Need advice about going to CRT

[ehlander]

hi everyone! I finished making all our ADRs, but I am still on the fence about paying out of pocket for CRT breakfast. At first I thought this would be a fun splurge for my two daughters and me, my husband doesn't really care, but I keep reading from other posts about how the service, food, and time with the princesses has gone down hill. Is that just some difference of opinion or a real change? Our ADR is at 10:10am. Will we have to wait a long time? Has anyone gone recently and can help me decide if we should keep it or not? Asking my DDs, they didn't seem set on having to see the Princesses, though that could change once we go. They have never been and we don't plan to be back for many years. Our family likes to go different places every year. Thanks for your help!

 

[Meldev]

We've been 3 times to WDW as a family. This past time we finally booked a CRT reservation -we usually use the dining plan and I've always hesitated to use 2 credits, but went for it this time.
I'd say I'm glad we did it for the experience. None of my kids (4 of them 4,7,9,12 at the time the oldest 3 girls) seemed blown away by being in the castle.

Compared to Akershus the experience felt rushed. The food not as good (IMO), my kids ate fairly well but did far better at Akershus. We had a pre-park opening ADR, so it was nice to walk down a very sparsely populated Main Street.

We used their wishing stars on our disney Christmas tree, which was nice. But overall I'll say this, I'm glad we checked it off the list because it's always been something we felt we were missing out on.... But the biggest take away and we aren't overly negative about it, but it's simply one we'll never do again.

 

[ehlander]

Thanks you for sharing your experience! The castle dos seem really cool, but sounds like Akershus is a better value. When you did Akershus did you get a prepark ADR breakfast? If yes, Is there a special line we go to like at MK and about how long a walk is it to the blak fast itself? we are staying at the Poly, but to make it at that time should we hire a cab? Or would the monorail get us there on time?

Thanks!

 

[mkla2015]

We had breakfast at CRT recently on 3/13/16. I'm not sure if it was an off day but we didn't have a very good experience. Our ADR was for 950am and we were seated 40-50 mins later. The service was not too good, the food was terrible, and the characters were very rushed.

The kids liked getting the wand and sword but didn't really care about being in the castle.

We won't be back anytime soon. I'd definitely pick Akershus over CRT. We had a prepark opening ADR there last year... I'm pretty sure there was a reservations line just like MK to get in. We were staying at AOA at the time so we just took a bus.

 

[chocolateMinnie]

we have not been for many years so I appreciate I'm not entirely responding to your question but I would be a huge vote for do it. We have been numerous times (maybe 7) over the years and have had better experiences sometimes than others but the entire being in the castle is an amazing memory. As my son put it the first time we visited - the MK at WDW is the most iconic theme park in the world - the castle is the most iconic building in the most iconic theme park in the world and I am sitting inside it The kids have their wishing stars still (even the original ones they had nine years ago) the photo op with Cinderella is lovely and the meal while definitely not worth the price has never been awful.
If you can afford it go and enjoy :

 

[T00dles]

We did the dinner 5 pm red just last week. We really enjoyed it. Perhaps our experience was better because it was early in the meal period and they weren't backed up. It was over an hour for the actual dinner.

Our girls 7 and 2 loved the Cinderella greet. She was amazing

 

[ehlander]

Nice to hear some folks did enjoy themselves! I decided to try the Epcot Akershus for breakfast instead, mainly because of cost and the fact that I was able to get a prepark ADR. Frozen will be open by then, so hoping we can get a good spot in line for the ride. Our CRT ADR was the last seating for breakfast, but given the legendary heat and humidity of FL in August I hate to waste time eating a sit down meal so early in the day. But perhaps next time we go we will Splurge on it.

 

[Shanti]

hi everyone! I finished making all our ADRs, but I am still on the fence about paying out of pocket for CRT breakfast. At first I thought this would be a fun splurge for my two daughters and me, my husband doesn't really care, but I keep reading from other posts about how the service, food, and time with the princesses has gone down hill. Is that just some difference of opinion or a real change? Our ADR is at 10:10am. Will we have to wait a long time? Has anyone gone recently and can help me decide if we should keep it or not? Asking my DDs, they didn't seem set on having to see the Princesses, though that could change once we go. They have never been and we don't plan to be back for many years. Our family likes to go different places every year. Thanks for your help!

We've been within the last year, and enjoyed it. Don't expect gourmet food, but the food isn't bad, either. Some people expect top-notch food for the price, but you must remember that most of the price is due to it being a character meal in the castle. The princesses are great, endless photo-ops, and the castle is an elegant place to eat. It just feels special to go from the zoo of people that is the Magic Kingdom into the peaceful castle for a meal- a special experience.