AKERSHUS ROYAL BANQUET HALL--experiences??

[Audray]

We love it! It is a must do for us every time we go.

Food is fine... but the interaction with the princesses is priceless. Last time we were there, they had a princess parade and our 5 year old joined and dragged my wife. Our two year old got really upset, probably b/c of Mom going off with her sister. Anyway, she is crying and I am trying to calm her down by picking her up and walking closer to the parade. Belle comes over and starts talking to her, and she perks up immediately. I put her down to take a quick picture of her and Belle - and Belle starts dancing with her. I got a ton of great pictures - and now Belle is her favorite princess.

 

[Saylan]

We ate dinner there and I just wanted to say I totally agree with the bolded above. If you are doing it to see the princesses, then it's worth it. A great place to meet a bunch of princesses at once and easier to get into then Cinderella's Castle. We got a picture with Belle at the beginning, and they brought it out to us before dessert.

But I wouldn't go there for the food. I took a 16 y/o girl, a 15 y/o boy who normally eats ANYTHING/EVERYTHING, and a 2 year old. The 16 y/o ended up just getting a cheese pizza off the kids meal, because she couldn't find anything she liked on the adult menu which isn't the norm for her at all. My 15 y/o brother ordered something and ended up scraping all the sauce off, and even after eating it, he ordered a pizza when we got back to the resort. I wasn't sure about anything on the menu and ended up getting a chicken breast entree that was so-so.

I have to agree with this too. I went there with DBF and he is a garbage disposal (he'll sit and eat an raw onion just because... lol) but both of us felt the 'buffet' portion of the meal left a lot to be desired. We were on the dining plan so we didn't have to pay anything other than tip but I would have honestly felt I'd wasted my money if I came in looking for a good meal. The pasta from the menu was good. The desserts were fine, nothing special.

As it was I came for the Princesses and the interaction was great, even as adults. The photo was so-so but I'm sure they were rushed. We also ended up with three included in our package (one 8x10 and 2 4x6s). DBF didn't take kindly to being referred to as my 'beast' by Belle but I enjoyed it.

The characters were very good. I had run the Princess Half Marathon the day before and Princess Jasmine actually remembered having met me after the race (she had her own staging area at the race which was optional so there was no guarantee I would have met her so it wasn't 'just a guess). I felt that really made the experience more fun.

To sum: Characters are good, even great in their interaction. The food I could do without.

 

[orlosipher]

We ate lunch there last December, and it is the only meal that was specifically requested by my DH to do again. It is our favorite food of what we've eaten at Disney (although we generally only do character meals). Our picture in the lobby was with Belle in her yellow ball gown, and Snow White, Ariel, Aurora and Cinderella circulated around the room.

Will this meal disappoint my 5 year old daughter, who's requested dinner at Cinderella's castle for over a year now?

Because we can't confirm the size of our group yet, I didn't feel comfortable tryin to book CRT at our 180 day mark (8/22/11). My DD isn't especially in love with Cinderella, just with the princesses and castles in general. I'm hoping that this is castle-like enough so that my DD will be just as happy with dinner here.

 

[sydneysmom]

we did breakfast here and it was one of our FAVORITES !! it was wonderful!!! The photo package was really very nice... we had Belle in her yellow dress. ( I felt SEVERELY underdressed ! ) Then onto the table. The Princesses really took their time at each table, and I think even more here than in CRT. It's a new "must do" for our family.

For breakfast, the food is your basic breakfast food.... except for the potatoes. They are special !!!


orlosipher: if your daughter has her heart set on the castle (and not necessarily princesses) she might be disappointed. This isn't really a castle, but more of a banquet hall. It's not the same "regal feeling" like CRT. It's also a totally different experience. At CRT they hand out wands and swords and wishing stars. There's a big ceremony where the Princesses have all the kids make a wish on their wishing star.....it's pretty special eating in the castle. We had breakfast and dinner there when we went. It's a "non-negotiable" for my DH. He LOVES eating in the castle! (I think he likes it because they call him "My Lord")
But, you pretty much will have all the same princesses at both.....

 

[ttstroker]

we finally made a stop here for dinner. The wait outside to be called was terrible. We had a reservation close to opening for dinner, and as others have mentioned, you needed to be close by the hostess stand to hear your name called. Many times families had wandered away only to check-in after 20-30 minutes, complain that they did not hear their name called, have cast members frantically search/re-print dining table tickets (assuming for the picture), and have that family hastily cut in the queue. Once inside, the cold buffet was surprisingly good. Keep in mind that there are two sides, one was moving extremely slow due to children and indecisive adults and had formed quite a long line. The other side had only a few patrons working their way down the buffet. The food was good, not the best in EPCOT, but certainly better (and different) than the many meals we've had at other restaurants like chefs or biergarten. The picutre w/ belle came out great. The princesses were wonderful w/ our 4 y/o son, and the desserts were delicous. I would definitely go here again on the dining plan, but i'm not sure it would be one i'd pay OOP for considering the high cost during certain times of the year (i think it was about $48/pp when we went).

 

[principessa0ox]

We went last year for dinner and loved it! We took a picture with Belle and the lobby, and Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Ariel, and Snow White were inside. The food was awesome and so was the service. We are trying lunch next year when we go!!

 

[capeseal]

We had breakfast there last November. The food was on par with other Disney character buffets we've eaten at. The princess interaction was wonderful. Cinderella and Ariel were especially sweet to my 2.5 year old and very witty. The 6-year-old with us experienced absolute princess nirvana . What I thought was especially sweet, was that my slow-to-warm 2-year-old was scared when we went in to have her picture taken with Belle. Towards the end of the breakfast, they brought out pictures for the other little girl with us and asked why they didn't have any for my DD. I explained her nerves and DD piped up and said she was ready to meet Belle. Well, our sweet server took us back up to get her picture even though our seating was almost over. They let her go right in and then rushed our pictures through. I thought that was nice since I know they have a schedule of how these seatings are supposed to go. No one rushed us out even though we offered to go wait outside. I really appreciated their patience with my nervous little DD.

Next visit we are going to gig CRT a try since we've never done it, but DH and I agree that we'll return to Akershus after trying CRT just one time because of the nice service and great princess interaction.

 

[daraddg]

we did breakfast there in aug 2009,the photo package was with Belle and was included in the price and we saw Belle.Ariel,Cinderella,Sleeping beauty and Mulan at the breakfast and when we left snow white was at germany and jasmine was at Morrocco so we got them all

 

[EmmaBrault]

I liked it. The appetizer buffet was ok, but the entrees were great. We LOVED dessert.

 

[Cheshire Figment]

They used to have good food. Now they have Princesses!