CRT or Akershus for a vegan and vegetarian?

[v_gan]

I'm trying to figure out what kind of meals I want for my upcoming trip in May. It's going to be me and my boyfriend, and we'll be celebrating our 4 1/2-year anniversary. (Yes, we celebrate half anniversaries.. ) The one thing I have to consider when choosing meals is what I can get as a vegan, and what he can order as a vegetarian. But it's mostly what I can get, since ordering vegetarian items is super easy as Disney.

We both love character meals. We did Liberty Tree Tavern last year before the Halloween party, and we had a blast! I've really been wanting to do a princess meal, but I'm not sure if CRT or Akershus would be worth it for the price, with us both getting limited options. Has anyone had experience with either vegan or vegetarian meals at these restaurants? Would you reccomend either, and do you have any tips to get the most out of your money with the limited choices?

These are really the only two princess meals I'm interested in, since we don't like straying from the parks too much. We're only planning one meal outside the parks right now.

I know there aren't any princesses at the CRT dinner, but I also thought that might be a nice meal to book for our actual anniversary. Maybe during the fireworks? If anyone thinks this is a good idea or has done it before, could you give me any tips? I would like one special anniversary meal for our trip!

 

[v_gan]

..Anyone? I know there has to be at least a few vegans or vegetarians that have been to these restaurants

 

[PictureJumpr]

We've been to WDW with my vegan cousins before, but haven't done either CRT or Akershus with them.

Have done Akershus many times, though, and it would seem kind of limited in what they may be able to accomplish for you - even their sides are things like pasta and potatoes with egg and cheese/milk, respectively, in the ingredients. The cold 'buffet' part does have some fruit and green salad which might work for you but you'd have to figure out whether that and the character interaction/photo was worth the $40 for your dinner.

We did do 1900 Park Faire (Grand Floridian) with them for dinner with Cinderella/Prince/Stepfamily and they fared quite well there, with the chef giving them a tour of the buffet for information and creating them a couple of plates with olive oil-roasted rosemary potatoes and some kind of ratatouille-looking vegetable thing. I know it lacks the 'wow' of the castle and the plethora of princesses in Akershus, but it was a lovely meal and could be a possibility. It is easy to get to from MK (just hop on the monorail).

They got similar attention at Crystal Palace and a couple of other places we went for that trip. The key is to place your dietary preferences on your ADR when you book it, and then bring it up again when you check in.

 

[Salome]

we have done both but we are ovo-lacto...I suggest you look at the menus on allearsnet.com, I' m pretty sure you can find something... ok I just looked and at CRT there is a tomato sauce pasta dish at lunch...Both places are beautiful but since it's for a special occasion, I suggest CRT. You are in the castle, you will have your picture with cinderella included. (you can take a picture with one of the princess at Akershus with extra charge) Of course, the price is higher at CRT but it is something to do at least once!

 

[v_gan]

We've been to WDW with my vegan cousins before, but haven't done either CRT or Akershus with them.

Have done Akershus many times, though, and it would seem kind of limited in what they may be able to accomplish for you - even their sides are things like pasta and potatoes with egg and cheese/milk, respectively, in the ingredients. The cold 'buffet' part does have some fruit and green salad which might work for you but you'd have to figure out whether that and the character interaction/photo was worth the $40 for your dinner.

We did do 1900 Park Faire (Grand Floridian) with them for dinner with Cinderella/Prince/Stepfamily and they fared quite well there, with the chef giving them a tour of the buffet for information and creating them a couple of plates with olive oil-roasted rosemary potatoes and some kind of ratatouille-looking vegetable thing. I know it lacks the 'wow' of the castle and the plethora of princesses in Akershus, but it was a lovely meal and could be a possibility. It is easy to get to from MK (just hop on the monorail).

They got similar attention at Crystal Palace and a couple of other places we went for that trip. The key is to place your dietary preferences on your ADR when you book it, and then bring it up again when you check in.

Thanks for your reply!

Yeah, I definitely don't want to pay $40 for a salad. 1900 Park Faire does sound like it might be worth it. I'll look into that a little more. And I'll definitely be booking Crystal Palace as soon as I'm able to make ADRs. Is there a big difference between the lunch and dinner offerings?

 

[v_gan]

we have done both but we are ovo-lacto...I suggest you look at the menus on allearsnet.com, I' m pretty sure you can find something... ok I just looked and at CRT there is a tomato sauce pasta dish at lunch...Both places are beautiful but since it's for a special occasion, I suggest CRT. You are in the castle, you will have your picture with cinderella included. (you can take a picture with one of the princess at Akershus with extra charge) Of course, the price is higher at CRT but it is something to do at least once!

Thanks for your reply

I've looked at all the menus, and I know they have very, very limited choices for vegans listed on there. I was just wondering if anyone had anything special done for them and if their meal was up to par with the "regular" guests. I don't want to pay the same price for something if I'm only going to get half of what everyone else gets, you know?

I would really love to eat in the castle, and I definitely plan on doing it at least once! I'm just trying to figure out if it should be during this trip or not.

 

[PictureJumpr]

Thanks for your reply!

Yeah, I definitely don't want to pay $40 for a salad. 1900 Park Faire does sound like it might be worth it. I'll look into that a little more. And I'll definitely be booking Crystal Palace as soon as I'm able to make ADRs. Is there a big difference between the lunch and dinner offerings?

No problem, sometimes information is all we need to get what we need from the mouse

The Crystal Palace does not vary greatly from lunch to dinner - they add a couple of 'higher-end' (theoretically) meat/fish chioces to the dinner spread, which isn't really going to impact y'all anyway since you won't be partaking of them... We usually book a late lunch (2-3pm) and enjoy a less crowded, less noisy, and more leisurely experience.

 

[v_gan]

No problem, sometimes information is all we need to get what we need from the mouse

The Crystal Palace does not vary greatly from lunch to dinner - they add a couple of 'higher-end' (theoretically) meat/fish chioces to the dinner spread, which isn't really going to impact y'all anyway since you won't be partaking of them... We usually book a late lunch (2-3pm) and enjoy a less crowded, less noisy, and more leisurely experience.

Lunch sounds like a great choice for us Thanks again for all the info! I really appreciate it.

 

[eventamy]

I had dinner at CRT last February and really enjoyed my vegetarian meal. I didn't order anything special, just the veggie stuff on the menu. The spring rolls are amazing and I really enjoyed the pasta dish.
My mom had the spring rolls too and really liked them. She had the Prime Rib for her entree but also tried my pasta (tortellini) and said she wished she had ordered that instead!

 

[itchin2go]

Don't know about CRT, but we ate at Akershus last January, and for me it was probably the most disappointing meal of the trip. People complain about the salad bar, but that part was much better than I expected. My entree was pretty un-inspired and thrown together. It was Mickey shaped cheese ravioli with a tomato sauce, and then on top they threw some sauteed veggies -- carrots and like.... It was actually just like the kids ravioli, but I guess they thought they made it adult by throwing some veggies on top. I ate a couple of bites, but it was just not very good.

My husband (meat-eater) loved his meal, and my daughter couldn't have cared less about the food, what with all the princesses whizzing by the table.

Overall, I rate the Akershus experience pretty high because the rest of my family enjoyed it. Service was excellent, character interaction was excellent. Just no sensitivity to vegetarian diners IMHO. I'd go back, but I'd make sure I wasn't very hungry.

 

[disneytriplets]

I am a lacto-ovo vegetarian and ate dinner at Akershus. They let me get the kids cheese ravioli w/ sauce as an adult meal. It was not an exciting meal, but it was food!

 

[v_gan]

I had dinner at CRT last February and really enjoyed my vegetarian meal. I didn't order anything special, just the veggie stuff on the menu. The spring rolls are amazing and I really enjoyed the pasta dish.
My mom had the spring rolls too and really liked them. She had the Prime Rib for her entree but also tried my pasta (tortellini) and said she wished she had ordered that instead!

Oh, yay! A positive experience! I love spring rolls and pasta, so I think I could handle whatever the quality of the food is now, even if it's not the best (which, from what I've read recently, it isn't). Don't they have sorbet as an option for dessert? I would really, really love to have dinner in the castle. I think I could handle sub-par food for one night, with eating in the castle evening things out.

I'm going to talk to my boyfriend about going tonight. The only issue now is the price!

Don't know about CRT, but we ate at Akershus last January, and for me it was probably the most disappointing meal of the trip. People complain about the salad bar, but that part was much better than I expected. My entree was pretty un-inspired and thrown together. It was Mickey shaped cheese ravioli with a tomato sauce, and then on top they threw some sauteed veggies -- carrots and like.... It was actually just like the kids ravioli, but I guess they thought they made it adult by throwing some veggies on top. I ate a couple of bites, but it was just not very good.

Overall, I rate the Akershus experience pretty high because the rest of my family enjoyed it. Service was excellent, character interaction was excellent. Just no sensitivity to vegetarian diners IMHO. I'd go back, but I'd make sure I wasn't very hungry.

This is exactly what I'm afraid of happening. I would definitely be going about 75% for the character interaction, but I would also expect a semi-decent meal. I have a feeling Akershus won't be on our to-do list this coming trip. Maybe they'll make some changes one day and we can go

Thanks for letting me know your experience!

 

[PrincessJasmine08]

I had dinner at Akershus this past July as a vegetarian. I asked to speak with the chef. I think there was some vegetarian option on the menu but it involved peppers, if I recall correctly. Or maybe that was somewhere else. Anyway, I'm allergic to bell peppers. The chef made me an awesome pasta dish. He first asked me what my favorite vegetarian dishes were. He offered fetuccine with marinara sauce and I wasn't overly excited about that, so he used bow tie pasta tossed with olive oil, and veggies of my choosing. I think there was asparagus, tomatoes, and carrots. He had a whole list of veggies for me to choose from. He was just the nicest person, too. He kept talking to me until he was sure we'd come up with something I would like. Then, he came out while I was eating to make sure I liked it and offered to make something else if I didn't. That was one of my best meals on that trip.

We also ate at 1900 Park Fare that trip, and I wasn't overly impressed with the vegetarian options. I find that in Disney, if you ask to speak to the chef, they're always more than happy to try to help you. This has been true for me in many, many Disney restaurants. My family often teases me about always asking to speak to the chef. The chef at Norway said they get bored making the same old thing day in and day out and they actually enjoy a challenge from time to time.

 

[PoohHappens]

OK I do not know about the places you asked about as far as vegan goes--However I just have to highjack for a second and say V-gan is awesome. She gave me some tips for our recent trip with my Dniece who is vegan. We had an awesome experience at Boma--the chef even called me several times in advance and made a vegan birthday cake for her. We also had good luck at WCC believe it or not. The chef prepared the veggie enchilada without the cheese and my sis and niece said it was one of the best things they have eaten in a long time. They even carried around their leftovers and ate them too. He also made a tofutti chocolate shake for her and since at WCC their shakes are bottomless he just went ahead and made two from the start. Yak and Yetti made a special dish not on the menu for her, but I was not with her at the time and she said it was great too. She had vegitarian egg rolls from the egg roll cart and also had the veggie chili at colombia harbour house twice. Veggie plate at tangerine cafe in epcot and a few other snacks I cannot remember. Overall it was a great experience, Disney was fairly accomidating and she was able to find things to eat and we never did make a grocery run.