Cinderellas Royal Table
I will preface this review with one
very important comment: I do not have children. I love kids, and hope to have one someday in the future, but I am still very much enjoying my selfish life. This will be an important note to keep in mind while you read this review.
Lets all be honest, one does not really go to CRT for the gourmet meal.
They go for the princesses, and for the view. For those two reasons alone, I say you cannot go wrong getting an ADR for this experience. And thats what they make it for you; an experience that I personally feel is worth every penny.
If you like princesses parading next to your table and interrupting each bite of food you eat.
I thought I would be fine with this.
Well
..
But lets go back to the beginning, shall we?
You check in at a kiosk that gives you a printed ticket with your party name, number, etc. Then they usher you into a large cavernous room which is just gorgeous, all stone walls and suits of armor standing guard.
If you look hard enough, you might even see two of Cinderellas little helpers standing guard. This is the kind of thing I love about Disney, the attention to detail.
As we waited for our names to be announced (ie: called up to breakfast!) an extremely amusing gentleman quizzed the crowd on Disney trivia, both movies, the parks, etc. I would say he had a slight sarcastic bent to his humor, but it wasnt anything that would distract the children and made the adults waiting in the queue quite relaxed. I adored him.
We slowly moved forward in the line until we were ready for our audience with Cinderella. Two notes:
1.The CM there actually looked the way I would expect Cinderella to.
2.She was extremely nice and funny.
I asked if we could do a silly picture, basically me standing off to the side like a quite upset wicked stepsister while Mike bowed over Cinderellas hand. We thought it was hilarious. Cinderella thought it was Charming.
The photographer did not,
and made us take a second picture, which is the one that was brought to our table. None of us (inc Cindy!) look happy in it, which, to me, is hilarious. I understand they want a particular image to go forward, but its not as if we were doing anything inappropriate. Ah well, it was a funny memory at least.
Once you take your picture, they usher you along the wall until your name is announced to be sent upstairs. We probably only waited 5 minutes for this, not bad at all.
Our table location pixie dust continued to flow down as they led us to the most adorable table for two RIGHT IN THE CENTER OF THE WINDOWS.
You dont get a better view than that. Of the construction crane. Ah well, if you close one eye you dont see it. We were told this was to put up the Christmas lights, but I wonder if they werent doing other things as well.
(
This was taken off to the side a bit to try and hide the crane in the way, but the windows were amazing and see the Carousel in the background? That was so much fun to look out over, especially all the kids (and a vew adults as well!) trying to pull the Sword out of the Stone.)
We both decided to order different items, since these are all-you-can eat style meals. Mike picked the classic hot breakfast (sausage, bacon, eggs, etc.) and I went for the cold breakfast (fruit, yogurt, and granola). We got lots of coffee and orange juice to start, along with a plate (and by plate I mean large platter
) of chocolate and cinnamon rolls.
(The cinnamon rolls were actually pretty good, but the overall pastry plate just felt kind of eh to us.)
Here is a picture of Mikes breakfast plate. The sausage was exceptional, the bacon was ok, but I am a big fan of bacon just this side of charcoal, so Im not one to judge. The potatoes were extremely bland, and the eggs were well cooked, if not spiced. Makes perfect sense that they wouldnt be as this is a restaurant that caters to children, who we all know are the pickiest eaters alive at one point or another.
(Reminder, this is all you can eat, so he could have requested more at any time)
I am a granola fan, and this was a pretty good mix (though a bit heavy on the puffed rice) the berry yogurt covering it was pretty good too. The best part was on top, caramelized bananas.
(
Heaven. In a bowl.)
I am telling you I could eat these for DAYS. Honey glazed bananas either pan fried or hit with a torch (Im guessing pan fried) until the sugar gets all crunchy and beautiful. I shared one with Mike, maybe two
. But then they were all mine! (Insert maniacal laugh here.
)
Our server was great, very attentive and didnt rush us one bit. The coffee was surprisingly good. The orange juice even better. (Fresh squeezed. Yay, Florida!!!)
Oh, but then the Princesses. Yes, yes, I know. This is what you pay for, so I shouldnt complain. Honestly, if you have girls who are princess mad, do EVERYTHING you can to get a reservation here. The looks on their sweet faces as each CM walked around, thats really a priceless memory. If we ever have a little girl, we are absolutely taking her here.
I had hoped (especially given the location of our table) that the interaction would be minimal. Sort of Hello my Lady, hello my Lord, Happy Anniversary! Yeah, no. They were determined to give us every bit of interaction that the other tables got.
I played nice, dear reader, I promise you.
Funniest moment had to have been when Sleeping Beauty walked over to our table and began talking to Mike after asking me if this was my prince charming. When she asked him Have you slain any dragons? He replied, quite deadpan. Oh, just one.
The look on her face was priceless. Then she demanded a picture with such a gallant knight:
Snow White, bless her, didnt seem to be having a good day. Then she demanded we get up and take a picture with her. Yes, demanded. No, I dont know why.
(Mike is doing fine with this, you can catch my resolve slipping
.)
Then it was Airel who came by and we chatted with her, all the while I stared longingly at my last slice of caramelized banana.
By the time Belle (my favorite princess, by the way ) came over to our table, I was burnt. However, she was too, and proving that I have a reason for loving Belle (or at least the CM portraying her that day) she said: How about I just stand behind your chair? Thus eliciting the closest thing to a smile from me that breakfast:
(See how big this bowl of granola is? I still dream about those bananas
.mmmmm)
So our thoughts overall? Definitely a pricey meal, but if you want one of the best views of the Kingdom (and I can only imagine how amazing it will be once all the Fantasyland construction is done!) or you have little ones who love princesses, this is your place. The food isnt horrible, but it is basic.
Really though, who cares about the food when your four year old in her Cinderella dress gets sit on the Throne with the real thing?
I guess it has been getting lots of mixed reviews on board. I love the ambience and setting of the restaurant depite how dark it is (need flashlight to read). 
on the kids subject. You could do like I saw some families do. Give them a pair of maracas and get yourself a margarita while you wait.
