Dreams Do Come True – A Night in the Castle – Part 6

All Ears reader Kim Howe had the “dream of a lifetime” in December, when the Walt Disney World Dream Team awarded her a night’s stay in Cinderella’s Castle.

Part 1 – Steppin Off Soarin’

Part 2 – Who Will Join Me?

Part 3 – Logistics, Epcot, Dream Squads, and MouseFest, oh my!

Part 4 – Grand Marshalls in the Magic Kingdom Parade

Part 5 The Cinderella Castle Suite

This is part 6 – Dinner with Cinderella

It was close to 5 p.m. and we were all hungry. Matt was coming back to get us to watch the 5:45 p.m. castle lighting show called “Cinderella’s Holiday Wish”.

That left us an hour to relax a bit, freshen up, admire the suite and check everything out. Besides the fruit bowl, there was also the refrigerator with bottles of water, soda and apple juice boxes.

Paul and Dylan were immediately in the sitting room with the TV remote watching it. Paula asked about sleeping arrangements and claimed the sitting room with sofa sleeper because she knew Dylan would be up late watching TV and there were heavy draperies to close so he wouldn’t be disturbing others trying to sleep. The rest of us would sleep in the two queen beds in the main room.

At 5:30 p.m. Matt came to get us. We left through the back of the castle and took the path down past Sleepy Hollow, across the bridge to the hub. The park was very crowded and we followed him as he worked his way toward the front of the crowd and off to the left side of the castle stage. It was fine viewing area. I was excited to see the show since I’d tried another night but arrived too late.

As we were waiting for the show to begin, I talked with Matt and asked him about himself. I learned he is from Maryland and always wanted to work for Disney. After college he applied and, the lucky dog, was hired, and look at the great position his has! He lives near Marge and Paul too.

The show was short and sweet and the castle is just gorgeous lit up. The show is about decorating the castle and Mickey, Minnie, Goofy and Donald are in it. They are unsure how to decorate it. The Fairy Godmother appears on the balcony of the clock tower and suggests they check with Cinderella. Cindy and her prince arrive and she would like to decorate it with lots of icicles. The Fairy Godmother waves her wand at one section of the castle at a time lighting each section until it is completely lit all the way to the top of the highest spire.

Afterwards it was dinner time at, where else?, Cinderella’s Royal Table in the castle. When we arrived at the podium, there seemed to be some confusion with our reservation. There didn’t seem to BE a reservation but it was quickly worked out and we went inside the waiting area. Cinderella was there and welcomed us and posed for pictures. There were two shots taken by a CM and one pose was with me alone and the other was the group.

Kim and Cinderella

There was castle and coach shaped gold confetti on the floor and I picked up one of each. The princesses were presented with wands that were made of clear plastic handles and blue star ends and they said Cinderella’s Royal Table on them. The princes each got swords. They were reluctant to take them but they were being good sports.

We were soon escorted up the elevator and to our table which was on the upper level of the dining room. Matt did not eat with us. I had invited him to earlier when someone asked if he was able to join us and he said he was. He declined, however, saying that the table would only accommodate six people and his joining us would mess that up. I felt bad. Our table had lots of gold castle and coach confetti on it. Dylan made a comment that at least it wasn’t dirty” like the ones I picked up off the floor downstairs. I made sure I put some in my bag before we left.

CM Todd was our server and he was a little short and surly at first. We thought, perhaps, he didn’t know “who” we were. He warmed up after a trip back to the kitchen, however, so he must have been informed. The menu was limited and I chose the corn and crab soup, pan-seared salmon and raspberry sorbet. Everything was excellent, especially the sorbet. The other options were:

APPETIZERS OF THE COURT

Castle Salad – mixed field greens with blue cheese, raspberries, and candied salnuts tossed in a berry vinaigrette

Vegetable Spring Roll – with soybean and bok choy salad and a ginger-garlic sauce

BLT Salad – applewood smoked bacon, tomato, egg, red onion, iceberg lettuce, frisee and baby spinach tossed with roasted shallot vinaigrette

Corn and Crab Soup – with sour cream and chives (Matt’s recommendation)

ENTREES ROYAL

Roast Lamb Chops with roasted fingerling potatoes, vegetable ragout, and drizzled with herb pesto

Pork Tenderloin with bacon and mushroom ragout, vegetable couscous, and drizzled with sweet chili glaze

Lemon Lavender Chicken on mashed potatoes served with wilted spinach and a chicken jus

Roast Prime Rib of Beef with grilled asparagus, gratin potatoes, and a cabernet sauce

Pan-Seared Salmon with a grain pilaf, grilled asparagus, and glazed with rosemary-lemon honey

Cheese Tortellini with julienne vegetables, garlic, marinara sauce and fresh romano

FINALES

Chocolate Cream Cheese Buckle with chocolate ice cream and drizzled with chocolate sauce (Matt’s recommendation)

Poached Pear on angel food cake topped with mango sorbet and drizzled with a port reduction

Raspberry sorbet

At the bottom of the menu it said: Where meals are served with a side of pixie dust.

Lisa wanted the pork tenderloin but has an allergy to green peppers. As a result, she wound up with a different version than the menu describes since the peppers were in most everything. As a result her meal was quite bland. The others all had prime rib for dinner. There were a few minutes of musical plates until everyone was satisfied with the size and doneness of their piece of meat. They took Matt up on his recommendations for the bisque and the chocolate dessert and they turned out to be good choices. Dylan had the vegetable spring roll which he didn’t care for. He shared it with me and I thought it was okay but I could understand why it wasn’t what he expected. Paul posed for a picture cutting his meat with his sword.

The Fairy Godmother did a show during our meal and we really didn’t pay attention to it since it was in the main dining room and three of us had backs to her. She did announce me by name and recognized our table, as well as, everyone celebrating a honeymooner or anniversary . She asked me wave my princess wave. Pearla and the other mouse were there too. They all walked around the room and came to every table but moved very quickly, hardly slowing down enough for a non-blurry photo. Needless to say, there were no autographs being given at that rate of speed.

The pictures taken before dinner were brought to the table each in very nice pink folders with Cinderella on the front. They also had a photo of Cinderella Castle in it. All photos were 8 x 10s and were complimentary. I didn’t realize until a couple of days later that there were 4 x 6s tucked in the folders too.

Matt arrived when we were finished with dinner and he escorted us down the stairs. He asked if there was anything we wanted to do and I suggested a ride on Cinderella’s Carousel. Marge and Lisa decided to join me.

To be continued…

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