Anybody Else Want To Join The Club? [Archive] - The DIS Discussion Forums

lugnut33

07-25-2008, 12:00 PM

SamIAm21 and I have started a new club, called the "Anti-Castle Dining Society" or "AnCaDiS" for short. I am the Honorary Statesman and Sam is the Chairman Of The Board. We picked those positions because we don't have to do any work, but the titles sound really cool and important. I believe there may be some sort of Golden Parachute involved when we retire also.

The main mission of the club is to show-off and boast about never being ripped-off at Cinderella's Royal Ripoff errrrrrr,,,, I mean Table. We are to spread the word far and wide that just because you're eating at the Castle doesn't mean you should be happy with crappy inferior food.

As I was listening to Kevin's review of CRT while mowing the lawn, I was literally getting mad that the food quality was so terrible. Then I thought to myself, "I'm so glad you never fell for having to eat there". It made me proud to have never been ripped off at Cindy's Royal Table.

So, if you want to join, the membership fee is 100% cheaper than a dinner at CRT. And, you'll feel better about yourself afterwards. The only thing we ask is for some of you really smart people (Me and Sam have positions where we don't do anything) to come up with a cool sigline. And if anybody wants to be President, they can nominate themselves, but there's no pay involved.

Current members (List is growing by leaps and bounds):
Lugnut33
SamIAm21
SandyH67
MenashaCorp (I think)
PDuck1998
DVCJones (We don't hold it against you that you ate there, as long as you learned your lesson!!)
DisneyKevin
Maidenfairy
Takodacaleb
MinnieLor
Carone0318
Experiment627 (Our first celebrity!!)
Aspen37

PrincessBelle39

07-27-2008, 01:58 AM

Sorry I can't join. Our CRT lunch was the highlight of our trip. Not 5 star food but absolutely nothing wrong with it and the character interaction was absolutely fantastic. Without doubt, we will be doing this on our next trip.

scrappinDW

07-27-2008, 02:32 AM

We ate there last December and had a great time. My four year old granddaughter got her picture taken with all of the Princesses and got autographs. She told Sleeping Beauty that she already had her autograph, so the Princess put a kiss on her page. It was sweet.
We had no complaints on the food. Pam

UrsulasShadow

07-27-2008, 08:09 AM

I am seriously dismayed at how bad it seemed to be in Kevin's review. I went 3 years ago for lunch, and although the food was not spectacular, it was passable good. The absolute best thing about it all, though, was the character interaction. Every single character came over to the table and stayed for pictures. The best was the Fairy Godmother...who kissed my husband for a picture, and made him blush SOOO red!

I'm very glad I had that experience, so I don't belong in your club, but if you ever have a branch division for past devotees who wouldn't set foot in there now, in its present incarnation, you can call me President.

Sorry I can't join. Our CRT lunch was the highlight of our trip. Not 5 star food but absolutely nothing wrong with it and the character interaction was absolutely fantastic. Without doubt, we will be doing this on our next trip.

Listen to the podcast. It seems as though there IS no character interaction any longer. If that's important to you, you better call and ask if they will have character interaction. Otherwise, you will get a "floor show", but no characters will come to your table.

Disneydonnam

07-27-2008, 08:15 AM

Sorry we will not be able to join your club. We ate there in Dec and had a great time. We are also eating there again in Sept. I will say the food isn't the greatest but everything was .

soupy11

07-27-2008, 08:43 AM

Yeah, this is a bit off, CRT is amazing. Kevin has a knack for being tough on places...his Ohana's review being another example. A place that a lot of folks really love!

I am seriously dismayed at how bad it seemed to be in Kevin's review. I went 3 years ago for lunch, and although the food was not spectacular, it was passable good. The absolute best thing about it all, though, was the character interaction. Every single character came over to the table and stayed for pictures. The best was the Fairy Godmother...who kissed my husband for a picture, and made him blush SOOO red!

Listen to the podcast. It seems as though there IS no character interaction any longer. If that's important to you, you better call and ask if they will have character interaction. Otherwise, you will get a "floor show", but no characters will come to your table.

This is for dinner only and has been this way for some time.....it's not a secret or a surprise....I found it odd that it was even mentioned in the review to be a negative as it is well publicized...

Launchpad11B

07-27-2008, 08:59 AM

We ate breakfast there 2 years ago and had a blast. Great memories with our daughter, who absolutely loved it. To each his own I guess.:)

tinkbutt

07-27-2008, 10:56 AM

I was actually shocked at the review!!! I just ate here in May and thought that it was great

DBF loved the crab soup and he is very picky about his crab!!! we are from MD eastern shore and he thinks you can't get decent crab anywhere else!!!

and the dessert the chocolate cheese cake was to DIE for "OH MY GOSH" to die for!!!!!!

so I"D have to say I will not be joining this club maybe they had an off night? or a new chef or the head chef wasn't there that night but the sui chef had to take over you never know whats going on and even the best 5 star resuraunts have there off nights!!!!

tinkbutt

07-27-2008, 11:02 AM

Yeah, this is a bit off, CRT is amazing. Kevin has a knack for being tough on places...his Ohana's review being another example. A place that a lot of folks really love!

This is for dinner only and has been this way for some time.....it's not a secret or a surprise....I found it odd that it was even mentioned in the review to be a negative as it is well publicized...

ALSO when I was there in May they have a dinner show where the Fairy Godmother and the two girl mice were there it was a cute show and they did come over to every table but the best part was during the show the fairy Godmother said "I think we have a young prince in the dinning room who has a question for his princess" then a young man got down on one knee and proposed!!!!! they had a photopass photographer and it was awesome!!!

drakethib

07-27-2008, 11:15 AM

Can't join right now.

The last couple of times we ate at Cindys castle it was pretty darn good.

With that being said it was probably 1.5 - 2 years ago at min.

We will be going in Sept and will check in then.

With all of this being said, I think Kevin (while tough on places) is more times then not dead on so I am scared that the food has taken a turn.

We as customers are paying premium prices for these meals so we should expect the best.

Kaler131

07-27-2008, 11:49 AM

We ate there YEARS ago (when it was a lot cheaper and easy to get a ressie) and I was NOT impressed. We HAD to go because my (then 4yo DD was OBSESSED with :cloud9: Cinderella!) She is now 14 and has moved her obsession to....who else...:worship: The Jonas Brothers. :confused3 So, I'm happy to say that we won't be needing to eat there again! :thumbsup2 My 3 DS's couldn't care less where we eat as long as there is LOTS of food!:rotfl:

sandyh67

07-27-2008, 12:03 PM

I have to agree with the first poster- although the memories of my daughters with the princesses is priceless, we will be going to Askerhaus this year for that- way less money and much better food. But I have to say after the review I am seriously considering moving our ressie to 1900 park fare!
I totally agree with Kevin- we did lunch last August and felt completely rushed through our meal, which was mediocre. The crown sunday's the kids had, not sure what they made that chocolate of, but it tasted like wax- yuk.
I do think that the magic of the experience makes many people overlook the food. I would not say the lunch was terrible, but way overpriced for the quality- and rushed. Nothing I would look forward to going back to. My daughters- 5 and 7 this year are just as excited for our lunch at "Belle's Castle" as we are calling it!
Sign me up for AnCaDiS!!!

MenashaCorp

07-27-2008, 02:45 PM

I am simply dismayed at all the CRT Hate Speech!! Such Castle-ist Bibbidi Bobbidi Bigotry is egregious!! You are paying to dine in the Royal Seat of Power. What else would you expect to come out of a Royal Seat? I wouldn't eat it! :lmao:

(Obviously meant in a smart-alecky tone. Restaurant reviews, as Kevin has said repeatedly, are OPINIONS... IMHO, though, this is a perfect example of Disney getting lazy and "letting something go" because the demand is so great that they don't feel the need to provide consistent excellence. This place's ADRs book out at the limit date within MINUTES. It would be nice if that encouraged better quality control. Whether you had a good experience or not, the true test of quality is in its' consistency.)

dpuck1998

07-27-2008, 05:16 PM

Count me in, I WILL not be eating there again. I'll be at 1900 or Norway!

DVCJones

07-27-2008, 07:34 PM

Sadly I can't join the club, as I am someone who got duped into eating there.

In April 2007 my DH, DD2, DD4 and I went to CRT for dinner. WHY? Because I have two little princesses and have fond memories of eating at the Castle in the 80's when prime rib, seafood, pasta, steak and mickey shaped butter were standard at the castle.
As a child my parents took us (family of six:scared1: ) to the castle every year. We looked forward to it.

However, the castle is not what it used to be. In fact, It isn't even close to what it once was. To say I was disappointed is an understatement.

The Bad.....

The food, not even coming close in quality for what we paid.
The very looooong wait to be seated even with an ADR.
The very unDisney hostess who barked at us as we entered the dining room.
The feeling of being rushed.

The Good...

Having the girls picture taken with Cinderella.
My DD4 being really excited to be in the castle.

The Okay....

The singing show with the Fairy Godmother. My DD4 loves the FGM

We will not return unless there are some serious changes made to the menu.

DisneyKevin

07-27-2008, 08:13 PM

In the distant past, we dined in the Castle regularly. The food was pricey, but delicious and hey, you were eating in the Castle.

As a matter of fact, the restaurant, at that time, was famous for it's prime rib.

In our opinion, what was even better was an incredible beef, vegetable soup made with prime rib drippings.

The restaurant never offered food to go, but we would stop at Cosmic Rays and get a "to go" coffee cup and with enough pleading, we could talk someone into selling us a cup of that soup.

On many more than one occasion, my Mom watched a Disney parade with a cup of "unofficial" cup of vegetable beef soup.

Great memories.

Bad restaurant.

drakethib

07-27-2008, 09:04 PM

Count me in, I WILL not be eating there again. I'll be at 1900 or Norway!

Ugh.

The food at Norway sucks IMHO.

The last time we ate there I had to find a dead dog on the side of the road to lick so that I could get the taste of that food out of my mouth.

Then they scammed me into buying some pictures with my daughter.

Never again.

dpuck1998

07-27-2008, 09:11 PM

Ugh.

The food at Norway sucks IMHO.

The last time we ate there I had to find a dead dog on the side of the road to lick so that I could get the taste of that food out of my mouth.

Then they scammed me into buying some pictures with my daughter.

Never again.

The food in Norway is unique to say the least. I was able to find several things I really enjoyed and the main course I found quite enjoyable. I can understand how others might not care for it however.

Next time, bring a camera....take your own photos ;-) Actually, now the photos come with the meal and are included in the price.

Try the cocker spaniel, by far the best...

MenashaCorp

07-27-2008, 09:11 PM

Ugh.

The food at Norway sucks IMHO.

The last time we ate there I had to find a dead dog on the side of the road to lick so that I could get the taste of that food out of my mouth.

Then they scammed me into buying some pictures with my daughter.

Never again.

:rotfl2: :lmao: :rotfl: :rotfl2: :rotfl2: :lmao:

In the (apparently cryptic) words of Wildeoscar, I just leaked a little I laughed so hard.

:worship:

UrsulasShadow

07-27-2008, 09:15 PM

Ugh.

The food at Norway sucks IMHO.

The last time we ate there I had to find a dead dog on the side of the road to lick so that I could get the taste of that food out of my mouth.

Then they scammed me into buying some pictures with my daughter.

Never again.

At least they didn't blackmail you into buying the pics of you licking the dead dog...:lmao:

lugnut33

07-27-2008, 09:32 PM

At least they didn't blackmail you into buying the pics of you licking the dead dog...:lmao:

Wouldn't it be easier to just eat one of those pear desserts at CRT?

drakethib

07-27-2008, 09:35 PM

At least they didn't blackmail you into buying the pics of you licking the dead dog...:lmao:

Look that food was so bad I intentionally went swimming in the Bay and Seven Seas lake hoping that amoeba would attack my taste buds.

While swimming I was able to keep the gators and snakes away by throwing some of that nasty salmon and sausages from the restaurant in the water. I have never seen deadly animals run on top of the water until that day (the snakes grew legs and hauled tail).

dpuck1998

07-27-2008, 09:38 PM

Look that food was so bad I intentionally went swimming in the Bay and Seven Seas lake hoping that amoeba would attack my taste buds.

While swimming I was able to keep the gators and snakes away by throwing some of that nasty salmon and sausages from the restaurant in the water. I have never seen deadly animals run on top of the water until that day (the snakes grew legs and hauled tail).

Someones been gett'en crazy with the cheeze whiz....

drakethib

07-27-2008, 09:43 PM

Someones been gett'en crazy with the cheeze whiz....

They did have some funny tasting brownies.......

Good Beck song by the way.

MenashaCorp

07-27-2008, 09:53 PM

Wouldn't it be easier to just eat one of those pear desserts at CRT?

Someones been gett'en crazy with the cheeze whiz....

Good Beck song by the way.

"For dessert, I'll have the 'Soy [in] Pear-di-dor?' "

drakethib

07-27-2008, 10:03 PM

"For dessert, I'll have the 'Soy [in] Pear-di-dor?' "

Excuse me waiter, can I have some Pomeranian, errrrrrr,Parmesan cheese with that?

LMO429

07-27-2008, 10:14 PM

ALSO when I was there in May they have a dinner show where the Fairy Godmother and the two girl mice were there it was a cute show and they did come over to every table but the best part was during the show the fairy Godmother said "I think we have a young prince in the dinning room who has a question for his princess" then a young man got down on one knee and proposed!!!!! they had a photopass photographer and it was awesome!!!

I think we may have been there the same night! i was there may 14th for dinner as well!..or maybe someone proposes there everynight! ;)

maidenfairy

07-27-2008, 10:26 PM

You can count me in. I have boys and the perks to that is no Hannah Montana and no CRT. WHOO HOO!:laughing:

Takodacaleb

07-27-2008, 10:35 PM

I have never been there but I trust John and Kevin so can I join

Minnie Lor

07-27-2008, 11:04 PM

Add me to the list. I just couldn't see paying the price when the food was just ok. Well even if the was ok, I wouldn't pay. I don't want a picture with Cinderalla. In the back of my mind, I always wondered if we were missing out but it sounds like :no: I wasn't.

If I'm going to pay $$ the food has got to be outstanding and the ambiance or view needs to be fabulous.

PrincessBelle39

07-28-2008, 05:10 AM

This is for dinner only and has been this way for some time.....it's not a secret or a surprise....I found it odd that it was even mentioned in the review to be a negative as it is well publicized...

Listen to the podcast. It seems as though there IS no character interaction any longer. If that's important to you, you better call and ask if they will have character interaction. Otherwise, you will get a "floor show", but no characters will come to your table.

Yep this is definitely dinner only. Breakfast and lunch are still character meals. The information is pretty freely available. I had no problem finding out from over here. I'm sure I found this out from reading the boards here. There are several posts on the dining board over the months as well as information on other well known planning sites.

DisneyDame27

07-28-2008, 07:57 AM

We have never had the experience good or bad I have boys never got there! I do agree completely with MenashaCorp............this is just another example of Disney getting lazy.

SamIAm21

07-28-2008, 10:20 AM

As Chairman of the Board, I hope everyone realizes this is a just a tongue in cheek thread. For those who have gone and had a great time, I think that's great, but for those of us who feel lucky to have never had the ill fortune to be given craptastic food at a kingly price this is our shining moment!

I have gone to 1900 Park Faire and was able to speak with the Godmother, Cinderella, a couple of cute little mice, and even Prince Charming. Suzy even kissed my Pal Mickey. Very cute!

I have never been to 1900 Park Faire (yet) to meet the stepsisters or Lady Tremaine. That will have to wait for the next trip!

I just hope everyone remembers that there is humor behind this "club". It's not meant to bash all of those who went and had a fabulous time. Someone has to go and keep the stock price up for all us shareholders!! ;)

Kaler131

07-28-2008, 10:53 AM

You can count me in. I have boys and the perks to that is no Hannah Montana and no CRT. WHOO HOO!:laughing:

My DS11 likes Hannah Montana because he thinks she is "hot" LOL! :rotfl:

Madi100

07-28-2008, 11:03 AM

SamIAm21

07-28-2008, 11:15 AM

I get the tongue in cheeck approach, but there is something to be said about eating in the castle. There is something to be said about all the princesses that you get to see. We have done this meal three times, and it was DH's favorite meal. We did breakfast all three times. It was great to be in the park early eating breakfast. With that said, we will never return with the prices. It is just simply not worth it the price, even if DH does love it. So, I'm glad that we've gotten it out of our system, and our girls were able to enjoy the "magic" of it before "money" became so much more important to Disney.

Madi, I totally understand! My daughter is still not even aware that you can eat in the castle. She's 8 and a few years ago, she would have loved it. I would have loved to have taken her, but that kind of money could be better spent elsewhere and that reservation process is grueling, especially for breakfast!! You have to be up at the crack of dawn, exactly 60 or is it 120 days out and you have to get up and get the number in your speed dial, so that you can hit that over and over and over again until you get through. I've eaten in some of the finest restaurants in Chicago and was never subjected to that type of stress. Hype is hype and I don't do hype real well.

My daughter was able to meet every Princess at Ariel's in Disney's California Adventure. They paraded by one after another -- every Princess from Ariel to Snow White. The meal was a grand total of $45.00 for both of us, plus $20 for a birthday bucket (ahem..RIP OFF). Between that and 1900 Park Faire, we got the Princesses covered!

I wish Disney management would realize that they have this awesome opportunity to make this dining experience so much better than what it is now. If the food were really good and the character experience better than what they have now, it would suit the premier location it occupies. Right now the food and entertainment do a disservice to the fabulous location. Disney is only relying on the fact that it is a premier location, so people will come no matter what they throw at ya! Sort of like Tony's. That's the sad part.

carone0318

07-28-2008, 11:37 AM

You can official sign me up as a card carrying member of the group. I have been under this impression of CRT since 2002. I don't even really care about the food, for me CRT is the experience of the Princesses in addition to what I am eating. I felt like cattle being pushed through, even though I was sitting :confused3 . At the time the Princesses would stop at your table once and if you missed them - oh well! To me it simply was not worth the money and this is coming from someone who took her 6/7 yr old dd at the time.

I never recommend CRT to anyone. If you need to see the Princesses there are other ways to meet-n-greet with them.

Madi100

07-28-2008, 12:54 PM

Madi, I totally understand! My daughter is still not even aware that you can eat in the castle. She's 8 and a few years ago, she would have loved it. I would have loved to have taken her, but that kind of money could be better spent elsewhere and that reservation process is grueling, especially for breakfast!! You have to be up at the crack of dawn, exactly 60 or is it 120 days out and you have to get up and get the number in your speed dial, so that you can hit that over and over and over again until you get through. I've eaten in some of the finest restaurants in Chicago and was never subjected to that type of stress. Hype is hype and I don't do hype real well.

My daughter was able to meet every Princess at Ariel's in Disney's California Adventure. They paraded by one after another -- every Princess from Ariel to Snow White. The meal was a grand total of $45.00 for both of us, plus $20 for a birthday bucket (ahem..RIP OFF). Between that and 1900 Park Faire, we got the Princesses covered!

I wish Disney management would realize that they have this awesome opportunity to make this dining experience so much better than what it is now. If the food were really good and the character experience better than what they have now, it would suit the premier location it occupies. Right now the food and entertainment do a disservice to the fabulous location. Disney is only relying on the fact that it is a premier location, so people will come no matter what they throw at ya! Sort of like Tony's. That's the sad part.

I think Disney should realize that for many girls, this will be the highlight of their trip and MONEY should not be a reason they can't do it.

I will admit that the minute we left the castle DD and I headed over to Toontown and met most of the same princesses in the tent that we had seen for breakfast, and that was free.

WaltD4Me

07-28-2008, 01:07 PM

Yep this is definitely dinner only. Breakfast and lunch are still character meals. The information is pretty freely available. I had no problem finding out from over here. I'm sure I found this out from reading the boards here. There are several posts on the dining board over the months as well as information on other well known planning sites.

It may be freely available on Disney planning sites, but not all Disney travelers use them and I couldn't find this information mentioned anywhere on Disney's own website. :confused3

I don't know, I just think the floor show is just kind of silly. If you are eating in the castle, obviously you are most likely a princess fan, why limit the Cindy time to just at the enterance? For the price of that dinner, you would think you would get more than one shot at spending time with Cindy.

experiment_627

07-28-2008, 01:11 PM

DH and I ate at CRT for breakfast on our honeymoon in 2005 and loved it. We couldn't wait to go back.

Fast forward to late 2006, we hated it and having to stand in a hot/crowded line to have our picture taken with Cindy just put a damper on the entire experience for us.

We vowed not to go back unless we have little girl, and she wants to someday.

maidenfairy

07-28-2008, 08:07 PM

My DS11 likes Hannah Montana because he thinks she is "hot" LOL! :rotfl:

Mine are 6 and 3. They think she has cooties and I've told them there is no known cure for Cooties. I'm not looking forward to when they think girls are "hot".

Disney/Universal Fan

07-28-2008, 09:36 PM

Everyone talks about Disney having the opportunity to doing something so much better than they are doing. It is always full, there are many repeat customers, and they are getting the money they are asking for. From a business standpoint, why should they change anything? We just got back a couple of week's ago, ate at CRT, and we don't even have kids. We enjoyed every minute of it. We were able to book about two weeks out, and somehow avoided the long wait and long line to get in. It's not something that we would do every trip, but we will definitley do it again.

makelab

07-28-2008, 11:10 PM

my experience (breakfast in 2003) was similar to what Kevin described.

we had to wait 20 minutes at 8 in the morning to get seated.
the 'rushed' atmosphere was kind of thick. service was average, at best, and cleanliness was a factor, too. food quality - average, nothing special.
and i never got the feeling of 'dining in the castle', since the windows were mostly stained glass, or am i mistaken?

i will say the character interaction was quite good back then. my daughter and wife loved it.

soon after, they increased price, added mandatory photos, etc, and my daughter or wife didn't mention going back. we preferred the view and the aura of Crystal Palace. i guess we're just simple.

aspen37

07-29-2008, 06:48 PM

You can sign me up also as a card carrying member.:goodvibes I have never eaten at CRT:yay: and from Kevin's review it sounds as if I may never eat there.

cdotla

07-29-2008, 07:42 PM

So happy to see this Club get formed!

Not to join, just to hopefully have to compete with less of you for ADRs! :rotfl:

Kaler131

07-29-2008, 07:54 PM

Mine are 6 and 3. They think she has cooties and I've told them there is no known cure for Cooties. I'm not looking forward to when they think girls are "hot".

LOL! Wait until they are old enough to actively LOOK for the Princesses in the parks because the girls playing them are "cute". I remember when I was 13 on a family vacation at MK and my brother (then almost 16) had the "hots" for Cinderella (or the CM dressed as Cindy)!:lmao: He didn't care about any of the other characters unless they were the cute female face characters.:rotfl:

DisneyKevin

07-29-2008, 08:44 PM

So happy to see this Club get formed!

Not to join, just to hopefully have to compete with less of you for ADRs! :rotfl:

Y'all can have my seat.:rotfl2:

cdotla

07-29-2008, 08:56 PM

You're the man Kevin!

I will have to see in October when I am booking my daughter's Birthday meal at CRT for April how much influence you have on the Disney ADR community!

Unfortunately, despite your efforts, I haven't been able to snag LeCellier any easier!:rotfl2:

Y'all can have my seat.:rotfl2:

lugnut33

07-30-2008, 12:53 PM

So happy to see this Club get formed!

Not to join, just to hopefully have to compete with less of you for ADRs! :rotfl:

If they ever get their act together and offer a great meal to go along with the really high price, then we are willing to disband (I've already got my golden parachute guaranteed).

SamIAm21

07-30-2008, 01:10 PM

fav's=mets&mickey

07-30-2008, 01:48 PM

For 2 table credits. the food should not be passable it should be outstanding. Character interaction is good at Cape May Breakfast and the food is good too yet only 1 table service credit. Heck the way Kevin explained it you might as well get some food from Casey's Corner sit in front of the Castle and watch the show all for Counter Service Credits. It would be the same Character Interaction. Thats my take. I never ate there and now after kevin's review never will!

lugnut33

08-02-2008, 12:18 AM

Wait a minute... honorary statesman don't have Golden Parachutes. That is under the direct supervision of the Chairman and Board of Directors. Fortunately, I have a seat open for you on the Board! That would be directly correlated to Kevin giving up his seat at CRT!

:rotfl2:

Are you trying to ursurp my power? You do realize I'm the Karl Rove of this club??

So the other night I went to a Milwaukee Brewers game and before that we went to eat at a restaurant located in what would be the complete opposite of Cinderella's Castle. Wow, what a meal!! I had a 21 ounce NY strip steak that was incredible!! With it came a house salad with home made dressings, rice pilaf, asparagus, sour dough bread, and bread sticks. Of course, I had a couple beers to wash it down. One of the best meals I've ever had, and it cost 35 bucks.