Cinderella's Royal Table is one of the hardest reservation to obtain at Walt Disney World. Back in the day, before the dining reservation website existed, we used to have to call the Disney Reservation phone line and wait hours to hopefully get a reseration. Now the reservations are mostly done through the online portal (https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/). If you call the customer service hotline now, you will get about the same results as just searching yourself. Right now, reservations open up 60 days out. I describe the reservation process down at the bottom of this post.
Since my family had already eaten here previously, we decided to split up. I took my daughter while the boys pursued roller coaster options instead. Toddlers under 3 eat here for free (you will see their option later). The dining price is the same no matter what time of day you choose to eat here (currently $39 for ages 3-9 and $60 for ages 10 and up). Alcohol/cocktail options are available for extra charges. The breakfast is a typical Disney breakfast but picky eaters might be better off at this time.
My Review:
You will check in to the restaurant at the table on the outside right inside Cinderella's Castle. You will need to park your stroller outside. They will escort you inside to the waiting room.
Your family will wait here until your family is called to go upstairs to the dining room. Overall, we waited almost an hour despite our reservation time.
While your family waits, you will line up to meet Cinderella. They do have a photopass person who can also take pics with your phone. This will feel a bit rushed, resist the urge. Take your time, get your picture done to your needs. We had Cinderella sign our frame as my daughter is super-shy. Cinderella does not stay here long and will come and go.
Here are some pictures of the first floor. Feel free to take pictures with the props.
When the hostess calls your family name out, you will be given a ticket and told to go upstairs. There is an elevator available or you can take the spiral staircase up (here is a family waiting to take the elevator).
The spiral stairs are narrow and steep. You will pass a landing which contains the bathrooms. Then you will hand the person at the top your ticket.
We lucked out and got a window seat. Since we were eating dinner, we were able to watch the sunset (and the fireworks prep team work).
Now, the important part. There are several princesses who will visit each table, taking pictures, and signing autographs. Disney (nor the staff) will not comment on who will visit. We saw Snow White, Aurora, Ariel (in a gown), and Jasmin (in a gown). During our visit, they did not come to our table until we had eaten our meal (about an hour after we were seated). I mention this because you need to prepare for a very long dining experience.
Can you meet these princesses outside this restaurant? YES! Snow White, Aurora and Jasmine all meet in Epcot. Snow White and Aurora wear the same outfit. Ariel only meets in her dress at Aukerhaus or Cinderella's Royal Table. She meets in Magic Kingdom in her mermaid outfit.
Adult Menu.
Here are the items that I selected: Grilled Jumbo Shrimp, Grilled Beef Entree, and Cheesecake Dessert. The food is very good but small portions.
This is the Children's Menu. You can order off this for $39 and for children under 10.
For toddlers under 3 years old, there is a free meal option which consists of one chicken tender and small bowl of mashed potatoes.
Here are some pictures of the dining room.
Each person at your table will receive a wishing star trinket and a wand or sword (your choice).
There is a very confusing, unstructured parade that is performed during the meal where the visiting princess will take your child to the back of the room and have them hold their star trinket up. Was a bit frightening and confusing for my toddler. They didn't ask my permission ahead of time or during. If this could distress your child, mention it to your wait-person ahead of time.
My Overall Review:
If your children enjoy meeting princesses and have a lot of patience, and your budget allows, this is an amazing experience. The decor is gorgeous. The good, although small portions, is delicious. It is a very slow dining experience and just for the two of us took about three hours in total. We left just in time to watch fireworks outside (behind the castle). Splitting our party up worked great because my boys had no interest in meeting the princesses and found some other things to do/food to eat. Having a smaller party actually made it easier to book a reservation too.
How to book dining reservations:
Head to the Disney Go portal (
https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/). Click on "Things to Do" menu link at the top. Select "All Dining" option. (If you select "Make Reservations", it will not allow you to pick the restaurant you want, it will only search what is available for a particular day/time and number of guests).
A listing of all the currently available restaurants in Walt Disney World will show up. To reduce the number shown, click the Character Dining option.
Look for Cinderella's Royal Table option. Click it.
It will load the restaurant information page. You can find the menu, prices, and then finally the check availability button.
When you click the "Check Availability" button, it will open a window to enter the number of guests, date, and time. It will search for open slots. This restaurant has a very small capacity, so it is quite a challenge to find open tables. Even if you search for a party of 1, it might be a challenge especially around busy dates (like holidays).
No open slots during your search?
Keep coming back every single day, throughout the day. People cancel their reservations all the time and you might get lucky and find an opening.
What to do if you cannot find an open reservation before your trip?
Disney allows same-day cancellations. So keep checking the Disney App to see if someone has cancelled their reservations.
