CRT reservation before park opening worth losing early park time?

[lauramichele]

Hi all,
We are taking our first trip to WDW the last week in February with our 2 year old daughter. We have CRT reservations for Tuesday 2/25 at 8:35am. MK opens at 9am that day.

Note that she is not on the princess bandwagon at this point (still prefers Mickey, Goofy, etc.).

We've read that it can really be magical to have an ADR prior to park opening (to get those photos of Main St. being empty, etc.). My wife and I are also somewhat excited about eating in the castle.

That being said, I've also heard that it's not wise to use valuable morning time to 'waste' on morning dining reservations, since the parks are less crowded then. I'm not sure when we could expect to be out of CRT if our reservation is at 8:35?

This would be our first day in MK. We'd plan to spend at least another 1.5 days there (although according to crowd calendars, this day would be our least crowded). We would plan to be there at rope drop if we don't keep this ADR.

We do have fast passes booked for Peter Pan, Winnie the Pooh, etc.

I'm just wondering if the magic of eating at CRT before park opening is worth losing that morning time (esp for a child who isn't into princesses (yet!)).

Thoughts?

Thanks!
Michele

 

[SDTeaGirl]

IMOH- I would keep the CRT. You have a 8:35- Park opens at 9- you won't miss much of the park opening hours. We did the same thing you are planning on doing- you are only going to miss if that 30 minutes which isn't much in my book. Most if not all the rides will still be a walk on. Eating in the castle and getting your picture taken with Cinderella is very magical- We really enjoyed it. Our DD is 10- which she is into Princesses, but My DH really enjoyed it and he doesn't care about Princesses! LOL

It is really neat to get into the park before the Crowds and get those really neat pictures of you and the castle or what ever without the "other" people in your pictures! We loved that also!

 

[williamscm3]

I can't remember the exact time of our CRT per park opening breakfast last year but it was somewhere around 8:15-8:30 and we were out right at 9. I would say keep it b/c you will get past security before the other crowds start in and already be in the park when it opens. You really wont miss out on that much time either.The early morning pictures are awesome too! Were gonna try crystal palace next time

 

[Ceryssa]

I agree, I would keep it. From what I understand most people don't get up early, so you'll still beat the majority of the crowds because you're already in the park, even if you get out 15 minutes or so after rope drop. Crowds should still be lighter than they will be later on. Plus since you have a little girl I think eating in the castle is a good call (I could just be biased because we have this on our to-do list this fall though lol)

 

[Rosebud123]

I'll disagree and say cancel it! You might not get seated until 8:45, not out 'til 10. Then you've missed the least crowded hour of the park!

Is that the only time you can get?

I'm a bit biased because I did not enjoy our CRT breakfast at all. Thought the food was ok at best and the service was awful.

 

[mjohnson96]

I'll disagree and say cancel it! You might not get seated until 8:45, not out 'til 10. Then you've missed the least crowded hour of the park!

Is that the only time you can get?

I'm a bit biased because I did not enjoy our CRT breakfast at all. Thought the food was ok at best and the service was awful.

I kinda agree here, we did that last trip and I really was not impressed. I honestly liked our Epcot princess breakfast better.

But if you want to go I would get there early and you might get lucky and seated earlier than your reservation time. When we did go my mom and my nephew came along, I could not change our party of 3 to a party of 5 but when we go to the desk they were more than happy to change it for us and we went right in.

 

[lugnut33]

You need to decide what is more important to you. Do you want the experience of eating at CRT or getting in the big attractions before crowds build?

 

[Hej2222]

But if you want to go I would get there early and you might get lucky and seated earlier than your reservation time. When we did go my mom and my nephew came along, I could not change our party of 3 to a party of 5 but when we go to the desk they were more than happy to change it for us and we went right in.

We did CRT breakfast several times (some at 8:15, some at 8:30). We would always come earlier (close to 8 AM), they would get us seated right away each time and we were out before 9AM or shortly after. For us it is well worth it - pictures with empty park before breakfast, and empty Fantasyland at 9 AM after breakfast. Worked well for us each time!

 

[bopper]

A 2 year old will have fun eating, fun riding, fun being in a stroller...it truly won't matter to them.

What would you the parents like? Would you like the experience of eating in the castle and having pictures with a princess and your little princess? then do that. Those rides will be there.

 

[disneybliss2]

You need to decide what is more important to you. Do you want the experience of eating at CRT or getting in the big attractions before crowds build?

Your decision truly boils down to this. While we've done CRT and loved having getting great pics in the park before anyone was there, the experience at CRT didn't live up to the hype. The food was good, not great, and the experience was again, but not the knock your socks off experience I thought we'd have. I'm still glad I went though to form my own opinion because otherwise I'd wonder if I missed out on something (which I don't feel at all, but many love it here). I think you have to decide what you want most. If you do decide to keep the reservation, show up at least by 8:00 and you might be seated early which will get you out in the park earlier.

 

[Lisa0806]

Although we enjoyed our experience at CRT, we went for dinner and I think from checking in to taking pics, eating dinner, paying bill, etc, it took around 1.5 hours. We enjoyed it but we have a 5 year old girl who is princess obsessed so it was worth it. However you say yours isnt that into them yet anyway. Therefore, I would suggest skipping CRT this trip. We also did Crystal palace before park opening one morning and got that same bonus of getting into park pre-opening and got to take pics with castle in background with no one in them. Def. worth it. I just suggest doing Crystal Palace instead of CRT if daughter not into princesses. Also Crystal Palace can be done faster then CRT. Not only do you wait for characters to come around at CRT but you ahve to order food, take pic with cinderella and wait in line for that ahead too. Atleast at Crystal Palace, its buffet so you could have your meal much faster, even cam ask for check before your done eating since its buffet and be in the park taking advantage of lower crowds early in the morning. We have a 5 and 2 year old. And both kids enjoyed Crystal Palace and meeting winnie the pooh, tigger, eyore, and piglet. I usually hate buffets bought thought it seemed clean and food decent. Also, if you have early morning reservation, food will be still hot and fresh. Oh and if you do Crystal Palace try the Cinnamon French Toast thing on kids buffet. Yummy!

 

[bopper]

But if you have never done it, I think it is really cool to eat in the Castle!..because everyone always wonders what is in the castle and you will get to see it.

 

[leebee]

Do it- and I'm saying this as a non-fan. We've been to CRT twice and both times the food was OK, not great, the service was fine, and the princess interaction was fine. I just didn't really enjoy it, but it certainly is an experience to have! Also, we found we were ahead of the crowds into FantasyLand, even if we didn't leave CRT until 9:15. Most people take about 15 minutes to get that "deep" into Magic Kingdom. They, too, want the family picture in front of the castle, want to walk up Main Street USA slowly, taking it all in. These days, you also have the FP+ kiosks to keep people occupied first thing in the morning. I suspect, if you are at the Castle by 8:15, you'll be seated right away and will be finished with breakfast and into FantasyLand before the majority of park visitors.