How hard is it to get CRT?

[Blessed_wth_Triplets]

What is everyone's experience with this? Do you really need to call at 7 a.m. 180 days before the day to get in? Also..which meal is best...breakfast,lunch, or dinner? thanks!

 

[Cindy's Mom]

I know that you must go there at least one time - but if you don't get the reservations don't sweat it.

We spent $200 for a sub-par (at best) b-fast

The best part about the whole CRT was getting into MK before the park opens - now that was magical.

I know this past January I got up on a Sunday morning at 5:30 a to have coffee and start dialing for 6a. Remember is 7a Eastern time.

I didn't get my first date, I think its was the third date that I tried.


ENJOY

 

[digman6]

I can tell you from first hand experience that you really need to call at that time 180 days out. you also need to make sure the time it 7am according to FLORIDA clocks not yours. call the day before and do a practice run so you know the prompts to hit.
The breakfast is the hardest to get is what I have heard.
you need to speak tell the CM that your wanting CRT on____day for anytime and if its breakfast, lunch or dinner. how many people in your group etc.

have a credit card ready to hold your ADR.

I did not do a practice run but I scored breakfast Christmas Eve for the 6 of us at 8:05 am the first seating.

There is a book called Unoffical Guide to WDW it tells you how to plan your call if you have the book and the book gives great tips in general.

Good Luck in your call

 

[ndgqccmiller]

We did CRT and it was great. We did lunch. It was our second day and headed over to Fanstay land spent the morning there. Watched a show then walked around in the shop inside the castle(not there now bbb is) Then went in for our adr 2:15. The atmosphere was great. My meal was fantastic. I had pork tenderloin with a great sauce and the dessert was great. Better than my cooking. I am not a big breakfast fan. I like yogurt, granola, a begal. I hate starting my day w/ a hugh breakfast, but I have heard the breakfast was good. I called about 170 days out and was able to get the day I wanted but at first I did want breakfast but glad I got lunch.

 

[pixiedust_in_ak]

If there is a specific meal or date you want then yes I would call at 7am, 180 days out. If you just want to eat there some time on your trip then it shouldn't be as bad. But still do it asap. Also, a note about CRT. You have to call 180 days from the date you want to eat there. Some restaurants let you call at 180 days from your arrival date (if you stay on site) and make reservations for your whole trip, but this does not work with CRT.

I think the best is to get the first seating for breakfast. Then you can get into the park before it opens and walk down mainstreet with hardly any people. That is worth getting up way early 180 days out.

 

[bbmommy]

I called at 7am to get our time...got the first breakfast seating...then we called again 180 days out to do dinner in December....I cannot wait. I love it, we are on the DDP but paid for this meal instead of using 2 credits...the magic and memories are well worth the money. DD was turning 5 and DS 2...they still play with the wand and sword....DS loved all the lipstick kisses he got. DD got a special cake at breakfast because we were celebrating her birthday!

 

[can]

DD got a special cake at breakfast because we were celebrating her birthday!

Did you need to order a cake ahead of time or did they just provide one? We will be celebrating my DD's "Sweet 16" at the castle and they do know it is her birthday. Do I need to make prior arrangements for a cake? Thanks for your help!

 

[PrincessBelle39]

We called at about 160days out late in the even and had no problem with a lunch booking for 11people. However, our ADR is on 7 December, not peak time.

 

[suzimar57]

it used to be much more difficult to secure an ADR at CRT - but not so much anymore, it seems - food is good, but if you don't get in, don't stress! - it's not THAT good....it's more all about the princesses

 

[Hootch]

lunch and dinner are easier to get. Last year I called at 90 days out because of bad information from a guide book. I had a couple of choices for lunch in the 12:00 - 1:00 time frame. This year we were looking at dinner until we found out the princesses were not in the room. There were spots available. We switched to lunch again and had no problem getting an ADR.

If you know before hand that you're going then go ahead and call 180 days out so you can get the exact date and time that you want. If you want breakfast then an early ADR may be good to get in the park very early and be done when the attractions start up. We decided that we are going for a an ADR around noon next time to try for a window seat. Others on this board have commented on watching Wishes from CRT. Go ahead and book and forget about it until your trip is upon you.

 

[beattyfamily]

It certainly not as hard as it used to be due to princesses being at both breakfast and lunch now, the addition of the princess meal at Epcot, that it must be pre-paid, 2 TS credits, and the major price increase. For most it is now not worth it or only worth doing once. There's a lot less repeat customers now.

If there is a specific day and time that you must have then yes, you should call early. Otherwise, you will probably have no problems getting an ADR.

I prefer breakfast, and the earliest ADR possible. Love entering the park with hardly any people!

 

[Cindy's Mom]

I prefer breakfast, and the earliest ADR possible. Love entering the park with hardly any people!

Same here.

Next trip we're going to do CP for early b-fast, even though the kids are really not into Pooh and Friends, CP is a nice place, good food and WE GET IN THE PARK EARLY

That's my new strategy for the park days now. We go to the park with EMH at night - so we get there early for b-fast, stick around till noonish, go back and swim, come back for an ADR dinner at 7ish and stay until midnight'ish.

Works for us - YMMV

/sorry for the OT rant.

 

[helenabear]

I know I have (and my friends too) gotten lunch ADRs less than 180 days out. Not necessarily the best time (1:30 for us) but we got it. I only had real huge problems getting ADRs for 8 people. Then I had to call at 7am 180 days out. Of course keep in mind this was off season and not during free dining as well, so YMMV

 

[Ms.Mouse]

You certainly need to book at the 180 day mark...1st thing in the am. I tried for a reservation and ended up calling every day (several times a day) for a couple of weeks before I could get us in....BUT it did get done

 

[eyeheartgoofy]

I forgot to call on the 180 day mark at 7:00am. It had been marked on my calander for months, but I totally forgot. I called around 1:00pm on day 180 and had a choice between 8:10am and 9:15am for breakfast. This was for January 2007.

For July 2007 (a spur of the moment trip), I called about 40 days out and asked if there was any availability for our entire stay (6 nights) and was given the choice of a 2:30 lunch and a 5:30 dinner.

My girls have informed me that they would rather meet prince charming and the step sisters on our next trip - I'm almost a little sad that I won't have the CRT ADR challenge to look forward to!

 

[bbmommy]

Did you need to order a cake ahead of time or did they just provide one? We will be celebrating my DD's "Sweet 16" at the castle and they do know it is her birthday. Do I need to make prior arrangements for a cake? Thanks for your help!

We did not order a special cake, but they brought one to the table for her...Just a little round cake with cute sprinkles....let me see if I can add a picture of it.

 

[DisneyLover75]

I remember that when we went to WDW last year, we had to change everything around at the last minute, from planning our days, ADRs and even our resort choice!

The abridged version of the story is that one of the members of our party backed out at the last minute, and took her money with her. We'd been planning to stay at the GF, and had all put in our two cents about where we'd like to have ADRs and so on. When she pulled out, we didn't have enough the extra $800 to pay for the extravagance of the GF. So we stayed at All Star Movies. (We were pretty salty)

Originally, CRT was not in the plans. But we thought about it, and as long as we got to rearrange everything to our liking, we thought we'd try and add it for breakfast. I called and got turned down numerous times, but I was told to keep trying, because sometimes people cancel and you never know if something opens up.

So every single day, sometimes twice a day, I called. Finally, about a week before we were due to leave for Florida, a spot opened up at CRT! We were so excited!

We had a wonderful time. My DD got a birthday cake too, and a card and a visit from each princess. It was good food too! I loved the stuffed french toast we had! mmmmmm

It's totally worth it! (and we paid OOP)