Attacked by Princesses at Norway House

[ChesireCat]

I thought this might be a funny story, I am an APer living in Florida, and my parents were in town, so I decided to take them to the Norway House about a month ago(I forget the official name, but it begins with an "A"), we had a reservation months ahead of time for dinner. As we entered I saw the message written about how the princesses had taken over the restaurant. We had come for the food, I in my early 30s and my parents obviously older, with no little children. When we entered I asked the hostess what the two lines entering were for, one to the left and one to the right, she told me after I devulged that our name had just been called and we were one of the choosen to be seated soon, that one was for the princess buffet and one was not. So, obviously, I choose the line that was not for the princesses, I was there basically to have a quiet dinner with my parents,eat the food of Norway, especially the buffet which we hadn't tried, and get a look at the inside for some reason I thought would have alot of wooden Trolls like the gift shop. Anyway, we headed back and to the right, and were seated around tables with alot of families, some with little girls. I looked around the table for a something that would signal that we weren't to be visited by all of the princesses, like maybe a special bottle or something.

As you may have guessed immediately after we ordered a whole group of princesses entered the dinning room, and one, I think snow white, came over to our table and start asking us about our food, we told her it was good, and she continued to make small talk, and asked if we wanted a picture. I'm thinking "Do I look like a little girl?", we said no, and she left on to the next table, each successive princess came to our table and started to make small talk in character, Ariel headed over and started commeting about how the color of my shirt was the same as her dress and I guess like the Ariel from the movie would being so of new to life on land or something, and started smooshing around with the fabric on my shirt.

Well, now don't get me wrong these were all attractive female face characters, and I was getting a little hot under the collar, and went up to the buffet to sort of avoid the gaggle of princesses which was still in the area. I think the waiter sort of noted the situation and said really loud to me that I had come to the buffet for the princesses, right? wink, wink, and wouldn't he like to have my job! (This guy was in his twenties so it is a little sad if he left Norway just so he could be around some face characters like the princesses) I've been a long-time disney fan and my memories of face characters like Mary Poppins are pretty fond, but this sort of added a little bit of a creepy dimension to it all. We were getting ready to go and this lady who was apparently their chaperone/boss, asked us with a serious expression on our face if each of the princesses had come over to our table! I was thinking if anyone over 30 is devastated that a princess didn't come over to their table need their head examined, but I guess this explains why each princess felt the need to continue small talk for about 3 minutes with each of us so we didn't forget which princess gave us quality time. It was weird because it was like this hostess lady was very serious that she wanted to make sure "her girls" were doing this job . . . I'm sure if I said I was upset that Ariel didn't offer to take a picture I would have been offered a free make-over at the Biddi-Boopidi Botique, I guess I could say I'm a dude who is just trying to unleash his inner princess! I bet that the princesses knew they were being monitored and so they each made an extra effort to make sure that all the tables were visited by them, this person went around and made sure that each table was visited by the princesses. I really was surprised were asked about this though, my Mom had to recount the names of them, i.e. Cinderella etc. .. and say if they did a good job or not.

Maybe some parties with male adults attend the princess buffet to flirt with them and get upset when they don't get as much attention as a five year old girl who is dressed up as a princess?!? Thought I would mention this after someone said their poor daughter didn't get enough face time with a princess and didn't get a picture, she should have been at our table, we had four of them and they were offering to pose for pictures with us! In the end it is a funny story I like to recount and complain about, so maybe I did get a kick out of it in a way, but I think I will avoid all character buffets next time. I cleary told the hostess that we weren't there for the princesses, but I guess obviously they lead us the wrong part of the restaurant.

 

[JMR859]

Thanks for making me laugh! That was a pretty funny story!

 

[burberryplaid]

I was thinking if anyone over 30 is devastated that a princess didn't come over to their table need their head examined

I didn't go to the princess breakfast, but I did go to the Winnie the Pooh breakfast at Crystal Palace and I would have been down right MAD if the characters had ignored us. I am over 30 with no kids and I thoroughly enjoyed our breakfast and the character interaction, and I think my head is on pretty straight.

I understand you were trying something new and were there for the food, but if you don't want to be bothered by characters don't go to character meals and don't insult those who go to them and enjoy them..no matter what their age is!

 

[KirklandTutu]

DH and I are also of the group that truly wants to try new foods. I mean, wow, at Epcot you can get food from how many different countries? Amazing. I enjoy seeing characters in the park, but as an adult with no kids, when I have a meal I just want to have the meal. I would enjoy having conversations with the cast members from said countries more than I would enjoy faux conversations with fictional characters. In fact, I would love that! I want to ask the cast members about the food I'm eating and why they are considered traditional...or not in their personal opinion.

Why in the world are there princesses from random assumed European countries in a Scandanavian buffet anyway?

 

[tink22]

Just to correct you and inform you on a few things...

There are not two parts to the restaurant. I am sorry if you were misinformed when you arrived but one line when you walk in is to see the photopass princess and if you choose not to visit with her then you are simply taken to your table.
There are 53 tables in Akershus and the princesses will go to every one of them. That is their job. If you don't want them to come to your table then you can inform your server or the character attendant when you arrive.
When you say that the princess asked if you wanted a picture and you responded thinking 'do I look like a little girl?' you should keep in mind that most people who go to a character meal WANT to see the characters. If you don't it is fine, but don't forget that there are many adults who do want photos and such when they are there.
Also, the person who comes around at the end is not making sure the princesses did a good job. They are simply making sure that all the tables were visited by each character before the next round of seating. The princesses take a break between seatings and have to have seen everyone before they do so. The checking is for convenience for the Guests and characters.

I am sorry you had a disappointing (?) meal. You did go to a character meal and it was nice of you to be cordial to the princesses even if you didn't want them to stop by. Just remember next time that they won't come to your table if you request them not to. They will be more than happy to pass you by and spend more time with the little princes and princesses! Then you can enjoy the atmosphere and the food without being attacked.

 

[WillCAD]

The name of the restaurant is Akershus (pronounced AH-ker-soos).

Akershus used to be one of my favorites at WDW; I really loved the food. But since it went all-princess, all-the-time, I haven't been back, because I mostly dine solo at WDW. Normally I don't have any problem with dining solo anywhere, even at a character meal, but dining solo at a princess meal would feel a little creepy to me, and would probably set off warning buzzers in the minds of every parent who brought their little princesses to the restaurtant.

And there is a reason for "princesses from random assumed European countries in a Scandanavian buffet." It starts with the breakfast at Cinderella's Royal Table, the most popular character meal in WDW. CRT typically books each morning within 30 second of the Disney Dining Line opening, and some parents were getting MAD that they couldn't get in, so Disney responded by deciding to have another princess breakfast. But where? They wanted to do it in the Epcot area, to space it out some from CRT, which is in the castle, so they looked at the various places available, and decided that Akershus fit the bill - it was large, it was a buffet, it had European decor that vaguely looked like the inside of a castle, and most importantly, it was not a super-popular place like Rose & Crown or Le Cellier.

They began the princess meals at Akershus with just breakfast, but it was instantly a hit, so they expanded it to all 3 meals only a few months later.

Eventually I'll get together with some friends and return to Akershus for lunch or dinner. I don't care about the princess characters, I just want the brazed venison tips!

 

[Luv2Roam]

We have not dined at Akershus since the princess invasion either. The plus side is we started dining at Biegarten instead and I like that better anyway. (Hoping Snow White and her entourage don't invade. )

 

[disnut8]

We're TANKS (two adults, no kids). There are a few places we would like to try but have avoided because of the characters. Norway is one of them but not because of the characters - we're not thrilled with the menu. We've done Chef Mickey's and found it do be very loud so that's off the list. I'd love to do Hollywood and Vine at MGM but we don't even know what a Little Einstien is so we haven't done that one yet. BUT - it's on my short list to do with the menu.

That being said, we've also done character meals. With teenage boys (not ours) who did NOT want the character interaction but went because my favorite character, Piglet was at the buffet. All I wanted was one picture of Piglet and that was it.

I'm sure everyone can guess what happened. We all politely said hello to Pooh and Eeyore and Tigger. Piglet was out in the lobby so I got my picture of him (not with him). We ate the buffet and watched the characters with the kids. And then we relaxed. This was Disney World!! The boys got silly and started taking all the cameras so whenever a character came to our table, one of the boys would make one of the adults pose for a picture. We had so much fun after we let our guard down and just enjoyed everything.

I don't know what a Little Einstein is but I'm sure we'll be at the Hollywood and Vine character meal sometime in the near future. Wihout kids. If the characters want to include us in the fun, we'll feel very special.

 

[ChesireCat]

I didn't go to the princess breakfast, but I did go to the Winnie the Pooh breakfast at Crystal Palace and I would have been down right MAD if the characters had ignored us. I am over 30 with no kids and I thoroughly enjoyed our breakfast and the character interaction, and I think my head is on pretty straight.

I understand you were trying something new and were there for the food, but if you don't want to be bothered by characters don't go to character meals and don't insult those who go to them and enjoy them..no matter what their age is!

I'm sorry if you felt insulted about my post, personally I like winnie the pooh alot and have a pooh watch and always ride pooh when I am in the park, even if solo! That is interesting that you enjoyed the Pooh Character Buffet at Crystal Palace, I had assumed that basically these events were for little kids, but who knows? Maybe there are alot of adults without kids who enjoy them quite a bit like you, maybe disney should look into marketing/expanding character interactions with adults more. I do love being visited by Mickey in various Disney restaurants over the years.

 

[ChesireCat]

DH and I are also of the group that truly wants to try new foods. I mean, wow, at Epcot you can get food from how many different countries? Amazing. I enjoy seeing characters in the park, but as an adult with no kids, when I have a meal I just want to have the meal. I would enjoy having conversations with the cast members from said countries more than I would enjoy faux conversations with fictional characters. In fact, I would love that! I want to ask the cast members about the food I'm eating and why they are considered traditional...or not in their personal opinion.

Why in the world are there princesses from random assumed European countries in a Scandanavian buffet anyway?

Don't get me wrong the cast members are great, my Mom (who is half norweigian) asked the server about the rice pudding and he said it was just like his grandmother made for him in Norway, (I was going to laugh at first because I thought he was playing the part, but hey he really was from Norway and started talking about how long he had been in Florida).

 

[ChesireCat]

Just to correct you and inform you on a few things...

There are not two parts to the restaurant. I am sorry if you were misinformed when you arrived but one line when you walk in is to see the photopass princess and if you choose not to visit with her then you are simply taken to your table.
There are 53 tables in Akershus and the princesses will go to every one of them. That is their job. If you don't want them to come to your table then you can inform your server or the character attendant when you arrive.
When you say that the princess asked if you wanted a picture and you responded thinking 'do I look like a little girl?' you should keep in mind that most people who go to a character meal WANT to see the characters. If you don't it is fine, but don't forget that there are many adults who do want photos and such when they are there.
Also, the person who comes around at the end is not making sure the princesses did a good job. They are simply making sure that all the tables were visited by each character before the next round of seating. The princesses take a break between seatings and have to have seen everyone before they do so. The checking is for convenience for the Guests and characters.

I am sorry you had a disappointing (?) meal. You did go to a character meal and it was nice of you to be cordial to the princesses even if you didn't want them to stop by. Just remember next time that they won't come to your table if you request them not to. They will be more than happy to pass you by and spend more time with the little princes and princesses! Then you can enjoy the atmosphere and the food without being attacked.

I didn't actually tell the princesses that "Do I look like a little girl?" when asked for a picture, I politely refused, but I guess restrospectively it would have been funny for jokes with friends, I could tell them about the day my dreams for becoming a little princess became true. I liked the meal, that was fine, I just thought it was a funny story, I have honestly never been to a Character Buffet before, and I guess I didn't know what the whole thing was about. Thanks for the info about the whole procedure though. My review of te meal is that I had one of the salmon dishes, but it had no sauce on it or much spices, which was good, but I guess could have been alot better with a sauce, and I thought it was about on the level of the salmon in the Land foodcourt area ( I actually think the salmon in the food court is tastier), but the buffet was really good, I forget exactly what it had, but there are fish, cheeses and this really good tasting sliced smoked turkey, similar to what they have in the gift shop, I think it is a good choice for dinner or lunch because you can tank up on alot of calories and go for a long while exploring the park. The dessert was a tray with four or five desserts for the three of us, I guess you can't order separate deserts, which was fine as we were full anyway, but I think they should make a desert buffet area, this way guests can get what they want instead of trying to decide who gets to eat the one chocolate dessert at the end and who gets rice pudding, in reality we sampled it all, but it felt like they left us with the dessert tray that in other restaurants you would use to select your dessert. I never would have guessed that there are adults who wanted pictures with the princesses, but I guess because I'm an APer and go all the time to WDW, and have been to DL also so many times that I don't feel the need to preserve the moment with a picture as I see the characters so often anyhow, I guess if I was coming in from England and would never be back to WDW I would want alot of pictures with characters!

 

[tarheelmjfan]

We're with you! My DH, DS(15), & I have no interest in character meals. We went to those, when our son was young, & feel no desire to return. I would love it, if there were fewer CMs. Unfortunately for us, they're very popular, so I don't see that changing. This doesn't really affect us much at dinner, because we like having a nice, upscale (for WDW) meal in the evening. It can be a problem with breakfast though.

The meal I really hated for them to change was lunch & dinner at CRT. I'd love to be able to eat in the castle sans characters once again. Oh well, I don't think we're in danger of going hungry at WDW, so we'll deal with it.

 

[ChesireCat]

We're with you! My DH, DS(15), & I have no interest in character meals. We went to those, when our son was young, & feel no desire to return. I would love it, if there were fewer CMs. Unfortunately for us, they're very popular, so I don't see that changing. This doesn't really affect us much at dinner, because we like having a nice, upscale (for WDW) meal in the evening. It can be a problem with breakfast though.

The meal I really hated for them to change was lunch & dinner at CRT. I'd love to be able to eat in the castle sans characters once again. Oh well, I don't think we're in danger of going hungry at WDW, so we'll deal with it.

Yeah, fortunately there are plenty of dining opportunities available!

 

[my3disneygirls]

We're with you! My DH, DS(15), & I have no interest in character meals. We went to those, when our son was young, & feel no desire to return. I would love it, if there were fewer CMs. Unfortunately for us, they're very popular, so I don't see that changing. This doesn't really affect us much at dinner, because we like having a nice, upscale (for WDW) meal in the evening. It can be a problem with breakfast though.

The meal I really hated for them to change was lunch & dinner at CRT. I'd love to be able to eat in the castle sans characters once again. Oh well, I don't think we're in danger of going hungry at WDW, so we'll deal with it.

Well said. I for one have a little one and want to go to CRT for the first time. There are many adults who like to dine with the characters. Since I do have children I don't know if that will ever be me. I have seen adults hog the characters while kids are anxiously waiting.

OP, I have had a CM at CP make sure all the characters got to us, this is not unusual just good customer service. I'm glad you were polite to the princesses, but this is character dining for all the meals. I know H&V in non character dinner and LTT is non character lunch. Most of character meals are so for all the meals.

 

[Cheshire Figment]

Akershus used to be one of my favorite Epcot restaurants. However, since it has been taken over by Princesses the food selection has gone seriously downhill while the prices have jumped considerably.

There used to be four or five kinds of herring, and three or four varieties of smoked salmon, as well as a much larger assortment of cheeses and salads.

A couple of my best visits were when the Winter Olympics were being held in Norway and having dinner on December 31, 1999 and being in the restaurant at 6:00pm, which was midnight in Norway. Those were really great fun.

At any character meal at WDW the characters, whether furry or face, are required to follow a certain pattern and go to each table. If you do not want characters, as a prior poster said, you can either ask your server to let the characters know you are not interested, or when they come over politely let them know you are not interested.

 

[DisneyLover75]

Interesting thread. I do happen to have two little ones, but this december, I'm going without them. My friend and I are doing Disney for adults this time around.
We are spending time doing things that we either have to hurry through or forego entirely when my kid(s) join us.

I really enjoyed the character meals with my DD (pictured below at the GF Tea Party) because it was so much fun to watch her so thrilled with the interaction. We are going to a couple of character meals this time around, because we enjoy the food there and I think I'll be just as happy with a little interaction from the characters. I was actually wondering if they'd still visit us if we didn't have kids, and I have to say, I'm very pleased to hear that they do!
I especially like the Mad Hatter and Alice from 1900 Park Fare. They're a hoot!