need advice on character meals

[kma5150]

My first post, I am very excited!! We are going to Disney in December, last minute planning, and having trouble with dining reservations. I was wondering about the Akerskus (?spell) character dinner vs. the Garden Grill dinner? Neither one are first choice, rather what I can get. Which one is better?

 

[LadyShea]

It really depends on which characters your family is most interested in. Garden Grill was our first choice as DS's fave character is Mickey Mouse. We happened to enjoy the food as well, but really it was Mickey or nothing for us! If we hadn't been able to get in there, we would have skipped a character meal completely.

 

[Kaler131]

Same here....we go to see the Mouse! We have eaten at Garden Grill a few times and really liked it!

 

[MousekaMaddi]

akershus is spectacular if u like princess but only for breakfast, thats our fave.....(keep in mind Cinderellas never there) Weve done both but keep going back for the Princesses

 

[Aliceacc]

Don't forget Chef Mickey's in the Contemporary!!

 

[CastleCreations]

We did the garden grill, and although you see a lot of the characters, we weren't thrilled with the food. We love the character breakfast at the Poly. The breakfast food is great, and you see Pluto, Minnie, Lilo, and Stitch. Maybe a few other's. I forget. But it's a beautiful resort, we had a seat with a view of the castle, and did I mention the food is great!!

 

[belle&beast]

We went to Akershus for lunch in Jan. 2006 and lved the Norwegian food and the princesses were awesome! We saw Ariel in her gown, Belle in her blue dress, Aurora, Mulan and Jasmine. A PP said that Cinderella is never there, but I have seen reports that she is there sometimes.

We are trying the Garden Grill in December. Friends of ours recommended it and we are excited to try something new.

 

[Stephres]

We did the garden grill, and although you see a lot of the characters, we weren't thrilled with the food. We love the character breakfast at the Poly. The breakfast food is great, and you see Pluto, Minnie, Lilo, and Stitch. Maybe a few other's. I forget. But it's a beautiful resort, we had a seat with a view of the castle, and did I mention the food is great!!

How funny! We loved the food at the Garden Grill. We did not care for the food at the Norway restaurant but go there for the princesses.

Good luck with your decision!

 

[MeLady]

You will be there before us. I am not able to give a credible response.

So here is what we are doing.

We are going for breakfast at the Akershus and dinner at Garden Grill! We just couldn't decide! Since we know that we will be at Epcot the full day. Might as well start off with a full tummy and end with a full tummy.

 

[bigkid@disney]

We have done both and depends on what characters you wanted, but we enjoyed both.

May I ask what was your first choice? Don't give up on your first choice, call back a few times and keep trying. Also, once you get there, try again. And last option is to show up and try again to see what they have. After all, anything is possible with Pixiedust!

 

[Nanu57v]

I'd choose GG just because the restaurant spins!!!

 

[F1Julie]

We've done Akershus and GG several times. We love GG - great food, fun atmosphere and good character interaction. The food is good at Akershus too, but the princesses consistently spend less time at each table than the characters at GG.

 

[Nancyg56]

We have gone to breakfast at Akershus and dinner at GG. I cannot really say that it was rushed at the Princess breakfast but my DGD was a little overwhelmed. They seemed to all come at once and while they tried to draw her out she had not had time to acclimate. We liked GG because the interaction was more private. We were in a booth and so it seemed quieter.

 

[Dawn414]

We DID have Cinderella at our Akershus lunch a few weeks ago...But I do agree that she is not slated to be there often...we had her, Belle, Mulan, Aurora & one other that I just can't remember right this second. My mom is Norwegian (one reason we went there) and although she didn't care for the food (not hers), the rest of us thought it was good. The desserts (especially the Lingonberry cheesecake) was AWESOME!

We are doing Garden Grill on the next trip...

Dawn McG

 

[Princess Roo]

I haven't been to either, but if there was somewhere else you wanted to go, I agree with the PPs suggestion of calling back - especially the day before and day of as people cancel for various reasons. (Might not be likely for the Castle, but I think you'd have a good shot of getting Chef Mickey, for example.)

 

[Kristin71367]

I have not been to the two you are asking about, but can recommend Chef Mickey's at the Contemporary. We have been there 2x for breakfast and always like it. Nice atmosphere, good food and lots of opportunities for pics with characters - Mickey, Minnie, Pluto, Goofy and Chip & Dale (when we have gone).

This past January we dined at Cinderella's Castle for dinner. We had our picture taken with Cinderella upon entering. During dinner, the two mice (sorry cannot recall their names - Perla and ???) come out and also the Fairy Godmother. The service was wonderful and the food good. Attention to our kids was perfect. We got in there after me calling for sometime and so had to take what we could get. Our dinner was later and we were in the Castle during the fireworks - not the place to be if you actually want to see them.

ENJOY!