Cinderella's Royal Table worth it??

[jsinsel]

We are going to WDW for the first time in May/June, and I'm in the process of making dining reservations. We're trying to decide if eating in the castle is worth two credits...we have reservations for Akershus one night, but my DDs (ages 6 and 7) are princess crazy and I was also considering the Royal Table for our final night at Disney. We're splurging on a one-bedroom at AKV, so we could cook dinner at "home" (we'll have a full kitchen) a couple of nights in order to make up for using two credits at the castle, but I haven't been able to find a lot of feedback on this in the recent past.

Thanks in advance for any opinions!!

 

[kaleighmariesmom]

we did and mt DD LOVED it!!

 

[momz]

nope, not worth it. IMO. Akerhaus is the way to go.

The meal selections for children at CRT are horrible. mac and cheese and chicken nuggets are available at counter service restaurants. The interaction with the characters is minimal. When we were there, they had a little skit with the fairy godmother and the mice, we could barely see any of it because of the people, furnishings and pillars obscured the view...plus...it was stupid.

 

[ShellyShellfish]

YES! We just ate there on our last trip and BOTH kids loved it and we're talking a 14 month old girl and 3 year old boy. It's a nice and easy way to get to meet the princesses and they are fantastic at taking pictures. The food was nice as well.

If you time it just right, try to get a table by the windows in the castle during Wishes.

 

[buzznina]

We enjoyed CRT but other then the ambiance of eating inside the castle we enjoyed Akershus better.

 

[ShellyShellfish]

nope, not worth it. IMO. Akerhaus is the way to go.

The meal selections for children at CRT are horrible. mac and cheese and chicken nuggets are available at counter service restaurants. The interaction with the characters is minimal. When we were there, they had a little skit with the fairy godmother and the mice, we could barely see any of it because of the people, furnishings and pillars obscured the view...plus...it was stupid.

The Fairy Godmother and mice weren't there when we were there, it's just all of the princesses who go table to table greeting and taking pictures.

Also - you get a free portrait with Cinderella before you have dinner, and unlike most places, it's included with the cost of the meal. Each child gets a sword or wand (boy or girl...) along with wishing stars. DS had a cheese/fruit tray for his appetizer and then for dinner he had chicken with veggies and mashed potatoes. For dessert they bring out a make your own cupcake platter. It was cute.

 

[Golden Rose]

I know for a while, at CRT the princesses other than Cinderella were present only for breakfast and lunch, and the fairy godmother and mouse thing was at dinner. I do not believe that is still true; I think the princesses are now present at all meals. Anyway, we've found the meals with the princesses to be worth it; lunch is our favorite. It is a nice break from the weather, and a pleasant way to be guaranteed time to meet 5 princesses. (When we were there two weeks ago, we met Cinderella in the foyer, then Ariel, Jasmine, Aurora, and Belle (blue dress) during the meal.)

We've also done Akershus in Epcot, and we enjoyed that, too. We didn't like the food quite as much at Akershus, although we did think it was interesting. I think you should definitely do one or the other, but you certainly don't need to do both, although since your daughters are princess crazy, they might really enjoy both.

 

[Angela0917]

Absolutely!!

 

[Tinker'n'Fun]

My family is very easy-going and would say that CRT was NOT worth it at all, not even being "in" the castle. Only 1 of 2 restaurants where we all agreed that we didn't enjoy our meals and the interaction. We loved Askerhus though.

 

[Zarabear]

It was my dream to eat at Cinderella's castle and it was the most disappointing part of our trip imo.

We felt rushed and hurried and the breakfast food was absolutely horrible. Especially considering the price.

I will admire the castle from the outside, and enjoy it, without wasting table credits or cash on eating there again.

 

[jsinsel]

Thanks to everyone for your many and varied opinions. I keep tweaking our schedule in hopes of putting together the "perfect" vacation; I probably just need to stop at some point and call it good!

Unfortunately, I've noticed that we seem to be planning our entire vacation around table service!!

 

[6bowmans]

From an adult perspective, the food is not worth the two credits and the character interaction is probably better elsewhere. However, from a child's perspective, the castle is quite magical especially if your daughters are "princess crazy." We went twice when our kids were much younger, and it is still one of their better memories of Disney. Now that they are older, they have other places that are a priority to them. I believe you have to at least go once - "for the kids."

 

[buzznina]

Thanks to everyone for your many and varied opinions. I keep tweaking our schedule in hopes of putting together the "perfect" vacation; I probably just need to stop at some point and call it good!

Unfortunately, I've noticed that we seem to be planning our entire vacation around table service!!

I know exactly what you mean. Our first few trips that is what we did and then we did a last minute trip so did not have ADRs and really enjoyed the freedom of not having to be at a certain place at a certain time Since then, we may do 1 ADR per trip, but for us we like the freedom.

 

[princessmom29]

I think it is something everyone should do at least once. It is really a one of a kind experience. Yes, it is overpriced if you just consider the food, but you are paying for the experience of eating in Cinderella's castle. Especially with the ages of your girls, I would definitely do it. When we go, we pay OOP and use those credits elsewhere.

 

[elilala]

I think that it is really fun and totally worth it! I have been there twice, and it seems so magical

 

[kpm76]

Thanks to everyone for your many and varied opinions. I keep tweaking our schedule in hopes of putting together the "perfect" vacation; I probably just need to stop at some point and call it good!

Unfortunately, I've noticed that we seem to be planning our entire vacation around table service!!

This is one of the main reasons we do not like the dining plan. We found during our last trip that we had to drop what we were doing on several occasions in order to make a TS meal, and in many cases, we were not even hungry. TS meals are time consuming and we have very young kids so it can be stressful. We own DVC so we enjoy having some casual meals in the villa and we do a few TS meals as well.

 

[PrincessSteph]

We had breakfast in the castle and loved it! I would recommend going!

 

[effervescent]

From an adult perspective, the food is not worth the two credits and the character interaction is probably better elsewhere. However, from a child's perspective, the castle is quite magical especially if your daughters are "princess crazy." We went twice when our kids were much younger, and it is still one of their better memories of Disney. Now that they are older, they have other places that are a priority to them. I believe you have to at least go once - "for the kids."

I think this sums up my feeling on it as well. We go once a year to CRT, but I have a toddler DD that is obsessed with princesses. My younger DS loves the princesses as well....lol. They love the meet and greet with Cinderella, the wishing ceremony, the wands and swords. It's the one place they always ask to go. It's not my all time favorite restaurant but it is well worth the 2 credits to see the little ones so excited.

 

[mickeymaker2003]

One nice thing about CRT in relation to other TS meals is that at CRT, the gratuity IS included with the dining plan. You don't need to leave a separate tip there. When you consider how much you would typically have tipped for those 2 TS meal credits if you'd used them elsewhere, it adds to the value of it. The same thing applies at the 2 TS credit dinnner shows.

 

[livsmom04]

I haven't been but we did the one in Epcot and loved it. We plan on going back to the World in 2012 and we plan on doing the CRT. My daughter really wants to have a meal with Cinderella in the castle.