Poll: Cinderella's Royal Table vs Norway's Akershus

[MamaBelle4]

CRT princess interaction not as personable. Felt rushed with the whole experience. Of course, YMMV.

Agree 100%.

The location of CRT is impressive. It's Cinderella's castle, how exciting is that?!

Also agree 100%.

I voted for both because as @AngiTN said, they are very different experiences. I prefer Askerhus for the princess interaction, parade and food. CRT location and atmosphere is amazing and the wishing ceremony is adorable.

My girls (8, 6, 4 & 2) seemed to prefer Askerhus.

 

[FireflyTrance]

I've done both, I think the best experience is CRT for breakfast. Breakfast is the least expensive meal they have there.

 

[rg35]

CRT is the "iconic" princess dining experience. I'm not sure why people still knock the food there. The menu there is updated periodically and has some items that rotate seasonally and I feel like they have upped the kitchen game there. Yes, of course there are non-character signatures that have better food, but I don't feel that I'm sacrificing a solid meal when we go to CRT.

The Akurshus setting is fine, and we like the menu there too, but it's not quite the same thing as dining inside of the castle.

 

[hosler427]

We did both last trip. The food at CRT was great and being in the castle is really priceless...BUT I would never do it again. It seemed like a ripoff for what you got in return. On the flip side, our whole crew (7 people) thought Akershus was awesome from start to finish. It is also pricey but I didnt' feel like it was out of line in terms of Disney World dining. CRT did....

 

[bwbuddy5]

It's starting to look like CRT is taking the silent poll, with Akershus making a strong showing in the vocal poll.

 

[SG131]

I haven't eaten there in at least 20 years but at 30 years old I still remember how magical it was to eat in the castle as a child.

Yes akershus has better food and better character interactions, but every time you watch a movie you see the Disney castle. As a little kid eating in that castle you always see is priceless.

 

[King Dominic]

Going to post the same question I just posted in another thread here. I'll add this to it though. It seems like everyone is in agreement to do both, well all 3 in our case, but what about OOP vs dining credits?

I was just going to ask a similar question. We initially booked the DxDP because we had CRT, Mickey's BYBBQ and another signature restaurant booked but due to the ROL schedule, we had to choose between ROL and MBYBBQ and ROL won, lol. So we switched to the regular dining plan.

Ok. That said, should we use 2 dining credits or pay OOP for CRT? Or just skip it since we're doing Bon Voyage breakfast and Akershus? DD7's favorite princesses are Rapunzel and Ariel, which will both be at BV.

 

[Micca]

I've always wanted to try Akershus because I think the food would be better. However, eating at the castle is a memorable affair. It's great for the kids, but I've never known an adult that didn't at least want to see the inside of the castle. I'd go castle, but wouldn't hesitate to try Akershus next trip.

 

[bwbuddy5]

up to 64 votes, sample size is beginning to pay off

 

[danikoski]

We loved Akershus in February. It was just me and my mom, but the Princesses we're super personable. They took time to come and talk to us and interact. The food, especially the cheesy potatoes, were quite good and not too much. We had a PPO for 8:05 am, got sat right at 8:00, done by 9 am, bathroom break, and in line for FEA by 9:10. Waited about 20 minutes for FEA. Worked out beautifully, and we could have done it faster had we asked for the check up front.
And there were kids around us that got seated about the same time, and they were about done when we were.
A good PPO for MK to get on rides is BOG. You get to experience Beast's castle, can order just a cupcake, and get through pretty fast since it's QS. No princesses though.

 

[MrsDuck]

CRT's location is unbeatable and just so magical. If I had a 4yo princess that's where I'd take her.

 

[bwbuddy5]

So, after reading all of this, and looking at the poll, we've decided on CRT as our first choice, and plan to do lunch. BUT, we want to do our princess meal on our first day after arrival day. So, if CRT is unavailable (which appears to happen quite often when scheduling early in a vacation week, especially for a party of 9), we'll go with Akershus (it seems to have plenty of availability, even just a week out).

 

[bwbuddy5]

Disunplugged Best and Worst Podcast is timely this week: Top 5 Best Character Meals. It's not princess only, but one of the two we've been discussing in this thread is at least "mentioned". It's based on a poll with over 3000 responses.

http://www.disunplugged.com/2017/07/26/the-best-worst-of-walt-disney-world-podcast-072617/

 

[BJ7644]

We did both on our trip, a breakfast at Akershus and dinner at CRT. We certainly enjoyed both and feel it's close, but in picking a "winner" it's CRT for the three of us.

 

[PrincessArlena'sDad]

Food and menu: Akershus
Unforgettable experience for a 4 yr old girl: CRT
Character interaction quality: same (been to both several times, and sometimes CRT was better, sometimes Akershus was better)

 

[Shell54]

We had lunch at CRT and loved the ambience. Our server was so nice and we had a window table. The princesses didn't spend a lot of time at each table but chatted up everyone. The food was just ok but the whole experience was memorable..it's a one and done though.

 

[ESO]

We've done both, and dd said she liked Akershus better. Granted, it was a few years ago, so things may have changed.

She was picked as the lead for the parade and had much longer princess interactions at Akershus versus CRT.

CRT princess interaction not as personable. Felt rushed with the whole experience. Of course, YMMV.

We had a similar experience last year. We had an amazing time at Akershus. And while I was concerned no one would like the Norwegian food, I think everyone (kids included) preferred Akershus. My daughter walked with Cinderella during one parade and danced with Snow White during another. Waaay better interactions with the characters at Akershus. I don't regret doing CRT, but we're not likely to do it again. We'd definitely go back to Akershus, though.

 

[bwbuddy5]

Okay, I think my family is officially crazy! After we saw how our touring plan at Epcot opened up if we did an 8am reservation, we're leaning towards Akershus. That gets us on FEA at 9, meet and greet, Test Track with roughly a 20 minute wait, Soarin' fastpass, misc stuff, 3-hour resort break, Spaceship Earth when we return, Garden Grill or World Showcase meal, and then walking the countries.

I like it!

 

[melanielll]

My cautionary note on Akerhus is this - we went in May. There were three princesses total. Belle (who spent her entire time with us complaining to her handler about her skirt) at the front. Ariel and Snow White made the rounds. That was it. So - for $70 each, we got Dunkin Munchkins, some decent potatoes and three princesses. CRT wins by a landslide around my house.

Edited to add - We have done CRT multiple times. I like the food better, 5 princesses beats 3, the wait staff is better and the location is better. Plus - you get wands, swords and wishing stars.

 

[tinkerbella16]

We've done breakfast at both and Akershus is the winner for us. We love Akershus for breakfast for the food and the princess interaction. We did CRT in 2015 and we have never felt so rushed at a meal in Disney before this. It was annoying after using 2 TS credits there and if we were paying OOP, it was almost $60/adult for breakfast. The food was not good by any means and the portions were so small. We were literally in and out within 45 minutes - that is what annoyed me most, being rushed. At that point, the location and being in the castle didn't even matter anymore because we couldn't really enjoy it.

Akershus is all you care to enjoy and we've never felt rushed there and the princess interactions were fantastic!

We won't do CRT again but we keep going back to Akershus.