CRT - time suggestions

[Diyara]

Hallo everybody,

i got a question regarding the best time to do Cinderellas Royal Table.

After our cruise, we will spent some days at WDW. 2 Days will be in Magic Kingdom, one of them will be the day we arrive back from our cruise.
I found 2 available time windows. - One is for the day we arrive back from the cruise (we stay on property in Caribbean Beach resort and will take the Disney busses from port to WDW) at 2:45 for a late Lunch. - I feel like it would be bit of a rush but since we have to be of the ship in the early morning we should arrive at WDW early enough to do this time. - Any experience?

The second time is 8:25 on our 4 day of our stay at WDW, so likely during the fireworks? I´m bit scared that it will be to late for our almost 5 year old to enjoy the Princess Dinner and everything that comes with it and that we "miss" the fireworks (which we could probably watch the first day we arrive)

Any input or experience is much aprecciated. Time wise it will be in March, i know i´m late to the game regarding times, that´s why there is not much left, but we just decided to do WDW after the cruise.

Thank you very much!

 

[Nancyg56]

I am inclined to keep the first day, late lunch. I am no fan of rushing, however I do not like to chance fate with tired kiddos. Either way you miss something, one fireworks and the other the parade. Personally, I would try for Akershus breakfast on your Epcot day, and skip CRT The interaction is awesome, the food is as decent as breakfast goes, (I love th echocolate bread) and Belle is there.

 

[B. Shoe]

We just returned from a 5-day trip, and had a 2:30 lunch reservation at CRT. We thoroughly enjoyed what was a late lunch for us, and DD10 cleared out her entire appetizer, entree and half of her dessert. I have a 10-year-old. I know what her energy level was at the parks at 8:30 most nights. You know your child best, but if you're focused on maximizing the experience of the CRT meal and character interactions, I'd say lunch is the way to go based on my small sample size.

 

[AngieInOH]

Personally I would take the late ADR to be there during the fireworks. It was truly magical for my girls when we did it! Keep it a secret and she will be so surprised!!

 

[marchingstar]

i haven’t cruised before, but from an experience perspective i think the lunch would be such a fun “welcome back to land” activity. i bet it would feel so magical for your 5 year old to be welcomed by her favourite characters!

when will you be at your resort? what kind of tight timing are we talking? as long as you have the 90 minutes disney suggests budgeting for transportation, i would stick with the lunch.

 

[Capitalangel]

You will be off the ship very early in the day ( by 9/10 am if you have the first dinner seating) from my experience. We have not taken the bus back to Disney after but I believe they leave as they fill. Having said all that, I don’t think you will be rushed to make a 2:45 ADR but you might be very tired since breakfast is early on the ship the last day. You will also need a snack because you will not have eaten since early as well.

I also agree that the night one ( at least for my two boys) would be a no go especially near the end of a trip where they are tired from all the activity. I would hate to pay that much and have a cranky or sleepy child if they are not used to being up so late.

 

[ENJDisneyFan]

I would choose the late lunch on arrival day. It seems like a great way to kick off the “land” portion of your trip, and, for my kids, the 8:25pm reservation would have been too late at that age. Plus unless you have a window seat I don’t think the fireworks view is very good. I’d much rather watch from outside the castle.

 

[JMommyof3]

I'm in the late lunch after cruise camp. We were in HS by 1pm after taking the shuttle back to WDW after our cruise. Also, we had a late night dinner and our reservation was delayed by almost 30 minutes. It was our first night in the parks so a 10:30 dining wasn't awful (we are from California so it was really our 7:30 dinnertime) but just something to consider after a long trip and day for your daughter.

 

[Diyara]

Thank you everybody for your input
I really like the idea about the “welcome back to land” activty. Our daughter doesn´t know what i planned, she just knows that we will be going to disney world. It will be her first time! I think i´m more excited to see how she will react, than i´m excited going there myself . The only thing, i really don´t know, what time people usually are back at WDW after leaving the cruise. Last time we did it, we first went to WDW and then on the cruise (little one wasn´t born that time).

Thank you again!