BOG vs Crystal Palace vs Chef Mickey vs [?]

Obviously I’m not allowed to change my plans until 1st May so I’m definitely not doing that.

But a, er, friend of mine has asked me a question about, er, his plans.

He’s staying at the Contemporary and is wondering about his last meal. His plan is to spend his last day in MK before returning to the hotel and then off to MCO.

He’s got an ADR for Chef Mickey — it’s in the hotel, so no stress about getting back to the hotel in time to leave. He’ll be right there. The character interaction might be fun. But apparently the food sucks.

He could maybe do BOG, but lunch is QS and he’s not that excited about the menu.

Or there’s Crystal Palace. He’s not interested in the characters there, but maybe the food is better?

Or even CRT. He went during his last visit and wasn’t that impressed. But, you know, it’s in the castle. And the food is more exciting than, say, BOG.

What advice would you give me? You know, to give to him. My friend. Who’s definitely not me. Obviously.

4 Likes

Brb laughing forever. May 1 is a loooong time away. This is going to be SO entertaining.

ETA: (I realize that this was not at all helpful, but you really did give me a chuckle for the day).

I’ve only been to BOG, which I quite liked. I’ve heard really not great stuff about the food at Chef Mickey, and if you – sorry, your friend – don’t care about meeting characters, I’d probably go for BOG, out of those options.

1 Like

I’ve spoken to my friend (which proves it’s not me, because only an insane person would talk to himself) and he’s decided — for now (he changes his mind all the time, he’s such a bore) — to do CRT.

It’s the last day, the food is probably better than any of the other options, and it ticks the box for spectacle. He’s not keen on the princess nonsense, but it feels like a nice way to end the trip — followed by a sad walk down Main Street.

2 Likes

If you, or your friend, want to go back to the Contemporary, I would suggest The Wave over CM.

There is no point paying for a buffet if you don’t care about meeting the characters.

But if you/he is going to do CRT, and you can’t change the plans until May, how are you going to wing a reservation at CRT? That would be pushing things.

You’re going to have to come clean you know! :joy:

Skipper’s Canteen has a fun staff and a good variety of food.

In terms of food, this would be my first choice at MK as well. Not sure if your ahem “friend” has already been - if not that’s definitely what I would go for.

Agree. Skipper’s Canteen is great!!!

Ok, not The BOATHOUSE absolutely amazing, but I’d put Skipper’s my second best meal of my trip. (Well, if you count my two meals at BOATHOUSE as one. LOL.)

1 Like

Gosh. This is going to be difficult to say.

There was no way for any of you to have known this, but all my talk about asking this question for “a friend” was, in fact, untrue. There is no friend. I was asking for myself.

Now, don’t go beating yourself up. I very cleverly hid the fact that I was asking for myself and it’s hardly surprising my talk of helping a friend had you completely convinced.

I’ve booked CRT and cancelled CM.

To be fair, it’s not my fault. Someone said the food at CM was rubbish yesterday and it only takes one negative comment on these forums for me to completely change my whole plan.

But psychologically CRT feels right. It’s a nice way to end the trip, I think. Even if, as I said, the whole princess thing is weird to me.

Obviously there will be no more changes now till 1st May.

Anyhoo, gotta go now. A friend is asking me to review his WDW schedule. He’s thinking of making some changes.

5 Likes

I’m glad you were able to get that off your chest. The truth, as it says in scripture, will set you free.

Do you feel free yet?

But if you HAD been talking about “a friend”, I would advise him on how strange it might be for a lone adult male to show up to meet characters under the guise of “better food”. Your entire…err, I mean, HIS entire…state of mind might be called into question, even possibly going as far as ending up as being confused with someone on America’s Most Wanted list.

But fortunately this wasn’t for a friend, so I won’t make such an advisement.

1 Like

I have zero interest in engaging with the princesses. But the venue is impressive and the food is better. It’s an experience in a way the other options aren’t. If BOG had the same food they offer at dinner I would have gone for that. But others have described BOG lunch as being like a school canteen on a busy day. I do like the characters at CM, but the food is frequently criticised.

Apparently my attempt at humor fell as flat as a pancake.

Hmm. That means my kids might just be right about me.

1 Like

The one time I ate at CRT, I was not impressed with the food.

1 Like

I thought you said you hated CRT the last time you were there? Time heals all wounds? I mean, I know you said above you weren’t impressed, but the report seemed to border on loath. :stuck_out_tongue:

I know you’re joking, but as this is often a serious concern for those who travel alone to Disney I think it should be made crystal clear that staff and other patrons do not care about an adult (male or female) eating alone at a character meal.

Soooo many people do it that the staff doesn’t care and treats you just like any other guest, probably even better as you have the potential of being a conversation/experience that is not the same repetitive kid-interaction. And all the other guests are so absorbed into their own experience that they don’t even notice.

This goes for character meet and greets too.

1 Like

CM was just meh. The only reason to go is to see the fab 5. Food is WAY better at 1900 Park Fare for breakfast/brunch.

CRT is just so expensive. The food is ok but my foodie DH was not as impressed as I was. This was a 1x and done for us. I liked the castle but wasn’t extremely impressed. It feels dated to me.

I enjoyed BOG lunch. I really enjoyed the castle theming and the food was good. But if you’re not into the menu at all, that crosses that off the list. It was loud and not relaxing at all. I think that was just partly due to the room. We were seated in the ball room. Would have preferred one of the small rooms for lunch.

I have no experience with Crystal Palace but I am told the food is just OK.

I also really liked Ohana breakfast.

heheh… would you say it almost feels…mediveal?

Medieval…yes… and probably in line with cinderella era just doesn’t feel “new” and “Disney-like” to me. I thought there was more attention to detail at BOG.

When I make comments there are often things swimming about in my head that other people don’t know about and so my responses make more sense to me than they do to others.

I am a bit spiky about suggestions about the motives of a middle aged man touring WDW alone. I fully accept @ryan1 was being humorous to match the tone of the whole thread, and that the sense-of-humour failure was mine.

But there was a discussion on the Lines app last week which touched on this issue and it can feel a bit close to the bone.

I go to WDW because it’s just such a wonderful, safe, fun place to be. And I like all the dining options. Talking of which . . .

Oh no! I can’t change my mind again!

This is another example of what I was talking about before — things being in my head that other people don’t know about.

My view of CRT was partly coloured by two things.

First — although we had a window seat, my dining companion took the seat with the view out into the park, leaving me with the seat facing, well, not very much. Call me a spoilt brat if you will, but that made me a little, er, disappointed.

Second — the starter was a salad. A salad! In a castle! I bet they don’t eat salads in real castles! I expected something better than that.

But I think the main course was pretty decent, as was the dessert. And the general look and ambiance was pretty cool.

You may also remember I had a bad experience at CG. This was again coloured by two things.

First — we were seated in the room at the end with the view of the lake. This was a huge disappointment as we were marched past the incredible view of the castle.

Second — my dining companion made a huge fuss about her meal. She’s an aggressive vegan and, well, the whole thing was a huge drama that I could have done without.

CRT is expensive: $80 with tax and tip. But I’m quite romantic at heart in my own way and I like the idea of having lunch here as my final goodbye before I set off home. The food at Skipper’s does look pretty good, but it just doesn’t look like a special place to end on.

And remember that — just like my trip six months ago — this is a one-off, trip-of-a-lifetime. I won’t be back any time soon. Possibly not until my 50th birthday.*

I would have stuck with CM but it just looked like too much of a risk. Plus I’m not sure I want my last memory of WDW to be stuck in a windowless room filled with screaming kids, eating disappointing food.


*my 50th birthday is next year

I was NOT disappointed in Skipper’s Canteen. And you get more of a choice there!

You don’t sound interested in any of your options, CP looks like an experience, somewhere it would be nice to try at least once. I want to try skippers canteen, but from the sound of it you’ve already been there.

I have an opening for an MK lunch earlier in the week. I’m perfectly happy to add Skipper’s Canteen to my schedule on that day.

Is a walk-in likely, or do I need to book?