Crystal Palace Gluten Free Lunch/ Dinner Review

I first dined at Crystal Palace as an accident. My cousins added me to their reservation the day of and insisted that I join them for lunch. I wasn’t going to turn down a meal, so I tagged along. Crystal Palace is a table service buffet in Magic Kingdom featuring two main dining rooms with the buffet area in the center. It is worth one credit on the Disney Dining Plan. During all meal times you can meet Pooh, Tigger, Piglet, and Eeyore. The premise of the restaurant is that you are invited a friendship day “celebrashun” with Pooh and his friends! Crystal Palace has turned into one of my favorite buffets because the food feels healthier than many dining options, and the character interactions are super fun.

** As with every buffet, notify your server of your allergy, if you are uncomfortable with cross-contamination, ask for dishes to be brought out from the kitchen**

Below are pictures of the allergy guide for Crystal Palace. This particular one is from early November 2019. Your server will hand this to you when they seat you if you have an allergy marked on your reservation. This walks you through the buffet options, dishes shown with a green check under the allergy are free of that allergy. Additionally, there are some items that can be brought from the kitchen that are specifically allergy friendly.

There were many gluten free options for me to choose from, and I even ordered some allergy friendly mac n’ cheese and donuts from the kitchen. While you’re dining, Pooh and friends come around to greet you and sign autographs. When we sat down, our server told us that it takes roughly 90 minutes for the characters to make their rounds, which was fairly accurate, so be prepared to sit for an hour and a half. Additionally, there is a fun time where kids (and adults like me who think they’re still kids) can parade around the restaurant with the characters. But back to the food, there are many “healthy” options at this buffet, and to me the food feels lighter than some other restaurants. I can eat two full plates here and go back out in the hot sun for a full rest of the day at Magic Kingdom and not feel sluggish.

Overall, Crystal Palace is one of my favorite table service dining options in Magic Kingdom. Pooh and friends are so cute and the character interactions are so fun, and the food is better than most buffets in my opinion. If you’re on the Disney Dining Plan, it’s a great use of a dining credit because you get a buffet and a character meal for one credit. I highly recommend Crystal Palace for lunch or dinner (I haven’t checked it out for breakfast yet). Let me know about your Crystal Palace experience in the comments below!