Princess Storybook Dining at Akershus Royal Banquet Hall

[CLPClarinet]

I have an ADR for Akershus for 8 PM. Is that a bad time to eat there? I mean...I think I can't change it...could try to get there by 7:30 PM and see if they can seat us early?

 

[pumba]

I almost forgot, because we were a party of four adults and two kids, we received two photo opts......one with the kids alone with Belle and then the six of us with her....Fantastic people all around..

 

[Kelrykengab]

We got two as well!

 

[goodfood4ursoul]

I have an ADR for Akershus for 8 PM. Is that a bad time to eat there? I mean...I think I can't change it...could try to get there by 7:30 PM and see if they can seat us early?

... of course that is just my opinion...
we are eating there again for my birthday in October, but I forget off hand when our ressie is for... mostly because as long as I get to eat there I really don't care when during dinner service as long as they have a fully stocked buffet..

But I would get there 30 minutes early to check in.
There will be a line to check in- do not wait to get in that line and if you are unsure where the line is, ask someone.

There will be families who have checked in waiting outside for their names to be called.
It was a big crowd when we were there last year.
Please do not leave while you wait for your name to be called.

I saw at least 2 families who wandered off to sightsee while they waited and while one person from their party was waiting close by, the rest could not be found.

They tried numerous times to call and locate these families, as some were large groups (well, in comparison to just a couple, like we were.)
I think that they hold those tables that they have prepared for a while, and that means that everyone else has to wait longer too.
And then it can just get rediculous when there is a whole huge crowd of people waiting for tables and some folks just didn't feel like waiting when they could be shopping or riding rides...
You snooze, you lose, imho

Yes, when the family finally all came together and their name was called, they did get to go in, but meanwhile those of us who had been waiting patiently and watching were not feeling so patient anymore

Nobody is "too good" to wait their turn at WDW

 

[jenbarnwell]

We love CRT, its an awesome place to go, but it is signature dining....Askerhus is not....It is SO awesome! We love Askerhus! You get great princesses, the character interaction is AMAZING! We have had all pleasant experiences, and we have eaten there at least six times! The only thing is we ALWAYS go for breakfast because the one time we went for dinner, we were NOT impressed, the characters were great, but the food was not our style, we thought it was very bland....

 

[eeyoresnr]

... (well, in comparison to just a couple, like we were.)

as an adult couple, do the princesses still all come to you table?
we have an ADR in Sept for just my husband and myself and I don't want to feel left out

 

[DistractedbyDisney!]

Just wondering, for everyone that has gone to Akerhaus with children, have you dressed them up in princess costumes? I'm on the fence with this as it's one more thing to lug around after our meal, but I don't want my daughter to feel left out if all the other little diners are dressed up!

 

[squirrel]

Just wondering, for everyone that has gone to Akerhaus with children, have you dressed them up in princess costumes? I'm on the fence with this as it's one more thing to lug around after our meal, but I don't want my daughter to feel left out if all the other little diners are dressed up!

Last year, I forgot about where we were eating and my niece was dressed in shorts and a Canada shirt I was also wearing shorts and a Canada shirt.

This year I made my niece a Belle sundress to wear. I will pack a spare set of clothes, but she should be comfortable in the sundress for the day.

 

[aboveH20]

I've never been, and actually have never thought about going, except that I've been reading all of the glowing reviews. I expect to be going solo in February and am wondering how the breakfast would be for a solo diner. I went to Crystal Palace alone and enjoyed the atmosphere -- and looking out the windows -- so much that I didn't mind. Obviously I wouldn't be going here for the characters, but for a leisurely breakfast.

 

[PoohsFan1]

Just wondering, for everyone that has gone to Akerhaus with children, have you dressed them up in princess costumes? I'm on the fence with this as it's one more thing to lug around after our meal, but I don't want my daughter to feel left out if all the other little diners are dressed up!

Yes you will see little girls dining in their Princess Costumes, however my 2 are not one of those girls. I am like you and don't want to be lugging around 2 puffy dresses with me for the day since when we eat there we always get breakfast ADRs for before the park opens. Instead my girls like to wear one of those plastic tiaras that you can buy either at the parks or at the Disney Store. That way there, they still feel like they are apart of the Princess atmosphere while being comfortable in their own clothes too.

 

[selenafan]

my little sister would love this!

 

[littlepeppers]

Just wondering, for everyone that has gone to Akerhaus with children, have you dressed them up in princess costumes? I'm on the fence with this as it's one more thing to lug around after our meal, but I don't want my daughter to feel left out if all the other little diners are dressed up!

Don't do the traditional princess gown. Shop somewhere like etsy.com for a cotton princess inspired dress that she can be comfortable in all day and still be a princess.

I have this one for my DD3 to wear. All cotton & totaly wearable all day.

 

[QTPie7375]

We have done both with our 3 year old daughter. We are all in agreement (even our daughter) that while they were both great Akershus was better in the long run. Nothing compares with first walking into Cinderellas castle but after that it doesnt compare to Akershus. The inside of Akershus is beautiful and the Princesses have much more time to spend with each child. The food is even a little better at Akershus in my opinion (not that it matters when you have a 3 year old--who can eat when she is squealing in delight and bubbling with excitement!)

 

[greg42]

Can't compare to CRT. Having just been to breakfast at Akershus last week, though, I can talk about that, and I'll compare it to another breakfast experience:

The setting is appealingly castle-like inside, or royal, as the name actually states. The princess interaction is quite good. The main princess of our party was a not-quite-3-year-old in a Cinderella dress. The entry photo was with Belle, and 4 additional princesses that I can remember (Aurora, Cinderella, Ariel and Snow White) greeted our table, signed autographs, posed for photos, etc. You don't leave feeling like you didn't get enough attention from the characters, IMO.

Food is not bad. Cold buffet which includes a few Norwegian type items (herring, maybe that's what you always wanted for breakfast ) as well as fruit, yogurt, pastries, etc. Then you get some hot food (bacon, sausage, eggs and a potato/cheese dish) served family style to the table. What I don't see brought up much (or at least missed in my reading) is that the attempt to waste the least food (I can understand this) can be taken to a somewhat ridiculous extreme. We were a party of 6 adults and two non-paying children (young enough to be free). The plate brought out had a lot of bacon and sausage and then enough eggs and potatoes for about 2 adults in a reasonable (not at all oversized) portion. The potato stuff is good and you want more of it, but the service is slow and indifferent, and it's hot in there, so instead you just want to get out. Or I did, anyway. (I don't know why it was extra hot in there, but it was.)

Inefficient service started from the Epcot front gate, where apparently no one was let in until 8:00 (we arrived about 7:45). We had 8:05 reservation; I assume the reservations start at 8:00. Was more like 8:30 before we got in. So they are well behind even first thing in the morning! It was such a contrast to the earlier breakfast we had at Tusker House (AK). Maybe it's because the park was opening at 8:00 there for Extra Magic (standard 9:00 opening for Epcot), but they let us through well in advance, we got a front row view of the opening show and rope drop, and the service getting into and more importantly while inside Tusker House was far better. Of course, Tusker House is Donald's Safari Breakfast, not exactly the same, but taking out the character aspect, and the theming (both have good theming and good character interaction, just different types), the service was better at Tusker. The food might be marginally better at Akershus (maybe a lot better if you really want smoked salmon).

Akershus is the place to go for princesses, though. I'd like to think I saw an off day for service. Maybe the food at lunch/dinner makes it more worth it. At least then you get a dedicated entree plate for yourself. But you're still reliant on the service. Maybe just one mediocre waiter, dunno. Theming and characters are good. 2 out of 3 ain't bad? Or is that 2.5 out of 4 (food and service separately)?

 

[littlepeppers]

We have 8:30 res. at Akasherus (spelling? sorry) on a day where the parks open at 9am.

Where do you go to get in early? What is the location of the early reservation entrance. I've seen people go into DHS early, but didn't pay attention to the exact procedure. I would assume we need to get in the park right after 8am to walk all the way over there & sign in before our reservation time.

 

[nytimez]

The lunch/dinner food is awful, IMO -- but the princess interaction is pretty good. I hear breakfast is better, but we just don't get to the parks that early, and when we do we want to hit the attractions.

 

[greg42]

Regardless of the park, if you are entering early for breakfast or another appointment there will be a well-marked set of entry gates where they will check for your name on a reservation list (really low tech, printed out paper list) before letting you go through. Arrive earlier than your res; they will let you in to the park at least, although in Epcot I don't think you can go too many places apart from walking straight to Norway. (At MK, for example, you get all of Main Street to wander in, including at least some shops, even before official opening.)

In my limited experience, they seemed a little disorganized with the breakfast entry at the Epcot gate, but that could have been just a bad day. We did see one couple who had apparently arrived at 8am in order to be first in for the real 9am opening! They were standing at a non-breakfast gate and clearly didn't have a breakfast res. But you'll know where to go, it will be obvious. Plenty of others will have a res at similar time and will be going in as well. A res confirmation printout could be helpful in a mixup, but as long as your name is on the list you won't need it.

 

[Turkey Lurkey]

as an adult couple, do the princesses still all come to you table?
we have an ADR in Sept for just my husband and myself and I don't want to feel left out

Yes they do. I surprised my wife with a ressie for breakfast there on our honeymoon trip several years ago (Sleeping Beauty is her favorite character, and at the time the Breakfast was considered "Her" character meal, so it was guaranteed that we'd see her). We saw her, Jasmine, Belle, Mary Poppins, and Mulan. With the exception of Mulan, they all spent time at our table and took pictures with us. Mulan just kind of stopped by, said hi, and moved on. She was more the exception than the rule though.


TL

 

[Brooklyn]

Is the photo package included with the breakfast? Does anyone have any pictures of the breakfast plate?

 

[3pletprincesses]

Yes the photo is included in the price. We actually got 2 sets of photos because we were 5. It's one photo per 4 people.