Big Change to Cinderella's Royal Table. Good or Bad?

[Ricklg3]

Beginning February 7, guests dining at Cinderella's Royal Table will have a new Fairytale Dining experience. Joining Cinderella at all three meals will now be her Disney princess friends. The Fairy Godmother will no longer be at these meals, but Cinderella will still greet guests for photos as they enter dinner. Prices will remain the same.


Do you think this is a good change or a bad change?


Hope to have some reviews posted soon on this change.

 

[disneyfav4ever]

I don't mind the characters either way, but they could've left dinner without the princesses for those wanting to eat in the castle without doing a character meal.

 

[drenalin'junkie]

For better or worse Disney has chosen to capitalize on the Princess craze.What this means for the rest of World is where there is room they are going to find a way to incorporate a way to pickpocket you.
I found out how much those outfits and makeovers cost and was floored and I prefer Cindy's castle and meal to be hers alone but there is obviously a huge demand for all thing princess.
We'll still go to CRT but the kids we go with get their princess stuff before we go into the park,a tactic that has saved a lot of $ and headaches.

 

[kaybird]

Years ago the Castle was set up this way. We not only saw other princesses, but occaisionally peter pan and hook showed up. The boys (now well into adulthood!) still talk about the time Hook and Pan got in a mock sword fight and wound up knocking over a server table with pots, etc on it! Part of the fun for us then was not knowing exactly who would show up or what would happen!

 

[Jozymouse]

I really wish they would have left the Castle dinner as a non character meal. Being 2 adults, we did enjoy a meal at the castle, but I would never do a princess meal just for me and my husband. Although I LOVE characters, i'm not a big fan of character meals, but I can certainly deal with furry characters but princesses???....hmmm.. a bit to weird for me.....

 

[stephmarty]

Personally, I'm thankful for the change. I have three little girls, and we planned a late trip to WDW for this April. All ADRs for CRT bfast and lunch are booked, but we were able to get CRT dinner ADR. We've never been able to have dinner with the princesses at the castle because we can't typically plan trips 180 days in advance. We've always enjoyed Storybook Dining with the princesses at Akershus, instead. But come on--you can't beat princess dining in a REAL castle! What's more natural than princesses in a castle??

 

[mitadoh]

I am a little sad that the fairy godmother is no longer going to be there. I loved it when she came out to do her show. I even flirted with her a little a couple of times. I wish they would have left it alone only for the fact that there are so many other places to see the princesses both in a meal and around all of the parks.

 

[kathie859]

Beginning February 7, guests dining at Cinderella's Royal Table will have a new Fairytale Dining experience. Joining Cinderella at all three meals will now be her Disney princess friends. The Fairy Godmother will no longer be at these meals, but Cinderella will still greet guests for photos as they enter dinner. Prices will remain the same.


Do you think this is a good change or a bad change?


Hope to have some reviews posted soon on this change.

As much fun as seeing the FG was, I have to believe that seeing more princesses would be exciting for most diners. Like dining at Akershus but in the Castle!! The other change that I would hope for is a more relaxed approach for the princesses. I think CRT seems a tad more harried than Akershus when it comes to princess interaction.

 

[goofy4tink]

It is kind of sad. Yes, I know how much the girls like to see the princesses...I have 33 y/o and 16 y/o dd's...the 16 y/o has eaten at the Castle, with the princesses, many times. BUT..one of the nicer meals we have had at WDW was dinner at the Castle, without any characters. It was truly a wonderful meal...even my dh was happy with it.
But...Disney doesn't miss a chance to make a bit more..so now it's princesses, 24/7, at the Castle. Ah well.

 

[tinkerbelletreasure]

We are doing CRT specifically because it is a character meal. We are glad of the change. I would love to see hook and Pan too!

 

[rosiep]

My daughter and I caught the very last show for the Fairy Godmother last Saturday night. There were several CM's all teary-eyed but the FGM held it together and performed beautifully.

I don't think I'll like the Princesses too much..but for those who hadn't seen the "old" show I don't think they'll feel short changed.

 

[NHdisneylover]

I am not a big fan of anything that lumps all the girls together as "the princesses." It always feels off to me and like they are supposed to just be princesses and not have their own personalities. I would much rather see Cinderella characters with Cinderells characters, Beauty and the Beast characters with each other, etc. So I would prefer the old way, but it is not a big "loss" to me or anything. I also enjoyed the focus being on a non royaal charcter at the castle dinner.

 

[DisneyTravelers2008]

I guess Im ok w/ the change. My dd is 6 and loves the princesses and the fairy godmohter. did the fairy godmother go to 1900 park fare?

 

[CinRell]

Aren't there other places that already do princess meals?

I agree with PP in that I wish they'd have left dinner alone. I'd found dinner at the castle to be very romantic. It won't be now. And I, too, enjoy "furry" characters but not real face ones.

Now I doubt I'd even bother with eating at the castle and it used to be my favorite dining spot

 

[Twitterpated!]

I'm glad, for purely personal reasons. We were scheduled for a 2:10 lunch at CRT, the only time available (probably because the parade is at 3pm). As soon as I heard about the change, I called and booked a 6:30 ADR. Now we can see the parade! Also, we are applying the Deluxe Dining Plan to our meal, so I feel much better about using two credits towards a dinner than a breakfast or lunch.

I understand why some people would be upset. I imagine couples may want to have a romantic dinner in the castle, which will now be spoiled by 50+ loud children trying to get the attention of the princesses. It's too bad there is not a separate smaller dining room for adults only.

I hate saying it, but at the end of the day, its all about the money. With the CRT breakfast selling out in less than 15 minutes every morning and the lunch filling up shortly after that, TPTB decided to capitalize on the demand.

 

[chocovrdmicears]

I am sad.
I have 2 kids (6 & 7) and there are already plenty of options for us to dine and visit with the characters/princesses. Maybe just add the princesses to lunch...but leave the castle dinner for those who want to enjoy the *magic* of dining in the castle with a more romantic feel.

 

[candielips]

I'm glad, for purely personal reasons. We were scheduled for a 2:10 lunch at CRT, the only time available (probably because the parade is at 3pm). As soon as I heard about the change, I called and booked a 6:30 ADR. Now we can see the parade!

You can see the parade from the restaurant? Is 6:30 the best time to go if you want to see it?
We will be doing our 1st dinner at CRT this fall and the main reason we decided to do it this yr is because of the change.
Can you see the fireworks from the castle? If so, what time is the best to go to see it?

 

[luvdisney00]

I am not thrilled either. We had done the lunch with my older 2 DDs and when we took my DD7 for the first time when she was 4, we opted to do the dinner. She got her BBB makeover and met Cinderella in the lobby for pictures, but during dinner we just enjoyed the atmosphere and the food. I really thought it was a nice classy Disney experience and much preferreed it to the craziness of the princess breakfast or lunch. We have also done 1900Park Fare and Askerhaus and while they were fine for my little princess loving girls, I liked the castle dinner better where it seemed you could see the characters, but it didn't interfere with the meal. Also the FG show was timed just perfectly for when little kids were starting to get ansy from sitting too long and the adults were pretty much finished with their meal.

Now that my girls are 15, 12 and 7, I doubt we'll do CRT again with these changes.

 

[Twitterpated!]

You can see the parade from the restaurant? Is 6:30 the best time to go if you want to see it?
We will be doing our 1st dinner at CRT this fall and the main reason we decided to do it this yr is because of the change.
Can you see the fireworks from the castle? If so, what time is the best to go to see it?

No, you can't see the parade from the restaurant. :-( What I meant was that the 2:10 reservation was available because nobody wanted to MISS the parade. I am excited that I got the 6:30 res. because now I won't miss it either.

 

[frannn]

We have done the breakfast or the lunch for the past few years for DD7, and will enjoy the ability to try dinner for a change. DD16 is joining us on our upcoming trip, and loves a good meal. I love the thought of giving her both the princesses and good food at the same time. We also do the Norway meal each year, but don't enjoy the food as much. For the record, DH and I enjoy the character meals along with the kids.