over at the Animal Kingdom Lounge is about the only one that comes to mind when thinking about breakfast).
I've always found the fresh cut fruit here at the Crystal Palace breakfast buffet to be unblemished, flavorful, chilled, and juicy – everything you'd expect great cut fruit to be.
Here's some of the Mixed Fruit you'll find at the Crystal Palace breakfast buffet (and a strawberry, these are in their own bowl on the buffet line).
The Whole Strawberries are also alway beautiful looking and a welcome addition to the buffet.
The strawberries here at Crystal Palace are so red and juicy! There's no blemishes on these beauties.
There's a great selection of fresh pastries here, and while the base dough recipe is basically the same for all the pastries — there is a diversity of accent fillers, toppings, and textures that I haven't found at some of the other character buffets recently.
Naturally, these fresh pastries are a little on the small side, but that's so you can try all of them! The quality is generally quite good across the entire selection.
There is a Berry Danish, a Lemon Curd Danish, an Apple Crunch Puff, a Pecan Braid and a Chocolate Chip Croissant — that's more options that I've found at other character breakfast buffet recently, and about the same as I remember from years ago. They were all fresh, and while the pastry portion may not have the same buttery flaky texture that you would expect to find at an actual French Patisserie — they're on-par with any high-end business convention style breakfast pastry.
Pictured here is a Lemon Curd Danish, a couple of strawberries, and a Pecan Danish. The pastries that are available might change a little from day-to-day, but there seems to be a good, balanced selection.
I did sample the plant-based Autumn Harvest Grain Salad (which will change with the seasons naturally) along with a Buttered Croissant (so the plate really isn't plant-based anymore). The Buttered Croissant was flaky and a little more butter flavored than the other pastries.
Here's a closer look at the Autumn Harvest Grain Salad with Apple Vinaigrette. The grain salad is marked as being "plant based" – the Butter Croissant is not (because of the butter that's used in it). The grain salad itself contained some cooked and diced sweet potato, chick peas, kale, some sweet dried cranberries, a couple of ancient grains like quinoa, maybe amaranth — there's a lot of stuff in there — along with a pre-applied apple Vinaigrette. The mix probably could have used a little more of the vinaigrette – while it was wholesome, had great texture, and is good for you, it lacked a little flavor.
Autumn Harvest Grain Salad with Apple Vinaigrette is a really nice idea, it's really healthy and had a lot of good, base ingredients in it. I do wish there was more of that Apple Vinaigrette on it — to tie all the flavors together more ... but I usually say that same thing about most all of Disney's buffet items with "dressing". They don't really put enough on there for my tastes, but that's going to vary from person to person.
The Crispy Fired Chicken (which I think you're probably supposed to place on top of a Mickey Waffle) is a really good piece of white meat chicken (not formed chicken mash like in a nugget, but a single piece of chicken meat). The breading was crunchy and the meat still had clear juice when squeezed. Both of those things can sometimes gets lost in those "keep warm" trays. I'm not sure if these are a pre-battered product or something that they're coating and frying right there on the spot — but the Crispy Fired Chicken is really good.
I know, it looks like an odd slice of pie. The top item is a Crispy Fried Chicken and the bottom item is a portion of the Cheese Potato Casserole. The casserole is served on the buffet line in a not too deep pan... so in one spoonful you can carve out a nice slice of potato hash with all that baked cheese on the top.
I paired my chicken with a portion of that Cheesy Potato Casserole. The potato casserole portion of this was really good... just the right texture and moisture level. The cheese on top — it's the right texture, it's the right color — but honestly ... a really good, flavorful cheese at Disney these days is getting hard to find. This was slightly better and cheesier than most "mac and cheese" items you'll find at Disney restaurants — but I'd be hard pressed to identify a flavor profile of the "cheese". It's a very mild American cheese.
This cheese is supposed to appeal to a broad audience, but it's produced so quickly, that it doesn't develop any particular "bite" or flavor, and almost comes off like it needs more salt just to separate the flavor from the potato gratin mix underneath.
The Traditional Roast Beef Hash was quite good – even if there were more roasted potatoes and peppers than beef. This one tasted a little more Tex-Mex than "American classic" — but that's okay by me, because it was different than the other items on the buffet.
The Traditional Roast Beef Hash has a great flavor and there's all kinds of stuff in there – little roasted potatoes, red peppers, onions, and naturally beef cubes. The overall flavor was a little more Tex-Mex than a traditional American morning hash, but that's okay by me. Actually, this would make a great stuffing for a breakfast burrito.
The Shrimp and Grits was the savory item that I liked the most. While it may not be a traditional breakfast item for some guests – it's usually something you'll find on Southern brunch menus.
The Creole Shrimp from the "build your own shrimp and grits" station were perfectly seared and left to simmer in a great Creole Sauce – a tomato based sauce using the "holy trinity" veggie mix of onions, celery and green bell peppers, with a light mix of additional seasonings.
The red sauce that surounds the shrimp was a proper Creole sauce made by simmering the "holy trinity" veggies — that's New Orleans cuisine talk for cooking down onions, celery and green bell peppers — and then adding that mix to a tomato sauce and tossing in some extra dry spices for a little extra heat.
Disney style grits are usually pretty good too – cooked correctly and just the right texture. Here again, I'd say the Cheddar Grits were a little light on "cheddar" flavor, but when eaten together with the shrimp — it didn't really matter too much.
The The Keralan Tofu Curry was another one of my favorite items of the day. It was also a plant-based item — which is another huge win for the culinary team at the Crystal Palace. Sadly, most plant-based items come off like they were an afterthought, with very little flavor — but not these little beauties.
My "best thing on the buffet" award is a tie between the Shrimp and Grits and these little morsels. These are the plant-based Keralan Tofu Curry squares that feature marinated tofu with coconut curry, and also have lightly pickled onion slices on top. These had multiple flavor layers and multiple textures – I really wasn't expecting to find something so complex on a buffet line – so these were a real treat.
I mean, for starters — anything that has all of these colors is going to taste great. It was also amazing to get an item that checks so many of the contrast boxes on my "is this great food" list.
The Keralan Tofu Curry was one of my favorite items on the Crystal Palace breakfast buffet. Whenever you see all those colors in one morsel – it's going to be good! The bulk of the item combines marinated tofu with coconut curry, but those lightly pickled onions are really important too. They add just the right amount of fresh crunch and add a little bit of acidity to the mix.
There was a snappy cool crunch from the pickled onion that contrasts with the softer warm tofu, the acidity from the onion with the full bodied curry — there was no biting this one in half, I put one whole square in my mouth at once. All the flavors and textures were top notch, and were hitting at a really nice, "table service appetizer level". These were a couple steps above what I would expect to find on a character buffet.
The "Keralan" in the Keralan Tofu Curry refers to a region in southern India. Curry is one of those things that changes depending on what region it represents. Keralan curry is usually full bodied and spicy, make use of things like coriander, fenugreek, fennel, cumin and dried chilli.
Both of the Frittatas were good — I wish the flavors has been a little bolder — probably due to there being more fluffily egg mix in the Frittata and not enough of the "mix-in" elements like the ham and cheese, the spinach and tomatoes, etc.
An up close photo of the Denver Frittata at the Crystal Palace. The Denver Frittata combines cage free eggs, ham, green bell peppers, onions, and cheddar cheese with some fresh cut chives.
The Mediterranean Frittata has all of the same great flavor elements as a larger omelette would – just in bite-sized form. The spinach and feta combo might not be everybody' s cup of tea – but they work so well with the tomatoes and eggs. All of the elements compliment each other perfectly.
Last, but certainly not least — I took a Deep Fried Cinnamon and Sugar Mickey Waffle and paired it with soft-serve vanilla ice cream.
Oh Mickey, what happened to your head? It's okay... this is a deep fried Mickey Waffle that's been coasted in cinnamon and sugar. I've paired it with vanilla soft serve ice cream – because it seemed like the right thing to do.
Sometimes these are called Churro Mickey Waffles ... to me, that's not quite right because essentially, this is still a waffle on the inside. Churros are normally light and airy on the inside ... these are more dense, like a waffle that's been compressed. Both are crispy on the outside.
I think the only other place you can get one of these is on certain Disney Cruise Ships. I'm not sure the "Churro Mickey Waffles" quite rise to the level of being "the" reason you'd go to the Crystal Palace — but they are pretty good ... especially if you get a hot, fresh one. That shouldn't be too hard actually, because they don't last long when a new tray comes out.
Sometimes, these are called "Churro Mickey Waffles" I call them Cinnamon Sugar Mickey Waffles because I like re-naming things (and they're not really like churros... they're like waffles, covered in cinnamon and sugar. The Crystal Palace is one of the few places you can find them on land. There's a few Disney ships that serve these as well.
Conclusion and Value
This is one of the more expensive character meals... it's not crazy out of line like Cinderella's Royal Table Breakfast... but the modus operandi here seems to be "we'd rather make it a little more expensive, than to reduce the offering in any way". And I actually concur with that plan.I'm sure if your children know any of the Winnie the Pooh characters — they'll get a kick out of meeting them. Heck, even if they don't know who any of them are — the fab four from the Hundred Acre Wood are all very easy to like. The bright colorful costumes and their gentle nature are easily accessible and likable by everyone — the young, the old, and even grumpy food reviewers like me.
For anyone that can appreciate construction, interior design, or even just the history of sitting in building that's been around for over 50 years — it's really fun just getting to spend some time in the space and take it all in. It seems to have a fairly quiet atmosphere, for about the first 45 minutes — but after it's been open for an hour, I'd describe it as having a decent "morning bustle".
The wrought iron chairs may be a problem for some people in your group — but there's a fair number or half-booth seating options in both of the dining rooms. You should be able to make a "half-booth" request without getting too delayed.
Tigger will pretty much eat anything for breakfast – but he does not like honey, acorns, or thistles.
The buffet line system itself is one of the easier types to access — the mirrored nature of the buffet keeps lines to a minimum and lends itself more to a "walk up" and get what you want kind of activity, rather than a "wait in the back of the line" format.
The food is just as good as you'll find on any other character buffet — and maybe even a step or two better. There's a couple of special items you won't find at many other places (like the Churro Mickey Waffles). There's a good selection of pastries that all actually have flavor and taste good, there's a couple different "hot plate" items that you can combine, in an attempt to try everything. Some of the items, like the Shrimp and Grits, are "entree level" quality and I'd be happy with just a big portion of those and some pastries (and a Churro Mickey Waffle with soft serve).
All in all, I really like the Crystal Palace Breakfast (and the Crystal Palace Dinner period too for that matter), and I look forward to visiting again — which I have done, multiple times over the years. It's always been a good, fun time ... and a great example of what all character breakfast's could (and should) be.
