Akershus Royal Banquet Hall

We recently enjoyed a Disney vacation with our two children - ages 2 and 6, during which we took in several character dining experiences. My 2 year old daughter is a Disney Princess fanatic which is how we landed at the Princess Storybook Character Dining at Akershus Royal Banquet Hall which is in the Norway section of Epcot.

For those unfamiliar with Disney Dining, let me explain a bit how their dining reservation system works. When you book your disney vacation (by calling 407-WDW-DINE) you can begin making your Advanced Dining Reservations way in advance, as many as 180 days ahead of time. Because of this reservation system there are a few restaurants that are very difficult to get into, one being Cinderella's Royal Table at the Magic Kingdom in 'the castle'. When we booked our Disney trip it was only about 2 months ahead of time so, of course - when I called to make my reservations there were no openings at Cinderella's Royal Table for the entire duration of our trip. The friendly cast member suggested that we try the Storybook Princess Dining at Epcot's Norway location which had more availability and also only used up 1 table service credit per person on the Magic Your Way dining plan, whereas CRT used up 2 credits per person per meal. Based on our schedule and reservation availability we ended up at the Akershus Royal Banquet Hall for lunch. I want to note that when I made our reservation they required a credit card number that would be charged should we not show up for our reservation or cancel within 48 hours ahead of time. Giving my credit card number like this was not required for our other reservations, only at Akershus. I understand that this is the policy with select restaurants that are popular and difficult to get into at Disney.


About Akershus Royal Banquet Hall

If you want to dine with princesses in a castle, but can't get into "The castle" then you'll find yourself at Akershus. Located in an old stone castle in the Norway section of Epcot you'll find princesses - of both the Disney variety and the little princess wanna bes. Akershus Royal Banquet hall offers up the "Princess Storybook Dining" at breakfast, lunch or dinner. Breakfast serves typical breakfast foods but lunch and dinner feature the foods of Norway. This restaurant is on the Disney Dining Plan and uses up 1 table service credit per guest over the age of 3. If you are not on the Dining Plan the prices for Akershus run as follows:

Breakfast: Adults $22.99; $12.99 for children (ages 3-9)
Lunch: Adults $24.99; Children 3-9 $13.99
Dinner: Adults $28.99; Children 3-9 $13.99

Reservations are an absolute must for this dining experience and even with advanced dining reservations plan on getting to Akershus early to check in and put your name on the list. Then be prepared to wait until they call your name to enter.

The podium and waiting area is located outside the restaurant, which is a real downer if (as it was in our case) it happens to be raining. Apparently fighting through the crowd to get in to use the bathroom was too much for a little girl (about 4 years old or so) dressed up as Cinderella took matters into her own hands and assumed the squat over a puddle. I do have to chuckle and smile to know that its not just my kids who do embarrassing things like this. What a way to start things off, right? Well, after getting stuck in the pouring rain and then waiting while getting rained on the first thing that they do before your meal is march you over to the "Princess Du Jour", in our case it was Belle in her yellow ball gown - to get a photo taken. My daughter was cranky, wet, confused and I was totally drenched - yet we still caved and purchased the $20+ package which only includes 1 large and 4 smaller pictures. If the picture had been a good one that it would make a great keepsake but well, our picture isn't exactly one that I want to prominently display.. look here we are looking like drowned rats with a Disney Princess.

Time to Eat

We were seated by a great looking guy who was dressed in Norwegian clothing and he took the time to explain how the restaurant worked. Since we attended for lunch the meal included an all you can eat cold buffet for the appetizer portion the meal, the main course ordered off of the menu, and a family style dessert. Non-alcoholic beverages are included with your meal at no additional charge. My husband took the opportunity to stray from the dining plan and add a beer onto his lunch. I probably should have done the same but stuck with a soft drink.

The Cold Buffet offered the following foods : Fruit, Cold Cuts (Ham and Salami), Rolls, cold salads, cheese cubes, and cold salmon.

I grabbed some apples and fruit for the kids as well as a sampling of cold salads and cheese. My husband made a giant plate of meat and salmon which he truly enjoyed.

For the main dish you order from the menu which includes food from Norway. My husband had no trouble deciding that he wanted the Lamb Stew but I truly had no clue what I wanted. The choices included things like lamb stew, pork and onion sandwhich on an onion roll, chicken (which looked horrible - someone at the table ordered it and was complaining that it was dry), A fish dish (it was either Salmon or Trout) and something called Kjottkaker which is a traditional sausage like dish. Our server suggested that I try the Kjottkaker which I did. The children's menu featured typical kids cuisine like pizza, spaghetti, chicken.

My son had the cheese pizza which was giant and more than enough to share with his little sister (since she was 2, she shared off of everyone's plates at no charge). My husband enjoyed his lamb stew and also ate most of my Kjottkaker which he thought was pretty good, but was way too 'meaty' for my tastes. The side dishes of cauliflower, cabbage, beets were rather scary also. As it was, I ended up going back up to the cold buffet and making myself a ham sandwhich on a dinner roll. Now I understand why they have the cold buffet, since I saw I wasn't the only one doing this.

Dessert was served family style and consisted of 3 desserts on a large platter. One was a lingonberry filled cake, one was a rice cream pudding with fruit sauce, and the last was a chocolate tiramisu mousse cake. The desserts were awesome and I was glad that I'd left plenty of room from my lunch because I could have devoured all 3 of the desserts myself. Instead our family of 4 fought over the 3 treats.

You can see a picture of the royal dessert here with my daughter about to dig in!

The Dessert Platter fit for a princess:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v654/grandhighpoobah/Disney%202007/IMG_0523.jpg

The Princesses
Most of the people dining at Akershus are clearly here for the princesses. Look around and you'll see many 'tiny princesses' dressed up to look like their favorite Disney princess sitting all around you. If you don't dress your daughter up and they are feeling left out of the fun, of course there is a merchants area outside of the restaurant full of overpriced princess merchandise. My daughter didn't want to dress up that day (probably better off since it was rainy), but we did bring a special princess tiara with us in case she changed her mind.

While you dine the princesses make their way around the restaurant and visit your table so you can take pictures, collect autographs, etc. The princesses who made the rounds during our lunch included Jasmine, Sleeping Beauty, Snow White, and Alice. Belle stayed out front in her giant yellow ball gown which probably would have been too large for her to make her way between the tables. The princesses vary depending on the day and whether its lunch, breakfast or dinner. Some of the princesses you might see include: Ariel (in ballgown), Belle, Jasmine, Snow White, Princess Aurora (Sleeping Beauty), Mulan, Alice, or Mary Poppins. Cinderella makes occasional appearances.

My daughter was more than jazzed to see her princesses. We had her strapped into one of those wooden high chairs and when she saw Jasmine at a neighboring table I fully expected to see her launch from her seat and propel herself over to where Jasmine was. She loved the princesses and shared lots of giggles and smiles with each of them when they came to visit our table. My son, 6 years old, put up with the lunch and even posed for a few pictures. He probably would have been happier to pick up fast food and skip the whole ordeal. Still, the smile on my daughter's face and how happy she was to meet the princesses made up for the cuisine which would definitely not be my first choice.

Overall, despite the odd food I do recommend the Akershus Royal Banquet Princess Storybook dining. This is a great way for your little princess to meet lots of Disney Princesses and dine in a castle setting. If you can't get into Cinderella's Royal Table or don't want to use up 2 table service credits per person to dine with princesses then Akershus in Norway is a good option. If you don't want to brave the Norweigian cuisine, breakfast may be your best option. In hindsight I wish that we could have gotten a reservation for breakfast instead of lunch.


Akershus Royal Banquet Princess Photos:

Sleeping Beauty:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v654/grandhighpoobah/Disney%202007/IMG_0515.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v654/grandhighpoobah/Disney%202007/IMG_0509.jpg

Snow White:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v654/grandhighpoobah/Disney%202007/IMG_0517.jpg

Jasmine:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v654/grandhighpoobah/Disney%202007/IMG_0521.jpg

Alice (even though she's technically not a princess):
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v654/grandhighpoobah/Disney%202007/IMG_0522.jpg



Recommend this product? Yes

Kid Friendliness: Yes
Vegetarian Friendly: No
Notes, Tips or Menu Recommendations Try for breakfast if you don''t want to brave the lunch/dinner menu
Best Suited For: Kids and Families