After studying all the menus and such, I decided for my picky eaters that breakfast was the meal most likely to please everyone. I was able to book a breakfast for 9am on the last day of our trip, Oct. 4th. In order to secure your reservation, since this place is the equivalent of Fort Knox, you must pay for the meal when you reserve your time. I knew we would be on a dining plan (which takes two table service credits from each member of your party), so I rested in the fact that the $175.86 would be refunded. I also was quite proud of the fact that I had finally made a reservation at the Castle. I can't believe I was able to reserve Be Our Guest when it first opened easier than the Cinderella's. There must be something to the slipper losing princess.
My boys are such good sports. They truly are very thoughtful and understanding, sometimes, to remembering that their mother is (when the room is divided between the sexes) a girl. And sometimes she needs a dash of princess frills in what is otherwise her male-centered world. They were ready to sacrifice their manliness to see what the inside of the Castle looked like, and was even brave enough to face a few princesses. Of course being the evil parents we are, we teased them by saying that this was probably the perfect place to meet a future wife. Pure evil.
We arrived and made our way down a deserted Main Street U.S.A. and entered into the Castle. We were ushered into the drawing room for a photo with the hostess herself, Cinderella. We allowed our sons to have that honor. After the photo we were given the choice to take the red velvet stairs or the elevator up to the dining hall. Since we had enjoyed a great many desserts on our trip, we opted for the stairs.
We were greeted at the top and shown to a table. Once seated our boys were given toy swords. Drink orders were taken and a plate of breakfast pastries were brought to our table, complete with Mickey blueberry muffins.
Even though they were shaped in his favorite character, Luke had already decided in his stubborn six-year old way, that these muffins were not good. I'm here to attest that yes, they are quite tasty, along with the strawberry tart I tried. Sam swore the cinnamon rolls were wonderful. Chuck and I were given menus to choose our entrees. I decided to go with the steak and eggs, while he chose the lobster and crab crepes. Our boys were brought the standard children's breakfast which consists of French toast sticks, bacon, and scrambled eggs. I'm pretty sure that I have the only two children on the planet that do not like scrambled eggs or French toast. Our waitress was very understanding and brought out more items that they did like such as the bacon and cinnamon rolls.
Chuck stated, that after all the places we ate during our vacation, this meal was his favorite and best by far. His crepes were warm cheese-filled with spinach, sautéed lobster and blue crab meat. These crepes were topped off with a poached egg and Hollandaise sauce. Chuck said that he could not eat them fast enough. They were beyond fantastic and some of the best food one could find at a character meal.
I ordered my steak cooked medium. It was a beautiful filet on a frittata that had a slight chipotle flavor, with caramelized onions, roasted tomatoes, and rosemary potatoes.
My filet mignon was very tender, cooked as requested and was very flavorful. This was definitely something that belonged in a signature dining restaurant. The frittata added just enough heat to the filet. I've never been a big fan of rosemary, but the potatoes were very tasty and were not heavily seasoned with the spice. I was along the same mindset of Chuck, in that this was by far the best meal we had eaten on our vacation. Our sons were not as thrilled with not being able to choose a different breakfast, or the inability to change the way their eggs were cooked. They prefer eggs cooked over-easy. This was the only complaint we had with Cinderella's Royal Table. For adults, and probably the normal child, this is by far the best breakfast in Walt Disney World, especially the Magic Kingdom. I now see why it is such a coveted reservation.
While we ate, and our boys examined their swords, princesses began to descend upon our table. We were visited by Snow White, Ariel, Sleeping Beauty, and Jasmine. Along with the swords, our boys were each given a wishing star. During a period of time where the princesses went away to do whatever princesses do, the children were asked to take their wishing stars, hold them up, close their eyes, and make a wish. It was cute to see many little ones wishing as hard as they could with their little plastic stars. These along with the swords (girls get magic wands) and photos with Cinderella are yours to take home. Chuck and I made ourselves leave our fabulous plates and began the long walk back to the resort to being the process of our return home.
Cinderella's Royal Table is a beautiful place. I love the huge windows which overlook Fantasyland. Banners and shields adorn the stone walls and help give the illusion that you are in a castle of old. The tapestries in the drawing room depict the story of Cinderella. I would love to try and eat here for dinner. I have always loved how the back of the castle looked at night all lit up. My inner child was more than satisfied with my experience here. My mature side thoroughly enjoyed the food. It is by far a special dining experience.
Between your excellent columns on the restaurants and Robert Niles' terrific analytical essays the last few days, this has been the most wonderful week of reading on TPI. The only thing missing is a Bobbi Butterfield column (another favorite writer of mine). Keep up the great work and give us more of your amazing restaurant columns!!! I am officially a big fan!!! :)
Glad you got to be Princess Amanda among all those swashbucklers! :-)
Okay, so, it has been a Disney dream of mine for a while to take my wife to the Castle for dinner so that she can feel like a princess, too (and of course that woul dinclude a night in the Dream Suite)! But, yes, it is so very hard to get reservations to this place and I have not been successful to date (although, I do not go to Disney World as often as I would like - yet). It is wonderful to hear that it is more worth the effort than I thought.
One question I have though, Amanda - you say that as an adult it appealed to you as a restruant and that your inner child was "more than satisfied" But did the experiance - for you - bring out YOUR inner princess? is this a place that - despite being a "character meal" - you would go to without your sons?
Please -- write more! I can be a tad selfish at times. :)
@Tad. It did bring out the princess in me. All that was missing was a beautiful ball gown and a tiara. If I were to go for a romantic meal with my husband, I think I would prefer dinner. I can only imagine how lovely it is then. Plus, I can't feel all lovey dovey early in the morning ;)
As ususal, this is not officially confirmed and plans can change (they practically always do for Disney), but the main idea itself is indeed true.
The semi-private things is interesting. Maybe if people have to pay some kind of dinner theater fee to eat there that they will be able to afford to bring back the actors of the old Adventurers Club. Semi-private could mean that it's not a restaurant that guests could walk up and eat in, but that they must have a reservation and that there is a special entertainment surcharge in there. I know of a lot of dinner theater places like this. You pay a ticket price to sit at the table and you have to then order a minimum of something.
I think realistically this is the only way the financials would ever work out to bring anything like the Adventurers Club back. I know I would be thrilled if I could experience that place. i never got to eat there but have heard such great things.
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The restaurant itself was gorgeous and I remember loving the atmosphere. But I also remember thinking the food was only "meh". I was glad we had the chance to eat there, but wasn't dying to ever go back. Maybe that's the flip side -- now you have to really have your act together to get a reservation there, but at least it sounds like the food is worth it once you do :-).