Torn about CRT

[Andrea73]

I am just not sure about this one. I plan on doing dinner at CRT. I think the girls would love eating in the castle. But I plan to do Akershus breakfast too.

I guess my issue is the bad reviews it seems to have gotten in the last year. It seems like things may be a bit "off" there and if I may that much for a meal, I want the food and the service to be good.

This is our 1st trip to Disney, but it won't be our last. I am not sure if I should spend $170 or 2 DDPs on this one.

I WANT to go, but I don't want to be disappointed or worse furious over a bad meal that cost a pretty penny.

 

[Serling126]

I was in the same boat you are! I decided to do Akershus instead of CRT... I know it would have been cool to eat at the castle, but the prices are nuts and from the descriptions I have read, it seems that there are the same amount of characters at both (although there is a better ratio of diners to characters at CRT). My girls are still little, so there is no way they will eat $22 worth of food at CRT (that includes the picture package but we don't need it). Maybe we will eat at CRT at our next visit just to say that we have eaten in the castle

 

[thehails]

I had waited 2 visits to get to go to CRT (for lunch) and finally got there in January this year! I was so excited (yep big kid) and happily put up with the moaning from my 2 DS's However what a huge disappointment it was. They gave us 2 few starters & brought more partway through the meal - the main courses were brought out before the starters were finished - the major domo pie was burnt on the bottom - the servcie was poor - had to constantly ask for drinks to be topped up etc.

In truth it felt like you were in a cattle yard - being pushed through as quickly as they possibly could - the princesses spent seconds at each table - i was so disappointed.

It was lovely to sit in the castle - but not a magical meal like i had hoped.

 

[Andrea73]

Maybe we can do 1900 Park one night instead. I wanted our last nights dinner to be in the park and with the princesses, but I am really uneasy about the CRT thing. I could put that money toward MVMCP instead. It's to the point that between, MVMCP, HDD & CRT, something has to go.

 

[Missytara]

Maybe we can do 1900 Park one night instead. I wanted our last nights dinner to be in the park and with the princesses, but I am really uneasy about the CRT thing. I could put that money toward MVMCP instead. It's to the point that between, MVMCP, HDD & CRT, something has to go.

We did 1900 Park Faire and Akerhaus this year; both experiences were wonderful. They spent a lot of time at the tables.....

The evil stepsisters and stepmother are hilariously funny...... at 1900. And we even got to see Mary Poppins at Akerhaus, as well as having our picture taken with Belle........ I have it on my desk and look at it every day.

 

[Chloesmom]

Maybe we can do 1900 Park one night instead. I wanted our last nights dinner to be in the park and with the princesses, but I am really uneasy about the CRT thing. I could put that money toward MVMCP instead. It's to the point that between, MVMCP, HDD & CRT, something has to go.

We always do Akershus... it is always a great experience. The service is always good as well.
Park Fare is a must do for us also. I will be honest.. the food is ok.. not terrible.. but not WOW. But its the only place you can meet the Prince and the step sisters are hysterical!!!! Its always a very enjoyable evening.
We have booked CRT this trip also and I am not too sure about it. Last time we went 3 years ago it was terrible.. swore I would never go back.. ever.. but we are on the DxDp and Dd wanted to go so they get one more chance. We almost did breakfast but decided on dinner instead.

 

[pixiepirate]

You might consider breakfast at CRT instead of dinner, especially if you can get an early ADR. When my sister and I went the restaurant was just starting to fill up. We had plenty of time with the Princesses and a lovely table by the window overlooking Fanstasyland. I find there's not much they can do to screw up a breakfast meal so we often choose that option for our character meals. We enjoyed the experience immensely.

 

[MrsLS]

I can't comment on the restaurants but as far as paying oop or using 2 credits, which one is the better value? Where are you going to use the 2 TS credits if you don't use them now? Would you spend more or less looking at the menus, this is the way you should decide.

 

[Andrea73]

For me, paying OOP for CRT would be the better value, one reason is it includes tax & gratuity and for all 4 it would be $170.

That is equal to two $85 meals and you are hard pressed to find table service that comes out to less than $85 including tax & gratuity. Especially among the buffet places, which are what I am leaning toward. The plated kids meals are not going to appeal to my kids after a day or two. Neither eat mac & cheese and one does not like chicken. (How can you NOT like chicken??) But they will both eat things like salmon,shrimp, and steak. I would come out paying more OOP for TS two dinners than for CRT.

 

[jeepgirl30]

I took DD for breakfast to CRT and paid out of pocket instead of the 2 DDP credits per.

DD was so overwhelmed by everything she barely touched her food. My DD is an eater, she loves her breakfast! The attention from each princess was amazing. I did not feel rushed at all and felt the attention from the princesses was worth every penny. Don't even remember the food. I didn't go there for the food quality, I went for DD to eat in a castle and be a princess.

For our April trip, we are not on the DP and going to try Akershus this time for lunch.

The castle was worth it for the special mommy/daughter trip but I don't see taking DH there! DS would probably be okay with it but I can't see spending that money again.

 

[Twitterpated!]

I understand your being torn, I was too. We brought my DD to the CRT breakfast back in 2007, when she was 3. We paid OOP. Like a PP said, breakfast is a much safer bet, because it is harder to screw up. I thought the food was on par to the other breakfasts we had attended, and I actually found that the service was quite good and the princess interaction was the same for us at the castle as it was at Akershus. My only problem with the castle experience, was Cinderella. I don't know how to say this without sounding mean, but she was overweight, unattractive and not friendly at all. I think WDW must have been short on Cinderellas that day or something, because I can't imagine why they would cast her in the role. I don't think it was her regular gig. This bothered me tremendously, because the selling point of the castle meal is the picture package! I got my DD all dressed up in her Cindy costume and was hoping for a nice picture to have framed. The picture left a lot to be desired!

So now fast forward to three years later. We are going back for the first time. My DD is 6 years old and she does not remember being in the castle. I missed the ADR date to reserve breakfast or lunch, so I reserved Akershus and 1900 Park Fare. Then it was announced that the princesses would be at the Castle dinner as well. I decided to book it and take my chances on the food, because when it came down to it, I just don't have the heart to take my DD into the Magic Kingdom and then tell her that we cannot go inside the Castle! (I know, she has me wrapped around her finger.) We are doing the DxDP so we have the credits to spare. I feel a little bit better about using the credits on dinner than I would for breakfast, because it is more money, but my husband and I are foodies, and we are gearing ourselves up for a major disappointment. But hey, I made the reservation for our first night, so we will be so happy to be there, I have a feeling we won't care what we are eating! (And then we have much better dinners to look forward to the rest of the week!)

I say, if you can afford it and your kids really want it, then book it. The next time we will probably get back to WDW, my DD will be at least 10 years old. We can choose to be more frugal then.

 

[DVCBELLE]

I just looked in another thread to see your girl's ages....go on this trip.

I would go for breakfast and pay OOP. Your 9 year old will probably be too old for the awe of the castle but your 5 year old is that perfect age. If you wait for another trip to eat there - she will be too old. There is such a small window where they get that feeling in the castle. Your 9 year old will have fun but your 5 year old will believe she is in Cinderella's castle and that is an experience she won't get if you wait for another trip. My DD LOVES Disney but 6 was her last trip when she went crazy over the princesses. Take them now but definately go for breakfast b/c the food is nothing to write home about but it is really hard to mess up breakfast and you will regret paying for dinner.

 

[DW2010]

I'm in the exact same position as you. I can make my ressies at the end of this month, so now I'm really trying to decide...lol. My DD loves her princesses, but I think one princess meal is plenty. We are definitely going to Akershus breakfast . I wanted to possibly go to CRT since we're taking DD to BBB, but am leaning towards it not being worth it. Maybe we'll go in a couple of years when she can really remember it. She'll be just a few days shy of 4 when we go this September.

 

[avahoneybee]

I don't think CRT is worth 2 dining credits. I'm sure you will be pleased with Akershus (the photo they give with the package is nice) and dd was able to see all the princesses.

 

[grace&philipsmom]

We love CRT. We have eaten there 4 times over the past 3 years and have never had a bad experience. The food has always been good, the service has been great and the character interaction fantastic. DD will be 7 on our next trip and it is the one princess restaurant she still wants to go back to.

Akershus is a good second choice, but you can't beat the experience of eating in Cinderella's castle.

 

[jenseib]

I would go. We did dinner last year, and loved it. We had one of the last ADR's of the night. While we were waiting to be seated, Cinderella came over and sat with DD and talked to her till the very last family had arrived. I would say at least 5 minutes. DD was in heaven. Our food was good, we enjoyed the little show (which is no longer being done) and the dessert was to die for. We had an awesome waiter as well. We never felt rushed once. Now this isn't something we will do every trip. But I will like to try it again sometime with the actual princess greets.
We also did 1900 PF and Akershus last trip as well. We enjoyed them as well.

 

[avahoneybee]

Is the CRT food still pre-plated? We went a while ago for breakfast and the food wasn't very good.

 

[Familyof4lovesDW]

I would absolutly do it if you have not done it before. If paying oop do breakfast if using dining plan do dinner (better value for 2 credits). I actually think my DH enjoyed it the most, maybe he has a thing for Cindy I think he thought it was neat to eat in the castle and our food was really good. I enjoyed it as well and so did DD4, DS5 was sick from the heat so he would not have enjoyed anything that night, so we want to try it again so he can have a better experience and try it with the princesses. We are also trying Akhurst on our next trip, we have never been. We enjoyed 1900 also, the character interaction was great.

 

[korie]

We were there last week for breakfast and it was wonderful! We had a wonderful table by the window, 8:05 seating, we were the 4th table that all the princesses came to and our server was very attentive. The food was delicious I thought - one of the best meals we had! We were done by 8:50 and made it downstairs for rope drop at the castle, ahead of the rest of the crowd. It was by far one of our best days there! We were on the DDP, but ended up paying OOP for CRT.

 

[jenseib]

Not sure what you mean? There are several items to chose from (for dinner at least) and it does come out on a plate yes. I had soup for a starter, and Prime Rib with potatoes and I think green beens for dinner. I know we did make ome sort of substitute for DD's dinner, but can't remember what.