{Disney 2018] Day 5 - Dining in Cinderella's Castle

While our Disney trips are very much family vacations, I do admit to planning around the girls wishes.  In my opinion, the benefit of a Disney vacation is that it's fun for both children and adults.  Actually, that's not even my opinion; it's the truth.  Think about it.  There are plenty of adults without children who vacation at Disney.  There are even adults who leave their children at home!  We have visited several smaller theme parks, which cater to younger children, in New England, and while those trips have been tolerable because I love seeing my kids enjoy themselves, they just don't compare to Disney.

It's a running joke around here now that, for every Disney trip, I make a dining reservation for Cinderella's Royal Table and justify the cost with the statement that this will be the last year the girls will want to dine there so we have to do it.

Cinderella's Royal Table is a table service restaurant located inside Cinderella's castle.  If you are on a dining plan, a meal here will use up two of your credits.  When not using a dining plan, you are required to pay in full when you make your dining reservation.  (You will receive a full refund if you cancel within 24 hours of your reserved dining time.)

After being welcomed into the castle, you are greeted by Cinderella.  Disney used to give you a printed copy of your photo with Cinderella and then someone high up decided a good way to cut costs would be to eliminate that photo.  As always, you can take these photos with your own camera.  Do not be intimidated by the PhotoPass photographer, especially if you don't plan to purchase any photos from Disney.  I always step right up and take the photos I want.  The majority of the photographers will stay out of your way.  I have run into a few who are a bit pushy but I stand my ground.

While I do have a photo of the girls with Cinderella, I won't be sharing today because not everyone looks perfect.

So let's talk about the food served here.  Included in the cost are three courses:  appetizer, entree and dessert.



I went with the salad and it was very tasty.  I hate to waste food but the serving size here was a bit too much for me to finish knowing I had an entree and dessert coming my way.  Since I've been at home and not in an office, I've mostly transitioned to eating smaller meals and snacks throughout the day.



As we were eating our appetizers, Snow White stopped by.



As you can see, the lighting at our table was not so great.  We were seated on the inside of the restaurant far away from the windows and while Allie and Anna have natural light on them, Emily and SW do not.



For my entree, I always order the chicken.



I thought this was tasty too.



Next up was Aurora.  



And then Ariel.



And finally Jasmine.



Checking wait times as we discuss what to do after dinner.



Dessert was the only disappointment.  I like sweet, really sweet, and none of these jumped out at me as a dessert I would want to order.  I probably should have gone with The Clock Strikes Twelve but I'm not a fan of dark chocolate.  I ended up ordering the cheesecake and it was just okay.



See the cupcake?



When we checked into our resort, the cast member had noted that it was my birthday.  It wasn't and I told her that, but because it was in their system, cast members at every table service restaurant wished me a happy birthday.  Even though our waiter knew it wasn't really my birthday, he still brought out a birthday cupcake with my dessert.  (I thought the cupcake was better than the cheesecake.)

I attempted to photograph the decorate your cupcake dessert which the girls all requested.  I'm assuming two cupcakes are given in case the child dislikes chocolate or vanilla.  The out of focus portion of the plate holds frosting and sprinkles in which to decorate the cupcakes.



I do want to comment on service at the table service restaurants.  We ate at four table service restaurants this trip and service was fantastic at all of them.  My drink was refilled at exactly the right time without me having to ask and, in my book, that is attentive service.  I can't stand when my drink starts to get low and our server has seeming disappeared and I have to ration out what I have remaining in my glass. (Restaurant pet peeve.)


Happy girl!

Up next:  The end of our trip.

To read all entries from this trip report and previous trip reports, click here.