is cindy worth it?

[mommyaof2]

I made adrs for crt for june 13 at lunch. I then found out that it is going to 2 ts credits. my daughters are dying to go there. They have never been and neither have I. I just don't think I am willing to give up 2 ts each for this. If you add up what you could get at 2 separate other ts meals it is a lot better value. I have read some not so good reviews, so I was just wondering if I should cancel this or not? Suggestions?

 

[SueEllen]

I am not a fan of this meal, and will be interested to hear reviews after the price increase on 2/1 and the picture package.
I liked the food at the castle for lunch/dinner before, but with the changes to a set menu now I just don't see the value in the meal any longer.

Sue Ellen

 

[Servants of Evan]

Is Cindy Worth it?"

While typically I'd leave that up to Prince Charming to determine, I'd have to venture a guess and say, "No." Two TS credits for a Princess who doesn't even show up at her own party? The only reason I'd consider going is if my dear child wanted to simply eat in the castle as a memory upon itself... There are enough Princesses around the Parks to fulfill the Princess requirement, without paying the exorbitant cost for breakfast/lunch/dinner...

 

[Shells9]

My daughters are dying to go there. They have never been and neither have I.

We've not been there for lunch, but if they are dying to go, I would take them. Even though the food may not be out of this world, the atmosphere and experience are.

I say, go!

 

[mommyaof2]

Thanks guys. I am thinking that we will do Cinderella Gala Feast at 1900 Park Fare instead. It sounds like it would be a good substitute for only one ts.

 

[The Sweetness]

The way to decide if its worth it to you, is to consider yourself to be paying for the experience, not the food. You do get to eat, but it isnt anything spectacular. The real treat is cinderella, and other princesses also, unless thats changed in the last 10 yrs. My dd was 4 then. Shed rather eat a bagel online for a ride or show than do that now

 

[slcmkh]

We have been to CRT two or three times in the last few years and always went for lunch, a non-character meal. The food was a little pricey for a lunch menu, but worth it because of the atmosphere even without characters. We enjoyed eating inside the castle and the kids, regardless of their ages, enjoyed it tremendously -- and it was a nice way to get out of the heat mid-day. The food was decent, in our opinion, and we had planned to return during an upcoming trip, paying OOP as usual.

When the CM told me that there was a change, that we now had the privilege of having a picture taken with Cinderella, and that it was a set price (over $30 as I recall for lunch) rather than an a la carte menu as lunch had been before, I thought about it for about five minutes and called back and cancelled the reservation.

It worked out to about $10 - $15 more per person than the previous pricing, and with a family of six I definitely didn't think that the privilege of a cheez-wiz picture and very little choice on menu items was worth over $200 for lunch.

I would like to think that disney guests would take a stand sooner or later and "just say no" to things like this, sending a message to disney that there is a limit to how much cash we will allow them to extract from us, even those of us who are long-time loyal disney fans. Unfortunately, this won't happen. There will always be plenty of folks out there willing to drop the cash for the experience, and I suppose if one has never been there and has young children, it might be worth going just once, just closing the eyes figuratively and saying goodbye to an extra Franklin.

Sorry for pontificating. My favorite thread title of late is the recent "Cindy's Royal Ripoff."

I'm still a disney fan and always will be. But we're not going to CRT.

 

[grumpymakesmehappy]

To be quite honest, I am really disgusted at how Disney handles CRT. We all hold the castle in high regard and I hate the idea that Disney uses that to take advantage of us. Character meals are not cheap but to me are worth it. I love the interaction with the characters. What is not worth it is paying over 30 a person for a meal that is less than stellar. Yes, I have done CRT. Yes, it was worth it to me to be able to eat in that castle. If I did it today or in FE. 06 to be more precise, I would feel totally ripped off. If your children are dying to eat in the castle and it is in your budget do it, but there are better disney character dining experiences out there. We have had some of our best times at character meals. Cinderella's castle is not anywhere near the top of that list!

 

[budbeerlady]

Thanks guys. I am thinking that we will do Cinderella Gala Feast at 1900 Park Fare instead. It sounds like it would be a good substitute for only one ts.

DD really wants to got to breakfast in the castle this year. I refuse to pay that kind of money for what is involved. In dec she wanted to meet cindy so we did 1900 Park fare dinner (my signature pic w/ Cindy was taken there) it was great. The food is good, Cindy walks around with the mice and it was a great time.

Some things like the castle and Cindy shouldnt be taken advantage of!

 

[lovinpoohbear]

I think it stinks too that crt is now 2 tc credits. However, we will be having lunch there this upcoming april. I decided not to waste ts credits on it and put the whole cost on my credit card. Eating in the castle is so special to us! So i did splurge on the lunch but now am using to 2 ts credits i had plannned on using for 2 character breakfasts. How often am I in Disney? I know they are taking advantage but i have to eat at cindy s when at the magic kingdom!

 

[Amy&Dan]

To be quite honest, I am really disgusted at how Disney handles CRT. We all hold the castle in high regard and I hate the idea that Disney uses that to take advantage of us. Character meals are not cheap but to me are worth it. I love the interaction with the characters. What is not worth it is paying over 30 a person for a meal that is less than stellar. Yes, I have done CRT. Yes, it was worth it to me to be able to eat in that castle. If I did it today or in FE. 06 to be more precise, I would feel totally ripped off. If your children are dying to eat in the castle and it is in your budget do it, but there are better disney character dining experiences out there. We have had some of our best times at character meals. Cinderella's castle is not anywhere near the top of that list!

This sums up my feelings exactly! We did breakfast in October of 04 and it was great and worth every penny to see my little girl's face when we walked in and saw Fairy Godmother and then the princesses. The meal was fine, service great and we all agreed how much fun we had. I didn't leave thinking the meal was worth what we paid at the time, but the experience overall was. We had dinner there in October of 05. We took my elderly parents, it was their first and last WDW trip and it was totally worth it. Much more upscale than I had thought and one of the best meals I have ever eaten at WDW which was nice since I had thought the breakfast was run of the mill and wasn't expecting the dinner to be exceptional. Now fastforward to our next trip in April. I called 180 days out and was shocked to have my pick of times for breakfast. I was so shocked and happy I did it because I could, this is the granddaddy of all WDW dining experiences how could I not? Then I realized I had just put down over $140 on my debit card for a breakfast we had already done before, that was six months away and no they don't take DDE card. So I called back and cancelled. We are doing dinner at 1900 Park Fare instead. I think everybody if at all possible who loves the idea of eating in the castle should do this at least once if they can and want to spend that kind of money. But since we already have no way will I spend that much. 'And I am sorry that a lot of people are being priced out of this meal.

 

[DISNEYFAMILYOFFOUR]

And I am sorry that a lot of people are being priced out of this meal.

I agree.

 

[mommyaof2]

Well, I have decided to do dinner at Park Fare on June 16 instead of CRT lunch. My girls understand and we are also doing the Norway breakfast at Epcot to even further the princess fix. They are so excited. We might do the castle the next trip.

 

[DCDisney]

I liked the food at the castle for lunch/dinner before, but with the changes to a set menu now I just don't see the value in the meal any longer.

Sue Ellen

We went in 2004 and again last week. I really don;t thinks it's worth 2 TS. The whole Cinderella in the lobby thing makes it much less magical. You stand in line in the lobby rather than sitting and chatting with Fairy Godmother. The characters interact much less than last time. The waitress was very rushed and not very polite. It just all seemed much more rushed and less magical. Food was good. The pictures they took were horrible. The background is very dark so kids who are light complected (and Cinderella) look extremely pale. We won't go back but my daughter is 6 now so I'm guessing when we go back next year she'll be fine doing another princess meal. The Stitch breakfast at O'Hana was a much better time for us.

Yvonne

 

[luv2go2disney]

I was so excited to book a CRT for breakfast last Sept. Yes we were on the dining plan so cost was not really in the equation, but now that it is 2TS meals, I will not be going back to CRT. I guess we can say that we have done it and have pictures, but the food was not very good, definitley the worst breakfast that we had. The character interaction was very quick, barely enough time to take a picture and sign a book. Let alone chit chat for a second with my child!!! All said I was very disappointed with the CRT. We had more fun after breakfast down in the lobby with Fairy Godmother, at least she found out my kids names and wrote them in their autograph books!!! We will be finding a different princess meal next January when we return!

 

[Sinderelli]

Thanks guys. I am thinking that we will do Cinderella Gala Feast at 1900 Park Fare instead. It sounds like it would be a good substitute for only one ts.

I have never eaten at CRT. We usually book spur of the moment trips, and I can never get an ADR. I cannot compare 1900 Park Fare & CRT, but I will tell you that we LOVED 1900 PF. My DS & DD had a great time, the food was good, and we were allowed to relax and enjoy our dinner. Having Prince Charming there is an added bonus !!

 

[Luv4Disney]

It was before the upped the price. The view we got was worth the price alone. We were at the table for two, dead center against the back window. It was so gorgeous I would've paid the price for the meal just to sit there. Despite the price increase, we're still doing it because "we have to eat in the castle."

 

[byoung]

Don't think it's worth 2ts at all.

 

[twins4disney]

After reading everyone's comments I am really regretting the ADR I have made for our May trip. My then four year old twins are constantly asking "if we are eating in the castle" everytime they see the picture! Should I keep the breakfast ADR. I had not heard about the 1900 Park dinner, is Cinderella always there?
It would probably be a disaster to cancel now, especially when they see the castle. Can someone give me some positive reasons to keep the ADR?
Thanks

 

[Lizzybee]

We did both 1900 Park Fare and CRT lunch in August (before the changes to CRT) and we enjoyed both for different reasons. I must admit though, we had free dining so the whole "is it worth it" thing never came into play, but I think I'd go with 1900 Park Fare if it's for Cinderella. The CRT lunch was very special for us and given the new changes in the credits, it will probably stay a very special memory for us. My kids so enjoyed eating INSIDE the castle, I think more so than the princesses. They also were excited to eat INSIDE the GF at 1900 Park Fare. I guess I'm just glad we were able to do CRT before the changes because I think it's kind of odd to reduce the amount of character interaction and increase the price at the same time for nothing but a photo you could have taken yourself before.