So This is What a Dream Tastes Like

[jenseib]

What shock going from SHIP food to PARK food!

Glad to see escargots are still there...Bubba LOVED those! (but now they come w/ a side of a bread.... )

off to start reading your other report...... (at least I remembered to read AFTER breakfast today )

I'm not too far in the other report yet.
Yes the park food is not nearly as good as the ship food. I got spoiled.

 

[lizzyb]

Great reviews! You have some amazing pictures. I cannot wait to go on a cruise. Hoping for one in 2013.

 

[jenseib]

Great reviews! You have some amazing pictures. I cannot wait to go on a cruise. Hoping for one in 2013.

I hope you can work it in. It was a lot of fun!

 

[Declan2]

The Enchanted garden looks AMAZING. I can't wait to go.

 

[Caretames1]

I kind of said to myself…”why am I paying for PBJ on vacation?” But that’s OK, that’s what she wanted.

Although we had free dining, I did ask Kadence why are you getting PB&J? Something you eat at home all the time? She just said,"it's what I like"

Kids

 

[lilandvisma]

Joining in as well here! Claire is such a cutie! She reminds me of my Violette with all of her expressions she makes lol...Loving the reviews so far! Glad to hear you guys had a good time

 

[hlrababy]

Hey girl!!! I am glad you told me you started your TR!!! I had been waiting on it!!!

 

[jenseib]

The Enchanted garden looks AMAZING. I can't wait to go.

I really liked it. I wish I would've actually walked around inside a bit more. Our table was by the door, and I didn't go in any further than where the fountain was.

Although we had free dining, I did ask Kadence why are you getting PB&J? Something you eat at home all the time? She just said,"it's what I like"

Kids

Yeah, Claire barely will even eat it here, so I thought it was weird she wanted it. But thats what she wanted. Most CS don't have hot dogs, which are Claire's favorite, so I decided to just let her get what she would eat.

Joining in as well here! Claire is such a cutie! She reminds me of my Violette with all of her expressions she makes lol...Loving the reviews so far! Glad to hear you guys had a good time

Thanks. She's my sweetie. She is so funny. She seemed to get shy a lot more this time around. I had to tell her to pull her chin up, becuase she kept looking down for a lot of pictures.

Hey girl!!! I am glad you told me you started your TR!!! I had been waiting on it!!!

Hi Heather. I know you have been busy, so I did the shameless plug! Glad you're here!

 

[jenseib]

Dinner was at CRT. We had it scheduled for 9:30 PM. We also had it scheduled for only 3 people. I had been talking to a Dis/facebook friend, Keri. Her DD Natasha works at CRT. She said that I could go to the desk early and see if they could accommodate 4, which should be no problem, and then also check to see if we could be seated earlier. So before our BBB appointment I stopped off at the desk and asked the CM working. She said it was no problem getting 4 in and to come back after we had finished up with BBB and see how things were and they may be able to seat us earlier. So that is exactly what we did. Natasha was working, and I must add she is super nice and so pretty too!
She clicked some keys on the computer and YES, we could be seated right away. I believe it was just after 7 PM.
We went in with our Royal Invite.

Claire took her picture with Cinderella.

We made the walk up the stairs. My Mom and Dad weren’t too happy with the number of stairs! It did seem like an extra long flight this time around.

We were seated right by the door. The last table that the characters visited. We could see they had started making the rounds too.

We had Gustuvo again. (sp?) He was very friendly, but I think he was a bit more forgetful this time. He did seem really busy too.
We made our orders.

I started out with the Rock Shrimp Cocktail - rock shrimp with tomato marmalade.

This really wasn’t what I was expecting. I was expecting bigger shrimps I guess. It was OK. Not something I would normally order, but it tasted fine.

Mom got Mixed Greens Salad - Mixed Field Greens and fresh herbs tossed with a White Balsamic Vinaigrette.

She said it was good.

Dad had the Soup of the Day, which I think was Beef Barley.

Claire had Bite sized Cheddar Cheese and Grapes. She doesn’t like cheese so we all sampled that and she ate all her grapes.

We also got some rolls that were very good. They are off to the side in this picture.

The wishing ceremony then started and Claire took her wishing seriously.

Snow White was the first character to arrive. All I can say is I was not impressed. She talked a really high pitched baby talk. I have never heard a Snow White talk like this before, and it was really irritating. My mom even questioned it to me. We really felt like laughing at her. Claire was happy though.

Ariel was next, and she too had a baby voice. Not as bad, but it was still in baby talk. Is this a new thing? I know the cruise Princesses did NOT talk like that.

Aurora was up next and she did talk normal.

Our food then arrived. Claire got the Beef Tenderloin with corn, and instead of Mashed Potatoes we asked for fries. She got rice instead. Gustuvo said they didn’t have fries. Claire won’t eat rice either, but I didn’t worry too much. She would be fine with just the meat. It looked good to me. She probably had the best meal of all of us.

Mom I “think” had the Vegetarian "Cassoulet" - baked French-style casserole of cannelini and Garbanzo beans topped with wild mushrooms, zucchini, shallots, tomatoes, and herbs. It was some sort of pasta dish and she said it was AWFUL. She only ate about 3 bites and set it aside.

Dad had the Fried Chicken - fried chicken with a house-made Macaroni and Cheese and Cheese and Broccolini. He said it was pretty good. He wasn’t very hungry though, so he didn’t eat a lot of it. Mom ate his macaroni and cheese.

My meal was the Roasted Beef Tenderloin - sliced roasted beef tenderloin with Duchess potatoes, asparagus, and a tomato Hollandaise. The meat was good, but I could’ve done with out the sauce. It had a funny taste to me. The potatoes were fine, but they got the sauce on them, so that made them less appealing as well.

Belle was the last character to arrive. This is one of Claire’s favorites. She was happy to see her.

Dessert then arrived. Mom and Dad got Seasonal No Sugar Added Sorbet - with berries. They said this was very good!

They are being a little goofy here.

Claire got the make your own Sundae.

I got Valrhona Chocolate Mousse - A light chocolate mousse presented with berries and raspberry sauce. Definitely the best part of the meal, but it doesn’t even compare to the Chocolate Buckle they used to serve.

The kids menu.

Here is the picture they took and gave us with the meal.

I had prepaid for 3 people. Mom paid for Dad at the end of the meal. This meal for 4 was over $200. It was NOT worth it at all. The menu had changed last Fall and it is not nearly as good as what it was. The food was just not good for the most part for the money. The character interaction was not great either. I felt rushed to take a picture. They were there only a short time and then gone. Aurora even forgot to sign Claire’s book and I had to have a CM run it back to her to sign. It was nice to eat in the castle, and Mom and Dad were impressed with that part. They said they would never normally ever do that on their own. And Claire loved it, so that’s the only thing that made it really worth eating here. I will NOT be booking this place again though in the future unless they change the menu and /or bring back the chocolate buckle.

 

[Family Loves Disney]

I had prepaid for 3 people. Mom paid for Dad at the end of the meal. This meal for 4 was over $200. It was NOT worth it at all. The menu had changed last Fall and it is not nearly as good as what it was. The food was just not good for the most part for the money. The character interaction was not great either. I felt rushed to take a picture. They were there only a short time and then gone. Aurora even forgot to sign Claire’s book and I had to have a CM run it back to her to sign. It was nice to eat in the castle, and Mom and Dad were impressed with that part. They said they would never normally ever do that on their own. And Claire loved it, so that’s the only thing that made it really worth eating here. I will NOT be booking this place again though in the future unless they change the menu and /or bring back the chocolate buckle.

That is why I didn't make an ADR for CRT for our upcoming trip. The price keeps going up and the quality of food keeps getting worse. If you haven't experienced CRT, I would say do it once to say you have done it. If the food gets better, then we plan on doing it again in the future, but only if it gets better.

 

[Colleen27]

I had prepaid for 3 people. Mom paid for Dad at the end of the meal. This meal for 4 was over $200. It was NOT worth it at all. The menu had changed last Fall and it is not nearly as good as what it was. The food was just not good for the most part for the money. The character interaction was not great either. I felt rushed to take a picture. They were there only a short time and then gone. Aurora even forgot to sign Claire’s book and I had to have a CM run it back to her to sign. It was nice to eat in the castle, and Mom and Dad were impressed with that part. They said they would never normally ever do that on their own. And Claire loved it, so that’s the only thing that made it really worth eating here. I will NOT be booking this place again though in the future unless they change the menu and /or bring back the chocolate buckle.

We felt the same way about our lunch there. The food wasn't good for what it cost and the character interaction was really rushed. My mom was impressed with eating in the castle since it was her first time there, but that was the only real upside. We won't book it again unless DD2 asks for it when she gets a bit older.

 

[Mean Queen]

A couple of snacks from that day, that I DO not have pictures of.

1. I bought Claire a strawberry/Raspberry non-alcoholic Daiquiri in a souvenir glass before our show. I also got mom and I a Mango daiquiris in the souvenir glasses. A pink one for mom and Claire and a blue one for myself. They were all very good, but hefty in price. I think after I left a few more dollars for an extra tip (the guy was very helpful), it was close to $40 for the 3 drinks.
2. Chocolate covered Strawberries. I found these late in the evening when I had run down to guest services. I can’t remember the exact location now, but they were in the District area somewhere. I grabbed 6 for the 3 of us. I ate one when I got back to the room and they were not so good. I don’t know if they were old, or had been sitting out too long, but the actual strawberry part was mushy. My family grew strawberries…for a living…not just a garden thing…and I know what a strawberry is supposed to taste like…and these weren’t even close.
I ate another in the morning to see if that one was any better and it wasn’t. We ended up throwing the rest.

I found the chocolate covered strawberries in the Vista Cove on deck 4 and the adult Cove Cafe. Though they tended to disappear very quickly. I caught one guy taking all 6. When I did get them, they were good.

 

[BellaBaby]

Wow!! Claire could be Cinderella herself!! What a beautiful photo!! I love her dress!

Sorry the food was not as good this time. We have eaten lunch at CRT in 2007 and 2009 and the second time it was better for some reason. Based on this review, and the cost we would probably skip it next time. Although my DH loves to eat in the castle--he thinks it's cool!!

 

[Tinkermom76]

I'm sorry you didn't have a good meal at CRT

We have dinner booked there for September as a birthday request from Emma so I hope ours is good

 

[Native NYer]

Cosmic Ray's is always a safe choice at the MK.

So sorry you didn't have a great meal at CRT. And I agree that the chocolate buckle is a MUCH better dessert. We didn't book CRT this year because of our experience last summer. The character interaction felt rushed as well. I'd much rather go to 1900 Park Fare for dinner.

 

[jenseib]

That is why I didn't make an ADR for CRT for our upcoming trip. The price keeps going up and the quality of food keeps getting worse. If you haven't experienced CRT, I would say do it once to say you have done it. If the food gets better, then we plan on doing it again in the future, but only if it gets better.

I had many bad thing about it lately, especially after the menu change, but Claire kept asking to go., so I did it for her and then I figured I could decide myself. It was definately better last time we went. I jsut think the price was so high this time too. I think I'll tell her next time that we just can't do it and need to try other places. She loves character meals, so as long as we can get Akershus, we should be OK.

We felt the same way about our lunch there. The food wasn't good for what it cost and the character interaction was really rushed. My mom was impressed with eating in the castle since it was her first time there, but that was the only real upside. We won't book it again unless DD2 asks for it when she gets a bit older.

I was thinking of you the whole time. I was hoping you just had a bad day (along with many others) but it just wasn't worth the price.

I found the chocolate covered strawberries in the Vista Cove on deck 4 and the adult Cove Cafe. Though they tended to disappear very quickly. I caught one guy taking all 6. When I did get them, they were good.

I took 6 too. BUT they weren't all for me. I think we had an old batch, because the strawberries were very mushy. I basically ate the chocolate off of them.

Wow!! Claire could be Cinderella herself!! What a beautiful photo!! I love her dress!

Sorry the food was not as good this time. We have eaten lunch at CRT in 2007 and 2009 and the second time it was better for some reason. Based on this review, and the cost we would probably skip it next time. Although my DH loves to eat in the castle--he thinks it's cool!!

Thanks you. I bought that dress from another diser. I really like it, and Claire does too. She was happy there, so thats all that counts. But in the future I'm gonna save my money. I can buy a
Dooney purse for that amount of money.

I'm sorry you didn't have a good meal at CRT

We have dinner booked there for September as a birthday request from Emma so I hope ours is good

Give it a try. The kids will most likely like it. I suggest the chicken that my dad had. It looked good. I didn't eat any, so don't know for sure, but if you go for the beef, ask for it without the sauce.

 

[jenseib]

Cosmic Ray's is always a safe choice at the MK.

So sorry you didn't have a great meal at CRT. And I agree that the chocolate buckle is a MUCH better dessert. We didn't book CRT this year because of our experience last summer. The character interaction felt rushed as well. I'd much rather go to 1900 Park Fare for dinner.

We've done 1900 PF a couple of times and love it there too.
I miss the chocolate buckle. I kep looking for a recope for it and have never found one. It was the best dessert ever.

 

[Woth2982]

We also didn't have a great experiance at the Castle. We did the breakfast and the food was kinda blah. The only reason we did it was because we had the deluxe dining plan so we were doing one meal a day using 2 TS meals. If I had to pay OOP again for a dining experience I will pick HDDR. We thought the characters weren't that interactive as well, but I did chalk that up to it being we were two adults. For the price you pay you would THINK that they would be more attentive, and they REALLY need to change the menu. We had a better breakfast at 1900 PF than CRT and that was only 1 ts meal.

 

[dizneeat]

Apart from your mum and dad's dessert the food at CRT looks totally different from what we had last summer. We had a later reservation and the princesses seemed rushed there too, especially since it was all adults at our table and we all got up to have our photos taken with them!

Claire looks adorable in her princess dress!

 

[mom2rtk]

Jen, sorry you were disappointed in CRT. I think many of the character meals are pretty rushed any more. It just seems to be really hit or miss. What was it like having the windows covered on the back of the castle? For me, much of the appeal of CRT is the view. I'd be really disappointed without it.

Claire looks SO grown up in her Cinderella costume! Did you make it to get the photopass photos?

And did she pick the blonde hair this time or did you? You know, that pink hair from your last trip sort of grew on me!