I have two kiddos, neither one of them are huge princess fans. DD8 told me, “mom, I’m NOT one of those princess girls, you know that, right? Except, um, Anna and Elsa. We can meet them.” LOL. Anyway, I get the feeling that once we get there and we start meeting a few characters, DD8 is going to start wanting to meet some other princesses… at least Rapunzel and Jasmine. And I’m pretty sure DS5 and DH wouldn’t mind going up into the castle.
Anyway, CRT wasn’t on our list of must do’s, but now I’m wondering if it should be. I have an open dinner slot on our MK day (we’ll be doing pre-RD BOG and then midday break), there’s an ADR open for 4:30 (when we expect to start our evening), and I have two dining credits I can use out of our plans. So should I use them? Is it worth it for non-princess crazy kids? Or should I just skip it and use the credits/time elsewhere?
Oh, and it says “Advanced Payment Required” on that one. Is that true when you’re using the DDP, too?
I love CRT, and it is a fun experience to be able to go up into the castle. But being that Anna, Elsa, and Rapunzel aren’t there, you may want to skip this one. I think Jasmine is usually there, though. If it weren’t for the atmosphere and the princesses, I would probably not go there; it’s a bit expensive for the food you get.
If you do decide to go, the advanced payment does not apply if you’re on the DDP, so you don’t have to worry about that.
You’re right. I see that on the website too. Maybe they’ve changed it and they include Rapunzel now. The last time we were there it was about a year ago.
I made this reservation a few weeks ago and they secured my reservation with 2 credits from my dining plan. I did ask about changing my mind and paying out of pocket instead and was told that I could make that decision on the day we dine.
Not worth it at all to me. We were there a few weeks ago and the princesses we saw were: Cinderella, Snow White, Jasmine, Little Mermaid, And Aurora. I didn’t think the food was that good. Totally paying for experience. Next time I will try Akershus at Epcot for Princesses with one dining credit.
For the price that it is, I feel like there are so many other dining options that I would do over CRT; however, because it was my kids’s first time and eating inside the castle with Cinderella would be so iconic and fitting for a first trip, I decided to do it. I did love it and my smaller kids (DS4 & DD2) were over the moon about all the princesses and the wishing star they got and the wand/sword that came with it, and just being in the castle, so it was pretty magical.
We saw Ariel, Jasmine, Aurora and Snow White when we went and that was great for who my kids love, although Rapunzel could have easily replaced Jasmine or Snow White and my kids would have been equally happy. We did see Rapunzel for sure in the meet & greet, but this was the only way we saw Jasmine.
On our last trip we did Akershus and CRT. I personally LOVED Akershus and thought that the castle was okay. I thought the interaction with the princesses was not as rushed at Akershus and the food was much better. We also used dining credits and didn’t feel CRT was worth two.
I did CRT when I was in my early 20s. We have never done it with our children. I suppose someday we will do it, but the 2 credit cost (on DDP - and no, you do not have to pay in advance if you have a package booked with DDP) has resulted in our putting it off to this point in time.
You will ONLY meet one princess at 1900 Park Fare dinner (Cinderella), but you also will meet her stepsisters, stepmother, and prince. We LOVED 1900PF dinner (breakfast is other characters) and the character interaction was second to none. If you’re looking for an alternative, I would recommend that.
My cutie granddaughter 3 yrs seems to be getting more interested now in the princesses, tho her mother tells me not such a big deal. So I’ll play that by ear, as planning our next trip.
Just got back 2 wks ago, so of course need to plan next trip, right, Liners? haha.
She’ll probably be 5 next trip, so how do I gauge which, if any, princesses she would like to meet - that is, how important to her? This trip ducks and lizards seemed to be bigger draws, that is the ones we saw on paths etc, not Donald or anything. ha.
I say go. eating in the castle feels really special even for non princess lovers. we have done it on both of trips which were 18 months apart. I thought the food was really good.
We did it in December. We thought the food was fantastic! One of our best meals in-world. DD6 loved meeting the princesses. All of us loved the experience of being in the castle. It is a VERY expensive meal, as you know. In my mind, I’m glad we did it, but once is enough.
Thanks, all. I’m thinking maybe I should ask DH and DD, lol. You all seem split, so I guess there’s no clear cut answer on this one. This is the kids’ first time to WDW, so just trying to make sure we don’t regret missing something like this. Next time we go, they’ll be a bit bigger and it wouldn’t be the same, but I don’t want to waste time/dining credits on something they won’t care about either.
Thanks for the help! You’ve given me a bunch to think about.
I do think it can be a tough call - we were on the fence due to the 2 DDP credits. What put it over the top for use to go was the ability to get a first seating ADR to be in the park when empty, as well as our kids’ first trip so we figured we had to do it.
It was very nice, (then) DD7 loved taking the photo with Cinderella, DS10 had fun exploring. The food was tasty, although I thought the portion size was very chintzy. Didn’t know then if we could ask for more.
But, the absolute best thing to come out of it was the photo I got when they started announcing the princesses. Our daughter didn’t really get that more were coming out, and went into a trance when she heard Snow White was coming.
Best. photo. Ever. (My profile photo here.)
I don’t think we’d do it again with all the other options for us to try, but very glad we did with all things considered.
BTW, For an alternative: Everyone in our family loved Akershus breakfast - kids still talk about the goat cheese.
Since it sound like your kids are not princess crazy I would definitely skip CRT. We did it 3 times, but my daughter was crazy about all things princess at the time. They do say the princesses rotate and don’t guarantee any specific ones but every time we went it was Cinderella, Aurora, Jasmine, Ariel and Snow White, no variation. Anna and Elsa are never there and I’ve never heard of anyone seeing Rapunzel there. She is in the Fairytale Halle I think though, as are Anna and Elsa.
The food is definitely not worth 2 credits or the cash price IMO. If you’re looking for a better meal where you can meet princesses w/o the lines b/c they’ll come to your table, go to Akershus in Epcot. It’s castle and better food, one credit and you meet Belle on the way in. Then Cinderella, Aurora, Ariel and I think SW come to your table.
When we went in March 2014, we had Rapunzel at an early dinner at Cindy’s Table. We also did Akershus on that trip. We loved both and will be doing both again when we return this October. We (DH, DD 7&3, and I) love the character meals - its better than standing in line at meet & greets to see the princesses - knockout as many as we can at meals and then catch the rest in the parks… waited 3 hrs for Elsa & Ann in 2014 when there weren’t any FPP available, hope its better this time.
