Hello everyone!! Well, my sister's wedding is just 2 days away, but unfortunately I caught a cold.
I'm trying to rest as much as I can so I feel better in 2 days, and so I don't lose my voice, so I can make a toast! I tend to lose my voice when I get a cold, so trying to rest it and let me tell you, it's no easy task for me!!
And now, coming in at #7 is the one....the only....
CINDERELLA'S ROYAL TABLE!!!
We ate dinner here on July 15, 2010. We had gone to MK VERY early that morning. It opened at 8am for EMH, and we were there by 7:30am, when we met up with the rest of the family. We were a party of 10 at CRT, and we had a 5:15pm ADR. So, we all left MK at 1pm, went back to our respective resorts for an afternoon break, and planned to meet up at the castle at 4:45pm. We left BWV at a little before 4pm to catch the bus and it came very quickly. It was about a 10-minute ride to MK from there. So we got there at about 4:20pm. Plenty of time before our ADR so we did not feel rushed!
Well...and it wouldn't be a true family summer vacation to WDW without this...we got off the bus at MK and it was VERY windy. There were HUGE rain clouds above us. We knew it was only a matter of time before it came pouring down. DH and I quickly got out the ponchos and put them on the kids and on ourselves. We started to hear thunder as we approached the bag check before entering MK. As soon as we got under the covering where the bag check was, it started coming down. Now, I know what you're thinking...good thing we were under shelter. I was thinking the same thing at first...how wrong I was! Yes, we were under shelter, but the rain was coming down fast and...SIDEWAYS!!
It blew our ponchos up from underneath us, and although the upper halves of our bodies stayed dry (including my hair!), our sneakers were SOAKED, as well as part of my shorts! Actually looking back, it is quite funny and I do remember trying to laugh at the time and trying not to get angry or upset, mostly for the sake of the kids. After about 15 minutes it started to let up and we made a run for it into the park. The CMs at bag check wished us luck!
So we're walking down Main Street, against the crowds trying to leave the park, and approaching the castle. But, we never ate there before so we had no clue where to go! We took the LONG way around and finally found CRT. There were tons of people there because the area to check in is outside, but very well sheltered. I would say 85% of these people were not dining at CRT and were only under there for shelter from the torrential rain, but who could blame them? DH texted my sister and told her where we were. My parents made a run for it with the girls, and then my sister and her fiance joined us. We were all soaked, and felt like wet noodles!
I checked us in at the podium, and a couple of minutes later they called us inside. Great...it was still a few minutes before our ADR time! But it was not because our table was ready...it was just to get in line to take pictures with Cinderella. So we did just that...we got in line and took pics with Cinderella, despite how wet we all were and how freezing we felt at that point! Since we were a party of 10, we got 3 photos with Cinderella. You get one complimentary photo package with your meal, for every 4 people in your group. We took one with the whole family, one with just the women and the girls, and one with just the 4 kids. My butt was wet and my feet were soaked in my sneakers
, but it sure was nice to take a picture with Cinderella!
We had to wait a little while before getting seated at our table. It was about 5:40pm when we sat down, 25 minutes past ADR time. Not too bad, as I imagined waiting extra to sit down here since it is so popular to eat in the castle. We had excellent service in this restaurant, despite the fact that gratuity is included in everyone's package so the server knows they are getting a good tip, but she was wonderful! Very attentive but not breathing down our necks. We got to see Snow White, Ariel (in her gown of course, no fins!
), Aurora, and Belle in her peasant wear. Character interaction was very good, and did not feel rushed at all.
The atmosphere at CRT is very nice. It is also a very small restaurant, which explains why, in addition to it being so popular, it could be difficult to get an ADR here.
I only took one photo of the food here
because of all the chaos, first with the rainstorm, then the photos with Cinderella, etc. But, I will do my best to describe everything we had!
You get an appetizer, main entree, and a dessert here, per person. I chose the BLT salad as my app. This was delicious! It was a hunk of iceberg lettuce, which was extremely fresh, chopped tomatoes, REAL bacon pieces, and a roasted shallot vinaigrette. I forgot to ask for the dressing on the side, but they didn't drown it in dressing so it was the perfect amount anyway! This was a very delicious salad! DH got salmon (and either shrimp or crab) cakes, and I tasted it, delicious too!
For my entree (and DH as well), I got the prime rib, cooked medium. This came with roasted potatoes and asparagus. They give you the option of horseradish cream on the side so I tried it and it was great! The prime rib was very tender, not too fatty, and a great size portion. The potatoes and asparagus were delicious. DH agreed and loved his too!
For dessert, I chose the chocolate cream cheese buckle. It's a delicious chocolate cake with a cream cheese filling (kind of like cheesecake inside, but not overpowering). It was absolutely delicious!! OK, this is the one thing I finally remembered to take a picture of...at least it was the good part, DESSERT!!
And here it is:
This was a wonderful meal. I think it is completely worth the money to eat in the castle at least once, for the experience. We thought the food was excellent too.
We waited about 25 minutes at they sat us at a table (a CAR!!) at about 12:10pm. 
