Disney World Part 3 – Dinner at the Castle

{You can read the earlier parts of the Disney World story here and here}

After a VERY long day in the 95+ degree heat, we would have been thrilled to head home from this sugary sweet fantasyland, but since it was Lucy’s birthday, we had scheduled dinner at Cinderella’s Castle. Now, this sort of thing really didn’t exist when I was a kid visiting the most magical place on Earth, but apparently “Character Dining” is all the rage amongst the Disney World set. And honestly, it’s the way to go if your kid wants to meet any of the characters he or she thinks could be found at Disney. Unless you schedule a meal at one of the places that hosts these specialized dining experiences, you’ll find yourself waiting in line for hours to get a glimpse of Ariel or Rapunzel or the dad from the Incredibles. Since I was warned about these lines ahead of time, and as it was a special day for Lulu, we decided to attempt to schedule a meal at the best character dining location on site: Cinderella’s Royal Table. But it seems that more people plan ahead for this stuff, because when we called (one month ahead of time) the only opening was for dinner at 9:30 at night. Of course this wasn’t ideal, as it’s an hour and a half past our kids bedtimes, but we went ahead and booked it, thinking it was probably the best we were going to get. Plus, we rationalized that it was really only 8:30 central time, and that’s not too late…right?!

During one of our many breaks for air conditioning during the day, we found ourselves in the Royal Dress Shop, where Lucy searched for her birthday gift from Trent and I, a new dress to wear to her special dinner. Of course, the one dress she wanted (Rapunzel) wasn’t available in her size, so after MUCH prodding and deliberating, she decided on Sleeping Beauty. She was Princess Aurora for Halloween last year, but this dress was way fancier and much more comfortable than the Target version she wore in October. With a sprinkle of Pixie Dust from one of the dress shop employees and some accessorizing, she was ready for her big night.

We had invited Lu’s cousin Greta to come with us at the last minute and Lucy was so worried that she didn’t have anything to wear. So my mother-in-law, being the saint she is, took Greta and Lu back to the dress shop as the sun went down and let her pick out a new outfit as well. She decided on Princess Jasmine, and looked totally adorable in her getup. I was worried she’d find the whole thing too babyish, but she seemed to really enjoy getting all fancy. My mother-in-law got them both ready and said the minute Lucy put on her dress, she automatically started acting the part, walking daintily and using big gestures when she was speaking. She also got very independent, repeatedly refusing to hold hands with anyone or be led around. It was pretty hilarious.

Just like the parade that morning, where we were in the right place at the right time, we ended up in the perfect spot for the evenings activities. The castle was roped off for the upcoming fireworks display, but as we had a reservation to eat, we were allowed in. And again, while the rest of the park patrons had to watch the evening Electric Parade smashed up against each other, we watched comfortably from the castle balcony. We are so VIP.

The castle is lit up in different colors all night long, so the girls had a blast watching the lights and guessing which would come next. The whole thing was totally surreal.

After the parade, we went inside the castle for our reservation. Right when you walk in, you get in line to meet and get a picture taken with Cinderella. Lucy and Greta both seemed a little nervous, but waited patiently for their turn. By this point it was already around 9:45 or 10:00, as they were running behind at ye olde castle, but our tired girls were awesome despite the time. Lucy went first since it was her birthday, and she looked so sweet and little next to a “real life” princess. The best part about the people that play the Disney personalities, is they totally stay in character the entire time. Cinderella was graceful and kind, and as the girls walked off after their picture, she called after them “Be sure to help each other with the chores!” The girls got such a kick out of that, and Lucy has told everyone that story since the trip.

After the photo, we were sent to some benches to wait for our name to be called for dinner with a few other exhausted looking families. By this point it was at least 10:15 and we had been at the park since 9 a.m. so we were having trouble staying awake. Not to mention we were STARVING. We were just sitting there when all of a sudden, Cinderella swept past us, leaned down to the girls and said “Would you like to follow me, please?” The girls hopped up and followed her out the door while all the parents looked at each other like, “Do you know what is going on?” One by one, we followed them out the door, where we found Cinderella on the ground outside the castle, surrounded by the girls, watching the nightly fireworks display. And yes, I started to tear up. Sue me, it was adorable. And I was very tired.

As you can see from the photo, Lucy still has a bit of an issue with loud noises, so the fireworks were a bit much for her. But she sat there almost the whole time with her little clan of princesses, ooohing and aaahing over the lit up sky. Cinderella stayed in perfect character, pointing at each explosion and putting her hands over her heart while exclaiming, “Isn’t it beautiful!”

This was another example of us being in the right place at the right time. If we would’ve been scheduled for an earlier (and more appropriate) dinner time, we wouldn’t have been able to watch the fireworks from the castle with Cinderella herself. So even though we were about to eat our own arms by this point, and even though my poor in-laws were doing their best to calm my adorable and very exhausted baby who did not appreciate the thundering fireworks at 10:30 at night, we felt very lucky.

After the fireworks, we were FINALLY called to our dinner by a man in a footman’s outfit who rang a bell and yelled, “Princess Lucy and Family, your dinner awaits!” We sat down in a super-fancy room, with princesses of every kind wandering about. Over a meal of chicken nuggets, a cheese plate and juice, the girls met with many of their favorites. Again, each of the princesses was perfectly in character. My favorite had to be Ariel, who called Greta “Jazzy” (as she was dressed up as Jasmine) and then asked me to take a picture of them with my “doo-hicky.” Lucy’s favorite with Aurora, who walked up to her and said “Oh goodness, it’s me!”

Near the end of the meal, the princess asked the girls to stand up and they presented them with magic wands. They then all said some special magic words, and the whole room started sparkling with twinkle lights. They were each given a wishing star and told to make a special wish. Lu wouldn’t tell me what hers was. Smart girl, that one.

After we’d finished eating (the grown up food was amazing, and we were so hungry we practically inhaled it) our waiter brought out dessert for the girls, ice cream with toppings to make their own sundaes.

But that wasn’t all! Oh no, Lucy also got a special birthday treat, a white chocolate slipper with a birthday candle. Everyone in the room sang Happy Birthday and she blew the candle out with one big huff.

And thus, at midnight, our day at the Magic Kingdom ended. We met up with the in-laws and our poor, crabby baby and headed back to the hotel. Lu was talking non-stop in the car, and then it was silent. When I looked in the backseat, I saw why….