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Sometime during our first afternoon at the Magic Kingdom, I found myself sitting at a table with my parents while my wife and MIL stood in line for the Dumbo ride with the girls. While we waited for them to get on the ride, we reviewed the map and event schedules, trying to figure out what we might want to do next. I happened to read the description for The Crystal Palace, which sits across the circle in front on Cinderella's castle. Its a buffet restaurant, open for breakfast, lunch and dinner, but what really caught our attention was that this was a "character dining experience." Our daughters have long been big fans of Winnie the Pooh and his friends from the 100 Acre Woods, and here these characters would be mingling with the guests as they ate. At first I was thinking that we could have dinner there one evening before returning to our condo, but later that evening I talked to my wife and the plan changed.
The next day we picked up a college aged cousin of my wife, who is taking a semester off to work at Disney's Animal Kingdom. It was her day off from work, and she wanted to spend the day with our girls. We decided that we'd try to get reservations for lunch with Pooh and friends, and have our light meal in the evening. When we reached the Magic Kingdom, we immediately went to Guest Relations and made a reservation for lunch at 1pm. We then headed off to enjoy the morning around the park.
Shortly before 1:00 we headed back to the center of the park and the Crystal Palace. After a very short wait, we were seated at our table, and our waitress explained how the characters moved around the dining room, visiting each table in its turn. We ordered our beverages and then delayed heading to the buffet, because Piglet was almost to our table. We watched as Piglet visited each table, posing for photos, signing autograph books, and interacting with both the kids and the parents. Finally, he reached our table and received BIG hugs from our girls, signed their books and posed for pictures.
Finally, we were able to go up to the buffet. The food was amazing, especially for a buffet. There was a nice variety of foods to choose from and all of what I sampled was excellent. As we ate, we were visited by the other residents of the 100 Acre Woods--Eeyore, Tigger and, of course, Pooh. The characters were fun to interact with, and the girls had a great time. When the check came, I was glad we had my wife's cousin along. Her work ID got us 20% off the total, which was significant. It was still a pretty expensive meal, but the entertainment was, as they say, priceless.
(I have photos, and will try to post some later.)
The next day we picked up a college aged cousin of my wife, who is taking a semester off to work at Disney's Animal Kingdom. It was her day off from work, and she wanted to spend the day with our girls. We decided that we'd try to get reservations for lunch with Pooh and friends, and have our light meal in the evening. When we reached the Magic Kingdom, we immediately went to Guest Relations and made a reservation for lunch at 1pm. We then headed off to enjoy the morning around the park.
Shortly before 1:00 we headed back to the center of the park and the Crystal Palace. After a very short wait, we were seated at our table, and our waitress explained how the characters moved around the dining room, visiting each table in its turn. We ordered our beverages and then delayed heading to the buffet, because Piglet was almost to our table. We watched as Piglet visited each table, posing for photos, signing autograph books, and interacting with both the kids and the parents. Finally, he reached our table and received BIG hugs from our girls, signed their books and posed for pictures.
Finally, we were able to go up to the buffet. The food was amazing, especially for a buffet. There was a nice variety of foods to choose from and all of what I sampled was excellent. As we ate, we were visited by the other residents of the 100 Acre Woods--Eeyore, Tigger and, of course, Pooh. The characters were fun to interact with, and the girls had a great time. When the check came, I was glad we had my wife's cousin along. Her work ID got us 20% off the total, which was significant. It was still a pretty expensive meal, but the entertainment was, as they say, priceless.
(I have photos, and will try to post some later.)
