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Magic Kingdom is my favorite park at the Walt Disney World Resort. Now don’t get me wrong. I love all the parks. But Magic Kingdom has all the rides that will always be sentimental favorites of mine. I have so much fun every time I’m at Magic Kingdom.
But if I am being completely honest about Magic Kingdom, I have to admit one thing. Magic Kingdom has a serious dining problem. There are a lot of wonderful sit-down dining options at Epcot. Not so much at Magic Kingdom.
But there are two restaurants with sit-down dining experiences. These restaurants are Cinderella’s Royal Table and Be Our Guest. They serve more fine dining and give you a three-course meal.
Of course, this comes at a price, quite literally. Both are $62 for adults (and kids ages 10 years old and up) and $37 for children ages 3 years old to 9 years old.
Since the pricing is so similar, you might be considering having a meal at either. You may not want to pay for both experiences on your Walt Disney World trip. But which restaurant is the best choice?
So today I want to compare my family’s experiences with both restaurants on our last trip. This can help you decide which (if either) restaurant you want to go to – or if you want to choose both!
Please note that these are comparisons for lunch and dinner. Cinderella’s Royal Table also has a breakfast option but at this time, Be Our Guest does not. So I am only comparing the lunch and dinner options.
Character Interactions
At one time, a lot of the high-price meals at Disney World involved character intentions. But we live in a post-2020 world. During my dinner at Cinderella’s Royal Table, no characters made their way through the dining room. However, when I came downstairs to the lobby, Cinderella was there and you could get your picture with her there.
Sporadically during the meal at Be Our Guest, though, the Beast would make his way through the dining room.
You could get a picture with the Beast. So I think if you want more of a feel of a character dining experience, then Be Our Guest is a better option for you.
Winner: Be Our Guest
Castle Outside
Both dining experiences are meant to make you feel as if you are eating inside a castle.
With Cinderella’s Royal Table, you are sitting in the theme park’s iconic Cinderella’s Castle.
It is a really cool feeling. It also makes the rest of your trip special. Every time you walk past Cinderella’s Castle, you know you’ve been inside, which is such a neat feeling. It is so neat while you’re at dinner when you’re looking out of the window and you see the rest of Magic Kingdom, too.
I do like the area outside Be Our Guest. I love the rocks and the water.
But the castle exterior is a bit disappointing. It doesn’t really look like a castle from the outside to me. To me, it doesn’t look quite done to scale.
It just can’t compare to Cinderella’s Castle.
Winner: Cinderella’s Royal Table
Theming/Decor Inside
The theming and decor both for restaurants are truly amazing.
As a long-time fan of Beauty and the Beast, I love the theme of Be Our Guest. You really get to feel like you’ve stepped into the movie.
It starts right when you walk in. Everything is so beautifully decorated.
You’ll especially want to check out the suits of armor, as they may talk to you!
The main ballroom is designed just like the main room in the movie. There are so much attention to detail, like the mural on the roof.
And I love the special effects that makes it look like it’s snowing outside.
The main building is also really pretty during the holiday season, by the way.
There are two other rooms you could be seated in. And even if you had your heart set on sitting in the main ballroom, I don’t think you’ll be disappointed with either.
One is the west wing, which you might remember if you’ve seen the movie that (spoiler alert) that’s the part of the castle Belle was forbidden from. It has a more dark and ominous feeling than the other rooms. You get to see the shredded painting of the Beast in prince form as well as the enchanted rose.
The other room (where we were seated in last time we went) has great pictures up from the movie and a great atmosphere.
The highlight of the room, though, is definitely the great moving statue of the Beast and Belle dancing together.
So anywhere you sit in the restaurant is a wonderful experience for a fan of the movie.
Cinderella’s Royal Table isn’t quite that kind of experience. It does give you a wonderful royal experience. All the decorations make you feel as if you are in a castle. And the decorations are beautiful.
The ceiling with the Coat of Arms in particular is amazing.
I love the gauntlets you got to drink out of, too.
So I think if you want a more lavish castle experience, Cinderella’s Royal Table might be the winner for you. You do feel like you’re in a castle.
But I am a sucker for attention to detail and feeling like you’ve escaped into a world created by stories. So my preference is Be Our Guest.
Winner: Be Our Guest
Service
The service at Cinderella’s Royal Table was amazing. It started at the beginning. They talked to us about how long we could expect to wait (we ended up waiting way shorter). They were helpful all night. It really made you feel as if you were at a fine dining institute or being waited on in a castle.
It was kind of the opposite experience at Be Our Guest. The server we got wasn’t as good as the one in the table right beside us, which was even a much larger group. Their server gave them cool information about the castle (I didn’t get any of that from my server). Even though we sit down well before them, they got their food well before we did. Our reservation was for 1:45 PM and by 2:25 PM, we didn’t even have our appetizer. I got extremely hangry. We had our food far sooner than expected, on the other hand, at Cinderella’s Royal Table.
It was frustrating, too, because you pay a lot for the experience. I know there is a worker shortage. But the service at Be Our Guest feels like a quick-service restaurant or a cheaper table service restaurant rather than the very high-priced restaurant it is.
I think part of the problem is that the restaurant is so huge in comparison to Cinderella’s Royal Table. The servers seemed overworked and it really hurts the experience. Cinderella’s Royal Table is a more intimate experience where you feel more attention from your server.
Winner: Cinderella’s Royal Table
Appetizers
Since I am comparing restaurants, eventually I need to address the food, right?
Well, let’s start with the first course: appetizers. You can choose one appetizer. Cinderella’s Royal Table had four choices for an appetizer: Steamed Mussels, Charcuterie, a Castle Salad, and soup of the day. When we were there, the soup of the day was mushroom soup, and it was good.
We tried Charcuterie, which is a not a dish we’ve had a lot.
We liked some but not all of it, perhaps since we are not used to eating this dish. But there was enough there we liked to make it a good appetizer.
On the other hand, we had never had mussels before. And we loved the Steamed Mussels appetizer!
It was my personal favorite. It came out hot and spicy and I loved it. One thing I did not like about it though is that for me personally I do not like onions and there were raw onions and that was not mentioned. But it was not enough to make me dislike my appetizer as you could eat around it.
Now, as I said earlier, we had a choice of four different appetizers at Cinderella’s Royal Table. And that is one advantage Be Our Guest has. It has five different appetizer options: French Onion Soup, Escargot de Bourgogne, Potato-Leek Soup with Caviar, Duck and Pork Terrine, and a Country Pear Salad.
One I really loved was the Escargot.
I’ve had Escargot before as part of the EPCOT Food & Wine Festival. I really loved it here, too. It was so good that it really helped me be less annoyed by how late everything was running.
We also ordered the Country Pear Salad.
It has a Petit Lettuce Blend, Belgium Endive, and Candied Walnuts, and Champagne Vinaigrette Dressing. The Champagne Vinaigrette Dressing was a bit tangy but overall it was very good.
Another appetizer we really enjoyed was the Potato-Leek Soup with Caviar. It was very delicious.
But the French Onion Soup was a bit disappointing.
It was warm, but not hot (perhaps because they were overworked that day?). It also did not have a lot of onions. You got through them pretty quickly. Which is a bit disappointing when the name of the soup literally has onion in the title.
So even though Be Our Guest has more options for appetizers, the overall quality of food at Cinderella’s Royal Table was better. And for that reason, we give the nod to Cinderella’s Royal Table.
Winner: Cinderella’s Royal Table
Entrées
Of course, the entree is the most important part of the meal. So how did they compare?
Well, both restaurants had chicken options. Be Our Guest had the Roasted Poulet Rouge Chicken. This comes with Celery Root Puree, Roasted Root Vegetables, and Pinot Noir Jus.
I thought this chicken was so good. It was a bit spicy and made my mouth hot afterward but in a good way. Though if you do not like spicy foods you might want to avoid it.
Cinderella’s Royal Table also has a chicken option. It is the When Will My Life Begin Chicken and Pasta.
This is pretty sweet since it is themed to one of my favorite Disney movies, Tangled (they also have another themed dish, Magic Carpet Ride, which is neat for Aladdin fans, though no one at my table ordered it).
So how was the When Will My Life Begin Chicken and Pasta? Well, I am excited to say it was one of the most delicious chicken dishes I have ever eaten. I loved every single bite and left wishing I had the recipe, it was that good. It is composed of Tangled Pasta, Braised Chicken, Forest and Moss Flowers, and Pine Nut Pesto served in a Frying Pan. The pasta and the pesto blended so perfectly. I highly recommend this dish.
Now, both Cinderella’s Royal Table and Be Our Guest also had steak or beef options. Be Our Guest had center-cut Filet Mignon as one of the dinner and lunch options.
Unfortunately, the steak was a little burned on the top and was a bit hard to eat. The mushrooms were a little hard as well. It came with a Yukon Gold Potato Puree which was good, but not the best we’d eaten. The asparagus was good, though.
Now, Cinderella’s Royal Table also had a meat option: Tenderloin of Beef. It came with Grilled Beef Tenderloin, Whipped Potatoes, Seasonal Vegetable, and Sauce Bordelaise.
This beef was melt-in-your-mouth good. The beef was so tender that you practically didn’t even need a knife to cut it. The potatoes were delicious. The onions were crispy, sweet, and delicious. This dish alone was worth the price of admission.
So I don’t think you’ll be surprised which restaurant I think wins in the entree comparison.
Winner: Cinderella’s Royal Table
Desserts
The final course in your meal at each restaurant is the dessert portion. At Cinderella’s Royal Table, you get a choice of your dessert.
The Clock Strikes Twelve is a Dark Chocolate Mousse with a Caramel and Crunchy Praline Center which is served with Chocolate Sauce and Hazelnut Gelato.
That’s the best bang for your buck in terms of your dessert because you basically get two. Plus, these desserts were delicious. And I liked the clock theming since this is Cinderella’s Royal Castle.
The Jaq & Gus Cheesecake with Seasonal Flavors and Garnishes is also delicious.
Now, the dessert option at Be Our Guest is a little different. They give you a trio platter where you can sample three different desserts. This definitely has its advantages because you get more dessert. It includes:
- Lemon Jam Macaron
- Chocolate Tart with Grey Stuff, Crisp Pearls and White Chocolate Wafer with Chip on it
- Dark Chocolate Truffle filled with Dark Chocolate Grand Marnier Ganache
I like the addition of a macaron in this but it keeps up with the restaurant’s French theming. I also like that you get to eat the grey stuff. And Lumiere was right; it’s delicious!
So both are great but I would give the nod to Be Our Guest since you get three desserts for the price of one.
Winner: Be Our Guest
Conclusion
Both Be Our Guest and Cinderella’s Royal Table are incredible (though expensive) experiences. Be Our Guest is a more immersive experience that makes you feel you have stepped inside a classic Disney story.
But the food and service at Cinderella’s Royal Table is much better. And I think that makes Cinderella’s Royal Table the restaurant that most justifies the price point. The food quality is far higher than what you would expect at a theme park and the service makes you feel you are at a high-end restaurant. And it is really neat to be able to eat inside the iconic Cinderella’s Castle.
