>Crystal Clear Unknown Magics

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When I was growing up, my Dad used to take off the week after Christmas every year; it was nice. This is when we would have people visit for the holiday season. As an adult my wife and I are both teachers, it makes it nice that we have off together this week after Christmas. We do the same kind of thing; we visit people and have them visit us. It cuts down on the rushing around Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. We got together for breakfast yesterday with some friends. It reminded me of the Crystal Palace in the Magic Kingdom, but I don’t know why. The food wasn’t as good and the diner where we were wasn’t anything like the Crystal Palace, but it made me think of our Breakfast there on a trip few years ago. Okay, I’ll admit it could just be that I need a Disney Fix, but then again, when don’t I? So since it was on my mind, I bring to you today the Unknown Magic of the Crystal Palace.

The Crystal Palace is a character meal that features Pooh and friends and is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner. The food is considered American cuisine, and is buffet for all three meals.

The Menus for Lunch and Dinner include beef, chicken, salmon, choices, along with things made with curry, cinnamon, mango and papaya. They offer wonderful desserts like red velvet cheesecake, double chocolate brownie, apple cobbler and coconut flan. They also have an awesome sundae bar.

We ate at the Crystal Palace for breakfast a few years ago, one of the great things about eating at the Crystal Palace for breakfast is that you can get a reservation for your meal, before the Park opens. This might not seem like a big deal, but think about this. You get to walk up Main Street USA without any other people, or at the most one or two other families. You get to stroll at your own pace and enjoy all the details that make up the most wonderful Street in the entire world. Everything from the windows that surround the Main Street Emporium, to the second floor windows that honor the people that made the Magic Kingdom and the Walt Disney World Resort the Happiest Place on Earth.

The Breakfast Menu is very similar if not the same to the breakfast buffet menus at the other character breakfasts; they offer egg choices; fresh made Omelettes and scrabbled, the offer a selection of breakfast meats, pastries, and hot and cold cereals. They also offer the Mickey Head Waffles that you can find at the different restaurants that offer breakfast.

The neat thing about the Crystal Palace is that they offer “Pooh Corner,” which is a buffet just for kids! The counter area here is lower and the plates a little smaller, so that the little hands can get their own food. This is an especially Magical Experience for many little ones, and some that are a little older, that don’t get a chance to set up their own plates.

As we finished our breakfast when we were there, the park was just opening, which is another Unknown Magic that you can take advantage of when you get a reservation before the park opens; experiencing a Rope Drop from inside the Park. That was very neat too.

So, now you know, you can enjoy a wonderful meal at the Crystal Palace and visit with pooh and his friends, but you can also enjoy some Unknown Magic before the Park opens by making a breakfast reservation. So, next time you are looking for a character meal, try out the Crystal Palace for a Magical Experience for everyone in the Family.

>A Meal Fit for a Mouse!

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In yesterday’s post I mentioned a place that isn’t quite an Unknown Magic for a lot of people that have been to Walt Disney World before, but for first time visitors, there is a place you need to visit that will create Magical Experiences for your family. This great place is located on the Grand Canyon Concourse also known as the fourth floor of the Contemporary Resort Hotel. It is a fun and exciting restaurant, that although an Unknown Magic for first time visitors, will become someplace that you may want to go back to again and again. This Unknown Magic is called Chef Mickey’s.

Chef Mickey’s is probably the most well-known Character Dining Experience that does not include a Princess. This Magical Experience features Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofy, and Pluto (in the past Chip and Dale were there also). Chef Mickey’s is a buffet that is open for Breakfast and Dinner. Breakfast is served from 7:30-11:00 am and dinner is served from 5 to 9:30 pm. They do accept the Disney Dining Plan and reservations are recommended for both dinner and breakfast. Recently, they started a trial run of opening Chef Mickey’s for Lunch.

The food for breakfast is about the same that you will get at many of the Disney Restaurants, with fresh fruit, pancakes, waffles, eggs, pastries, and breakfast meats. They also have assorted cereals, potatoes, and Minnie’s breakfast pizza. For dinner they offer a carving station, pasta bar, and a kid’s area that offers pizza, macaroni and cheese, and pizza. They also offer a salad bar, and vegetables that are highlighted by the parmesan mashed potatoes, which according to my wife are awesome. They also have an unbelievable sundae and dessert bar, which in itself can be considered a Magical Experience in my mind.

At Chef Mickey’s like the Cape May Café (see yesterday Article Goofy in a Swim Suit?) the characters come around to the tables and visit and sign autographs and you can take pictures. The thing about Chef Mickey’s though is that it is more of a party atmosphere. You are greeted as you walk in by one of the characters (right now it is Mickey) and the other characters are roaming around. The dining room is large, colorful, and exciting. Every so often, they play music and have everyone sing and dance, and twirl their napkins as the characters lead the kids in the celebration. For younger kids, this is a Magical Experience that can make their whole vacation and for their parents it is a pretty Magical Experience also.

We have been to Chef Mickey’s for both Breakfast and dinner, and of the two, I enjoyed dinner more than breakfast, just because I don’t like that much excitement during my breakfast. I don’t mind it during dinner, but for breakfast, I like things a little calmer. Both meals that we had were wonderful and the character interactions were fabulous. We actually haven’t been to Chef Mickey’s in a few years, but when we got home after our last trip, my wife and 15 year old son both commented that they would like to do Chef Mickey’s on our next trip to Walt Disney World. It is that kind of place; one that you want to go to over and over again.

So, now you know, Chef Mickey’s is a fun, exciting buffet that creates Magical Experiences for everyone in the family. So if you haven’t been before, look into making a reservation and enjoy a fun time at Chef Mickey’s.

>I Love That Look

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My son’s Birthday is this Monday. We got him an I-Phone that he wasn’t expecting as his present, and we gave it to him early so we can get it all working and he can use it before the weekend is over. As he has been using it, he has had the best look on his face; one of awe and excitement. We used to see this face a lot when we first started going to Walt Disney World as a family (if you haven’t heard that story go over to Growing up Disney to check it out here). He’s 15 now and my wife commented the other day that she misses his excited little boy face. We still see it once in awhile now and then and when we go to Disney we see it more than at home, which brings me to today’s Unknown Magic. The Unknown Magic of the look on a child’s face in Walt Disney World.

The best face ever is when your kids are happy and excited. You see this face most of the time in Disney. John used to get all excited and worked up whenever we did attractions that he could do by himself or where he could sit alone, things like the Tomorrowland Indy Speedway or Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin. It was so great to see him doing those rides, because the look on his face would tell you he was in the middle of a Magical Experience.

Other Magical Experiences which could put a huge smile on his face, were Meeting the Characters. When he was younger, he loved Stitch. During our one visit, he got a sleeveless Stitch shirt, a Stitch visor, a stuffed Stitch, and then a Stitch rub-on tattoo. So, you can imagine the look on his face when he finally got to meet Stitch in Animal Kingdom. It could be described as the look of pure happiness. It’s a feeling and look I wish he has more times in his life than not.

Now that he is older, we don’t see the look at home as much. I mean he is a teenager, and he is at an age where he has to look good, at all times. But we still see his smile and goofiness from time to time when we are in Disney. Then again he was always goofy and excitable in Disney (I think he gets that from us also) for example in the hallways of the Resort, he would “boogie on down” when he thought we weren’t looking (and sometimes when we were).

We seem to see his excitable side more now, when we are eating, or when a Cast Member is friendly and is having a good time with us. This past trip while at Le Cellier, our server was a very nice young lady that was enjoying our group as much as we enjoyed her. At one point she had a co-worker make a toque (pronounced tooook which is a knit winter cap) out of tinfoil. John had a blast that night and actually brought the toque home with after the trip was over. We also got a very big smile and knew he had an enjoyable evening when we were at ‘Ohana our last night of the trip.

Everyone’s kids are different, but for my money, the best place to get the kids to have the look that I’m talking about is at a character meal. If your little girl loves the Princesses, she has to see them at a meal, if you can’t get Cinderella’s Royal Table, try over in Epcot in Norway at Akershus Banquet Hall – Princess Storybook Dining. We had a friend who took her daughter there almost a year ago, and she is still mentioning the experience to us when we say things about Disney. All of the character meals are wonderful, but I really think Chef Mickey’s was probably the place where we have the most memories from, because of the Magical Experiences the characters and cast members helped to make. John still wants to eat there whenever we go back.

Other places you can see the Excited Awestruck Look is when you do out of the ordinary things like mini-golf at Winter Summerland or enjoying the Resort Pool as a family. Downtown Disney offers DisneyQuest which is so big and exciting that you can’t help but get the look. But there are so many things that can create Magical Experiences that I would recommend just enjoying the vacation, look for the Unknown Magic that I have mentioned in articles in the past and keep the camera ready.

So, now you know, to be able to see the look of Awe and Wonder, Excitement and Joy in your child’s face that says they are having Magical Experiences there isn’t anything special you have to do in Walt Disney World. You just have to make sure you do things as a family and take the time for them to enjoy their trip.

>The Unknown Magic in a Character Meal.

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You get your wakeup call, you get the family together, you go to get breakfast. You don’t have any real plans for where to go, so you go to the quick serve counter in your Resort . All the Resorts have basically the same offerings: Egg choice, Bakery Choice, Pancake, Fruit and breakfast meats. Typical breakfast fare, but the one thing most of them offer, that you can only get at Disney is the Mickey Shaped Waffle. I don’t know if it tastes any better than a regular waffle, but I do know it puts a smile on my face every time I get one. These Mickey Waffles are also served at the Sit-down Breakfast and at the Character Breakfasts. There are buffet Character Breakfasts throughout the Walt Disney World Complex. These are very enjoyable meals, and for younger visitors a Magical Experience.

The most well known and sought after ones are in the Magic Kingdom, at Cinderella’s Royal Table (with the Princesses), The Crystal Palace (with Pooh and friends) and at the Polynesian Resort at O’Hana with (Lilo and Stitch, Pluto, and Mickey.) There are plenty of others though if you cannot get a priority seating for these places.

The Cape May Café has a wonderful Character Breakfast with Minnie, Goofy, and Chip and Dale. The Akershus Royal Banquet Hall in the Norway Pavilion in Epcot hosts Princess Storybook Dining, which is has Belle, Jasmine, Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, Mary Poppins, for your little Princess to see (this is a wonderful alternative to Cinderella’s Royal Table which is very difficult to get seating for). There are also Character Breakfasts in the Garden Grill in Epcot, Disney Hollywood Studios, and Animal Kingdom. As well as in the Grand Floridian Resort and Swan Resort (but this one is only on Weekends)

Character Breakfasts are not really an Unknown Magic, however, the fact that the food at these buffets are wonderful might come as a surprise. The other Unknown Magic in these Character Breakfasts doesn’t even have to do with the meal. The Unknown Magic for me from many of these meals is the fact that I can get into the Parks, before the park even opens. That is not to say you can jump on a ride or anything, but you can stroll through the park, to get to your restaurant with only a hand full of other people with you. This is a Magical thing.

Think about Strolling down Main Street USA, without a crowd. You get to look at the buildings and the Windows of Main Street (which we will talk about in another post). You get unobstructed views of Cinderella Castle, so that you can take a perfect picture without getting some guys back in the shot. You can do the same in Epcot, and not have anyone standing in your picture of the Fountains of the World and Spaceship Earth or at Animal Kingdom with the Tree of Life. This is truly a Magical Experience, walking through the Disney Parks, without any crowds and the ability to see all the details that go into everything. Then after that to get a good meal and a fun time with the Characters, this is a great way to start a day In Disney.

So now that you know, get a Priority Seating earlier than the parks open, stroll through the park at your own pace, and take in the details, Then go and Have a Magical Experience at a Meal with Character.