Just got back....observation made at CRT dining

[Bluegrrl]

What is up with all the terrible service there? Both my DH and I, and my brother and SIL have all gotten bad service there on different times/years. In the 70's/80's it was great, but it has slowly devolved into a princess processing factory. Many servers in a place like that are servers for life- they know how to work the tip, how the discounts add up, how to upsell and so on. Ex: Many Hoop Dee Do servers have been there forever b/c of the tips - people can sometimes leave huge tips on top of the normal tip b/c of the service given, never mind that gratuity is already in there.
Why is Cindy's so awful? Cause it's been that way for us.

 

[chocolatemint]

This thread is making me seriously nervous about our upcoming ADR. When I'm paying upscale steakhouse rates for subpar eggs & bacon, I hope I would at least have decent service. hmmm.

 

[Newsies]

When I went for breakfast in 2010, I was 14 and my sister was 10. We both got wands/wishing stars, as did my mom (dad declined the offer). We went for dinner last week (I am now 18 and my sister is now 14), and we weren't offered anything, but noticed that some tables selectively gave wands/stars to everyone, some tables only gave wands to the young children. I think it all depends on the waiter/waitress. Some of the sweeter waitstaff who are really "into" CRT might be more inclined to hand out wands/stars to everyone than the less enthused ones.

But that's just an observation from one meal. In any case, it didn't bother me at all! The food was fantastic (some of the best I've had on property) and I loved talking to the princesses!

EDIT: I'm also wondering if the timing of the ADR has anything to do with it? I've noticed that many people on this thread who said they got one (as adults) saw some sort of "ceremony" with it. There wasn't a ceremony during my meal, and the princess introductions happened just before we left. Maybe if our ADR was earlier/later and we were caught in the middle of the ceremony, our waiter would have been more inclined to give us the wishing star so we could participate? Just another observation. Sorry. I'm rambly tonight.

 

[Becki Quoss]

I miss the CRT good ole days. I have four Champagne flutes that I got there when celebrating, years ago. It also used to have large wonderful prime rib. They would announce your party as you went in, and everyone called you "lord" or "lady".

 

[ForeverAlice]

When we were there in May we had a good experience. Our server quietly asked me when would I like the "surprise"delivered (slipper dessert). My daughter is 3 so she got her wand without asking and my son who is 8 was asked if he would like a sword but it was broken so she brought another. There were many tables with teens and just adults as well but I do not think they had swords or wands. It is so strange to me that people would care if you asked for a wand! It's WDW! I always wear my minnie ears and could care less who likes it or not!

 

[Madteaparty001]

I miss the CRT good ole days. I have four Champagne flutes that I got there when celebrating, years ago. It also used to have large wonderful prime rib. They would announce your party as you went in, and everyone called you "lord" or "lady".

This is how I remember it when I went as a kid about 20 years ago.

 

[RUSTYGATOR]

My guess is that the pastry basket plays some role in the size of the main portions, but for those who don't want to play pastry roulette they sure do skimp on the portions at CRT. I had the steak and eggs, which was great, but it consisted of a egg/potato muffin (obviously made in a muffin tin), 3 pieces of steak and a medium size piece of broccoli. Out hope was that by making a late breakfast reservation we would be able to hold off until dinner time with 2 meals that day.

The service is very much a assembly line procedure and waiter interaction seems to be at a minimum, but I wouldn't say we had a bad time by any means. Of course, any restaurant at Disney where they know their tip doesn't depend on the quality of service, whether it is a included fruity at CRT or Table in Wonderland the service level seems to drop off.

The worst service I've ever had was a combination of being put in a nearly empty room at Via Napoli and a server that kept trying to plus sell water, separate meals and dessert when all we wanted was a single family pizza and we were using Tables in Wonderland. I haven't yet complained to a manager, but she sure made me think about it.

 

[TwoCortWort]

I am NOT saying in anyway our experience was horrible, for the most part we very much enjoyed it, but there were some weird things that happened and the wand/sword thing was a bit odd to me that everyone around us got them, and it literally seemed my niece and I were blown off. I didn't see our server go to other tables either, but I really didn't pay attention I was making sure my niece enjoyed her special day and she was excited to eat at CRT again.

To the person who asked about the family behind us: I didn't witness anything my niece spoke of, my back was to them, so I didn't make eye contact with them until I was leaving and that was when the mom shot me a look. That didn't bother me, it bothered me that my niece was upset about it and I could see something was going on with her too, just by her body language.

To me it was just strange about the wand/sword thing...my niece wanted to get a sword for her brothers at home and we didn't have a chance to ask to switch it to the other, she just brought out our wands a few minutes later.

As for complaining to a manager or guest relations....we had SO MUCH go wrong for this trip in the planning process, that I am like they won't take me serious if I were to call again. This was likely my niece's last time there, but planning to go for my birthday in March, but rethinking that right now after the experience this time with the server.

 

[100AcreWood]

The kids got the star wands last time. I will never be back. I honestly believe CRT is overrated, overpriced and overall an awful experience. The food is bad, the character interaction is rushed and the servers are the WORST!

 

[poohfriend77]

I Think there's a difference between asking for what you want ("May we have a wand, please?") and complaining about what everyone else got ("Everybody else got a sword! Why didn't I get a sword? Not fair!")

OP-- my example is extreme, not saying that's quite what you did. It drives me crazy when my kids do this. Perhaps if you seemed like you were complaining, the server may have been annoyed. And the other family may have thought you were complaining about THEM. Or maybe the lady just has a grumpy face. My friend always looks kind of mad, but she's not. Don't take it so personally, you didn't do anything to them!

 

[Anomaly711]

If you think about why servers are motivated to give good service, it's the tip! Which of course is included at CRT. SO why should they go above and beyond? (Honestly, you'd hope they would have people working there who WANT to spread a little pixie dust, but it doesn't seem that way.) It seems very inconsistent-some people have the best time and others are disappointed. We are going for lunch in November and my plan is to keep my expectations low.

 

[Masonmj84]

Interestingly, I've noticed that server friendliness is, on average, MUCH better at Hoop dee Doo Revue (another tip included venue) than at CRT. I suspect that this is somewhat of a "venue culture" issue, which is probably at least partly explained by the fact that Hoop dee Doo is a fixed-duration two hour show, so there's no pressure on the servers to quickly turn tables.

That being said, I still find the generally rushed and put-off service we've received at CRT to be inexcusable. We've had a different male server each time and they've always copped a jaded attitude reminiscent of Lunch Lady Doris from Simpsons (minus the cigarette). While one might expect this from a Waffle House on the bad side of town, one expects a lot more when paying big bucks to eat in Cinderella's Castle at Disney World.

 

[jsmla]

This is probably totally inappropriate but I say book those princesses and rides on Peter Pan while you can. I blinked once and my DS was 15, wanting to bring a friend along and seeing us only at meals. (We paid.) I blinked again and he's 30, married and just moved to Austin for his job.

Drink it in. I really don't think Space Mt is going anywhere and little ones definitely have an expiration date.

Sorry, I'm still a tad emotional.

 

[Aurora0427]

The first time I ate there was for my 30th birthday. Yes, my husband is a saint. Our server brought me a wand, a wishing star, a birthday button, a special dessert, and a sword for my husband.

Fast forward to 2014, we took our daughter who was 3 and 3.5, she received wands both times and a wishing star once. We didn't receive anything.

I'm surprised your server didn't just bring a wand for you niece after you asked.

 

[Aurora0427]

This thread is making me seriously nervous about our upcoming ADR. When I'm paying upscale steakhouse rates for subpar eggs & bacon, I hope I would at least have decent service. hmmm.

We've had great service 2 out 3 times dining at CRT.

 

[Boopuff]

You'd think that servers at cart would try to add some special magic. After all even though tip is included I'm sure some people would give something extra if the server gave a few special touches! I'm also floored by servers that ignor a table of adults who order adult beverages! Helloooo big bill and bigger top if they keep drinking!

 

[Miumiu4me]

My 13 year old niece and I had lunch reservations at CRT celebrating her birthday and we were seated and both of us were handed a wishing star, which last year I didn't even get offered it. I noticed that everyone around us were recieving them and by the time we had gotten through most of the Princesses we hadn't seen the wands/swords being handed out and finally after a few minutes we saw the guy coming around them. But he skipped our table and handed them out to everyone around us, kids or adults, literally everyone got them if they desired. My niece made a comment to me about it and I looked behind us the girl who was about her age had one, a couple celebrating their 40th anniversary each got a wand and sword, 2 college age girls got wands, and I was like what is going on? Our waitress came back over and brought our dessert and I proceeded to ask her why we didn't get a wand. To be told "Oh only children get wands or swords."

My jaw actually smacked the floor when she said that because I looked around again and everyone else had them and couldn't believe she said that to us. Last year, it wasn't even an ISSUE to get the wands/swords, but the fact other adults eating there got one, that just peeved me a bit. Our server wasn't all that "nice" either she had an attitude, when I asked about my niece's special treat (Cinderella's slipper dessert) she was like "I gotcha!" Like blew me off kind of rudely about that.

The family behind us were from the UK and the mom and daughter who was about my niece's age shot dirty looks at my niece the rest of the meal, apparently they heard our conversation about the wand/sword thing. But seriously do you have to get so rude? The mom shot me a dirty look as we left and I went back to MK for a final fast pass and ran into that same family, who AGAIN shot me dirty looks and I just smiled and kept walking that time.

But has anyone else ran into this at CRT about having kids who are considered "adults" by Disney age and not been offered the wand/sword? I only comment because everyone else around us got them, and the server wasn't exactly thrilled she had to go get them for us.

I went back recently. What you get seems to depend on your wait staff - some waiters go all out, some do not. I took my baby for her first birthday and they gave her a mini meal, card, cupcake, and were super nice to her. They didn't give me or my husband a wand.

When I went back last month my almost two year old was not offered a wand by our server. My daughter and I were there with another party that had a two year (that was turning three the next day). The waiter looked at our girls and said, "Since you're counting them as infants they won't get a meal." He didn't offer them a wand either. I was sort of surprised - I know a meal is not promised but my daughter was given food when I took her last year for her first birthday. I was also pretty certain that they were implying neither of our girls were under three - my friend's kid is huge for her age, but my daughter looks her age. They didn't give either girl a wand, which upset the older girl. I asked the hostess if it was the policy to not give kids under three wands and she looked surprised, apologized, and gave us two wands. The hostess also told us to ask for a cupcake for the birthday girl. We mentioned the cupcake to the waiter and he brought it out (without a happy birthday - but whatever - he did manage to say" Oh, I see they got wands...") The whole experience was a little odd. I booked my daughter's second birthday at a different Disney restaurant as a result.

 

[Madteaparty001]

I went back recently. What you get seems to depend on your wait staff - some waiters go all out, some do not. I took my baby for her first birthday and they gave her a mini meal, card, cupcake, and were super nice to her. They didn't give me or my husband a wand.

When I went back last month my almost two year old was not offered a wand by our server. My daughter and I were there with another party that had a two year (that was turning three the next day). The waiter looked at our girls and said, "Since you're counting them as infants they won't get a meal." He didn't offer them a wand either. I was sort of surprised - I know a meal is not promised but my daughter was given food when I took her last year for her first birthday. I was also pretty certain that they were implying neither of our girls were under three - my friend's kid is huge for her age, but my daughter looks her age. They didn't give either girl a wand, which upset the older girl. I asked the hostess if it was the policy to not give kids under three wands and she looked surprised, apologized, and gave us two wands. The hostess also told us to ask for a cupcake for the birthday girl. We mentioned the cupcake to the waiter and he brought it out (without a happy birthday - but whatever - he did manage to say" Oh, I see they got wands...") The whole experience was a little odd. I booked my daughter's second birthday at a different Disney restaurant as a result.

That would push me over the edge, give my family and I poor service and I will not hesitate to go to a manager, treat my kid crappy and you better believe I'm making sure something is done about the server. If my DH has a bad day at work you better believe he's getting pulled into a meeting with his boss, I don't know why being a server gets so many passes.

 

[Miumiu4me]

That would push me over the edge, give my family and I poor service and I will not hesitate to go to a manager, treat my kid crappy and you better believe I'm making sure something is done about the server. If my DH has a bad day at work you better believe he's getting pulled into a meeting with his boss, I don't know why being a server gets so many passes.

The waiter wasn't flat out rude, but he was probably being passive aggressive. I guess he assumed we were lying about the girls ages and he was out money cause of it?

Other than not having a wand right away, the girls were very happy. I did mean to email Disney about it afterwards (I didn't want to upset the kids - they were having a good time), but I forgot the guys name and I didn't want the wrong person being blamed.

 

[Madteaparty001]

The waiter wasn't flat out rude, but he was probably being passive aggressive. I guess he assumed we were lying about the girls ages and he was out money cause of it?

Other than not having a wand right away, the girls were very happy. I did mean to email Disney about it afterwards (I didn't want to upset the kids - they were having a good time), but I forgot the guys name and I didn't want the wrong person being blamed.

Did you get a receipt? The server who rang you up should have his name on the receipt.