Is CRT worth it?

mom2munchkins

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Joined
Jan 22, 2008
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I'm on the fence about doing CRT while were are in WDW. I don't want to use 2TS if I can avoid it but maybe we'd pay OOP. I just don't know just seems so expensive. My dd will be 8 and ds will be 5.I thought maybe breakfast before the park opens.Opinons please! TIA
 
Is it worth it? I sure hope so!
We're going in August and both my kids are older than 9, so I paid for 4 adults! I figure that it's something that I have to do at least once.
 
IMO, it is a must-do experience for every little girl who visits WDW! We opted to pay OOP rather than use 2 TS credits and used the credits to schedule extra TS meals. For us, it just seemed to be the best use of our money.
 
I did it with my dd and ds when they were 6 and 3. They loved it. It is expensive, but it is one of those things in Disney that is a must do at least once. I dont think I would do it aggain myself, but my kids want to so we are going again in December this time for lunch.
 

I don't think it is worth 2 credits financially so we paid out of pocket. I think it is a must do for little princesses too..there is nothing like it.
 
I don't think it's really worth 2TS or (in my case) $150. That being said, I do think it's a must do at least once; especially if you time dinner at Wishes -- very cool from the castle!
 
This is from food reviews. The girls are 5 and 8 years old

Lunch at Cindy's Royal Table

Ok- I was really looking forward to this one! The girls changed into their princess attire and I sprinkled gold glitter with hair spray on their pony tails. They had crowns and looked just as good as the Bippity Bobbity Boutique girls!

First we happened to meet the stepsisters and Fairy Godmother outside the castle! Those stepsisters are a absolute riot!! "Oh you're dressed as that fish girl (ariel) I hope you like sushi!"

Then we entered the castle and waited for Cinderella. We got 2 sets of photos as we were 5. One set just of the girls and the second set of the whole family. Cindy was very sweet, knelt down to talk to the 5 year old. She was not rushed at all. The line was not too long-I found the photographer slightly abrupt but it didn't hurt the experience. The pics came out beautiful and I am glad they were included in the package. Cindy was very gracious, never left character and was worth the short wait.

Then we had to wait for about 20 minutes before we were called upstairs. At first the CM's were calling in the usual manner "Lord and Lady Smith" stuff like that. Then they got giddy and stupid "Survey says the Smith Family come on down!". I found this in bad taste considering the girls' fantasy, the price paid and the whole experience. I went over and told them to please knock it off-that those kind of "Price is Right" introductions were out of place and not right in the castle. They probably thought I was an old fart but they knocked it off right away.

We were finally called, the girls got their wands and wishing stars. They are ok-kind of cheap looking but ...

We have very late lunch ADR's at 2:45 pm and were seated in the upper tier. It was just fine. Our waiter was just so so (the gratuity is included at CRT) but his helpers were outstanding. I will tell you why in a few minutes-

The food:
Since it was almost dinner we had a very nice appetizer platter and they brought over 2 platters for the 5 of us.
It had cheeses, grapes, chicken and pesto sauce and the famous dinner BLT salad. We all enjoyed the taste of everything esp the salad.

The princesses were on their way and Aurora had just arrived when the waiter's assistant arrived with our lunches! He actually stood there holding the plates while they finished taking the pictures so as not to disturb the shot! He was awesome.

The princess came slowly around the room and we were able to eat in between. The princesses that day were-Mary Poppins, Aurora Sleeping Beauty, Jasmine and Belle in every day dress. The spent a lot of time-Aurora showing how to stand in her dress, Jasmine showing how to stand like an Arabian princess, Mary Poppins talking to the adults which a great accent! No rush at all.

May I suggest these later lunches? Most people were now arriving for early dinners and we had the princesses to ourselves!

As for the food:
I had the Major Domo pie and found it delicious. Very light crispy pastry shell and there was just enough beef and veggies. The other adults had the sandwich which they found ok-nothing special but they loved the sweet potato chips.

The kids both had the grilled chicken strips with baked pasta and veggies. One loved the chicken and hated the pasta the other loved the pasta and left the chicken-what can you do??

All in all I enjoyed the CRT lunch-It is beautiful. I doubt I would do it again unless with other little girls. I do not think it is worth 2 table service credits but I do think it is worth it once. I really do.
 
We haven't done it (yet - we will on our next trip!), but I agree with the PPs. Our DD will be 7 and we wanted to try it - we haven't told her about it yet and I think she'll be *thrilled* to be eating in the Castle. Maybe we'll love it, maybe not, but I'm definitely with the "Gotta try it at least once!" group.
 
We did the breakfast once OOP and the dinner when it was only 1 TS credit. I would suggest the breakfast. The food was good but I felt the breakfast food was better and more kid friendly, however you could go through the menu and make sure it is something your kids would eat. The experience is awesome. It is a must do at least once. Enjoy!
 
We did Dinner last year so we really did not have any character experience. So this year we are doing lunch, we are also paying OOP because I have to agree its not worth 2 TS. I wanted to try it one more time just to see how the character interaction is. I love the PP about the evil step sisters, they really are a hoot. We are doing 1900 Park Fare just to see them
 
We will be trying CRT to Dinner on our upcoming trip.
We will be on the FREE DINING PLAN so you can't beat
that price. If I had to pay OOP it would cost $200.00
for 4 people - 2 Adults and 2 Disney Adults.
We wanted to eat in the castle but because the
2 disney Adults are boys age 12 & 13 they didn't want
the Character interaction. I have to make sure the hostest
doesn't offer them a Toy Sword--you know how embarrested
Boys this age can get.
 
We opted to pay OOP rather than use 2 TS credits and used the credits to schedule extra TS meals. For us, it just seemed to be the best use of our money.

We're doing the same thing. I did a comparison between using 2 TS credits vs paying OOP and saving those credits for 2 other meals. If we were to use 2 TS credits for CRT, I would replace those 2 meals with one TS OOP and one CS OOP. It would cost us more money to use 2 credits at CRT and pay OOP for one TS and one CS than to pay OOP for CRT and then use those 2 TS credits on 2 TS meals. So, for less money, we get one more TS meals. Now, if you were to replace both those meals with CS, you would obviously come out better using the credits for CRT. But if you want to replace at least one with a TS, you come out better ahead paying OOP for CRT
 
Thanks so much for that review, divawife! We're taking our 5 yr old granddaughter there on Sunday! :banana: She doesn't know it yet. She's the world's biggest Cinderella fan. She'll be so surprised! I can hardly wait. :yay:
 
IMHO - it's absolutely worth doing once and while your kids are little.

Before the menu changes and fixed price, I think it was worth doing every trip.
The food is just okay - but there is nothing like eating in the castle.
 
We cant wait for our CRT lunch in just a few weeks.... (we will be eating there 3 weeks from tommorow) woo hoo... and we are excited.... the Major Domo pie sounds like something I would just love... and I am sure it will be lovely time... my daughter has her BBB appointment that morning and will be princessized for the occassion... so truelly a magical meal... great to read the reviews... we are using our credits and our on the dulx dining plan
 


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