Garden Grill, Yes! – Crystal Palace, No!

[Goes4FastPass]

We just ate at both places with a 4YO on the same trip.

Crystal Palace:
Loud, noisy, chaos. Not a break from the park – a continuation of the park. Very crowded – tables everywhere all but touching and the characters go to 3 tables in a row then abruptly turn then circle the other then across the room and may or may not ever get to your table while your child is being reminded to wait his turn – and his turn never comes. “We missed Tigger. It’s OK. I see Piglet coming this way.” then tears.
There’s the entrée queue and the salad queue and the kid food queue. It's liek waiting to to ride BTMRR. Pretty room. Utter chaos.

Garden Grill:
We liked it so much I don’t even want to tell people. We were seated seconds after we checked in and seated in one of the high backed booths where other guests aren’t even visible.

Our server brought us salad then sirloin and mashed potatoes, turkey, dressing and cranberry mango chutney and crusted mahi with sautéed vegetables from the Land.

Our little guy fell asleep and when Dale came by I explained, “he’s asleep, Dale. – we’ll see you next trip” but Dale then pointed to my camera and gestured for my son to get out of the booth. Dale then curled up beside the child and pretended to be asleep also.

Later the child woke up and saw the kid’s food plate that arrived during the nap. He then discovered the magic of sweet potato fries. Our server encouraged us to relax and take our time ( ! ) she brought dessert while we enjoyed visits with Chip, Pluto and Farmer Mickey.

My son summarized: “Great food, great service, great character interaction in a comfortable quiet restaurant that rotates overlooking Living with the Land. It’s the restaurant that’s a ride.”

“Speaking of rides”, I answered, ‘When’s our Soarin’ FastPass return time?” My son pulled out the FPs, looked at his watch and said, “10 minutes ago.” - and Soarin’ is how far from the Garden Grill? 1 minute?

There are many special places to eat in Epcot World Showcase but Garden Grill in Epcot Future World is on our repeat list.

[faline]

We'll be eating at Garden Grill for the first time since characters were introduced at this location. Good to hear the great review!

On the other hand, we had breakfast at Crystal Palace about a year ago and had great character interaction!

[christinelee10]

I found out on our last trip that you can use your FP even after they expire!! It has to be used on same day, but we had one for 1-2pm for TOT. Arrived around 2:20 and asked if we could still use it. Was told you can't use it before the posted time, but can use after the posted time, up to park closing. All these years I've been rushing around the parks to get there in the posted time frames!!

[Disney4us2]

Thanks for the reviews. We will be at Garden Grill on 12/2 for the first time. We will also be having an early breakfast at Crystal Palace on 12/7. Hopefully it won't be so noisy and crowded.

We never go to see Piglet on our first time there. The character attendant went and got Piglet to come over for a private meeting after our dinner. It was great.

[buzznwoodysmom]

We loved Garden Grill a few years ago. Definitely one of our fondest character meals. However, having one son allergic to poltry and seafood, and DH allergic to fish, its just not a place we'll likely return to very often due to so many items on the menu being off limits to half our party. Glad you enjoyed it.

[BTM]

The garden grill is great! It's one of our favorites. The Characters came around twice last time and took their time with our little ones. The food is also very good. We will be there again in Dec.

Crystal Palace. Hit or Miss. We had one good experience there and one pretty bad one. Its off our repeat list.

[Kairi_7378]

Thank you for your candid reviews. I am glad you had such a good time at Garden Grille and I will have to add it to our list of "should try's."

[ElenitaB]

We loved Garden Grill a few years ago. Definitely one of our fondest character meals. However, having one son allergic to poltry and seafood, and DH allergic to fish, its just not a place we'll likely return to very often due to so many items on the menu being off limits to half our party. Glad you enjoyed it.

Just note your allergies on the ADR, and accomodations will be made.

One of the reasons I really like GG is because you can't see the characters coming from far off in the distance. It really does not contribute to the anxiety of little ones who are patiently waiting their turn. Well that and the fact that everyone at our table (including the parental units) have always gotten lots and lots of attention from the characters!

[ibelieveindisneymagic]

We love Garden Grill too! We've had super character interaction, and I know the food is fresh - on one trip there was still a ladybug in the salad.

[buzznwoodysmom]

Just note your allergies on the ADR, and accomodations will be made.

We always note our allergies, but its still tough when half the menu is off limits to half the party. They brought out the children's platter for my son, but that included chicken nuggets, which he can't eat. He's a very picky eater so its often tough to feed him. Poor kid, as picky as he is, he loves seafood and chicken, but can't eat those things. After all was said and done, he ate a small bowl of Mac N Cheese and we were still charged full price for him. It just isn't worth it to do very often. But its really great food and I always recommend it to others.

[Mousemates]

we love the GG and its a great place to eat if everyone is on the same page foodwise (good old staples like roast beef/potatoes/etc)...however, if you want or need a lot more variety then CP is a also good choice for a character meal.

[White Rose]

Thank you so much for the reviews! I currently have ADRs for both Chef Mickey's and Garden Grill around the same time and have been debating whether or not I should just go for Garden Grill. Chip and Dale are honestly two of my favorite characters to interact with.

I think I'll be cancelling that ADR with Chef Mickey's after all...

[cer]

I love Garden Grill. Has to be the most peaceful character meal out there. Very private and no fighting crazy lines to get food.

Keep in mind we have not tried Cinderella's table, Cape May, Akerhaus, 1900 Park Fare or Ohana breakfast, but I would still argue that it is the best 'low key' character meal.

[RedSoxFan]

We have dinner ADR's at the Crystal Palace in December --- I hope I won't be disappointed.

[bostonsam]

had a wonderful time at both placesat GG either chip or dale?were being very cute with our boys in their ReDSoX shirtsand the food was great~At CP(diff trip)same thing wonderful interaction(s)at our table and food was fine.

[DisneyFr33k]

Couldn't agree with you more about Crystal Palace! We had the exact same experience. When we arrived, we were so hot and thirsty we were really wanting a big glass of water. We waited over 10 minutes, and no server.... so we stopped another server to ask for water. The food was below average too and we had to walk over to the characters after our meal was over to get pictures as they never came to our area at all! We'll not waste a table credit there again!

On the other hand, we've never tried the Garden Grill and after reading your review, will do so next time! Thanks!

[wildernesslady]

I just booked Garden Grill for our March trip. I haven't been there for 8 years and am now really looking forward to it.

We have enjoyed Crystal Palace for breakfast, but I will not return for dinner. Poor service and quality of food was not great either.

[SurferStitch]

We have dinner ADR's at the Crystal Palace in December --- I hope I won't be disappointed.

You won't be.

DH and I dined there on 10/7 before MNSSHP and had a wonderful meal. Food was fresh, hot and very tasty.

There were no long lines for food, even though the restaurant was about 95% full. There was plenty of room for comfortable dining. Service was efficient and friendly.

We had excellent character interaction. There was a point where Piglet was just about to come to our table, but had to leave for a few minutes. About 3-4 minutes later, he showed up at our table for pics. We were there for about 45 -50 minutes and easily had every character stop by our table.

Keep your ADR and enjoy!!

[RedSoxFan]

Glad to hear I won't be disappointed. We have never eaten here and wanted to eat at MK for our last night at WDW. DD14 and DN14 are looking forward to eating with Pooh.

[MississippiDisneyFreak]

I'm sorry you had a bad experience at CP...we had one of our best character experiences there on our last trip....