Akershus vs CRT - Birthday Question

[Good Morning Dewdrop]

DD's 11th birthday is December 1st and for the first and probably only time we're going to make it down to Disney (dh has trouble getting time off in December)!!

The trip is a complete surprise for her.

Question is do Akershus or CRT do anything special for a birthday and if so what?

We love dining at Akershus for breakfast - not so fond of lunch / dinner menus - and we feel the princess interaction is much better than CRT. But that said it is a special celebration....

Anyway any information or personal experiences you all have that you'd like to share would be great. Thanks!

 

[DW2010]

I believe certain restaurants may acknowledge birthdays/anniversaries but it's not guaranteed. I want to say that I read on here about either Akershus or CRT giving a birthday card with the princesses signatures to a birthday girl.

We plan to get the Slipper Dessert for DD at CRT! I believe it's around $15 or so and has to be requested a couple of days in advance. I also have reservations at Akershus.

 

[CanuckPrincess]

We were just at Akershus last week for lunch for DD7 birthday. The princessess did all sign a card for her. And for dessert, they brought her a cupcake with Mickey sprinkles all over it - she loved it, as she doesn't really love the desserts that come with lunch. And she totally prefers Akershus because all of the princesses are there!

 

[angela152]

We celebrated my daughter's 4th bday at CRT and she got a signed certificate and a cupcake with a candle on it. THat was it, but we also didn't request anything additional.

 

[Good Morning Dewdrop]

Thank you everyone!

I had a feeling it would be a cupcake and perhaps something signed. We did a birthday at 1900 a few years ago and got a signed placemat.

I know nothing is guaranteed - honestly dd would be happy with everyone just wishing her a HB with a big smile (easy to please child!).

I'm leaning towards CRT right now - I know she'd be just thrilled with eating in the castle again - although personally I think Akershus has much better princess interaction.

Thanks!

 

[*~PrincessBelle~*]

On my last trip to disney I travelled solo celebrating my 23 b-day...I had breakfast at both Akershus and CRT. Akershus had way better character interaction, didnt feel rushed, got a cupcake and a card with all the princess' signatures on it...at CRT I didn't get anything special. Maybe they thought I was too old?

The atmosphere of being in the castle is awesome and such a treat but I think I enjoyed by birthday experience much more at Akershus

 

[Good Morning Dewdrop]

Here's my internal debate (can't ask DD as the whole trip is a surprise for her - DH will go along with whatever I decide he thinks I'm the ultimate Disney planner)

Akershus - I think would have better interaction with the princesses and they might make a bigger deal out of her birthday - just gut reaction there. But it would be a less convenient meal. We love the breakfast there but don't care for the lunch or dinner menu. On her birthday we're planning on seeing the Fairies early (want to be at TT - assuming that's still where they are) by 9:30 so breakfast at A is essentially out - even if we got an 8 am reservation chances are we wouldn't easily be back at MK by 9:30. If we got the latest time - say 11:00 it would be a rush to get from Fairies to Epcot in time IMO and I'd rather not rush on "the day". We could do lunch / dinner and just eat food that we don't like as much...

Castle - lunch is our favorite meal there. Could come into MK do the fairies and some other meet/ greets then mosy on over there for lunch (very convenient). Problem is the only time we ate at the castle - we felt like the Princesses were more rushed and less caring (if that makes sense) than they were at Akershus (we eat at A at least twice per trip). Also I suspect they get a lot of birthdays there so are probably not all that 'wow' about it....?? And of course it uses 2 meal credits (financial planner that I am that kind of grinds me )

So leaning towards castle just for convenience but .....just not sure - thoughts?

 

[DW2010]

We have both CRT and Akershus booked but I'm about to cancel Akershus. We're only going for 3 nights and 2 princess meals isn't necessary, IMO. We're never been in the castle so are going for the experience. Based on your plans, there's no way I'd go to Akershus. I'm not one to want to travel between parks, though. I'd pick CRT just because it's more convenient. Besides, just because the characters may have seemed more rushed last time doesn't meal they will this time .

Here's my internal debate (can't ask DD as the whole trip is a surprise for her - DH will go along with whatever I decide he thinks I'm the ultimate Disney planner)

Akershus - I think would have better interaction with the princesses and they might make a bigger deal out of her birthday - just gut reaction there. But it would be a less convenient meal. We love the breakfast there but don't care for the lunch or dinner menu. On her birthday we're planning on seeing the Fairies early (want to be at TT - assuming that's still where they are) by 9:30 so breakfast at A is essentially out - even if we got an 8 am reservation chances are we wouldn't easily be back at MK by 9:30. If we got the latest time - say 11:00 it would be a rush to get from Fairies to Epcot in time IMO and I'd rather not rush on "the day". We could do lunch / dinner and just eat food that we don't like as much...

Castle - lunch is our favorite meal there. Could come into MK do the fairies and some other meet/ greets then mosy on over there for lunch (very convenient). Problem is the only time we ate at the castle - we felt like the Princesses were more rushed and less caring (if that makes sense) than they were at Akershus (we eat at A at least twice per trip). Also I suspect they get a lot of birthdays there so are probably not all that 'wow' about it....?? And of course it uses 2 meal credits (financial planner that I am that kind of grinds me )

So leaning towards castle just for convenience but .....just not sure - thoughts?

 

[SFigments]

duplicate post.

 

[SFigments]

for my dd birthday we did a big trip and they made it her birthday all week. At CRT they gave her a cupcake with a candle and the same at Akershus.However when we were at the storybook dining another group had a birthday and got a big cake which they shared with just about everyone around because it was huge.
However for free perks on birthdays I say 1900park fare. We went to 1900 park fare twice once for breakfast and once for her actual birthday dinner. We got a princess crown and placemat both times. I also ordered her a mini castle cake which was enough for all four of our party members to eat. She still has the crowns and loves that she was constantly spoiled by every cast member she met.
It just depends on what your daughter likes best. Akershus is great because it is all princesses at once and ariel with feet!

 

[Good Morning Dewdrop]

We went to CRT in one of our January trips (08 or 09 not 07)- so awhile ago. Are the Princesses there now fairly standard and if so who's usually there? I know Cinderella is the greeting princess

When we were at Akershus last time (or maybe Jan 09) they told us they were standardizing (or trying to) which princesses were there - the group being Belle (greeting), Cinderella, Aurora, Ariel and Snow White.

Thanks everyone!

 

[dizneechic]

We did Akershus and CRT on my DD5's birthday trip in Feb, we chose breakfasts for both, a 9:00 and 8:05 seating.

Our Akershus meal was completely rushed. It took them 30 minutes to seat us (we arrived at 8:55) which we understood could happen, but we were out of there another 30 minutes later. Yes we got to see all of the princesses, but we were right by the door they exited from so it was one after the other (fast) and overall it was semi impersonal. The princesses acknowledged my dd, did a picture, and completely ignored my boys unless one of them prompted them. We did receive a birthday cupcake and signed card dropped off by our server.

Our CRT meal was leisurely and completely magical. We were seated about 5 minutes after checking in, and left about 45-50 minutes later. The princesses were more spaced (could have been due to our seating location) although they constantly walked by, and would just do little magical things to each of the kids as they passed by. Belle from Akershus was our Belle at CRT and she even recognized dd and said I saw you 2 days ago on your birthday . I preferred the food at Akershus since CRT is a plated meal, but at CRT when my dd wanted a plate of strawberries they gladly brought her out one FULL of them. The whole "show" in there was fun, it got everyone involved (even my boys participated!) and the swords and wands were a nice "take away" treat (we still have and play with them here). They also brought out the cupcake and signed card, so both placed recognized the note left on the ADR.

We pay OOP w/ TiW so to us the 1 credit vs 2 is irrelevant. For our trip in Aug we have both booked again, but will most likely be canceling our Akershus ADR as the date gets closer.