Is Cinderella's Round Table worth it for a family on a budget?

[mom2diskids]

By put it on the credit card, I mean charge it now (trip is in August) and pay it off when my husband gets his Christmas bonus. We will have to charge some of the food anyway because we recently had some unexpected bills, but I'd rather not put so much extra on the credit card.

And are you sure that tips are included? I was assuming we'd be tipping on top of the advertised price.

Tip is definetly included. We had lunch there on Sunday and the server told us at the end of the meal that tip was included and we were all set.

 

[Sandiz08]

Our kids loved it when they were younger and we loved the food at dinner time. At those ages, go ahead and do it because they will get to a certain age where it might not be as magical!

 

[Robbie Cottam]

The royal table is one of the few places at Disney were I feel like I have never had a good meal. I have gone there maybe 5 times over 10 years nothing ever changed. At least not for the better. I was so glad when the kids told me they were to old to go there.

We also always got the dinning plan and I always felt like I got no value for the money.

Goto Norway, much better princess breakfast, lunch or dinner

 

[Geomom]

Just be aware that currently you only meet Cinderella in the lobby area, then go upstairs and have the meal. The princesses are not yet visiting tables. The price is actually cheaper right now because of that, usually lunch/dinner for adults would be in the $74 range. This could change at any time (although with prepaying, you could get a bonus if they add characters later--characters for a cheaper price!)

I just booked lunch earlier this week, total was $308.76 for 4 adults, includes tax and gratuity. The base amount listed ($62/adult for lunch/dinner) is before tax/tip is added.

It is a unique dining experience, being in the castle.

 

[annadreamsofdisneyworld]

I would say not a chance it is worth it If you have to wait 6months to pay it off. You just said you got hit with unexpected bills which have already made the food budget push you into debt. Clearly this is not a good time to splurge on a trip in the first place. However if you are choosing to splurge on the trip anyway then it is critical not to dig an even deeper hole. What if new “unexpected” bills occur? Illnesses, injuries, broken items to be repaired at home, war raising gas and food etc, or all of them and more hitting you in the next six months. If you don’t go to CRT and other extravagant meals then the worst you can say is “we had a great trip at Disney world” on the flip side if you are careless on this trip you could end up with mountains of debt that crush you for the next 5 years, piling up and have long term significant consequences to everyone in your family-possibly piling up so that you need to work longer hours etc and the kids have less family time as a result. There is no comparison between the risks vs benefits here. None at all.

My advice is to focus on eating cheap, bring snacks and choose sit downs where you can split. If people aren’t real hungry when you sit, there are a lot of great restaurant experiences without prefixe prices you can focus on, share and enjoy it on the ultra cheap. Ideally stay somewhere you can cook in the room offsiteas much as possible but regardless the goal should obviously be to budget tightly not bury your family for a marginally improved experience. The trip itself is the splurge, approaching it with the mindset to go all out since “we are on vacation,” when already in a hole is extremely dangerous imo.


A final push: keep this in perspective. You will walk up a windy staircase, sit at a table, some ladies in make believe outfits will walk by and wave at you and you will eat mediocre food and get a plastic wand while looking out a distant window at the same views you had before you got to your table.

Then make a list of all the things you don’t need to pay significantly more for-parades, splitting desert at an occasional nice restaurant, seeing ladies in make believe outfits waving at you, rides, shows, etc etc. the core of the trip will be unaffected if you are careful with your budget, putting your families financial stability in jeopardy for those marginal improvements is pure insanity.

I feel like you're judging me for choosing to charge some of the meals, and that isn't really anyone's business than ours. I was just asking if this particular meal was worth it. The hotel and flights are already paid for, and suddenly the IRS decided we owe an extra $2000 from 2 years ago. That's the problem. But at this point we are already committed to go. My husband gets a large Christmas bonus and will be able to pay anything off then. I do understand your thoughts about money because I am normally extremely cautious with money, but we have put off this trip for several years due to covid, and we are all excited, and I'm willing to pay off some interest to make it happen.

 

[TwoMisfits]

If you have to pay the cost plus 3-4 months of credit card interest, there is NO WAY this experience is worth the cost. In fact, NO dining experience at that level will be worth the cost. I agree with a PP that you should focus on the "free" and "value" experiences that you can have in the parks with the characters.

https://allears.net/2022 /04/18/full-list-of-character-meet-and -greets-currently-available-in-disney-world/

 

[Geomom]

As someone else said, look into getting a Disney Visa if you don't already have one. The no annual fee card currently has a promo of getting $150 statement credit if you spend $500 in the first 3 months. Unfortunately, the 0% financing for 6 mths seems to just be for Disney vacation packages vs meals...so that's not a benefit. If you have any low rate credit cards maybe put it on that? It's always so hard to justify paying interest rates, but totally get it after vacations have been delayed so long and getting hit with unexpected costs.

 

[ML_LovesDisney]

I would vote no, it's not worth it. Tusker House is worth it to me with character's. CRT, no, unless its a once in a lifetime experience and you don't need to have great food

 

[Mle8308]

I say go. In the grand scheme of things, it's going to be around $300 (depending on your choice of time), and if it sits on a credit card for a few months, that's your business, you know what is best for you and your family! Your kids are only kids once, and in a few years who knows if they will even want to spend time in the parks with you. You never know what can happen, the past few years have shown us that! Go and have a wonderful time, the memories you make and keep are priceless!

 

[PepperjackDragon]

I feel like you're judging me for choosing to charge some of the meals, and that isn't really anyone's business than ours. I was just asking if this particular meal was worth it. The hotel and flights are already paid for, and suddenly the IRS decided we owe an extra $2000 from 2 years ago. That's the problem. But at this point we are already committed to go. My husband gets a large Christmas bonus and will be able to pay anything off then. I do understand your thoughts about money because I am normally extremely cautious with money, but we have put off this trip for several years due to covid, and we are all excited, and I'm willing to pay off some interest to make it happen.

You are correct in a sense. However, I am not judging YOU. I am judging the decision. You specifically asked people to judge that decision. This is a reality we all face. I taught elementary school in SC for 12 years (very low wages for a family of 4) and had at most 60 dollars in my account at any given time after paying bills. I truly understand.

I did go farther though, and I was pointing out that this mind set, being applied to the whole trip, could risk financial harm for years that could wreck havoc on your family for much longer, if this is the attitude for the whole trip.

Thus, we come to a few basic options I will break down below

1: Go wild because it is vacation, splurge on meals, gifts, snacks, add on etc. while charging all these extras to high interest long term credit
-This is horrifying, clearly a terrible decision so I won't go into that

2: Charge some some meals and experiences as you want to, but made some efforts to be frugal with gifts and other add ons.
-Not as bad but clearly if the basic food budget without splurges is putting you in debt, still risky and risk spending a lot more than you realize beforehand

3: Set a specific amount of money you are willing to charge to your credit card and hold firm to that amount no matter what.
-I still think this is a bad idea, but if you are going to do it, then setting a firm limit would at least keep things in check so the risk is limited in scope.

4: be frugal throughout and try as hard as possible to only do those experiences that are included in what you have already fully committed to. If the budget allows a split desert at somewhere nice or some split burgers for mid day breaks etc might be able to be worked in without adding to debt, otherwise bring PB J or such.
-If the budget doesn't allow the trip but you are going to do it anyway, you have already splurged so more splurging is only piling on long term risks.


Assuming option 3, the question you should be asking is:

"Is CRT worth sacrificing other experiences that cost the same amount."

Personally, I say no, the same money can be spent throughout the trip to make an overall better experience than you will have from that one single meal, but a reasonable argument could be made for yes. Even better about focusing in on this question would be that you can make a list of alternatives-split burgers at Sci-FI, eat ice cream at MK, do this or that. Then you will have an actual comparison between options to make an intelligent decision.

Nonetheless, the answer to your question as you asked it is clearly no, it is not worth it.

 

[Robbie Cottam]

Isn’t the purpose of credit card to buy thing you want right now! Then pay off over time,
When I could get the dinning plan I always put it, my park passes, air fair, and the limo to and from the airport on them…. I would then pay it off over a few months when we got back…

 

[DisneyHardin]

If you have to pay the cost plus 3-4 months of credit card interest, there is NO WAY this experience is worth the cost. In fact, NO dining experience at that level will be worth the cost. I agree with a PP that you should focus on the "free" and "value" experiences that you can have in the parks with the characters.

https://allears.net/2022 /04/18/full-list-of-character-meet-and -greets-currently-available-in-disney-world/

Assuming that meals from their trip is the only thing on their CC, the interest really isn't going to be that much unless that have terrible credit, therefore have a really high interest rate. Right now, I have about a $1000 balance on a credit card - I paid $11 in interest last month on that. If they have a similar interest rate and charge $1000 worth of food during their august trip, they are only going to pay about $50 in interest before they pay it off at Christmas. In the scheme of a Disney Trip, that really isn't a huge deal.

 

[robinb]

I usually don't advise to put vacations on a credit card, but in this case I would go for it. You're going to spend money to eat that day anyway, it's a double celebration, and eight years old is the perfect age for CRT, and you're not going to be back until your little girl is past the princess age. Trim your expenses elsewhere to make up for the difference in cost.

Did you book a package with Disney? If you have the Disney Visa card you can take up to 6-months to pay it off at 0% interest.

 

[Robbie Cottam]

I usually don't advise to put vacations on a credit card, but in this case I would go for it. You're going to spend money to eat that day anyway, it's a double celebration, and eight years old is the perfect age for CRT, and you're not going to be back until your little girl is past the princess age. Trim your expenses elsewhere to make up for the difference in cost.

Did you book a package with Disney? If you have the Disney Visa card you can take up to 6-months to pay it off at 0% interest.

I can help myself robin, but I have to ask are you a licensed financial adviser?

 

[PepperjackDragon]

Assuming that meals from their trip is the only thing on their CC, the interest really isn't going to be that much unless that have terrible credit, therefore have a really high interest rate. Right now, I have about a $1000 balance on a credit card - I paid $11 in interest last month on that. If they have a similar interest rate and charge $1000 worth of food during their august trip, they are only going to pay about $50 in interest before they pay it off at Christmas. In the scheme of a Disney Trip, that really isn't a huge deal.

The added cost in interest is only part of it. Having been in tight financial situations myself, the risk is having any other expenses come up and simply not being able to pay for it. Also, what are the odds that as Christmas or other holidays approaches they aren't going to have other expenses they need to "splurge" on?

 

[PepperjackDragon]

Isn’t the purpose of credit card to buy thing you want right now! Then pay off over time,
When I could get the dinning plan I always put it, my park passes, air fair, and the limo to and from the airport on them…. I would then pay it off over a few months when we got back…

That would make sense if you had decided those were expenses you were going to do, accept the risk and extra cost and were set on doing it. However, if you were to post on a forumn "is it worth it to go into credit card debt to ride a limo from the airport to disney" I am pretty sure the only rationale answer would be no. Sometimes we do things that are irrational, and many times we are glad we did it. But still, if you were set on doing that, I doubt you would be seeking recommendations for it on the forums.

 

[FunnyLady1966]

It's a big expense for a family on a budget. We did it one time and I'm glad we did. It was a wonderful experience. We also used tax money so nothing was OOP that trip. That makes a big difference.

 

[Robbie Cottam]

That would make sense if you had decided those were expenses you were going to do, accept the risk and extra cost and were set on doing it. However, if you were to post on a forumn "is it worth it to go into credit card debt to ride a limo from the airport to disney" I am pretty sure the only rationale answer would be no. Sometimes we do things that are irrational, and many times we are glad we did it. But still, if you were set on doing that, I doubt you would be seeking recommendations for it on the forums.

If we’re are being blunt the entire concept of a Disney vacation on a cost benefit basis is completely irrational…. Because you can not put a dollar sign on good will, piece of mind, or enjoyment.

I go on vacation to enjoy myself… I really dont care what it cost…. Within reason…
my response to CRT is based on the fact that I have never enjoyed a meal there.

 

[karen4546]

Imo, yes it would be worth it because your children will enjoy it and it will be that “something special” for all of you to enjoy.

I am sorry people are expressing how you should or should not finance YOUR vacation. You do t have to justify anything to anyone one these boards. People are quick to jump down your throat and express their opinion like it is a commandment.

Enjoy your vacation and the memories you will make with your family .

 

[KrzyKtty101]

In all fairness, I would probably delete my prior messages if I could. At the end of the day the memories you get from this vacation will last a lifetime. Everything else is fleeting. If it really matters to your husband, and you think your children will really enjoy it, then I say go for it. Do I personally think it's worth the money after doing it, probably not. But that is always subjective. But the memories sure are special.

Out of all of the trips I had as a child, the number one Thing I remember is the fact that my parents never brought me inside the castle. That was probably a large contributing factor to why my daughter got to eat there when I could finally afford it.

It will be very special. And considering the occasion, it's a special way to celebrate. And in all fairness it is still cheaper than a fireworks dessert party.

Personally I don't think the dessert parties are worth it, yeah I'm still going because it mattered to my husband too.