Liberty Tree Tavern or Crystal Palace
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disneyrookie · 03-16-2005, 05:11 PM

I'm considering doing a character dinner in the Magic Kingdom. Am torn between Liberty Tree Tavern and the Crystal Palace. Any thoughts? Does anybody have another character dinner in a park, not a resort, that they love? If so, tell all.

TroianRae · 03-16-2005, 05:20 PM

Do you want Mickey or Pooh & Friends??

We're choosing Crystal Palace for lunch because both kids love all the Pooh characters (and will see Mickey at Chef Mickey's) plus they have macaroni and cheese. Wherever we eat, they have to have mac and cheese for Benji - that's ALL he eats ( well, okay, there's spaghetti, breadsticks, sometimes/rarely pizza - my kid is Italian) so we have to plan the PS's around him.

Last year I didn't, and he didn't eat anything at PSB (drank orange juice - the two cups that the waiter brought him) and only took one bite out of a cinnamon roll at CRT.

According to my notes, Crystal Palace serves a buffet and, I think, Liberty Tree Tavern serves family style so you need to decide if that factors in or not.

disneyrookie · 03-16-2005, 05:23 PM

Hmmm. Thanks for the thoughts. The buffet style would prob. work better for us, and I'm leaning toward Crystal Palace b/c I figure my kids (5 and 2/12) won't be as much into Pool and Pals for much longer. I just didn't know if Liberty Tree is just SO much fun and delicious that I shouldn't count it out.

Bert & Sully · 03-16-2005, 05:53 PM

Liberty Tree Tavern is sponsored by Swanson, known for their frozen foods and served family style.

Crystal Palace is all fresh food and buffet style. It's also one of the best character meals for lunch or dinner on the property we've found. There are plenty of offerings for vegetarian and carnivore alike.

crystalloubear · 03-16-2005, 06:12 PM

Having tried both - I would say to go with the Crystal Palace. The food is way better and I found the characters to be more attentive there. Liberty Tree was like a Thanksgiving dinner - it was alright but not fabulous.
Another character meal over in Epcot is the Graden Grill - it is with Farmer Mickey, Chip and Dale and Pluto. We always love this one. It is served family style and the characters spend quality time with you. If you won't be in the area at lunchtime, they also have an ice cream in the afternoons!!

paradox · 03-16-2005, 06:18 PM

Crystal Palace hands down. Pooh is my daughter's favorite, and the food is much better. Everyone there is so friendly, and the characters spend a lot of time with you.

Jennifer2003 · 03-16-2005, 11:40 PM

I wasn't too impressed with Liberty Tree Tavern. I think it was my server and our table, but I probably won't go back.

I'm not the biggest Pooh fan, but I'd pick Crystal Palace! I hear the food is great!

Have fun!!!!
Jennifer

katydid · 03-16-2005, 11:55 PM

I know that I am in the minority here

but my husband and I loved Liberty Tree Tavern. I believe that it was sponsored by Stouffer's not Swansons (a big difference in my book.)The food was great but as others pointed out, so was the food at Garden Grill. I guess I'm just not a big buffet fan, but that's just me!

Nala · 03-17-2005, 12:39 AM

In our last four trips we have done LTT and CP for dinner. Our first two trips as a family we did LTT and the last two we have done CP. We love the food at CP and it has become a must do on our last night at Disney for every future trip. (it is very hard to wait the entire week to eat there!)I love their salad bar!

On a side note we have also had lunch at LTT the last two trips and love their food.(no characters at lunch) Always a good choice for a sit down lunch!

**chezp** · 03-17-2005, 02:05 AM

We've done both and far prefer the Crystal Palace. There was nothing wrong with the Liberty Tree Tavern, but we enjoy the buffet at the CP far more and always seem to have more fun with the characters there. It also seems to be a favourite in the character meal poll in this forum, judging by the results so far.

mamapajama · 03-17-2005, 08:08 AM

We did both last year. We are big Chef Mickey's people but everyone loved LTT so much that we are doing it instead of Chef Mick's. The food was great, especially the flank steak and the kids loved the Stouffer's mac & cheese! We had great character interaction (&that was during MNSSHP!). At CP, the food was good but we only saw the characters once. The restaurant is really big & they go from one end to the other. We were in the room on the right all the way by the windows. We were finished eating and hung around waiting for Eeyore. We've never had to do that at any other character meal and that was lunch time. We would do it again but not on our next trip. Right now we only have one chr. meal planned for our May weekend and it is LTT.

HTH

Elise

MickeyMAC · 03-17-2005, 08:13 AM

CP is my favorite resturant in all of DW. We love breakfast and dinner here. The buffet is always loaded with choices. The food has always been great. The other reason we love CP is that all my kids love the characters (they are teenagers--you never get to old for Tigger, Eeyore, Piglet).

katspjs · 03-17-2005, 08:31 AM

[ QUOTE ]
I know that I am in the minority here

but my husband and I loved Liberty Tree Tavern. I believe that it was sponsored by Stouffer's not Swansons (a big difference in my book.)

[/ QUOTE ]

I agree. We ate there during MNSSHP and we really enjoyed it. They also serve Mac & Cheese.

Joy J · 03-17-2005, 10:38 AM

Both of these character meals are excellent so it could come down to a case of which characters you prefer (Winnie the Pooh, Eeyore, Tigger and Piglet at CP or Minnie Mouse, Goofy, Chip, Dale, and Pluto at LTT) and whether you prefer to eat from a buffet or have the food served to you at your table family-style. At CP, I like lunch there the best of all three meals. Another option but you would have to go for lunch instead of dinner is Cinderella's Royal Table. Apparently they are now offering a character lunch there but they have changed the roster of characters - it's now Cinderella, Prince Charming, the Fairy Godmother, Suzy and Perla. This might be a nice alternative for you simply for the chance to eat inside the castle which is always a fun experience.

Joy