How bad is Cinderella's Royal Table? Should we replace it?

[DisneyMim]

We did this numerous times up until a couple of years ago. What I will say is that IMHO everyone should do this at least once. A meal in the castle is an awesome experience, but as others have said, you really are paying for the atmosphere, the same (again my opinion) as other restaurants, Chef Mickey, Crystal Palace, Sci Fi, etc. The reservations are hard to get now, and you have them so maybe you should go this time and see for yourselves how you like it. If you are like me you will always wonder and will go at some point, so this will be a good time (Like my logic? Ha Ha). I loved seeing my kids when they were little, they thought eating in the castle was such a big deal, and it was for me too. Whatever you decide, have a wonderful time.

Enjoy the Magic!!

 

[eliza61]

I live in NYC. Is your point that both CRT and restaurants near Broadway all have bad food for sky high prices, with rushed and rude service?

There actually are some very good restaurants on Restaurant Row and elsewhere near Broadway. So, location does not necessarily equate to bad food and service in New York, although it certainly seems to in Disney's world!

As for CRT -- won't waste my time or money again on it. Wish I had that hour and those 2TS credits back.

I don't think my niece had even 30 seconds of Snow White's time. Disney now has the lunch so timed to the millisecond that the princesses have to rush through the room to make it around once before the wishing on a star things starts and the meal is over.

The hostess seating us kept telling us to hurry and sit down -- this despite the fact that I have two elderly and handicapped parents who simply don't move quickly.

I finally told the hostess, "My parents are elderly, they take as long as they take, please leave us alone."

I'm a native new yorker also (upper west side) I meant more general in terms of tourist traps. Yes, I know not all are bad, some are very good but some (can we say Trattoria dopo teatro) are getting by simply because of their close location to the theaters.

We luckily were'nt rushed when we hit CRT but we definitely only did it for Cindy & her gang.

 

[chocolateMinnie]

Personally we loved CRT, in general you don't read reviews about CRT being bad just people thinking it is overpriced. While I'm sure that may be true it is just the old story of supply and demand - enough of us are willing to pay the price to eat there. We had dinner and breakfast last year there and enjoyed both - we were there for three weeks. Next year we return to WDW but only for a week and I did suggest that either breakfast or dinner could be there but I was outvoted - everyone else wants to return for both.

 

[ElizabethB]

chocolateMinnie:

Just to be clear -- my complaint was about the restaurant and experience being bad. It was NOT about it being over-priced. I think the OOP cost isn't all that bad for lunch, although one should definitely not pay with dining credits that could be spent instead at Jiko.

My complaint had to do with our being terribly rushed and getting no character interaction due to the fact that lunch is now done as follows:

-fill up the restaurant,
-rush out the food,
-run the princesses around the room,
-wish on a star
-hurry everyone out
-repeat.

They are running everyone through like it's an assembly line. Perhaps dinner is different, but I'd bet breakfast is exactly the same.

I ordered coffee and lingered to enjoy it -- just so I could throw off their carefully calibrated timing! And, of course, my handicapped parents didn't help with the timing, what with being slower getting seated than Disney expected them to be.

 

[disneypolybride2008]

i have an ADR for our honeymoon there b/c it would be fun to eat in the castle. we do like good food but the menu is limited. hopefully the food will be good, but being on the dining plan we'll have eaten at CP for breakfast and lunch so for dinner even if the food is bad, we wont go hungry.

I just hope we get a good spot! by the window we're hoping!

 

[maraki527]

Dh and I ate there last year and we didnt think it was all that bad. Yes we had better food at places but I wouldnt go to the extreme and say it was awful. We both had one of the salads and I had the lamb and I dont remember what he had. Overall it was good not great.

 

[KelleyD]

We just got back on 9/17. I did a short review over in the reviews page.

First what everyone says is true it is absolutely not woth the price/2 credits. We had better food at just about everyother place.

Service was fine.

6 minute show was cute.

Ok. Now ready to be flamed...I kept reading about how great it is inside, eating in the castle etc. but in my OPINION...unless I made it a point to say ok I am eating in the castle, I could have just been anywhere. Really. I guess unless you get a window table? All the inside tables are just ehhh. I kind of missed the whole special part of it.

I did try to get another reservation beforehand...but only LTT as I wanted the characters at our first meal in Disney. Couldn't get it so we stuck with this one.

I wont do it again...and I wouldn't have done it if I could have changed.

 

[surfergirl602]

It was the best part of our trip! Our favorite food by far.

 

[ROEDISNEY]

The Castle is Awesome

 

[chocolateMinnie]

chocolateMinnie:

Just to be clear -- my complaint was about the restaurant and experience being bad. It was NOT about it being over-priced. I think the OOP cost isn't all that bad for lunch, although one should definitely not pay with dining credits that could be spent instead at Jiko.

My complaint had to do with our being terribly rushed and getting no character interaction due to the fact that lunch is now done as follows:

-fill up the restaurant,
-rush out the food,
-run the princesses around the room,
-wish on a star
-hurry everyone out
-repeat.

They are running everyone through like it's an assembly line. Perhaps dinner is different, but I'd bet breakfast is exactly the same.

I ordered coffee and lingered to enjoy it -- just so I could throw off their carefully calibrated timing! And, of course, my handicapped parents didn't help with the timing, what with being slower getting seated than Disney expected them to be.

I understand that this is your experience and that is a terrible shame but looking on many reviews the main negative is the value for money - personally I don't think the meals are too expensive but your USA pricing is good value compared to the price we paid inthe UK.

Also, with children many of us actually quite like to be rushed as the kids don't get time to be bored!

 

[m&pForever]

CRT is one of those restuarants at Disney that is over priced even by Disney's standard but I think every one should do ONCE.
It reminds me of the restuarants near broadway NY. The food is ok (not spectacular but edible) and its outrageously priced. As always you are paying more for Location, Location, Location.

Go for it, hey your eating with Cinderella and her gang in the castle, just know that it's going to be pricey (I believe 2 TS credits if you're on the ddp or 43 bucks pp if not) and the food will not be that great

I agree it should be done at least once. We enjoyed breakfast ...food and princesses. We weren't rushed out.

Dinner there was very good, we actually had a relaxing dinner and weren't rushed. With the noise and crowd downstairs (taking pics) we thought it was going to be very loud upstairs also but it was very nice.

We haven't had lunch there yet but will be trying at Christmas.

I live in NYC. Is your point that both CRT and restaurants near Broadway all have bad food for sky high prices, with rushed and rude service?

There actually are some very good restaurants on Restaurant Row and elsewhere near Broadway. So, location does not necessarily equate to bad
As for CRT -- won't waste my time or money again on it. Wish I had that hour and those 2TS credits back.

For anyone planning on visiting NYC
I can see NYC from where I live; I've eaten in a few restaurants after some broadway shows and believe me you...For the price you pay, and the crowds you have to deal with and the filth you walk on and the smell of the cabs...Disneyworld's restaurants are fantastic, a bargain and a wonderful experience.
Not that the food is bad in some of those NYC restaurants we've eaten in but you can have a much nicer time going out to places and eating in Staten Island or Queens (and a few places in the Bronx and Brooklyn, but be careful.)

I understand that this is your experience and that is a terrible shame but looking on many reviews the main negative is the value for money - personally I don't think the meals are too expensive but your USA pricing is good value compared to the price we paid inthe UK.

Also, with children many of us actually quite like to be rushed as the kids don't get time to be bored!

I agree.. and anyone who lives in the NYC area cannot complain about the prices because they are used to be overcharged to begin with. (not that i've heard any NYers complain about the prices)


Bottom line... have to try the castle at least once and more than likely you will have a great time and a great meal.

 

[ElizabethB]

Good grief. Pigs will fly before I head to Staten Island, Brooklyn, Queens or Bronx for a meal.

If it ain't in Manhattan, it doesn't exist.

 

[bsusanmb]

We dined there for dinner two weeks ago, 6 adults 2 children. We LOVED it. We had dined there a few times a couple of years ago and hated it. I couldn't even eat the food it was so bad. DH had the salmon, I had prime rib, someone had the lamb...and we all really enjoyed it. The salad was also very good. The atmosphere is just beautiful. It was enjoyable and I would go if I were you just to try it once.

 

[Joshua_me]

Listen to the 7/23/08 episode of the DIS Unplugged podcast. Kevin Klose does a review of dinner at CRT & he did not like it, to say the least.

Thanks for this ! I'm becoming addicted to these podcasts...

(Sorry....back to topic )

 

[princessesrule4]

Good grief. Pigs will fly before I head to Staten Island, Brooklyn, Queens or Bronx for a meal.

If it ain't in Manhattan, it doesn't exist.

That doesn't sound snobby or anything....

Sounds like you have some serious buyers remorse- I saw that you posted on a GF thread about how you wish you hadn't spent money for the GF and were upset a poster got upgraded and comped . Now you have problems with CRT and wish you hadn't used up TS credits there....

 

[ajk912]

It was the best part of our trip! Our favorite food by far.

I totally agree! I thought it was well worth the 2TS, especially since gratuity and 2 photo packages are included!! We all loved it, our favorite meal of the trip! The salmon and the chocolate cream cheese dessert were TDF. We went for lunch in August, btw. Sure, it's a quicker meal (I want to say 60-75 minutes or so?) But I didn't feel rushed at all, just entertained the whole time we were eating. We wanted to go back to MK anyway- we didn't want to stick around in the restaurant all day, anyway.

 

[ElizabethB]

Buyer's remorse is right! GF RPC had some serious shortcomings, which I've detailed elsewhere. We've stayed there before, and we weren't impressed this trip.

CRT was absolutely ridiculous. It's not even a restaurant anymore. It's an amusement ride with lines and a timetable. I suspect it's even being run by the line management folks now. We've eaten there many times before over the years and have always enjoyed it. The changes have made it miserable now.

There were some things we liked. MNSSHP was great fun. We were pleasantly surprised by the food at Chef Mickey's (of all places!). We liked Narcoosee's (except the lobster, which was tough). We hadn't been to the Rose and Crown Pub in Epcot in years, dropped in for lunch and enjoyed it.

Having said all that, our next family trip will be a cruise -- and not with Disney. This, from an annual passholder who has been to Disneyworld probably 40 times in the last decade.

I hope Disney is paying attention!

 

[eliza61]

Good grief. Pigs will fly before I head to Staten Island, Brooklyn, Queens or Bronx for a meal.

If it ain't in Manhattan, it doesn't exist.

My mother still hasn't forgiven me for moving her "precious babies" to New Jersey. Whenever I drop them off at her house she makes sure to take them out for dinner, as if the never get fed once they leave the city.

 

[WishesQueen]

Good grief. Pigs will fly before I head to Staten Island, Brooklyn, Queens or Bronx for a meal.

If it ain't in Manhattan, it doesn't exist.

Thats too bad you feel that way!! You'll never know what your missing!!

I guess then I agree with M&P!! You have to try the castle at least once, even if it is just for location!!!

 

[irisbud]

Good grief. Pigs will fly before I head to Staten Island, Brooklyn, Queens or Bronx for a meal.

If it ain't in Manhattan, it doesn't exist.

Wow. Just wow.