My disappointing dinner at CRT - Part 2 UPDATE!!!

[hookedup]

Well for those of you who read my post about my disappointing dinner earlier in the week this is the follow up to it.

We had a very bad meal at CRT for dinner. I was not upset with the service just the food. Our prime rib was terrible. A tasteless dry piece of meat. Really bad. Afterwords I did mention to the hostess on the way out how disappointed we were with it - she convinced me to tell the manager (who brought the chef out) and they were very concerned and asked us to come back again during our trip.

We did - on Saturday night we showed up for our PS's. The manager on duty (not the same one I had talked to earlier in the week) called our name and personally escorted us upstairs to our table. He told us that we were "guests" of the castle tonight and that dinner was on them. He asked us to please let him know if the food was not up to our expectations.
We did not order the same thing again - this time we tried the filet - a very tasty tenderloin they call the "Kingdom Feast" It was excellent. I was pleased. They bent over backwards for us and really made us feel like we were honored guests. During the meal they brought over bags with 3 of the glass mugs that you get if you order the $8.00 smoothie and we were surprised by this - I know it is a little thing but it was a nice touch! Normally if you order one of the smoothies (which we have in the past) they give you a receipt and you collect one at the entrance when you leave.

We did not even want to order dessert but they insisted. It was great - I was soooo full. At the end of the meal they came over to ask us about how everything was and thanked us for returning and were very gracious.
My husband left a gratuitiy for the waitress (even though we had no clue how much anything cost really but could guess) and we left very happy.

I would go back again. They were very classy about everything and I was blown away by the hospitality. It returned the magic back to our tradition of eating a big dinner at the castle during our trip - something that would have been gone forever if I had not spoken up - and if they had not cared.

 

[Disnsyncey]

I was actually the person that rang the bells that night/worked the door (aka the castle bouncer haha), and when our manager (the one you talked to the other night was there every day except for that night haha) on duty, Bobby, told me he was gonna call it because it was a comp meal, I made a point of seeing who you were haha (now you have a stalker...haha j/k) I'm very glad you had a better experience.....

 

[Minniespal]

After you posted your original review of the castle I hoped that you would post your return meal. Glad that you had such a great time.

 

[Eeyore1954]

Wow, another great example of Disney magic! Thanks for posting!

 

[JAP]

Thanks for sharing this story. I am glad to hear that CRT lived up to your expectations.

 

[>>^..^<<]

Hi there - wow what a great customer service turnaround

Thanx for sharing it with us ~ did you have a nice table?

>>^..^<<

 

[hookedup]

Disnsyncey - Ha ha - that is funny!

I have never complained about a meal in my life (I just feel awkward about it) anyway when we left the first night my dh & I were so bummed out - dh turned to me and said "we are never eating there again!" I was heartbroken. This has been a family tradition for us and the highlight of our trips was our castle dinner each year.
So that is why I went back and spoke up. I would have never dreamed that we were going to be comp'd as a result. I just wanted to let someone know how unsatisfied we were. It was a really bad meal - we've had better prime rib at a Vegas buffet!

I was very impressed about how classy and graciously our complaints were received. We will come back for sure and this year when people have asked me about trip highlights I have made a point to tell people how genuinely concerned the CM's were about our bad meal and the fact we were so dissappointed.

Next time I hear someone complaining about Disney losing the magic touch I will be the first to speak up to say they're wrong!

 

[hookedup]

Cass - we had a nice table - in the center room. We were next to a family celebrating a 50th wedding anniversary. It was very festive.
This may sound silly but if we had never had dinner there before we would have just figured the food was crappy and overpriced there - but since it has always been a favorite of ours (for serveral reasons) and a family tradition - we knew something was not right.
They must have gotten a bad cut of meat - my dh said he saw others sending their's back that first night. We should have spoken up right then but we were both trying to put on a brave face for the other one and not complain about what was happening. It wasn't until we were walking out that we shared how upset we were and how dissappointing it all was. I learned a lesson that night - speak up right then!