Akershus Royal Banquet Hall

[TDGMedley]

I have never been to this restaurant before and was wanted people input on it. Thinking it would be a great place for my daughters 3rd birthday dinner. And is it hard to get into (does it book up fast at 180 out)

 

[belledream]

I didn't find the food to be all that great, but I think I just didn't care for the cuisine in general. However, it's a lovely space and I'm sure your daughter would love to feel like a princess, dining with the princesses. I think the only trouble you would have getting a reservation is if you wanted a pre-park opening reservation for breakfast. Otherwise, lunch and dinner shouldn't be as bad. But I'd definitely secure a reservation as soon as possible if you have your heart set on it!

 

[MomofPrincessGrace]

I wasnt a fan of the food either. You do get to meet Belle in her yellow ball gown prior to seating. They also do a cute little princess parade like some of the other character meals. If she is a fan in Cinderella, they have a character meal at 1900 Park Fair with Cindy, Prince Charming, Lady Tremaine, and the Step Sisters.

 

[Baldy]

I suggest you book your ADR as soon as possible if you are interested. I tried to book lunch at 6:10am, 184 days out and the only time available was 1:55pm.

 

[s&k'smom]

We had breakfast there in Nov 2015 and really enjoyed it. We happen to love breakfast food so it was ideal plus you got 5 princes in one time span. I think a 3 year old would be absolutely thrilled. We found our CM who served our food absolutely outstanding.

 

[Tom 55]

If you are looking for your daughter to meet Princesses this is the place. This is our 4 year old grandson. we were there for breakfast. Food was average. American classic with some Norwegian mixed in.

 

[BigRedDad]

If Princesses are the plan, Akershus cannot be beat. When we were there, we had a ton of them. Belle before getting seated. Roaming through the place, Mary Poppins reprimanded my daughter for standing on the chair. Telling her ladies do not stand on furniture. Mulan was about. Snow White. There were 4 others as well but I can't remember who now. It was Belle before and 6 roaming (Mulan, Marry Poppins, Aurora, and 3 others).

 

[Disney4family]

I miss the days when it was a surprise which princess would be there for the formal picture. It added to the excitement.

Here are some reviews -
http://land.allears.net/reviewpost/...=akershus-royal-banquet-hall-breakfast&cat=34
http://land.allears.net/reviewpost/...ershus-royal-banquet-hall-lunch-dinner&cat=34

 

[popcenturylover]

My younger daughter is 8 & loves this place! We will be having breakfast here in about 2 weeks & it will be our 3rd visit. As others have said the food is average but, the Princess experience is unforgettable. Hot foods(eggs, bacon, potatoes) are brought to your table family style & they also have a buffet of cold meats, cheeses, & pastries.

 

[Sloth_White]

I did both Akershus and Cinderella's Royal Table on my last trip and really enjoyed both. I would highly suggest, if possible, getting a pre park opening reservation at Akershus. We had an 8:05 and had plenty of time to eat, meet the princesses and ride Frozen twice before they opened the gates to everyone else, and got right in line after that to do the Anna and Elsa meet and greet. It was a great way to start the day and I think regardless of age, everyone enjoys walking through a nearly empty park!

 

[Ms.Sunshine]

Just echoing what others have said.....A great place to meet a lot of princesses at once. The food was just okay, although my daughter ate her entire bowl of mac & cheese, and that's saying something, because she picked at her food in every other restaurant. As for availability, I personally can't say, since I had booked my trip somewhat late. I just took whatever ADRs were left and built my day around them.

 

[MagicalMommy]

We've done breakfast and dinner at Akershus, and really enjoyed it both times. The character interaction is great. Breakfast is pretty standard fare and served family style, meaning it is brought to your table, which actually makes character dining with little ones a lot easier. At dinner, you each order from the menu. There are more Norwegian options at dinner; I had a mushroom ravioli that is no longer on the online menu (I just checked), and it was delicious! One of the desserts served was "rice cream" which my five year old LOVED ... maybe she thought the server said ice cream, I don't know! It was different, but really good! Definitely schedule a reservation asap if you are interested in this one.

 

[carriebeth]

I have a 3 year old daughter and this was her one request for Disney this year...eat at Askerhaus. Well that and bring Jack Sparrow home as a souvenir for her...So we are going with the Askerhaus thing! She is really excited to eat with the Princesses. We did this a couple years ago but she was too young to remember. We liked breakfast there. Its eggs, potato, bacon, sausage. They bring as much as you want to the table. You get to start with a little salad bar type set up that has pastries and cold meats and cheese etc on it. We would be willing to try dinner there but the draw for breakfast for us is the little buffet. The kids will enjoy that and even if they for some reason decide eggs and stuff isnt their thing that particular morning, they will for sure eat something off the buffet and I just want to make sure they end up eating.

If you want to make it an extra special day, schedule Bippidy Boppity Boo for that day as well. She can get a princess makeover and eat with the princesses later.

 

[habuma]

We've been to Akershus a handful of times and enjoyed it. We went mostly for our daughters to meet the princesses (and there are lots of them), but went back because we enjoyed the food.

I know others in the thread thought the food was just okay, but I'm a big fan of the kjøttkaker...highly recommended. I ordered it the first time we went and was skeptical. I mean, how good can potatoes and meatballs be? And I had never had lingonberries before. But I was pleasantly surprised at how wonderful the flavors complement each other.

In short, go to meet the princesses. Go back to get more kjøttkaker.

 

[Otterhead]

The old "original" Akershus was my favorite restaurant at WDW as a kid; its buffet was huge and filled with tons of things I'd never seen before. And I loved the Norwegian castle interior environment. But I guess multiple types of pickled herring are a hard sell for most travelers. The new restaurant is cute, and the food is fine, but nothing memorable; the meatballs and lingonberries are a definite step-up from what you'll find at an IKEA cafe

 

[Rebel_]

We've dined there for pre-park open breakfast once and lunch once. Food was mediocre, but far from awful. Lunch was better, but ate up park time. They had people crammed in and navigating around wasn't simple. Our service was good. Some princesses more outgoing than others, but that's always the case.

I'd go again with an 8:00AM pre-open breakfast if it got me on FEA, but otherwise - no.

 

[Otterhead]

Our service was good. Some princesses more outgoing than others, but that's always the case.

I should also mention that the last time I went was just myself and my companions with no kids -- so just three dudes at a table together. Every other table had little girls waiting to meet princesses. I was a little worried that it'd be princess chaos, but when they saw we didn't have kids, we were seated off to the side; Belle came over and gallantly said "Gentlemen! Would you like to meet me and my friends tonight?" and when we said no thanks, she smiled and thanked us for being there, and gave a little signal to the other princesses, and we had a lovely quiet meal watching the kids meet princesses. It was nice that they tastefully gave us the option to have time with the princesses as well, if we'd wanted it.

 

[Rebel_]

I should also mention that the last time I went was just myself and my companions with no kids -- so just three dudes at a table together. Every other table had little girls waiting to meet princesses. I was a little worried that it'd be princess chaos, but when they saw we didn't have kids, we were seated off to the side; Belle came over and gallantly said "Gentlemen! Would you like to meet me and my friends tonight?" and when we said no thanks, she smiled and thanked us for being there, and gave a little signal to the other princesses, and we had a lovely quiet meal watching the kids meet princesses. It was nice that they tastefully gave us the option to have time with the princesses as well, if we'd wanted it.

That is great.
The whole thing is so variable depending on the "friends" and their individual styles. We've mostly had excellent character exchanges, at meals and otherwise.

 

[Tk0021]

We ate here for the princesses. My two girls (5 and 3) were so excited to see Arial walking around. The food on the other hand was not our favorite. We ate here for dinner and we thought it was worst meal we had at WDW. We didn't know that you could order pizza for kids because it's not on the menu till it was to late and our kids had some cheese and salad off of the bar and that was it.

 

[jpinkc]

We went 2 yrs ago and it was very good food, the Princesses were just a nice touch for my daughter, my son not so much since Sleeping Beauty punked him!! I wish I could have gotten that picture it was priceless and cute.