By Fashionista Diva
The Crystal Palace is located in the Magic Kingdom and serves breakfast, lunch and dinner with Winnie the Pooh & Friends. I have been a vegetarian for five years. When I found out my sister booked us reservations at The Crystal Palace for lunch, I was excited. I am a huge fan of Winnie the Pooh and love character dining experiences. However, this would be my first time dining in the restaurant as a vegetarian. I attended a character dinner during my carnivorous eating days and I could not remember seeing many vegetarian friendly selections.
Upon arrival I notified our server that I did not eat any meat products. She told me that was not a problem and she would have the chef come out and walk me around the buffet so I would know what I could eat. That was by far above my expectations. My friends went to the buffet while I awaited my buffet tour guide. I didn’t have to wait long, he arrived moments later. He was very friendly and described what was in every dish on the buffet so I could make an informed decision on what to eat. After going through the entire buffet there were only a few things to choose from. While I am happy there was more than one option, for the price I paid, I was hoping for a little more. I decided to try all the options, this is a buffet! There was vegetable pasta in marinara sauce, edamame rice noodle salad, tofu curry noodle dish, and mashed potatoes. I was not that impressed. The vegetarian pasta was dry and bland. The edamame rice noodle salad did not taste good and the tofu curry was very spicy. However, my mashed potatoes were excellent. I resorted to stealing macaroni and cheese from the kids bar. I decided to try and fill up on dessert. There were cookies, brownies, ice cream and many other sweets.
While eating lunch the characters come by each and every table at least one time. There is normally a “handler” with the characters that are more than willing to take group photographs for you. Character dining is such a great experience. You get more time with the characters then waiting in a long line for a quick picture at the park. Pooh, Eeyore, Tigger & Piglet were there. They were great at interacting with everyone in our group individually. Keep in mind this was a group of four adult females with no kids! We were thoroughly impressed they didn’t try to shirk us because we didn’t have little kids.
When piglet came to our table and saw my stuffed Pooh bear he picked him up and spun around giving him hugs. 
Character Pooh saw this from a few tables away and came up to Piglet, and tapped him on the shoulder. When Piglet turned around Pooh gave him a “real” hug! It was so adorable. I have to say even though the food was not very impressive for the price, the character experience was! If you are a fan of Winnie the Pooh I would recommend The Crystal Palace based on just the characters.
DIVA TIP: The Crystal Palace also serves breakfast that has much better vegetarian options and taste! It is also less expensive.
I borrow from the kid’s buffet when we dine here as well, that mac and cheese it the best. Breakfast is the best option and even better if you make your reservation before the park opens. Thanks for the great info on the veggie options and for linking up this week!
Crystal Palace is one of our favorite MK restaurants. I have found the food remains consistent and the atmosphere is always magical. I haven’t tried the food items you ate though, as I typically don’t eat vegetarian. Thanks for your review!