Akershus for 2 Adults?

[chuff88]

My mom and I are visiting Sept 29-Oct 8 and we're considering Aksershus for one of our meals. We're adventurous eaters, and the Norwegian-style food really appeals to me, and I like the idea of doing one character meal for the experience. I specifically chose Akershus because it doesn't seem quite as popular as the others, the food gets positive reviews, it's only 1 DDP credit, and it fits into our Epcot schedule. Our plan would be to do a late lunch (one of the last seatings, around 3:15).

While we definitely understand that lots of kids come with a Disney World vacation, one of the reasons we've shied away from the character meals is that we find an environment with a lot of loud children to be unappealing. This isn't to say that we don't like kids, but we're worried that the environment of a character meal might be a bit to rambunctious for our tastes. My impression is that maybe Akershus is less popular for families with very young children because of the type of food, but I could be totally wrong.

Can anyone who's done this meal share their experiences with it? The restaurant looks beautiful and the food looks great, and meeting the princesses definitely seems fun. I just want to know what people's general impressions are.

 

[Missyrose]

My husband and I have done Akershus adult-only and we enjoyed it! But it's a princess character meal, most tables have kids and there's the typical noise and motion that come with that Plus there's a character-led parade with all the kids through the restaurant.

It's not a quiet meal like I think you're envisioning, but it's lovely and not at all chaotic like a character meal like Chef Mickey.

 

[chuff88]

My husband and I have done Akershus adult-only and we enjoyed it! But it's a princess character meal, most tables have kids and there's the typical noise and motion that come with that Plus there's a character-led parade with all the kids through the restaurant.

It's not a quiet meal like I think you're envisioning, but it's lovely and not at all chaotic like a character meal like Chef Mickey.

This is actually super helpful. We're not necessarily looking for "quiet," just not chaotic. I've also seen some people say that you can request to be in one of the side rooms, which might be quieter.

 

[HopperFan]

We've gone as all adults. It is VERY popular with families, especially young princess families due to the ability to meet so many in one meal .. as you say for 1 credit.

I think you are putting to much emphasis on the food being very ethnic or different, it's really not. While the menu may use fancy words it basically comes down to meatballs and mashed potatoes, roasted chicken and veggies, pork and rice, pasta, dumplings, salmon and beans ...... and the kids meals are quite basic.

Not trying to scare you off, we enjoy it .... but it's not a regular for us because we haven't that much interest in the character meals and atmosphere.

 

[chuff88]

We've gone as all adults. It is VERY popular with families, especially young princess families due to the ability to meet so many in one meal .. as you say for 1 credit.

I think you are putting to much emphasis on the food being very ethnic or different, it's really not. While the menu may use fancy words it basically comes down to meatballs and mashed potatoes, roasted chicken and veggies, pork and rice, pasta, dumplings, salmon and beans ...... and the kids meals are quite basic.

Not trying to scare you off, we enjoy it .... but it's not a regular for us because we haven't that much interest in the character meals and atmosphere.

I'm actually fairly familiar with Scandinavian food, so I wasn't necessarily expecting to be super exotic (meat and potatoes is not a hard sell for either of us), but if the food is more basic we might go with our Plan B, which is either Hacienda de San Angel or Restaurant Marrakesh. Or, if we really want meat and Potatoes, we can always go with Rose and Crown.

 

[Elizabeth Smith]

My husband and I ate there. It was pretty quiet for a character meal, in my opinion, and not at all chaotic. The tables aren't too too close together. The character interaction is excellent. I did not care much for the food personally.

 

[epcotobsessed]

I have found it to be both chaotic and not remotely authentic Norwegian/Scandinavian food. I see that you are considering Restaurant Marrakesh as well - based on what you are looking for I strongly recommend you choose that instead, or better yet, Spice Road Table.

 

[bigbear]

My adult daughter and I had a most wonderful lunch at Akershus and are planning to return with the rest of the family (all adults) in July. The food was all delicious and plentiful; it was neither loud nor chaotic and the interaction my daughter had with the princesses was excellent!

 

[DisneyWishes14]

I'm actually fairly familiar with Scandinavian food, so I wasn't necessarily expecting to be super exotic (meat and potatoes is not a hard sell for either of us), but if the food is more basic we might go with our Plan B, which is either Hacienda de San Angel or Restaurant Marrakesh. Or, if we really want meat and Potatoes, we can always go with Rose and Crown.

While the food isn't great, if you want a, possibly, less chaotic character meal, I would consider Garden Grill. The food is served family-style and the set-up of the restaurant is not conducive to children running around or being rambunctious. In my experience, it's the quietest character meal at WDW.

You may also want to consider Spice Road Table. The food is very good and it's a quiet, lovely atmosphere.

 

[shocker]

While the food isn't great, if you want a, possibly, less chaotic character meal, I would consider Garden Grill. The food is served family-style and the set-up of the restaurant is not conducive to children running around or being rambunctious. In my experience, it's the quietest character meal at WDW.

Agreed! For years we only ate at GG in Epcot and let all the other possibilities go by the wayside. I kept coming back to this restaurant and couldn't book anywhere else (though later I did eat at Akershus once as a solo adult). At this character meal they have booths (and tables too) with a high curved back to them that keeps each group sort of enclosed to itself (more than other restaurants and certainly better than that photo of Akershus above). This keeps surrounding noise down. The restaurant rotates so the middle of the restaurant is the large center column, not a vast expanse of a dining room. All seating is oriented for looking out, not towards each other. Once you rotate away from the main entrance, you will no longer see people in your line of site within that building. The seating is also on more that one level. This allows you to look out OVER other parties, not AT other parties. Really a very enjoyable experience I highly recommend. I included a few links for you to view pics of their dining room.

http://www.disneyfoodblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/IMG_2943.jpg?6fcd74

http://imgstore.wdwmagic.com/imgsto...quality=60&encoder=freeimage&progressive=true

 

[gharter]

I'm actually fairly familiar with Scandinavian food, so I wasn't necessarily expecting to be super exotic (meat and potatoes is not a hard sell for either of us), but if the food is more basic we might go with our Plan B, which is either Hacienda de San Angel or Restaurant Marrakesh. Or, if we really want meat and Potatoes, we can always go with Rose and Crown.

Restaurant Marrakesh is wonderful! Beautiful building, great food and service. It can get noisy when the belly dancer come out. It was fun to watch when she was teaching the kids to belly dance.