Crystal Palace – Breakfast Pointers

The Crystal Palace has been one of my family’s favorite Disney World restaurants since our first trip 13 years ago. We will be heading to Disney World this summer and when I asked my children (now 14, 16 and 18 years old) where they wanted to eat, they all answered with a few different restaurants but one in common was the Crystal Palace. Since we have eaten here many times, I thought I would share what we have discovered along the way.

Make an Advanced Dining Reservation(ADR)!  Currently, you will need to give a credit card number to make an ADR at the Crystal Palace and a $10 per person fee is charged for no-shows.   ADR’s may be cancelled one day in advance without penalty. An ADR lets you plan ahead to make the most of  your day at the Magic Kingdom.  We avoid making our ADR on an Extra Magic Hour morning otherwise the park will be extra crowded.  Once we’ve selected our day, we need to decide on when to eat. One option is to make the ADR for the earliest time possible usually one hour before the park opens, so you can take photos of the Castle and Main Street without crowds.

This works well for that first photo, but your family has to get up an extra hour earlier, and take the special bus, which causes me stress.  It can be fun, but once breakfast is over the crowds have caught up to you the ride lines will be longer and you won’t have had a chance to get a Fastpass before eating.  We have a different plan.  We make the latest possible breakfast reservation.  This is usually at 10:30am.

My family likes to eat a little snack, in our hotel, before arriving at the Magic Kingdom.  Sometimes we bring food from home, like bagels.  Sometimes we buy something the night before like cereal. Since there will be a couple of hours before breakfast, my family would be grumpy without a little something to eat.

Even though breakfast is later, arrive at the Magic Kingdom at rope drop and enjoy all your favorite rides with little or no line!  This is the best thing about the late breakfast time.  Make sure to head over to the Crystal Palace around 20 minutes before your ADR time, stopping to pick up a Fastpass to a ride you want to ride after breakfast.

Check in fifteen minutes before your ADR time.  If you are too late, you could be  charged the no show fee. So make sure you get there on time!  The Crystal Palace reminds me of a huge Victorian Greenhouse, with large windows and an amazing topiary of Winnie the Pooh and his friends in the center.

Another highlight of the Crystal Palace are the characters! Pooh, Tigger, Eeyore, and Piglet will come to your table one at a time to pose for photos and sign your autograph books.  It’s great not to have to stand in line for each character and to know that they won’t go on break just when you get to the front of the line!  The character interaction can vary but if you want to jump with Tigger or take an extra photo or two just ask!   Generally, they engage the people in according to the response they get when they stop at your table.  If you remain in your seat, they move on pretty quickly.  If you are excited to see them, they are excited to see you.

Once your family is full and rested, it is time to go use that Fastpass you acquired earlier and have a great afternoon.  When everyone else is stopping for lunch you’ll be onto another ride!  Sometimes we even skip lunch and just eat an early dinner.  It all depends on how we are feeling.

There you have it, our tips for making the most out of your breakfast at the Crystal Palace!