Cinderella and Dinner

[wendygrace]

I have heard wonderful things about the CRT and breakfast and lunch and how its a "must" for Cinderella lovers. I assumed that the reason Breakfast and Lunch were the thing to do was that at dinner, Cinderella was not present. Is that true? I called dining and they tried to assure me that Cinderella is present for all the meals but I'd thought I'd check with the experts. So, what's the difference between the b/l CRT and the dinner one?

thanks.

 

[ndgqccmiller]

When we went last year they told us cinderella was at breakfast and lunch and that the fairy godmother was at the dinner. I am definetly not an expert but we choose lunch for that reason. I hate walking the parks with a full stomach, but it was worht it.

 

[Plannergirl]

When we made our ressies a month ago they made it very clear Cindy is NOT upstairs at dinner

 

[jcc0621]

My understanding is that Cinderella is there for a photo/meet before you are seated and then it is the fairy godmother and the mice who are in the dining room during the meal.

Janet

 

[lisadisney2003]

We had dinner there on our last trip and Cinderella was downstairs greeting her guests. This really worked out best for us so that the meal as not disturbed by characters. It is also alot easier to get a lunch or dinner ressie that breakfast. Additionally, we got to watch the fireworks from the windows of the castle which was pretty cool. However, for the price we found it to be one of the worst meals we had at Disney. It is all about the location. 1900 Park Fare is less expensive and has the same characters but, the food is still not great. The best character meal for us so far has been breakfast at Ohana's. There are no princesses but you will find Mickey, Minnie, and the gang and the food was wonderful!!

Best wishes for your trip.

 

[TheDizMom]

We had dinner there on our last trip and Cinderella was downstairs greeting her guests. This really worked out best for us so that the meal as not disturbed by characters. It is also alot easier to get a lunch or dinner ressie that breakfast. Additionally, we got to watch the fireworks from the windows of the castle which was pretty cool. However, for the price we found it to be one of the worst meals we had at Disney. It is all about the location. 1900 Park Fare is less expensive and has the same characters but, the food is still not great. The best character meal for us so far has been breakfast at Ohana's. There are no princesses but you will find Mickey, Minnie, and the gang and the food was wonderful!!

Best wishes for your trip.

I disagree I think the food at 1900 PF is good. We have eaten there twice and enjoyed it both times. Fairy Godmother is in the lobby and Cindy, Prince Charming, Suzy and Perla are in the restaurant. If you want to do dinner with Cindy I think it's a good choice and it's close to MK so you can get back there in the evening for the parade and fireworks. You could also watch the fireworks from the dock at the GF accompanied by the music from Narcosees (sp?).

 

[arielsleepingbeauty]

Breakfast is great at CRT. Cinderelaa is downstairs for pictures and not in the restaurant. There are other princess's and the Fairy godmother who come to visit. It's good, but pricey. It's 2 credits on the DDP. A pictyre is included in the price.

I cannot comment on lunch at CRT because we have never been. I also was told that Cinderella is not at dinner at CRT.
Cinderella is at 1900 Park Fare for dinner. The food is buffet style and if anyone has had a dinenr buffet at WDW, it''s pretty much the same, prime rib, salad bar abnd dessert bar. It's ok, but what you are really paynig for is the Cinderella. Cindy, the prince and Suzy and Perla visit your table. The Fairy Godmother is ususally outside the restaurant and you take pics before you go in. It's not as pricey as CRT and only 1 credit on DDP.

 

[kaysmom2002]

We just returned on Friday and had Breakfast at the castle. It was a decent breakfast but DD didn't eat much and hubby doesn't do breakfast so I ate as much as I could handle to get our money worth. Cindy was downstairs, FG, Belle (in blue dress), Sleeping Beauty and Snow White were in the restaurant. DD loved the atmosphere and glad we ended up doing it. We paid out of pocket for it because of the DDP costs. It was $102 for 3 of us!!! We were glad to get the autos we did but....it is costly!!

 

[OceanAnnie]

Hmmm. Decisions, decisions. We have done GF PF sans kids some time ago. It was Pooh and gang at the time. Now that Cindy and friends are there, it might be better than the castle. I did like the food at dinner. Hmmm.

The castle is special but super pricey. Heck, they are all pricey aren't they? But as another poster stated, it's really about the characters.

Haven't tried O'Hanna's yet. But I've heard so many good things about it, we might add that to the list! We did Chef Mickey's before. It was fun, food wasn't bad.

Thanks for this thread, OP. It's helpful for me too!

 

[MSSANDRA]

We did Park Fare in January for the Cindy dinner and found it wonderful. Cindy and Prince C and the mice were absolutly charming. The food was really good. The prime rib was quite rare but when I requested a more done piece I found it really good. I love the strawberry soup. Deserts were not great but we were full any way.

 

[pl'smama]

We did the castle for dinner in December. We got a wonderful photo of DD(3.5) dressed in her Cinderella costume with the real Cindy by the Christmas tree. You get four small photos, one 8x11 photo in a frame with a litho of the castle. It is a beautiful keepsake and you can have your whole party in the pics. Cindy did not come around during dinner, but the Fairy GOdmother did, as did Suzy and Perla. We saw the fireworks to from the windows and were treated to a "show" by the Fiary Godmother. All the children were given an extra dessert which is this wonderful chocolate cake, with white icing and mickey sprinkles!! The Fairy Godmother sang Happy Birthday to all the children, saying that since she could not always be with each one on their special day she wanted to celebrate with them now. It was a wonderful addition to the night and had me very emotional!!

The food was amazing and is supposed to be much better then the breakfast or lunch menu. It does cost a bit more though. Over all the atmosphere was exceptional and our DD loved it. We would go again.

Having said that I too loved Ohana for breakfast. The food was the best we had the whole trip and the characters were wonderful. We had Lilo, Sticht, Mickey and Pluto. They did a parade with all the kids and went to all the tables.

Enjoy!!

 

[catalexander]

Just an FYI:
I was making dinner ADR's for 1900 Park Fare for our trip in Sept. and the CM said that Park Fare was undergoing refirb. during my time (9/9-9/19) and the dinner was moved "upstairs" and was plated, not buffet...

 

[justwinnie]

At CRT, Cinderella is downstairs for pictures/autographs during breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

Breakfast and Lunch at CRT are considered character meals. You normally get 4 or so princesses. Sometimes Fairy Godmother is there too. The princess circulate the dining room for pics/autographs.

Dinner at CRT is not considered a character meal. As others have said, Fairy Godmother and the mice come in during the meal and make announcements to celebrate specials events. No circulating for pics/autographs.

Lunch is just a few dollars more per person, and a much better meal than breakfast, in my opinion. Although we love breakfast foods, the meal was just ordinary. Kids get french toast sticks.

We enjoyed lunch FAR more than breakfast.

1900 PF is fun. Breakfast features some Winnie the Pooh characters, Alice, and Mad Hatter, with Mary Poppins sitting in the front.

Dinner is Cinderella, Prince Charming, Suzy and Perla, with Fairy Godmother sitting in front. Sometimes FG is subbed with a princess.

 

[*KeepMovingForward*]

We had dinner there on our last trip and Cinderella was downstairs greeting her guests. This really worked out best for us so that the meal as not disturbed by characters. It is also alot easier to get a lunch or dinner ressie that breakfast. Additionally, we got to watch the fireworks from the windows of the castle which was pretty cool. However, for the price we found it to be one of the the worst meals we had at Disney. It is all about the location.

I agree 100%!

We've eaten at the castle for breakfast and for dinner. Breakfast I thought was terrible (crappy service, cold food and trying to get a refill on your drink was near impossible)...the princesses were not worth it for us. Dinner, Cindy and the FG were downstairs for pics. During the meal, FG and the mice came around to the tables and we did get pics with each one of them. We've done dinner at CRT a few times and the food was okay...but it really was down there on the list-it was all about seeing the fireworks from the back of the castle for us. We did dinner there again last year and didn't like the narrowed down menu (and fixed price) and I was kind of embarrassed because we brought friends with us who had never been to Disney and they hated it. When we got back they told me it was by far the worst meal they had on the vacation. Okay, I didn't think it was quite that bad...but not great either. The mice and FG did come around again, although this time only the mice stopped for pics...FG whisked herself in and out so fast that if you blinked, you might have missed her. For us, it will be a very long time before we bother with CRT again. You do get the pics included with your meal, which is nice. Pretty sad though when you leave dinner and your kids ask to stop at Casey's hot dogs cause they are hungry. Just our experience...but too many marginal meals there lately to keep going back and spending that kind of money-even on the dining plan I feel like we are wasting our credits there.

 

[wendygrace]

Thanks for all the input. Perhaps I need to reconsider the CRT. It seems way too flaky. I take it there's no way to just go up and look at the "castle". Maybe if we pretend we do want reservations we can take a peak? hehe. What are the chances of running into Cinderella elsewhere at the park? Dd would just be so disappointed if she didn't get to meet her.

 

[hbehrman]

I agree 100%!

We've eaten at the castle for breakfast and for dinner. Breakfast I thought was terrible (crappy service, cold food and trying to get a refill on your drink was near impossible)...the princesses were not worth it for us. Dinner, Cindy and the FG were downstairs for pics. During the meal, FG and the mice came around to the tables and we did get pics with each one of them. We've done dinner at CRT a few times and the food was okay...but it really was down there on the list-it was all about seeing the fireworks from the back of the castle for us. We did dinner there again last year and didn't like the narrowed down menu (and fixed price) and I was kind of embarrassed because we brought friends with us who had never been to Disney and they hated it. When we got back they told me it was by far the worst meal they had on the vacation. Okay, I didn't think it was quite that bad...but not great either. The mice and FG did come around again, although this time only the mice stopped for pics...FG whisked herself in and out so fast that if you blinked, you might have missed her. For us, it will be a very long time before we bother with CRT again. You do get the pics included with your meal, which is nice. Pretty sad though when you leave dinner and your kids ask to stop at Casey's hot dogs cause they are hungry. Just our experience...but too many marginal meals there lately to keep going back and spending that kind of money-even on the dining plan I feel like we are wasting our credits there.

Actually our experience at CRT breakfast was the complete opposite. I was especially surprised by this due to the fact that it was last September during Free Dining on an EMH morning. The food was excellent breakfast food. My girls especially liked the stuffed french toast (but the first plate was very clean after they got done). The twins (DD4) ate a plate each and then got another as well (as did I). The wait staff was quite attentive and could always be waved over for refills of anything. One reason our experience might be different is that we had a later reservation (9:50am) which was perfect so we could eat an early CS dinner to (4pm ish) avoid the rush.

I would recommend it based upon our experience. We are going to WDW this year during Free Dining and are going to do 1900 Park Fare during the refurbishment which will actually be in the GF cafe. My girls need their Cindy fix so this time on Monday "our audience to request entrance into her kingdom will be at her summer palace". At least thats what were telling them and the next day we are going to MK (Tuesday).

 

[bibbity bobbity boo]

I didnt realize that there were OTHER princesses in the Castle for breakfast too!!! DD is going to be too excited to eat!

 

[*KeepMovingForward*]

Actually our experience at CRT breakfast was the complete opposite.

I'm glad you had such a positive experience. Wish that had been our experiences. Over the past 5 years, whenever we decided to give CRT another chance, it actually got worse. We've decided to wave the white flag and surrender when it comes to this restaurant. I hate to even say something like that, because I want to say everything in Disney is just off the charts wonderful, but sadly, no. Possibly our breakfast food would have been good if our server had delivered it while it was still hot. Maybe a few years from now we will try CRT again, but for now-for us, there are far too many other restaurants on property that we enjoy more.

 

[Joanna71985]

I've done both breakfast and lunch at CRT (in fact, am doing lunch again on my birthday in July). I prefer the lunch to breakfast big time. I love the pasta there. The last time I did CRT for lunch (last July) Cinderella was in the loby and the 4 other characters were upstairs.

 

[ndgqccmiller]

We went to Cinderellas Castle in Oct for lunch. The kids really seemed to have a great time dd2, dd6, and ds9 (he even liked it) The food was very good. My husband was happy. Cinderella was downstairs and Belle, Jasemine, FGM, and snow white. We did get some great photos. I think it's something you've got to do once. Next trip I would like to do Park Faire.