Disappointed in CRT

[Evan&Kimberly]

You know what Guys? I have a ressie for me and my 3yr old Prince at CRT breakfast, dinner would never even be thought of no princesses! I have been struggling with the decision to eat at CRT for months, not just based on the negative reviews, but the fact is it really worth 2TS credits? I already have
1900 Park Fare,PSB breakfast, my son does love the attention that he got from the pretty ladies last year, I have decided that instead of using 2TS credits on CRT breakfast, I am doing PSB breakfast twice during my stay, that makes more sense to me, 2 visits with the princesses 2 meals, and 2 picture packages, I know many just want to eat in the castle but the view from the outside is enough for me!

 

[JUJU814]

Well, I posted earlier in this thread about how we also were disappointed in CRT...went there this past Sunday for lunch. We just got back from
Epcot today and had lunch with the princesses at Norway. This lunch at Norway BLEW AWAY the CRT lunch. Everything was so much more relaxed from the waiters (not bad on the eyes either!! ) to taking our time eating..much better food...the kids choices on the kids menu were better and they also got the salad bar. The princesses were so sweet and gracious and got down to the floor with the little girls and spent more than 5 seconds per kid. It was really nice. We had picture with Belle, and circulating the dining room were Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Snow White and Ariel in her beautiful gown (my daughter's favorite) On the way to norway were Jasmine and Aladdin signing autographs and then in China, Mulan!

Also, the dining hall looked much more like a "castle" to us than CRT did.

I guess in one respect I'm glad we did CRT this once because "now we know" and won't do it next time. I just in a way, wish I'd listened to the many reports that I read prior to our trip that are just like what I experienced..would have saved me $170.

Julie

 

[Joshua_me]

10am. Welcome to the castle, please pay to your right, $50 per person, here is where Cinderella takes the photo *snap*, up the stairs, this is Cinderella's dining room, here is Jasmine, Belle, Snow White and Aurora, autograph books open, cameras ready... down the elevator you go, thanks much. Here's a cracker. 10:05am.

Ha !

Don't give them any ideas !

Of course, that $50 will only entitle you to a Saltine Cracker.

If you'd like to upgrade to a rich, buttery Ritz cracker, you'll need to book the "Eating With the Ritz" package for a nominal extra fee.

And of course, a small cube of Cindy's cheese will be offered as well, if you reserve 90 days out and guarantee it with a credit card #.

 

[reducereuserecycle]

Ha !

Don't give them any ideas !

Of course, that $50 will only entitle you to a Saltine Cracker.

If you'd like to upgrade to a rich, buttery Ritz cracker, you'll need to book the "Eating With the Ritz" package for a nominal extra fee.

And of course, a small cube of Cindy's cheese will be offered as well, if you reserve 90 days out and guarantee it with a credit card #.

 

[Joshua_me]

lunch at Norway BLEW AWAY the CRT lunch. Everything was so much more relaxed from the waiters (not bad on the eyes either!! ) to taking our time eating..much better food...the kids choices on the kids menu were better and they also got the salad bar. The princesses were so sweet and gracious and got down to the floor with the little girls and spent more than 5 seconds per kid. It was really nice.

I keep hearing this more and more....

Interesting.

 

[Elmo888]

Thanks so much for putting this into perspective. We have ADRs for my DD 4th birthday in 2 weeks, and after reading all the reviews, I was starting to get nervous. After reading your post, I realized, this is about a 4 year old and her experience. Before making my ADRs I asked her if she wanted to have dinner at a Pretty place (1900 Park Fare) with Cinderella or eat at the Castle, but only get your pic with Cinderella, and she said "mommy, I need to eat in the castle."
The food may not be as good as it used to be, but hey...my 4 year old has never been there before, and honestly, does she care about the difference bt Prime Rib or Chicken Nuggets, probably not!

Hopefully she will remember her 4th birthday in the castle as a magical experience!

I would go once, but take lots and lots of pics. For your future trips to WDW, you can show her pics - "But you did eat in the castle with the princesses...remember?". We went when DDs were 6 and 2, and I don't want to go again. The 2 year old is now nearly 5 and of course doesn't remember the castle, but I have the pics to prove it!

Regarding CRT -- yep, we were totally disappointed, too.

We used to love, love, love lunch at CRT. 6-7 years ago it was great fun, relaxing with pretty good food including decent appetizers (not the silly plate of cheese and carrot and celery sticks served now), entrees including prime rib (no longer on the menu) and nice dessert selections. Lunch used to be relaxed and pleasurable. We often had David as our waiter. Our boys adored David and would insist on booking CRT just so they could visit David and exchange pins with him.

When we went last Sept., it was simply ridiculous. It's no longer a restaurant -- it's an attraction like any other ride at MK. They line everybody up, snap pictures, seat them in the restaurant/theater, bring out the pre-plated food, run the princesses around in a relay race, empty the room and repeat.

A hostess told my 80-year-old parents (who are handicapped as well as elderly) that they needed to "hurry up and sit down".

The food is marginal at best, now. We asked for rolls and were told "those are only served at dinner".

The waiters have no time to chat now as they have to get meals out quickly to every table at the same time.

And, the princesses are run around so quickly, there is no real interaction. Snow White can't have spent 30 seconds with my 4-year-old niece.

I complained to the manager on duty, stating that the CRT experience had deteriorated so much we won't even bother anymore. We regretted not only the 2TS credits per person we wasted on the lunch -- we regretted the hour of our life we wasted!

Never again.

Really, is there anything at Disney that a few MBAs with sharp pencils can't ruin?

Your account is well written, and in line with our experience in 2007.

I am trying to decide if should we "waste" 2 credits for the breakfast for our 2 year old (will be almost 3) daughter to eat in the castle or wait until she is older? of course the way things are going, by the time she is 4 or 5 it will probably only be worse



what are your opinions?

is the food much better at Aukerhouse?

I wouldn't go with a 2 yo. I would wait until she's older so you only have to go once. At 2, she won't know the difference. If you want her to see princesses, go to Akershus. (At 2, DD would only see "face" characters like the princesses, so it was good to have a princess meal. She was scared of everyone else except Mickey and Minnie.) We took our 2 yo to CRT, but only because we had a 6 yo at the time. I don't want to go again!

Sorry. Wrong thread. I really shouldn't be trusted to be able to open multiple windows.

LOL!

 

[Kimbeachy]

Please remember that some people will complain about anything. This is Disney. You are paying for the experience. My husband and I, no kids, feel that it is a must to have dinner in the castle on our yearly December "pilgrimage"! Have I had better food? Yes, but the food here is always fairly good. We have never been rushed for dinner, if anything, you may feel that it takes too long. You are getting to see a cute show with the Fairy Godmother and Perla and Suzy. It is wonderful to be able to see the fireworks from the castle if you have that opportunity. You are getting to have a picture with Cinderella, and in December, it is in front of a lovely Christmas tree. I truly believe that it is a 109.00 well spent. My granddaughters are 2 and 4 months and I can't wait for their first trip to the Castle! We do it every year and can't wait for out next visit with Cinderella on November 29th!

 

[islandsnoopy]

We visited WDW in Aug 09 and had breakfast at CRT and Akerhaus. On the food, I'd give the edge to Akerhaus (better eggs and overall selection which included salmon & capers)). CRT had the usual brkfst items but did have great cinnamon rolls. We asked for more rolls and received them with no problem. The wait staff was friendly and didn't seem to be in a hurry at CRT. While at AKerhaus, our waitress seemed a bit stressed.

We didn't feel rushed with the princesses at either CRT or Akerhaus. We were there with a cousin, DD and DS. The princesses took pictures with my DD and cousin separately and together. Granted they didn't come around more than once as they have in previous visits but they spent enough time with us.

Both are worth experiencing at least once. Go and form your own opinion!

 

[princesslover]

We have CRT booked for a late breakfast (10:35 am) for my DD's 3rd birthday the first week in December. I honestly don't care about how the food is, but I do want the experience to be magical for her, and I'm sad to hear that it is so rushed.

Does anyone know if they do anything special for birthdays? I added the celebration to my ADR (not that it is showing up, which is another story) but I'm wondering what they do with birthdays there. I'm not expecting much, but just wondering if they will already know when we get there.

Thanks!

 

[IMGONNABE40!]

I will be perfectly happy if I never eat at CRT again.

It was lunch. I ordered the turkey sandwich. I did not like the cheese it came with (Swiss?) I wanted them to sub another cheese (gouda?) that was on the appetizer plate. I was told IT COULD NOT BE DONE!!!

I paid $45 for a turkey sandwich...darnit, I want it with the type of cheese I want!!! Especially when they clearly have that cheese available.

 

[ShannonMB]

I haven't read everyone's posts, but I'm glad we've been there/done that. No desire to go back.

 

[Pooh Bear Hugs]

We went in 2007 and will be doing it again in 2010 while it may be expensive, you are paying for being in the castle, the photo, characters and sword/wand.

While I would not repeat it every trip we found the experience to be a good one. The server was very sweet and helpful, my meat was burnt just as I like (Bet the chef cried at that request). Hubby enjoyed the berry salad and chicken. Desserts were bland.

Dinner characters were the two mice and Fairy Godmother,the boys had already been forced to meet the Princesses in Norway earlier in the week. Managed to get loads of great shots of the mice at our table but fairy Godmother never came near.

 

[KELLY]

We do Norway instead for Breakfest. IT is just a much better experience IMO. Not as rushed and my dd is 4 and got better princess interaction.

 

[Dannielle_1]

double post

 

[Dannielle_1]

DH, DS & I are going to dinner here in Dec. This will be the first time back there since 2004 before they switched Lunch and Dinner to the character fiasco as I'd like to put it.

DS really wants to go up in the castle so we are paying for that not so much the meal. I'm going in with low expectations as far as the actual food.

I looked up what we paid in 2004 for lunch. We fed 6 adults for $100.34 (including tax & tip). It was lunch and we shared some, but the Prime Rib at lunch was $16.00. Oh the days. I really wish they would drop the one-price meal format for at least one meal a day and drop the characters as well. But I don't forsee that happening.

Well I hope we have a good experience service/food wise, and we specifically choose dinner so there wouldn't be princesses around for meet & greets. So at least I don't have to worry about that.

 

[tink22]

Just a few things about princess dining. Unlike other characters, the princesses can only come around once a rotation/seating (for obvisous reasons I am sure you can figure out) and the amount of time they are able to spend with tables is based on how busy the restaurant is and if the restaurant is running behind with seatings.
Yes it's not fair but with 9 seatings during the day it's easy to get behind (guests stay at their table longer, etc) and the princesses and wait staff are forced to pick up the slack unfortunately.
The wishing ceremony at CRT takes up even more of your time with the princesses as they have to fit this into their rotation of the restaurant. That's why the princesses are often more rushed at CRT than Akershus where there is no show/ceremony.
I have always said, if you are planning on eating with the princesses just be prepared for a quick 'hi, how are you, sign, pic, bye" because that is all they have time for USUALLY. If you want your child to have quality time with the characters, meetngreets are your best option. Honestly character meals are fun but most admit they just go there to skip standing in long lines.

 

[shanlynn1012]

Keep trying for CRT, I kept trying all day and finally got a dinner for Oct 11th,

 

[princesskenziesmom]

We are planning many Character meals, hopefully getting the ADR's, but we are thinking for our last night there, which will also be my twins birthday, that we want to do dinner "in the castle". We know that there won't be any Princesses there, but hopefully I will have secured one for the night prior to that at Akerhus so the Princess experience isn't what we're going for. We just want a nice, magical night to spend on our last night. We're not worried about Character interaction, just eating in Cinderella's castle. Has anyone done the dinner and really liked it?

 

[tiggspring]

We went to lunch at crt in may and it was fine. We had the last seating at 205 maybe that is why we didn't feel rushed. We scheduled all our charater meals a little off ie 2:05 for crt, 2:00 for norway, 10:00 for lilo at poly and 530 for Crystal Palace..only felt a little rushed at CP the rest were fine.

 

[mwatson011]

... Has anyone done the dinner and really liked it?

We went for dinner, and the food was aweful! I had the lamb chops, which I could not cut even with a steak knife, DH had prime rib which was very low quality, girls had nuggets, which, were nuggets... For the experience, it was nice, however, DD3 fell asleep at the table, so this time we will do lunch...that way we will all be awake, and hopefully the food will be better. DH and I agreed, never again for dinner - if that is the only time available we will just skip it!