Cindi's Royal Ripoff

[Belle for President]

I guess i'm glad we did it once, because now we don't have to do it again. Mediocre.

I'll spend my $$$ on other things.

 

[Taratink]

Yikes! We have never eaten at Cinderella's castle before and I have a ressie for this March. I already told my DD$ andDS^ about it. My son is very excited because he loves pretty girls. Snow White kissed him last year and he refused to wipe the lipstick off his cheek. We will be there for lunch. Does anyone have any reccomendations as to what I should order? Maybe the sandwich? I can't believe that I am going to pay 30 bucks for a turkey sandwich. I am hoping that it is magical for my kids.
Tara

 

[VINN127]

Tink,

The princesses still walked around the room and this was January 13th. The only one that didn't was Cinderella. She is downstairs in the foyer. You wait in line to see her. My daughter also attended the princess breakfast in Epcot last year and she felt the food and character interaction were both much better. She said she might do that one again but never Cindi's.
I do want everyone to understand that my entire family loves WDW. We are DVC members and go as often as we can. But we all also feel that allowing Disney to get away with rip offs like this breakfast may make them feel they can drop their standards elsewhere. If we allow this to happen we will all be ruining it for ourselves. I hope others feel the same way we do. Lets not allow them to make this place a tourist trap but rather keep it what Walt wanted, the magical place that he created.

 

[mommamindy]

We took our daughters there three years ago. We were a party of four at the time. Food tasted fine. It was served family style and there was plenty of it. The princesses were wonderful and made sure to spend time with each daughter, posing for pictures and signing autographs. Eating inside that great castle is so neat. I think this is one meal worth doing for the EXPERIENCE of meeting the princesses and seeing the castle. Our family doesn't expect gourmet at Disney. We feel the price you pay to have the kids meet the princesses without having to que in long lines throughout the park is money well spent. And what little girl doesn't want to see Cinderella and go up in that cool castle when they go to Disney World? We weren't able to get a ps last March when our youngest first went with us, and she was so disappointed. I felt like she had missed so much even though we had a great trip otherwise. The dining experience is sooo worth it. We will be trying lunch here during our visit this March!

 

[carol-lamb]

Is it really going to be $31.99 for an adult breakfast? Oh my gosh! When we did it about 7 years ago I think it was around $18 for an adult. That's a hugh increase. When we did the breakfast, it was popular, but nothing like it is now. I've never thought about doing it again, but I have read so many posts on these boards about how hard it is to make ADRs for breakfast. Glad we did it when we did!!

 

[ThreeMusketeers]

Sorry about your bad experience! Thankfully, we had a really great experience here. We had a large group with 2 ressies, and they managed to fit us all into one table..(a rather small one) but at least we were all sitting together! I didn't really enjoy my dish, but others in the party liked there's. And dd lvoed her dessert!
Not so much of a Rip off anyway!

 

[cigar95]

But we all also feel that allowing Disney to get away with rip offs like this breakfast . . . . .

Understand that it may be many things, but it is *not* a "rip-off". The only folks who pay this money are those who know what the price is ahead of time, and choose willingly to pay it. It's up to each visitor to decide if they are willing to pay the price for what's being offered.

"Rip-off" implies something is being stolen in some way or other. A meal at CRT is completely voluntary - it's somewhat unfair to imply that any guest at CRT has had their money somehow stolen from them simply because it's expensive. (One might say the same thing about admission to the park itself - that's also pretty pricey.)

 

[Beca]

The last time we went to CRT we ended up doing the "seat shuffle", as we were two separate families each with children who wanted to sit together but needed to be near the aisle for posing with the princesses. Add to that the need for the mom's (who really wanted to sit together) to be on the ends so we could jump up and take the pictures. Well....it all got messed up. I ended up sitting next to my friend's husband, and my friend ended up sitting next to my husband.

When our server brought us our check, he assumed me and my friend's husband were "together" and made some comment about it. I quickly replied, "Oh we're not together, I am married to the guy at the end of the table." But, then my friend's husband replied, "But, if she's really nice to me, we're gonna switch for the night." Well, I assumed the waiter thought we were kidding...but, WRONG!!! From this point on, he served us like we had a communicable disease....it was SOOOO funny!!! When he would go over to the register, we would see him whispering to the other servers who would then look at us suspiciously. He wasn't putting on...this guy was in complete shock that he might be serving swingers!!!

We laughed about this the entire day. Ironically, it made him very "attentive"...like he was trying to overcompensate for being terrified of us. It was a really fun meal.

Maybe everyone should try "shocking" their server!!



Beca

 

[La2kw]

Understand that it may be many things, but it is *not* a "rip-off". The only folks who pay this money are those who know what the price is ahead of time, and choose willingly to pay it. It's up to each visitor to decide if they are willing to pay the price for what's being offered.

"Rip-off" implies something is being stolen in some way or other. A meal at CRT is completely voluntary - it's somewhat unfair to imply that any guest at CRT has had their money somehow stolen from them simply because it's expensive. (One might say the same thing about admission to the park itself - that's also pretty pricey.)

The term "rip off" is also used to mean you don't get your money's worth. The OP feels they didn't get their money's worth. Who are you to say otherwise?

 

[cigar95]

The term "rip off" is also used to mean you don't get your money's worth. The OP feels they didn't get their money's worth. Who are you to say otherwise?

"ripoff" is a colloquialism for "theft". It doesn't mean "didn't get my money's worth". If that's what the OP intended to convey, then "ripoff" isn't the correct choice of words, and it conveys an unjustified accusation against the restaurant and its management.

 

[VINN127]

pardon me professor!!!!!


A ripoff to me is not getting what you paid for or paying for something with the perception that Disney will live up to the standards which they have set for themselves. I don't have a problem with what was charged...I do have a problem with the quality of the food, the manner in which it was served and the level of service due to the mandatory 18% added gratuity for large groups.
Incidently an online search for ripoff also revealed that sites exist to report companies that ripoff patrons by providing poor service, refusing returns or otherwise not giving people their money's worth. Further I didn't see you there that day at my table Cigar, how can you say my complaint is unjustified?

 

[mommykds]

I am so glad we took our 4 year old dd (& her 6 year old brother & 9 year old sister) to see the princesses at CRT in October before the price increase. We had a wonderful server, we were not rushed at all. Food was pretty good & the princesses (& Alice) were very friendly & took their time with my kids. However with the price increase I do not feel like we need to do it again.

 

[maxiesmom]

I'm actually looking forward to eating the breakfast food on my next trip. When we had breakfast in the castle 2 years ago I think I had maybe 2 bites of food before I was turned into video-taker person. I can't wait!!

 

[DeirdreTours]

We were there twice for breakfast last December and although our 2 year old LOVED seeing the princesses, the meal was pretty much as the OP described--Indifferent, grossly overworked waitress, subpar food and rushed princesses. When seating, the hostess makes SURE that the child sits in the chair closest to the princess path so that NOT ONE EXTRA SECOND is wasted-- Princess arrives, signs book, get picture, moves on. In addition, the place was absolutely filthy--I am sure they clean it at the end of the day, but there were chunks of food all over the floors, crumbs still on the table from previous diners and food debris all along the window sill (we had a window table). They clearly have neither the staffing nor the time to clean tables between customers. I was wearing sandals and ended up with mashed fruit on my feet.

 

[JeffGoldblum]

"Rip-off" implies something is being stolen in some way or other.

Someone must have stolen my GOOD FOOD then.

 

[Purrrrfecta]

Someone must have stolen my GOOD FOOD then.

LOL! Jeff, I went there with my family in June of 2004, and I shared the SAME experience as you. The food, to put it bluntly, was CRAP! I could not believe I was eating cold eggs, that were just out right nasty. I am not a picky eater by any means, and if I turn away food, it is because it is horrible!

The character experience, on the other hand, was great.

 

[grumpymakesmehappy]

The term "rip off" is also used to mean you don't get your money's worth. The OP feels they didn't get their money's worth. Who are you to say otherwise?

Oh seriously! Even though the experience of "eating in the castle" itself is wonderful, the food is definately NOT!

 

[jworthy]

we just got back yesterday and I liked the food at Cinderella's the best of all of them...prime rib was excellent along with the shrimp cocktail and desert. Got done just before the fireworks started and watched it from inside.

 

[Donald Soarin']

The fiancee and I have done all 3 meals...I popped the question over dinner (which was excellent), we did breakfast there the next morning with our parents (a surprise to her) and we did lunch during our summer vacation.

All three times we had excellent service, excellent food and an excellent time. In fact, we have dinner reservations 2 nights after we get married at WDW. We're looking forward to going back.

If you can, get Fernando as your waiter. He's excellent!

 

[Cannot_Wait_4Disney]

I am so glad we took our 4 year old dd (& her 6 year old brother & 9 year old sister) to see the princesses at CRT in October before the price increase. We had a wonderful server, we were not rushed at all. Food was pretty good & the princesses (& Alice) were very friendly & took their time with my kids. However with the price increase I do not feel like we need to do it again.

You and me both Mommykds.!!! I too went in October before the increase. I don't think we'll do it again with the price increase. We were there for lunch. Service was good. Food not quite to temperature, but not completely cold. Domo's was gr8. Salmon, well uh... ooops. Service was good. I'd probably do it once even at the new price. I might do it again at the old price, but not at the new.