It’s always a good idea to have as much planned as possible when making a reservation at one of the Disney World restaurants. However, sometimes the most memorable moments are unplanned. That is exactly what happened when my wife and I dined at Cinderella’s Royal Table during our trip to Disney World earlier this month. 

For my date with my lovely wife, who is also our Hospitality ConciEAR, we wanted to make our date night extra special. What could be more special than dining inside the Magic Kingdom Castle itself? For my wife, nothing could be better! It has been a dream of hers for years to dine at Cinderella’s Royal Table within the Magic Kingdom. I, of course, was happy to make that dream come true. The slew of surprises we encountered and the high-end food made for a truly memorable experience.

The first series of surprises happened immediately upon entering the castle before we even sat down to eat. If you’ve never been to Cinderella’s Royal Table, you’ll be happy to know that you get the opportunity to meet with Cinderella herself! For my wife, this was her first time ever meeting the elegant princess. After our moment with Cinderella, we were guided up a spiral staircase. We did not know that the restaurant was located on a different floor, and we entered into a lavish dining room with vaulted stone ceilings and banner flags. We were not expecting to see the evening light from the tall castle windows!

From there the surprises just kept coming. As we were led to our table in awe of the fairytale elegance around us, it suddenly occurred to us where the open table we were headed toward was located: right next to the windows! Yes, we had our very own private view of Magic Kingdom. My wife was on cloud nine! I wish I could say that I had planned this moment, but I was just as pleasantly surprised as she was.

It took a moment for us to shift our focus to looking at the menu and ordering our three course meal. Being in a restaurant having savory food added to the memorable experience. Each course was perfectly proportioned to make sure we enjoyed every single dish, from the appetizers to dessert. While we were more focused on the main course and dessert options, our appetizers were flavorful but light in order to satisfy our taste buds without overpowering the main courses.

Keeping with the Disney theme, most main course dishes were named after your favorite stories, like the When Will My Life Begin Chicken and Pasta, inspired by the movie, “Tangled”. Both my wife and I were drawn to the Magic Carpet Ride, a wonderful pork tenderloin with pork belly, decorated vegetables, a piece of peppercorn shaped like the flying carpet from Aladdin. It was a delicious meal I would recommend to anyone. To end the evening, our final course allowed us to indulge in some of our favorite dessert flavors. As a coffee lover, I could not pass up the Coffee Pots De Crème for myself, while my wife, who loves all things chocolate, got the Clock Strikes Twelve dessert, which was an assortment of delectable chocolaty treats.

Believe it or not, the highlight of our experience was not the food alone. Our reservation was at 8:30pm, so we waited for our appetizers to arrive, we wondered if there was any chance we might see the fireworks from our location. Our window gave us a beautiful view of Fantasyland, which is behind the castle. Sure enough, at 9:00pm, the restaurant lights dimmed, the music for the firework show began, and fireworks lit up the sky for us to enjoy as our main course arrived! This was the most unique and incredible way to enjoy Magic Kingdom’s firework show I have ever experienced. Planning our reservation for 8:30 in the evening before the fireworks began was completely unintentional, creating a truly unique and magical dining experience that we will cherish forever!

When you take the highlight of having a Disney firework show and combine it with everything we experienced inside Cinderella’s Castle, it was a great reminder that sometimes the best magic is the kind that happens unplanned. But if you are looking for some extra help to start the magic planning, like the best input on where to dine on your next vacation, then contact me at jhall@conciears.com as part of the many services I will provide to you.