The Crystal Palace at Magic Kingdom – 5 Things You Need to Know

Winnie the Pooh and his pals, all-you-can-eat buffet, plus Magic Kingdom – sign us up! The Crystal Palace is an incredible character dining experience you and your family are sure to love. Before you dine, here are five things we “think…think…think” you need to know about The Crystal Palace.

1 –  Reservations Please

Breakfast, lunch, and dinner – Crystal Palace stays busy. Not only will you need a park ticket to dine at The Crystal Palace, but chances are you won’t be able to dine at this location without a reservation or lengthy wait. As Winne, the Pooh would say, “Bother!” However, we recommend booking a reservation the morning of your 60-day advanced dining reservation window (online at 6:00 am or by phone at 7:00 am). The sooner you make your reservation, the better your chance of getting in for the day and time you seek. Despite its large size, Crystal Palace fills up and reservations to go fast! Do yourself and your traveling party a favor and book your meal reservation well in advance.

2 – Victorian Greenhouse

The moment you see The Crystal Palace, you’ll see why everyone wants to dine there! It’s just beautiful inside and out. Victorian-style posts, great detail, and large windows invite you to enter. We especially enjoy the white benches outside on the patio, perfect for resting after you’ve checked in for your reservation. This restaurant may have been designed after an 1800s Victorian greenhouse, but it’s like no greenhouse we have ever seen! Inside, it’s bright, airy, white – a sweet, light, and royal atmosphere. Lush greenery pops against all the white details. Our favorite part is when we are seated close to the windows with a wonderful view of the Cinderella Castle. Truly a magical experience!

3 – Time to Eat

Tiggers don’t jump, so bounce on over to the buffet! In our opinion, the price for the meal at The Crystal Palace is worth the excellent variety and taste of food. Despite a glance at the small menu, we feel we definitely get our money’s worth at this restaurant. What looks like a small selection on the menu somehow lays out as a large American cuisine buffet that has several options for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Finding an excellent meal for even the pickiest of eaters is easy. We particularly enjoy the omelet station, pancakes, and waffles for breakfast. We find it helpful that you can go heavy at lunch with their food options or pick a lighter fare. Dinner has delicious meats – beef, chicken, fish, yum! Each meal has some sort of tasty dessert and an assortment of beverages to go with it. Dessert – try a sampling of as many items as you’d like. We have yet to find a dessert at Crystal Palace we don’t love!

4 – Pooh and Friends

It’s “Friendship Day” at The Crystal Palace every day, so be sure to get those cameras ready for the Hundred-Acre Wood friends! Winne the Pooh, Tigger, Eeyore, and Piglet all make appearances. They travel from table to table so you can enjoy your delicious food while you wait for them to visit you! We recommend you have those autograph books out and ready and a pen for the character to use. Of course, as with any character dining experience, specific characters are never guaranteed, but hopefully, all of them will be out and about for you to meet. Be sure to watch for characters before heading to the buffet. You wouldn’t want to miss your chance to meet these sweet friends of Christopher Robins. Side note – ask your server if they will have a “Friendship Parade” for the kiddos and, if so, when the next one takes place. Your little one might get to parade through the restaurant swinging their cloth napkins around as everyone celebrates friendship!

5 – Tips

If you would like to try for a table next to the windows to have a direct view of the Cinderella Castle, we recommend checking in early at the host/hostess stand. Let the host/hostess know would like to be seated next to the window if possible and are willing to wait for your chance. While there is never a guarantee of your seat location, it can’t hurt to ask!

In the words of Winnie the Pooh, “I think we dream so we don’t have to be apart for so long. If we’re in each other’s dreams, we can be together all the time.” Sweet dreams until we meet again at The Crystal Palace!