Is the castle worth it?

[gopherit]

Just wondering what the opinions are out there on CRT. When I say "worth it" I don't mean because of the phone cal stuff -- I mean for the price and experiece relative to other experiences available in WDW. I have a 3 yr old dd ( and a dh and 2 older boys that aren't especially keen on princesses!) Last trip I took DD to the PSB and then she and I spent the day doing "girl stuff". I am contemplating doing the same thing on our next trip, but have heard such mixed reviews on the level of character interaction, food, etc. I was wondering if she would perhaps prefer doing the Great Exp. in Cooking at the GF instead, then maybe the Cinderella dinner (esp. if we could get DH and her brothers to go along... DH loves a good buffet, and I have to agree that our family seems to get more out of a character dinner than a character b'fast. Plus, we stay in the DVC villas, so we usually can do b'fast very nicely in our rooms!)

Whaddya think -- is the castle something to not be missed? Or is it a bit too hyped up (esp. for a 4 yr old)?

THanks!

 

[Donald23]

Here is what I think.

If you have never done it, then you need to do it at least once. It is soooo neat to eat in the castle and then next thing you know here comes Cinderella.

Our first visit happened to be the best. There I sat in the middle of the room with my two children, lovely husband and my Mom and Dad. I would not trade that moment for anything. I just sat there and cried. It was so special to be in the castle with the people I love the most in my life. It is a memory I will never forget.

The food has always been good. $60.00 for a family of four good?

NOT

The food is good but there are other places that I can get a bite to eat that is not that much.

We have been three times. We enjoy it everytime, but we have decided to skip it this time and try for dinner instead. I know that the characters will not be there but we thought we could give the view at night a try and I have heard they have some real good things for dinner.



Hope this helps.

 

[mitros]

Yes, if you have never tried it, try it at least once. Just being inside the castle is a pretty neat thing.

 

[rhazz]

You must try it. My DD loved it at age 4, she's now 6. We're leaving for our 3rd DWD trip and planning on going to the Castle again. Our 4 y/o DS also was asking to go to Cinderella's again. It's such a smaller restaurant than the others that it feels much more intimate. Bonus, Cinderella's Throne isn in the Foyer, the kids love sitting in it, great photo opp! ** Look for Cindy's mice up on the beams downstairs!

 

[tink2]

IMHO- if you have a daughter who is 'into' the princesses, it is priceless, especially if you have never done it. Eating in the castle is an experience within itself. And then the princesses- my DD4 has been twice and both times LOVED it! She loves the 'castle' factor- wanting to know where Cinderella's bedroom is, etc. She loves that you can look out the windows from upstairs and see Fantasyland- she thought that was so neat. And then the princesses. We've been twice and had great character interaction both times. It does help if your DD 'prompts' a conversation- asks a question from the movie, about her personality, etc. DS2 asked Belle where Beast was and they talked for a while. He also asked Snow White where Dopey was- he is not shy! DD asked Belle if she liked to read and told Cinderella that she dressed up like her for Halloween. These all prompted conversations other than hi and smile. The food is OK- nothing special, but we don't come here for the food. To us, it is the experience and the look on DD's face when we walk in the castle and she sees the throne and staircase. When she sees the inside of the dining room and Fantasyland from the window. And then when the princesses are introduced and come to our table. For us, it is priceless.
Our next trip I think we are going to try to get both CRT and PSB b/c DD4 is a HUGE Jasmine fan and she doesn't appear at CRT much anymore- mainly at PSB. But when I talked to her about it- not telling her Jasmine would be at either (not gonna make that promise and mistake if she isn't), she said we had to eat in the castle with Cinderella and her friends!
Good luck deciding! Many people are disappointed with this meal- I think it is your expectations. Don't expect terrific food. Realize the service has been reported as not so good at times- though it was great both times for us. And realize the princesses have been reported to be rushed- have a plan to start a conversation or to make more than one picture- they'll happily oblidge. If you are going for the food, you might want to rethink. If you are going for the experience, it is priceless.

 

[Jynohn]

We decided to forgo the breakfast and went to dinner at Cinderella's Royal Table instead. We spent about $80 for dinner and it was worth every penny. We knew that it wasn't a character meal, but just being in the castle in that beautiful atmosphere was special in and of itself. And as luck would have it, after we finished eating who but Cindy herself was sitting in the lobby!

If your daughter won't be devasted if she doesn't see the princesses, I'd highly recommend dinner instead. For about $20 more than we would have spent for breakfast, we got prime rib instead of eggs and muffins

This was one of our favorite meals of the trip, and we'll definitely make it a "must do" on all of our future vacations.

Have fun!

 

[aunt kelly]

I think it really depends on your kids. We ate there on the Sunday before Thanksgiving, and DWD was packed. It was EMH at MK that day and our reservation at CRT was 8:05. The kids enjoyed themselves, but I honestly think they would have been just as happy outside riding the rides. By the time we left CRT, EMH was almost over and there were long lines for everything. You have to take CRT reservations as you can get them, but I think we would have enjoyed ourselves more if our PS was later in the day after we had ridden some rides. It was neat eating in the Castle and taking pictures with the Princesses. However, I wouldn't do it again.

 

[DisneyLisa]

That's a tough one to answer.

We've done it two years in a row and both times the character interaction was very poor. The princesses always seem to be in such a rush...unlike every other character meal we've done (& we do many each trip). I've read a lot or reports where people feel the same way.

It's a nice experience to be able to eat inside the castle but unless your kids are really excited about that, I'd say do another character meal that everyone would enjoy...maybe dinner at Chef Mickey's. We took my nephew in 2002...he was totally uninterested in CRT and couldn't wait to get out (eating in the castle didn't matter to him at all) but he loved Chef Mickey's. Good luck with your decision.

 

[Micca]

Over the years we've probably been there 6-8 times. I agree with others that it is fun to do at least once. Your mileage may vary DW and I no longer feel compelled to eat there, but the castle is something to see

 

[Deemarch]

I agree with Jynohn! The dinner at Cinderella's Royal Table was...Royal! My DH and I were alone, our kids are grown, and we thoroughly enjoyed dinner. We were waited on by a gentleman dressed as a medieval servant (looked like a Prince). And he kept on referring to the ladies as "Princess". I loved it. DH said, "Don't get used to this Princess stuff". And in the lobby was Cinderella herself and I sat and DH took our picture. Oh, try to book dinner, if it's at the right time of the year, at sunset...It's to die for!!!

 

[KIS]

I've never been to WDW, but as I've planned, talked plans over with Len of touringplans.com, and sat with how to make the most of this trip, we opted for a lunch at CRTs. We will get to be inside the castle. I've told my daughter that Cinderella will be working. She's 5 y.o. with a working mother, so she understood. We are opting for the Extra early hour to do fantasyland and then some other rides as the park fills prior to lunch.

We're going to try for PSB, which from what I gather is becoming quite as difficult to get as CRT breakfast.

KIS

 

[Bella2000]

Originally posted by KIS
I've never been to WDW, but as I've planned, talked plans over with Len of touringplans.com, and sat with how to make the most of this trip, we opted for a lunch at CRTs. KIS

Isn't Len the best?! I think the castle is one of those "you have to try it once" items. That said, we have eaten breakfast and lunch and I personally preferred lunch. I think it is less hectic however you do not have the character interaction. Odd to our DD was that Jasmine wasn't there but Esmerelda was??! My DD liked the windows and the castle but I think she enjoyed the Merlin performance we saw after breakfast more - go figure I am very glad we did it but we probably wouldn't rush back but only because we have a list of other locations to try.

I was wondering if she would perhaps prefer doing the Great Exp. in Cooking at the GF instead, then maybe the Cinderella dinner (esp. if we could get DH and her brothers to go along...

Our daughter did this in Dec and she really enjoyed it. Have you considered the Wonderland Tea Party for her? 1900 Park Fare also has the Cinderella characters at dinner - have you looked at their menu?

 

[Vavasmon]

We did CRT, PSB, 1900 PF dinner, and the Grand Adventures in Cooking all last April during the same trip. I can't make a strong recommendation one way or another - it is a very personal decision but here is my information:

My DD was 6 for our first trip in Dec 2001, 7 last year's trip (April)
and will 8 this trip. The 2001 trip was planned too late to get a seating at CRT (the other 2 princess meals did not yet exist). So last year was her first experiences with Royal Dining.

CRT - eating in the castle was a nice experience. The food was so/so, the server awful, and the princesses very rushed. My DD always tries to make a conversation - they were clearly on a schedule and behind the day we were there - Cinderella seemed upset we wanted to take 2 pictures. When planning for this year she said it would be fun but not a must do for breakfast. We are eating lunch in the Castle to experience the atmosphere.

PSB - setting is interesting but it isn't Cinderella's castle. Food was okay, server was good, and princesses excellent. We enjoyed seeing the variety of princesses. This was on my daughters must do again list.

Grand Adventures in Cooking - Did this last year. She had a lot of fun and loves her apron she made. We have plans to do this one again also (I think she likes a little time away from us on the trip). The Mousketeer Club staff was excellent. The majority of the group was repeat customers.

1900 PF Dinner - in the Grand Floridian the setting is a standard restaurant. The food was excellent, service was good. We were seated next to a family that let their kids have a food fight! Characters - Mice were wonderful, Cinderella was having an off night (she seemed to want to go home - I think the kids next to us got to her!). Prince Charming made the dinner. My DD melted away when he called her princess XXX (she had on a GOH badge). The pictures are priceless. The Fairy Godmother was excellent. For the food alone this was a do again meal.

p.s. I love the picture in your signature

 

[gopherit]

First of all, thanks so much to all of you for your input -- always appreciated to get as many viewpts as possible!

I am really leaning towards a GF experience that a.m. and then bringing the boys along for dinner at GF that night! Perhaps I'll let Disney decide -- I'll make the honest effort to get a ressie for a PS at CRT, and failing that, go GF all the way. I wonder -- for those of you who felt that Cinderella was "rushed" at CRT, did you have an early breakfast seating or a later one? Just wondering if that plays any bearing at all. Some folks have said b'fasts are better early (fresh characters!); some say that's when it's most harried. On the other hand, some enjoy a late b'fast (all to themselves, lower crowds), whereas others feel the characters are too weary by then. Any opinions on any of these hypotheses?

Thanks again!!

 

[amylovesdisney]

When we visited last July, we had PS for 8:05 at CRT so we got to walk in a bit before the crowds since we needed to be there earlier than 8:05 to report in. That was cool because it felt like we practically had the park to ourselves!

DS was 8 and DD was 5 at the time. As many have said, we enjoyed the experience of eating in the castle. The food was quite bad - very greasy. And the children were too excited to eat anyway. They are usually very social kids but got totally tongue-twisted when the princesses showed up. Since they didn't begin any conversations, the princesses greeted, smiled, signed books, did the photo thing and were off. They couldn't have been "fresher" since the restaurant was just filling up.

DH was very impressed with how cute each princess was. I really think he would have enjoyed having his photo taken with the princesses sans children!

Good experience resulting in adorable photos but will not do again until grandchildren come along.....

Fairy Godmother in the lobby was well worth the wait for the photo. She praised both kids on their manners and spoke w/them for quite some time to ask them what their plans were for the day, how did you like breakfast, will you be good for your parents, etc......

 

[SeaSpray]

When we had dinner at the castle in 2001, Cinderella was in the lobby after dinner, sitting on the gold throne. She signed autographs and posed for pictures with us. NO ONE else was around, it was really nice. We also did the princess breakfast one of the mornings, too. Yes, I was able to lure DH and DSs to this with the promise of all you can eat food. LOL We really enjoyed both meals we had in the castle. We had great character interaction and excellent service both times.

I suggest that you try and get a PS for the breakfast, but if you can't, then definitely have dinner there, including your DH and DSs. Chances are good that you might not be able to get a PS for breakfast anyway, and that would make up your mind for you.

Ok, I just scrolled down and saw that you wrote exactly what I just suggested! Great minds think alike, I guess. Hehehe. I do think the Grand Floridian experience in the morning is a great idea for your DD

Have a wonderful trip, whatever you end up doing!

P.S. I have some pictures from both of our meals inside the castle, on my "family vacations" web site. Click the link below, then scroll to "Disney- May 2001" then click on the "restaurants" link.

 

[slo]

We absolutly love the Cinderella breakfast and we have been there twice. My daughter was 3 and 4 when we went and when we go this year she will be 6 and our new addition will be 13 months.

I have read here several times that the Princesses were rushed, and I can honestly say I didn't feel that way at all. They all posed for photos and the video camera and they all had a conversation with my daughter. We always go in Sept. and I don't know if that is the difference because it is less crowded (even though the castle is still packed), but we have nothing but positive memories.

I would absolulty go. It is a magical experience and if your daughter is anything like mine - she will love 30 sec or 30 min with her favorite Princess.

Another sidenote - I have been going to DW since I was 5 yrs old and I had never seen Snow White of whom is my favorite princesses. I was able to see her at the castle for the first time in my life and this moment was so magical for me that I almost cried. I felt as if I was a child all over again. I love this place!!

 

[dgaston]

For the timing question: I think it may be better to get a later PS for CRT if possible. We have been twice--my DS15 really enjoys the princesses in entirely another way (Jasmine is his favorite). In our Christmas 03 trip, it would have been better to let my nephews have a few hours of ride time, and then go to the breakfast, although SIL was enchanted with the castle. I also LIKE the food at CRT. Mine has always been fine.

 

[marksor]

Been there twice. Answer: NO.