We had 1:30 lunch reservations at CRT on Friday 8/22. This was supposed to be following my DD4's noon appt at Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique. I planned this in February and it was supposed to be the highlight of the trip.
We went to BBB and everything was wonderful - our little Princess looked so beautiful in her new Snow White dress and fairy tale princess hair. We had plenty of time and walked down to exposition hall for her photo session and still had plenty of time.
We finally decided to check in for our lunch reservation (or the "Royal Ball" as my DD called it) at about 1:10. When I went up to the desk, I was told that there was some kind of "problem" in the kitchen and at this time it was closed!
He was not sure if they would reopen or not and gave us a fastpass for any ride of our choosing and told us to go take a ride and come back and hopefully they would know more.
We left and rode Peter Pan (DD's favorite) and came back and they still couldn't tell us anything and offered to either refund our money or give us another fastpass and have us come back at 2:30. We took the fastpass, as I could not imagine what it would be like to tell my DD that she was now "all dressed up with no place to go"! That hour was torture, with my DD obviously worried and DH and I trying to say that it would be ok, but we really had our doubts ourselves. I even made a quick call to Disney Dining to see if we could get into either one of the other Princess meals at any time that day but they had nothing.
Finally, we went back at 2:30. The man in line in front of me was being told that they were running 1 hour behind (he was just coming for his 2:30 ressie) and was also given a fastpass. When I went up, I was told that we would be seated. It was such a relief!
The meal turned out to be a little bit of a fiasco as when we were taken in, we were not allowed to have our picture taken with Cinderella first but were told that we could do it on the way out and were sent right upstairs. My first thought was, don't they usually bring your picture package to your table? When we got to the top of the stairs, the hostess asked if we'd had our picture taken and when we told her what we were told she looked dumbfounded.
Our waiter was wonderful (I wish I could remember his name) and seemed to be the only person who knew anything. The food was also very good - I had the Major Domo pie and thought it was excellent. But after just a few bites, the "character lady" came to our table and said that we had to go downstairs for our picture immediately because Cinderella was leaving!
So we went downstairs and by the time we got back to our table, everything was cold
. Later, we were given a bill ! Our waiter suggested that perhaps there had been a problem with my credit card , but I remembered seeing the charge on my statement, and when I told him that, he said that he would have them check into it. Sure enough, he came back and said that it was a mistake .
So we almost were charged twice for a meal that we couldn't even enjoy, but in the end, I really didn't care because all I knew was that my DD had seen every Princess that she wanted to and was very happy, and that was all I cared about. If you're still with me after this long saga, I thank you for listening.
I just could not help imagining what it would have been like had CRT not reopened. I don't know that there is anything that Disney could have done to make this up to us. How could this ever be explained to a 4 year old? The place where dreams come true would have completely disappointed my DD ( and many other little Princesses too!). Even if we had had the forsight to book another Princess meal for dinner as a back up, you get charged for Norway if you don't show up, and 1900 Park Faire only has 1 Princess. I just think that Disney should have some kind of a back up plan for a meal that people are setting their alarm clocks to book 6 months in advance at 7:00 in the morning! To simply say, we'll refund your money, just doesn't cut it in this case!
We went to BBB and everything was wonderful - our little Princess looked so beautiful in her new Snow White dress and fairy tale princess hair. We had plenty of time and walked down to exposition hall for her photo session and still had plenty of time.
We finally decided to check in for our lunch reservation (or the "Royal Ball" as my DD called it) at about 1:10. When I went up to the desk, I was told that there was some kind of "problem" in the kitchen and at this time it was closed!
He was not sure if they would reopen or not and gave us a fastpass for any ride of our choosing and told us to go take a ride and come back and hopefully they would know more. We left and rode Peter Pan (DD's favorite) and came back and they still couldn't tell us anything and offered to either refund our money or give us another fastpass and have us come back at 2:30. We took the fastpass, as I could not imagine what it would be like to tell my DD that she was now "all dressed up with no place to go"! That hour was torture, with my DD obviously worried and DH and I trying to say that it would be ok, but we really had our doubts ourselves. I even made a quick call to Disney Dining to see if we could get into either one of the other Princess meals at any time that day but they had nothing.
Finally, we went back at 2:30. The man in line in front of me was being told that they were running 1 hour behind (he was just coming for his 2:30 ressie) and was also given a fastpass. When I went up, I was told that we would be seated. It was such a relief!
The meal turned out to be a little bit of a fiasco as when we were taken in, we were not allowed to have our picture taken with Cinderella first but were told that we could do it on the way out and were sent right upstairs. My first thought was, don't they usually bring your picture package to your table? When we got to the top of the stairs, the hostess asked if we'd had our picture taken and when we told her what we were told she looked dumbfounded.
Our waiter was wonderful (I wish I could remember his name) and seemed to be the only person who knew anything. The food was also very good - I had the Major Domo pie and thought it was excellent. But after just a few bites, the "character lady" came to our table and said that we had to go downstairs for our picture immediately because Cinderella was leaving!
So we went downstairs and by the time we got back to our table, everything was cold . Later, we were given a bill ! Our waiter suggested that perhaps there had been a problem with my credit card , but I remembered seeing the charge on my statement, and when I told him that, he said that he would have them check into it. Sure enough, he came back and said that it was a mistake . So we almost were charged twice for a meal that we couldn't even enjoy, but in the end, I really didn't care because all I knew was that my DD had seen every Princess that she wanted to and was very happy, and that was all I cared about. If you're still with me after this long saga, I thank you for listening.
I just could not help imagining what it would have been like had CRT not reopened. I don't know that there is anything that Disney could have done to make this up to us. How could this ever be explained to a 4 year old? The place where dreams come true would have completely disappointed my DD ( and many other little Princesses too!). Even if we had had the forsight to book another Princess meal for dinner as a back up, you get charged for Norway if you don't show up, and 1900 Park Faire only has 1 Princess. I just think that Disney should have some kind of a back up plan for a meal that people are setting their alarm clocks to book 6 months in advance at 7:00 in the morning! To simply say, we'll refund your money, just doesn't cut it in this case!
