Which table service restaurant in Magic Kingdom is best? I put Cinderella’s Royal Table VS Be Our Guest Restaurant against each other to see which one comes out on top.
These restaurants are two of the popular Magic Kingdom dining options. A question I hear a lot when people are planning their Walt Disney World holidays is whether to choose Cinderella’s Royal Table or Be Our Guest Restaurant.
The quick answer would be to choose both, but we know that money and time constraints make this choice difficult to achieve.
We have dined in both, on different trips and I have amazing memories of both occasions. But if you could only choose one which would it be?
Cinderella’s Royal Table Restaurant
Cinderella’s Royal Table is located in Magic Kingdom in Cinderella’s castle. The dining room entrance is at the back of the castle and as it’s a sheltered area it gets very busy when it’s a hot day or when it’s raining.
You are only able to check in for your reservation five minutes before as it is such a popular restaurant. We were looking forward to our lunch with Cinderella, but found the area surrounding the reservation desk to be very busy.
It seemed to be full of people trying to get a table without a reservation. That is almost impossible to do and you must book in advance.
Once inside the castle you walk through a short corridor past the knights and into an area to meet Cinderella. This area isn’t too busy as it’s staggered with guests with the same or very similar dining reservation times as you.
After a short wait, you will spend a minute or so chatting with Cinderella and having photos taken. You are welcome to take your own photos.
Princesses will receive a wand and a wishing star at their place before your arrive at your table. Knights receive a sword. These are great little touches that all add to the experience of dining at Cinderella’s Royal Table.
If you are on the Disney Dining plan, Cinderella’s Royal Table is a two credit table service meal which is something to consider when booking your meals. (Disney Dining Plans are currently unavailable).
Alternatively the meals will cost over $60 per adult depending on the season. Appetizers are served per table and are a sharing plate. We received salad and breads with humus, however the menu has changed slightly now and it’s a sharing plate of meats and cheeses.
Cinderella’s Royal Table menu has plenty to choose from. We found the appetisers were plenty to be nibbling at whilst we waited for our Entrees. These were chosen from the menu.
The menu holds enough different choices of meats to appeal to most people and there are allergy alternatives available upon request.
The restaurant is a very busy place and every now and again a royal fanfare will sound to signal the princesses arriving. During your meal you can expect to meet four princesses that don’t include Cinderella as you met her before the meal. (Characters are currently unavailable at Cinderella’s Royal Table).
We met Snow White, Aurora, Ariel and Jasmine, however I know Merida makes an appearance occasionally as well. The princesses are great at arriving at decent intervals and you can spot them moving around the room.
As you’re enjoying a table service meal then there is no worry about missing them if you leave for a buffet station.
Our experience of Cinderella’s Royal Table was a good experience and I talk about it in more detail here. We had an amazing experience, good service although a little rushed and the main course was average.
I’m not sure the food is worth two table service credits, however the experience was one we wouldn’t be able to recreate anywhere else. Perhaps the best time to eat at Cinderella’s Royal Table would be during the Happily Ever After fireworks show.
I also think breakfast in Cinderella’s Castle would be a good way to see Magic Kingdom park before it opens to the public.
Be Our Guest Restaurant
Be Our Guest Restaurant is slightly different to Cinderella’s Royal Table in the fact that it offers a pre fix menu. The Be Our Guest became a two service table credit meal as of Summer 2018 for dinner. (Dining plans are currently unavailable).
The Be Our Guest pre fix menu costs around $60 for adults and $35 for children aged 3-9 years old. For this price you receive three courses from a fixed menu.
To access the Be Our Guest Restaurant, you head to New Fantasyland and check in at the bridge to the castle. You then make your way across the bridge to await to be called. There are no crowds here as only dining guests are allowed beyond the check in, however there is no shade when waiting.
Inside Be Our Guest restaurant is an experience in itself. Once you have been called in you are led into the castle and seated either in the Grand Ballroom, The Gallery or the West Wing. Everyone has different preferences but personally I love the Grand Ballroom.
You are invited to wander around the restaurant after your meal however to look at everything. Something to keep in mind if you are seated near the rose in the West Wing, you are likely to have people near your table through your whole meal as they want to see the rose.
The service in Be Our Guest Restaurant was second to none. We couldn’t fault our server at all, he was very attentive without bothering us too much. The choice on the menu was greater than Cinderella’s Royal Table and I found there was more choice for children here as well.
The food was amazing, so much better quality that Cinderella’s Royal Table in my opinion, and of course where else can you expect to try the Grey Stuff.
The Beast only appears at dinner, which is something to keep in mind if you’re booking for the experience of seeing the Beast. The atmosphere was amazing and we could walk around taking it all in once we had finished. Meeting the beast is on your way out of the castle where you can stop for a photo.
Be Our Guest dining reservations are sought after and often book up quickly when they become available at 60 days in advance. It’s always worth checking for cancellations as people often change their plans.
Be Our Guest Or Cinderella’s Royal Table?
Both meals provide you with very different character experiences. Cinderella’s Royal Table is a great character meal providing a quick way to meet a lot of the princesses without waiting in line to meet them in Fairy Tale Hall.
You also get little extras in Cinderella’s Royal Table such as a souvenir wand or sword to take home. However I didn’t like the rushed feeling.
Cinderella’s Royal Table is a lot brighter than Be Our Guest restaurant, and the restaurant itself is a lot smaller. This may have been why it felt a little more rushed. Both restaurants were equally as noisy as each other.
If you’ve been faced with the choice of Cinderella’s Royal Table VS Be Our Guest Restaurant which did you choose and why?
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This is a really great comparison of the 2 restaurants Angela. We have been lucky to have dined in them both, and if I had to make a choice I would say Be our Guest just swings it for me, as the food was better. But then you can’t get a more magical experience than dining in the actual castle can you x
Has Cinderella’s Royal Table changed since 2011?
I don’t believe it was specified whether
You had breakfast or dinner, but your
Photos look like it was dinner.
When we dined for breakfast, you met many princesses. At dinner, we met Cinderella before going in, then the Fairy Godmother and mice came to the table, but no other princesses. Also you mentioned a buffet station? Just curious how much different it is now.
We had dinner in both restaurants. Our first visit in 2014 was princesses, I have never heard of the Fairy Godmother visiting, I think that would be lovely too.
We dined at Cinderella’s Castle once. Once. Never again. It’s (in my opinion) a total rip-off at two dining credits! Yes, you get to meet a lot of Disney princesses, but you can do that at Akershus for only one dining credit. It’s REALLY a rip-off if you go for breakfast unless you don’t mind paying over $100 for one adult and one child for a meal of scrambled eggs.
We went for dinner, though, and was sorely disappointed in the food. Both of us left hungry because the meal just wasn’t appetizing. You’re basically paying for the character experience and the experience of eating in Cinderella’s Castle. At a REALLY high cost!
You won’t get as many character experiences in Be Our Guest. You won’t get any if you go for lunch or breakfast. But it’s definitely an experience at a much lower cost.
With all the other places to meet Disney princesses, the Cinderella’s Table option is an over-priced waste of time and money. Time is precious at the Magic Kingdom and Cinderella’s table will take a lot of that time away from you, as well as your money or meal credits. It’s a skip for us.
aww that’s a shame you didn’t have a good experience. We paid out of pocket for our CRT meal a few years ago, and having a seven year old daughter at the time, it was magical for her, which made it worth the money for us.
Ran across this again on Pinterest and didn’t realize I’d already read it last year. So just wanted to add one more comment since things have changed since last year. Dinner at Be Our Guest has changed. They’ve totally revamped the menu and it’s now a two dining credit meal.
Does Cinderella’s Table offer dinner times at all? I booked 180 days at 6 am, which is the earliest possible time, and only breakfast and lunch times were available. I was able to book Be Our Guest at a 6:30 pm dinner time though, and I heard Be Our Guest is more popular. Odd
Hi yes Cinderella’s Royal Table also has a dinner service
After having to cancel our disney trip unexpectedly due to a death in my family, we scrambled to get dining last minute on our trip re-do 2 months later. We planned lunch at Be R Guest and it was the most magical experience I have ever had. My daughter slipped a note to our server that it was my birthday and they brought out a tray of amazing treats. I left money to pay them, and on our way leaving the manager found us and returned the money I had left. The food is great and the service was even better. I will go back every visit.
That’s a lovely happy ending to your meal. Sorry to hear of your loss though