Cinderella's Royal Table, Akershus or Both?

[WDWRocksMySocks]

I currently have an ADR for CRT (same day as BBB) and an ADR for Akershus the next day. I really like the food at Akershus, but do you think it's princess overkill? I have two girls - 3 and 1. So, maybe there's no such thing as princess overkill?

 

[JimmyV]

maybe there's no such thing as princess overkill

Disney firmly believes in this statement.
When my daughter was three and under, she enjoyed character meals, rides on the monorail and hours in the pool (not necessarily in that order), more than she enjoyed rides. So while you might find that character meals are too much of a time drain as your kids get older, right now, I wouldn't worry about it.

 

[WDWRocksMySocks]

Disney firmly believes in this statement.
When my daughter was three and under, she enjoyed character meals, rides on the monorail and hours in the pool (not necessarily in that order), more than she enjoyed rides. So while you might find that character meals are too much of a time drain as your kids get older, right now, I wouldn't worry about it.

Haha, that's kind of what I was thinking. Thanks for reassuring me.

 

[Happyinwonerland]

We did both princess meals on or trip 2 weeks ago. It wasn't overkill (well, the cost was overkill ). I enjoyed the food at akershus more and the atmosphere at CRT was better.

 

[Regan117]

Disney firmly believes in this statement.
When my daughter was three and under, she enjoyed character meals, rides on the monorail and hours in the pool (not necessarily in that order), more than she enjoyed rides. So while you might find that character meals are too much of a time drain as your kids get older, right now, I wouldn't worry about it.

I agree with this whole-heartedly. My kids are 4, 3 and 3 and the character meals and pools are usually the highlights for them. That's what they enjoy at this age. Plenty of park time when they are older

 

[celina14]

Not trying to Hijack OP's post but I'm in the same boat, we currently have ADRs for both. Can I ask which princesses are typically at each one? Is it all the same ones at both or is there a couple different ones at one or the other? If they are exactly the same I may have to rethink doing both.

 

[Regan117]

Not trying to Hijack OP's post but I'm in the same boat, we currently have ADRs for both. Can I ask which princesses are typically at each one? Is it all the same ones at both or is there a couple different ones at one or the other? If they are exactly the same I may have to rethink doing both.

We do both almost every trip, and it's almost always been mostly the same princesses. CRT has always been Cinderella photo op at the door, with Ariel, Aurora, Jasmine, and Snow White circulating. Akershus was Belle photo op at the door, with Ariel, Aurora, Jasmine and Snow White. I know sometimes Rapunzel is occasionally at CRT and Mulan/Mary Poppins at Akershus, but we've never been lucky enough to see those.

 

[celina14]

We do both almost every trip, and it's almost always been mostly the same princesses. CRT has always been Cinderella photo op at the door, with Ariel, Aurora, Jasmine, and Snow White circulating. Akershus was Belle photo op at the door, with Ariel, Aurora, Jasmine and Snow White. I know sometimes Rapunzel is occasionally at CRT and Mulan/Mary Poppins at Akershus, but we've never been lucky enough to see those.

Thank you! So looks like Cinderella and Belle are the only differences for the most part. I would LOVE if Rapunzel would be there when we went. I had also read that the Fairy Godmother is at CRT but I feel like that's old information but wasn't sure if it had changed back to that. Thanks for the help!

 

[Aeweddle]

We did both this past week. It wasn't princess overkill, but there are pros and cons to each. CRT was very rushed, but we were also seated in the direct sunlight and I just wanted to get out of there after the princesses made their rounds! I was so hot! It was Jasmine, Snow White, Aurora, and Ariel. Our food was great, which I was pleasantly surprised by. Akershus wasn't as rushed but the service was lackluster. I enjoyed the appetizer bar but my entree made me feel a bit off the remainder of the day and none of us liked the desserts. My daughter loved the princess march around the room. She hammed it up! We had Aurora, Cinderella, Ariel, and Snow. I felt like Akershus was the better value. Although I enjoyed the food at CRT more, that's an awful lot of dough for what we got. DS does like his sword, though!

As a side note, our waitress at CRT told us to go see Anna and Elsa at Fairytale Hall (they had already moved to Epcot) and to go watch Enchanted Tales with Ariel. Lol. Good thing I knew better!

 

[Lavitz]

We did both princess meals on or trip 2 weeks ago. It wasn't overkill (well, the cost was overkill ). I enjoyed the food at akershus more and the atmosphere at CRT was better.

Was going to write all this this, someone beat me.

 

[BigRed321]

I have two twin girls, both are three. We are doing both crt and akersus. We are also doing chief mickeys and be our guest..

So do both...lol.. Ur kids will love it..
Also we are getting the regular dining plan to help pay for the character dining since the are expensive..

 

[dandi1]

With a 3 year old and 1 year old, it is best to keep your character meals with "human" characters. They aren't as "scary". So doing both won't be bad and probably better than another character meal with larger than life characters. Both of my daughters, now 3 and 2, were only happy with the characters from far away, but would get their picture taken with the princesses. I felt the princesses at Akershus were more bubbly. We had Jasmine at CRT, not at Akershus. One time at Akershus, we had Cinderella too. We have seen Mary Poppins and Rapunzel at Akershus as well. Even though we are on the DDP in December when we go back, I only booked Akershus because it is "getting more bang for your buck".

 

[jlee003]

we are doing both as well, it will be our first time for both. I have 2 daughters ages 8 and 6. we are going August 2nd, and they dont know yet. If i remember correctly on the DDXDP Akrshus is a single TS credit while CRT is 2x credits. May be something to keep in mind. For us the magic of taking the girls into "Cinderella's Castle" kind of was the trump card.

 

[MSLRAC]

We have done both a few times and it wasn't princess overkill. But it was the exact same princesses each time too. This past trip, we dropped breakfast Akershus in favor of Garden Grill for breakfast but that's just because I couldn't get us in at Akershus at the time we wanted.

 

[Nancyg56]

Disney firmly believes in this statement.
When my daughter was three and under, she enjoyed character meals, rides on the monorail and hours in the pool (not necessarily in that order), more than she enjoyed rides. So while you might find that character meals are too much of a time drain as your kids get older, right now, I wouldn't worry about it.

WE have done both a few times too. It was not overkill fo my girls. They also liked the meals and the monorail more thatn the attactions, except the Grand Fiesta Tour. That was in their top tier as well!!!

My favorite meal at Akershus is breakfast. I did find that early morning photos with Belle seemed to be rushed, but honestly, I felt that we deserved a second to get that picture, even though we were pat of that PPO crowd. The meal was not at all rushed, and despite the fact we were a large goup the Princesses were kind and interacted with anyone at the table who wanted them to .

I am conflicted about CRT. I have always had lovely experiences there, and I recommend it as a must do at least once. However, dinner last August was pretty chaotic. Holy out of control kids! The food and the service was very good, but it was wicked loud, and I found all the childen who were allowed to play in the aisle between tables distracting. I was proud of my girls, who definately knew better.

 

[GrumpyDad1974]

It's been awhile but Akershus for breakfast is my vote. Food and interactions were awesome on multiple trips. CRT was bad food and interactions... I don't know why but DW and DD were so excited to be going there (huge let down).

 

[JimmyV]

I am conflicted about CRT.

Honestly, we had a breakfast at CRT that ranks as one of my three worst dining experiences at WDW. Much of that had to do with the price-to-quality ratio as opposed to the overall quality of the meal itself. It was also back in the day before internet booking when you had to hit the timing just right on the phone. Very, very frustrating, for those of you who remember those days. Still...it is such a unique experience that I never steer people away from it. I just give them the heads-up that while I think they should go, don't be surprised if it is a one-and-done experience.

 

[Nancyg56]

Honestly, we had a breakfast at CRT that ranks as one of my three worst dining experiences at WDW. Much of that had to do with the price-to-quality ratio as opposed to the overall quality of the meal itself. It was also back in the day before internet booking when you had to hit the timing just right on the phone. Very, very frustrating, for those of you who remember those days. Still...it is such a unique experience that I never steer people away from it. I just give them the heads-up that while I think they should go, don't be surprised if it is a one-and-done experience.

Boy, do I remember those days!!! That was me of the determining factor that led us to book CL on that first family trip back. I have neve had breakfast there so I cannot comment to that. I liked lunch a lot and enjoyed that meal a few times, never disappointed. DInner also was nice, but I have to say, last AUgust there must have been something in the water! I have never seen such chaos from guests in restaurants! I generally tell people CRT is a must do at least one time, it is the Castle!!!! I will say that if my girls can come with us this trip we decided to skip it. But not Akershus! They loved that one!

 

[katt789]

We've done them back to back days before, or at least on the same trip and always liked it.
CRT: you're paying for princesses and eating in the castle! The food quality IMO, has gone down over the past few visits, but we still kept going for the experience and the princesses, there's just something exciting about eating IN the castle.
Akershus: I've always liked better, I find the food quality to be higher, the service is usually a bit better, and the added bonus of the 1/2 buffet meal makes it awesome. I also feel like we've generally gotten better princess interaction there too!

BUT, if you haven't done CRT before, and especially with the girls your age, then I'd just say do both, it'll be awesome!!

 

[DancinMama]

We did both a year ago and they were both great. If we had to choose though, we'd go back to Akershus rather than CRT. We felt the value was much better and the princess interaction was pretty much the same for double the money/DDP credits.
...and there's never too many princesses!
Have an amazing time!