CRT or Akershus & BOG?

[CinderElsa]

Slight dining dilemma!

Our ADRs open up exactly one week from today. We have the DxDP. Currently, we're planning on CRT (2 credits) for dinner, but we can also do Akershus for breakfast & BOG for dinner (1 credit each).

We want to do one princess meal and take some fun pictures, but we are two adults and do not need extended interaction with the princesses or a better kids menu. We are more concerned about where we can find a) better atmosphere and b) better food, respectively.

The other issue would be that Akershus would have to be on an EMH morning, which would entirely defeat the purpose of waking up early, so it would really have to be worth it for us to do this!

What are your thoughts?

 

[figment_jii]

I've had dinner at both Akershus and CRT, but not breakfast, so I can't comment on the food quality at Akershus for breakfast. I've had dinner at BOG.

PRINCESSES: In general, the princesses are pretty similar between the two venues. Ariel, Snow White, Aurora, and Cinderella are among the "standard" princesses at both venues. Jasmine is usually the fifth princesses at CRT and Belle is the fifth princess at Akershus. At Akershus, you take the photo package photo with Belle (yellow dress) while at CRT the photo is with Cinderella. At BOG (dinner only) the Beast is available for photos after you eat. He does walk through the dining room, but he does not stop and take photos at that point. While it is very rare, he is not guaranteed to be there.

INTERACTION: I found the princesses at both locations to be equally friendly/interactive. I did like the set-up a little better at CRT. The princesses enter to a little fanfare (quick summary of the story; like three sentences) and then follow a set route. So once the first one goes by, you know that when next princesses reaches a certain table, it means you're next. No more having a princess show up and your is full! At Akershus, the princesses don't really have a route so you never know when one will show up. We even had the character handler come up to our table and ask if we'd seen a princess (in our case, Cinderella) yet because she was about to head to the next room.

GAMES: There are no games/activities at CRT. There was a princess parade at Akershus (at least there was at dinner). All of the kids were invited to parade through the dining room with one of the princesses.

FOOD: None of the venues have outstanding food, but honestly, folks go for the experience and the characters. From the Allears.net menu it looks like breakfast is pretty standard fare at Akershus. At CRT, all three courses were only okay, but nothing outstanding. Dinner at BOG was good, but again, nothing outstanding. It felt a little rushed.

ATMOSPHERE: This is where CRT really shines compared to both Akershus and BOG. Akershus is fine, but there really isn't anything "magical" about the setting. BOG can be amazing if you eating in the West Wing, but the majority of the tables are in the Ballroom and it reminded me of a large banquet hall/cafeteria feel. At CRT, you're eating inside Cinderella's castle! Everything about it seems to say "Disney" to me. Plus, kids get a toy wand or sword (adults too if you ask) and a wishing star.

COST: Being that you're on the DxDP, it doesn't necessarily matter as much about the cost. I guess economically, the Akershus/BOG combo is "better" because you take care of two meals, whereas for the same two credits at CRT, you only get on meal.

OVERALL: If you had to only pick one and budget wasn't a consideration, I would go with CRT because it had the overall better "atmosphere" and "experience". If you basing it entirely on food quality, I would probably opt for Akershus (assuming that it's hard to mess up breakfast) and BOG.

 

[JAMIESMITH]

I've only been to Akershus for breakfast and haven't tried Cinderella's Table or Be Our Guest. We really enjoyed the food at Akershus. The muffins from the buffet were some of the best I've ever had anywhere. The family style meat, eggs, and potatoes that were brought to our table were very good. Our waitress even brought out more sausage for us without us asking! My daughter was four and really enjoyed interacting with the princesses, but didn't understand why they kept interrupting her while she was trying to eat!

 

[ibela]

Slight dining dilemma!

Our ADRs open up exactly one week from today. We have the DxDP. Currently, we're planning on CRT (2 credits) for dinner, but we can also do Akershus for breakfast & BOG for dinner (1 credit each).

We want to do one princess meal and take some fun pictures, but we are two adults and do not need extended interaction with the princesses or a better kids menu. We are more concerned about where we can find a) better atmosphere and b) better food, respectively.

The other issue would be that Akershus would have to be on an EMH morning, which would entirely defeat the purpose of waking up early, so it would really have to be worth it for us to do this!

What are your thoughts?

I guess if you scheduled Akershus breakfast for late morning and took advantage of EMH that'd be OK. Get up early, ride and do whatever you wanted to take care of, then a brunch break. Or another option is to schedule Akershus lunch or dinner, this way EMH doesn't come into play. I def wouldn't make a 9am res on EMH day though.

It's tough comparing 2 restaurants to 1.

IMO food & atmosphere preference order is: CRT, BOG, Akershus.

 

[Ceryssa]

I agree, either schedule a late Akershus breakfast or do a different meal time. I feel like CRT is something that should be done at least once (which is why it's on our list for our trip!) so I'd probably go with that, do lunch at BOG, and skip Akershus til next time.

 

[CinderElsa]

Thanks, all, for the input! I think we will stick with the CRT plan and save the others for a future trip.