Cinderella's Royal Table or Be Our Guest

[Feberin]

I'm trying to decide between the two. Most comparisons I'm seeing are back when Cinderella's had multiple princesses. My 9 year old daughter wants the one with the better food but overall my kids don't have a preference. My kids will be 12, 9, 7 and 4 when we go if that matters. We're probably not going back to Disney after this trip is over for a long time.

 

[Her Dotness]

It's difficult to advise you because of ongoing pandemic restrictions that may change for the better at any time. Not for worse again, I'm sure we all hope, though that might still occur.

CRT still has only Cinderella appearing. Recently, she began posing behind guests at a slight distance for photos again as you enter the Castle, before going up to the dining area. This is now the only view of her.

Based on our somewhat disappointing experience there in November, I'd suggest considering carefully if this brief "meetup" with her will disappoint your kids.

By the time you go, this could have changed dramatically for the better.

As for the food, I'd say neither has great food. That's merely my opinion from eating at both before the BOG prix fixe. Others rave about the BOG food, though. Looking at menus for which appeals more is about all you can reasonably do, I believe.

I'd advise deciding which you think the most appealing location. The Castle is looking a bit the worse for wear, IMO. BOG has spectacular rooms and is by far the better one-time experience, I'd say.

 

[CynBeth]

We are adults with no kids who enjoy Disney and have not done Cinderella in many years but love BOG have dinner there every trip. We think the food is wonderful with amazing theming.

 

[whitneyt1995]

I was just there last month and did both. The food was far, far better at Be Our Guest. Eating inside the castle was pretty cool though. Cinderella made an appearance at my Royal Table dinner and the Beast makes several appearances at Be Our Guest. I would go for Be Our Guest, just because the food is better honestly.

 

[lowlight]

BOG for all the reasons Her Dotness listed.

 

[mom2rtk]

I believe you now get a distanced photo with Cinderella on your way into CRT. Also there is word that traditional character meets will be back "soon". No word on whether that will include returning princesses to the dining room or whether you'll get to meet the Beast at BOG again.

For pure ambience, I would always choose Cindy's castle. BOG can be great, but it very much depends on where you are seated. We ended up at a table in January off to the side with servers racing past constantly. Didn't feel it was worth the money. But our table 2 years ago down by the windows felt magical. CRT seats far fewer people and we've never had a bad table. We must have missed where it's looking "worse for the wear" as we thought it was lovely in January.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

The only thing I'll add to what's already been said is that Be Our Guest has had a huge number of menu changes considering the relative short amount of time it's been open. I've had the most amazing rack of lamb there, and I've had an aggressively mediocre New York strip there. Make sure you pay attention to the dates when people give reviews, because things have been up and down a dozen times.

 

[michiganfam]

We have preferred the food of BOG to CRT by a long shot. The attraction of CRT was eating in the castle and hanging out with the princesses. Well right now the princesses aren’t there and so I’d say BOG all the way. If you can get into the Rose room it’s pretty fun.

 

[Brett Wyman]

CRT was a one and done for us, even with full characters. But one I would definitely want to do that one time. We go to BOG every time we visit(usually lunch).

 

[MomOTwins]

I prefer CRT. BOG was great when it had lower cost lunch or breakfast, but it is so crowded it almost feels like a cafeteria which is not a great vibe when you are having an expensive sit down lunch or dinner. Being in Cindy’s castle feels more special to me. YMMV.

The food at both is just so-so. Don’t have a preference between them foodwise

 

[Scubadaddy32]

We ate at both last year... BOG has the better food, period.
The food is classic French, both the filet and lamb chops are good and all the apps are good. The dessert is cute and taste like what it's supposed to taste like. We put it on par with Chefs de France at EPCOT.
I find people let their bias' take over when it comes to BOG, as it gets knocked because people liked the cheaper experience of the former breakfast and lunch counter service that was offered.

 

[focusondisney]

We have eaten at both several times. Contrary to most other opinions, I don’t think the food at CRT is inferior at all. We’ve had the fillet at both restaurants & thought they were equally good. BOG is beautiful for sure. I really like the side room with the music box & pictures. But I agree with the previous poster about the ballroom. It is very chaotic. I absolutely dislike being seated where servers are constantly rushing back & forth, which has happened to us. So the smaller dining room in CRT is more relaxing to us. We have a trip next month for my retirement & a milestone birthday. I absolutely will return to BOG, but I picked CRT for this trip because the ambiance makes it a little more special, IMO.

 

[AnnabelleTheTalkingTree]

BOG can be great, but it very much depends on where you are seated.

This exactly. We've eaten at BOG on our past two trips, once seated in the ballroom and once in Belle's room, and they were vastly different experiences. I'm sure it helped that the food was markedly better on our first visit (when we sat in the ballroom).... it left us feeling underwhelmed on our second visit when we were seated in Belle's room the food was definitely not as good as we remembered. We said we wouldn't be going back, but somehow we've booked ourselves again for our upcoming trip. Seems we'll be giving it another chance.

We've never eaten at CRT and have an ADR there as well on this next trip. I know the food is apparently not all that great but I like knowing that the ambiance isn't a toss up on where we're seated.

 

[Disturbia]

We’ve eaten at both multiple times over the years and BOG is the only must do on our list, although Steakhouse71 (chocolate cake is really good and safe for peanut/treenut allergies) and Story Book dining at Artist’s point (very hard to get) are just a few steps away. We booked all 3 for our upcoming trip.

CRT was a must when our DD was younger and I would book BBB and then CRT right after. When we went with grandparents they gave 2 free portraits and they had doll cakes (check speciality desserts) you could add for an extra $180.

https://disneytravelbabble.com/how-to/order-cake/magic-kingdom-specialty-desserts/
The chef at BOG is very accommodating (vegan dessert is delicious) and our son leaves full vs CRT where they just take everything off his plate.

 

[Vacaybound]

Great feedback from the posts! Will be traveling in August and will attempt to book both. Thank you

 

[Disturbia]

You can look at one for breakfast (Topolinos is better on an Epcot day) and the other for dinner as well. Given the 50th, I would choose CRT for dinner (50th flight looks great) and the lost slipper dessert (need to contact special dessert team to add) looks great. Do not eat near 6 pm as it can take 40+ mins to be seated (experience at BOG).

If you can’t get into either (Disney adds dining the wed/thurs after they extend hours 2 weeks in advance of your trip - see ‘updated park hours and new ADRs’ thread).

Definitely look into booking a fireworks dessert party (some open at midnight; after party opened at 5:30 am) if you want to make it extra special and won’t be back for a while.

https://youtu.be/oN3VC45lP5
https://youtu.be/gtKmvrQlq08

 

[Melissa6975]

Never done BOG but I’ll say that CRT was my favorite meal of our whole trip in April! Loved it.

 

[Disturbia]

Changing my opinion to CRT over BOG. Food has finally matched the signature level price. It was surprisingly good and Topolinos level steak (Topolinos went downhill temporarily in 2021, but it’s back as well).

Going forward we will book CRT and BOG on different days. Steakhouse71 was a let down this time - twice (great in 2021) -excessively salty/not cooked right.

 

[EilonwyWanderer]

We liked CRT more than BOG. The atmosphere was better, BOG was so insanely loud at dinner in the main ballroom we could barely hear our server, and boy was it super expensive. Cindy's place was hands down better and cheaper (though still expensive).

 

[Feberin]

We ended up picking CRT and have a reservation.