Cinderella Castle long ago?

[3DisneyBuggs]

So my first trip to Disney was in the 80’s as a young kid. I remember walking through the castle and there was a restaurant there. Am I right?

 

[Hezzy04]

Yep! There is still a restaurant there! Cinderella’s Royal Table.

 

[Disneyliscious]

So my first trip to Disney was in the 80’s as a young kid. I remember walking through the castle and there was a restaurant there. Am I right?

As mentioned above, its still there. It's in the upper part of the castle and runs about $80 per person for a meal. Reservations at 180 days out are highly encouraged as it books completely. Prepayment of the meal is required at booking.

 

[disneydreamer1980]

If you wanna eat there you really need to book as early as possible. If you just wanna walk through it, there’s a beautiful Cinderella tile mosaic to see but not much else, it’s pretty much like a little tunnel you walk through to get to fantasy land.

 

[jeanico2000]

So my first trip to Disney was in the 80’s as a young kid. I remember walking through the castle and there was a restaurant there. Am I right?

Yes! It was called King Stefan's Banquet Hall.

 

[Queen of the WDW Scene]

Yes Cinderella's Royal Table is a a restaurant in the castle but you certainly wouldn't have seen the inside of the restaurant by just walking through the castle since its upstairs.

 

[BK2014]

Yes! It was called King Tefan's Banquet Hall.

I had never heard of King Stefan's Banquet Hall until I just looked it up. You are right. The restaurant apparently changed names to Cinderella's Royal Table in 1997. I also did not know that King Stefan was Sleeping Beauty's father. I wonder how he ended up with a restaurant in Cinderella's castle?

 

[marchingstar]

I had never heard of King Stefan's Banquet Hall until I just looked it up. You are right. The restaurant apparently changed names to Cinderella's Royal Table in 1997. I also did not know that King Stefan was Sleeping Beauty's father. I wonder how he ended up with a restaurant in Cinderella's castle?

i was curious to see how similar/different the restaurant was back then so i looked through some google images. the restaurant itself is recognizeable but it still looks like a different world. i found a picture with people smoking inside!

 

[DISNEY1975]

Yes, King Stefans and they gave out crowns! Probably because I was a child, but I feel King Stefans was much better than CRT today. Everything seemed so "royal" ! remember it being much darker (woodwork/tables etc) and "castle" like. Now it seems like a banquet hall at a Marriott with nice stained glass windows. Like I said, its probably just my age! I also remember my next door neighbor living on a mountain that I would go sledding on every time it snowed. Reality is she had a slight slant in her front yard!

 

[marcyleecorgan]

I had never heard of King Stefan's Banquet Hall until I just looked it up. You are right. The restaurant apparently changed names to Cinderella's Royal Table in 1997. I also did not know that King Stefan was Sleeping Beauty's father. I wonder how he ended up with a restaurant in Cinderella's castle?

Royal tradition dictates you memorialize something in honour of your friend/neighbour/friendly rival. For Disneyland and Disney World, that would be Aurora and Cinderella's families respectively. Hence King Stefan's Banquet Hall at Disney World.

 

[Moms]

Took my daughter there ... King Stefan’s that is ... when she was about 6 or 7. It was delightful! I remember that the food was pretty good! Back then you could easily get same day reservations!

 

[DaisyDuck001]

Took my daughter there ... King Stefan’s that is ... when she was about 6 or 7. It was delightful! I remember that the food was pretty good! Back then you could easily get same day reservations!

Yes, and the prices at King Stefan's were much more reasonable.

 

[3DisneyBuggs]

Yes! King Stefan’s is what I remember. I know CRT is there now I wasnt sure if King Stefans was a real memory Lol!

 

[KellyHonos]

I'd only go here if meeting princesses and having the bragging rights of saying you ate there is important. My sister and I dined here July 2018 and we were so excited, but ended up being really disappointed. The food was just blah, and ate up 2 of our dining credits. We will never book here again. Just giving you a heads up.

 

[HMG1984]

I'd only go here if meeting princesses and having the bragging rights of saying you ate there is important. My sister and I dined here July 2018 and we were so excited, but ended up being really disappointed. The food was just blah, and ate up 2 of our dining credits. We will never book here again. Just giving you a heads up.

I had a completely different experience. We just took out 4 year old daughter to CRT in February and husband and I agree it was the best meal we had while in Disney. He got the steak and shrimp and I got the chicken (lunch time). We did Chef Mickeys, BOG, and Ohana breakfast and CRT was by far the best! We thought the food was really good.

 

[wishicouldgomoreofte]

Yes, we dined at King Stefan's in 1995, 1996, and 1997 before it changed. All were walk-up reservations.
We enjoyed it very much.

 

[calliope8]

I know this thread is a bit older but just had to comment about remembering King Stefan's Banquet Hall. This was in the days when eating in the parks didn't require a reservation. He ended up w/ a restaurant in 'Cinderalla's' castle beause it is actually modeled on the castle in the Sleeping Beauty movie. The one in Cinderella is all white and absurdly tall & thin. Why they modeled it on that castle then put murals of Cinderella I don't know. Maybe b/c Sleeping Beauty already had a castle in Disneyland? I miss King Stefan's & the old decor but we have a keepsake mug to remember it!

 

[aloha7]

I know this thread is a bit older but just had to comment about remembering King Stefan's Banquet Hall. This was in the days when eating in the parks didn't require a reservation. He ended up w/ a restaurant in 'Cinderalla's' castle beause it is actually modeled on the castle in the Sleeping Beauty movie. The one in Cinderella is all white and absurdly tall & thin. Why they modeled it on that castle then put murals of Cinderella I don't know. Maybe b/c Sleeping Beauty already had a castle in Disneyland? I miss King Stefan's & the old decor but we have a keepsake mug to remember it!

I remember King Stefan's Banquet. I didn't remember the name of it at first but I remember being able to just walk in at almost any time of day. I liked the outfits they wore and the pewter plates. I have my own theory as to why they put King Stefan in Cinderella's castle. You see, Sleeping Beauty takes place in the 13th century while Cinderella is much more modern in about the 18th century. Cinderella is actually a descendant of King Stefan, on her Mother's side.

 

[DumboDash2006]

I remember eating at King Stefan's as a kid. I remember my sister and I were so impressed at eating in a castle. And they had Mickey head shaped butter pats!

 

[michaeldorn1]

Yes! It was called King Stefan's Banquet Hall.

Yes, it was, which was odd because King Stefan was from Sleeping Beauty. Anyway, I was 11 when we ate there on my first trip in '73 and I thought it was the neatest thing! And yes, we could do it as a walk-up back "in the day"!