Showing posts with label Akershus Royal Banquet Hall. Show all posts
Review Of Storybook Princess Dining at Akershus Royal Banquet Hall
Where is the best place to meet and interact with Disney Princesses at Disney World? The answer may surprise you, but it is in the Norway Pavilion in Epcot at the Storybook Princess Dining Experience.
Akershus Royal Banquet Hall
The building where you dine and meet the Disney Princesses is called Akershus Royal Banquet Hall. It is inspired by the real 14th century Akershus Castle in Norway which overlooks the harbor in Oslo. |
| Inside Akershus Royal Banquet Hall |
Storybook Dining Experience
The intent of the meal is to make guests feel that they have been transported to a real Storybook Experience in a Norwegian castle. Outside you can read the Royal proclamation and inside you can see the Royal Storybook housed under glass. The pages read:
Once Upon a time...
A great Viking king and queen welcomed royal visitors to the castle Akershus.
That tradition continues as we invite you to experience a feast fit for royalty of all ages.
Meeting Disney Princesses
Once you are admitted inside Akershus, you will be taken to a small alcove to have your picture taken with one of the Disney Princesses. You don't get to choose, it will be whichever one is in there at the time. During our meal, Belle was the Princess posing with families for pictures near the entrance. A Disney Photographer will take you picture with their camera (and yours too if you request) and during your meal you will receive a print of the picture to remember your dining experience. |
| Cinderella at Akershus Royal Banquet Hall |
 |
| Snow White Signing Autographs |
During the meal there is a constant stream of Princesses coming to each table to meet guests, interact, sign autographs, and of course, pose for pictures. Although they will not commit to a set roster, typically you will find: Cinderella, Aurora, Belle, Snow White, & Ariel.
 |
| Aurora with her fans at Akershus Royal Banquet Hall |
 |
| Ariel at Akershus Royal Banquet Hall |
The Dining Experience
Dining at Akershus Royal Banquet Hall also provides a unique experience. The meal is broken up into a couple different segments in order to allow you to experience some of the flavors of Norway and their cuisine.
The meal starts by visiting the buffet line to experience the Flavors of Norway. Here you will find some of the finest Scandinavian Seafood, Imported Cheeses, cured and sliced Meats, and a vast selection of Salads and Fruits. This is a great chance to try a variety of different foods that you may not regularly get to try. This serves as your Appetizer/Salad portion of the meal.
For the main course you get to order off of the menu. The menu changes, but some of the options may include:
- Braised Short Ribs
- Grilled Pork Chop
- Mushroom Stuffed Pasta
- Oven-Roasted Chicken Breast
- Pan-Seared Salmon
- Roasted Rack of Lamb
- Traditional Kjottkake which are Norwegian Meatballs
The final dessert course features a selection of Norwegian treats served family Style including the traditional Rice Cream served with Strawberry sauce.
Dining Review
We would have to give the dining experience at Akershus Royal Banquet Hall very high marks. The setting was wonderful as you really do feel that you have been transported to another place and time. There is no better place for meeting this many Disney Princesses and interacting with them.
We really enjoyed the Taste of Norway appetizer/salad buffet as it allowed the ability to try some different foods including a number of seafood choices. The entrees were a little disappointing as we feel that they were good, but not great. We also enjoyed sampling the different desserts.
The Princess Storybook Dining Experience at Akershus Royal Banquet Hall at Dinner is the current Best Use Of Table Service Credit for the Disney Dining Plan among all of the 70+ choices.
If you are using the Disney Dining Plan, this should be a must do on your Disney World Vacation. If you are not on the DDP, we would suggest visiting Akershus for their breakfast, as you will still get to see all of the princesses and experience Akershus at a more reasonable cost.
An Amazing Disney Deluxe Dining Plan Experience
Being a Disney Dining Plan veteran did not prepare me for the culinary experience that my family enjoyed when we tried the Disney Deluxe Dining Plan during a recent Disney World Vacation.
Disney Deluxe Dining Plan
For the uninitiated, the Disney Deluxe Dining Plan turns your Walt Disney World Vacation into a near all inclusive culinary experience. Each day you receive 3 Table Service credits and 2 snack credits in Dining Plan speak. This means that you can enjoy three different meals at a multitude of Disney World sit down restaurants savoring an appetizer, entree, dessert, and non-alcoholic beverage for each. this process repeats for night of your stay. You also receive two Disney designated snack items per person per night of your stay. On top of that you also receive refillable Drink Mugs to use at your resort during your stay.
If you use your credits properly you should not need to purchase any additional food during your Disney stay.
The Deluxe Dining Plan with its 3 Table service credits per day (including appetizer) is a far departure for the original Disney Dining Plan that includes 1 Table Service Meal (entree, dessert, and non-alcoholic beverage), 1 Quick Service Meal, and 1 snack per night of your stay. You also receive refillable Drink Mugs to use at your resort during your stay.
You will find that you will spend a larger portion of your vacation sitting in restaurants, so this is not necessarily the best option for first time visitors or those with young (impatient) children. If you are looking for a relaxing, leisurely paced vacation where fine dining is one of the keys, then this may be the option for you.
Veteran Disney Dining Plan Tricks
For frequent visitors of Disney World, including especially Disney Annual Passholders and Disney Vacation Club Members, there is an advantage to breaking up your vacation into 2 separate resort stays. This allows you to choose whether you would like to purchase one of the Disney Dining Plan options for one or both parts of your stay.
By splitting up your vacation you can use the Dining Plan to its fullest capability and still not feel "burnt out" with too much food. We have found that sometimes an entire week on the Dining Plan can be a bit much. For our Deluxe Disney Dining Plan test we spent one night at the Old Key West Resort where we purchased the Disney Deluxe Dining Plan and then followed that up with an additional 6 nights at Disney's Animal Kingdom Kidani Village without the Dining Plan.
Another important fact to note is that all Dining Plans are good until midnight of the day that you check out. In our case since we checked into the Old Key West Resort on a Saturday afternoon, it meant that we had from our check-in time until midnight on Sunday night to use our Deluxe Dining Plan Credits, thereby spreading it out over a day and a half. This allowed us to avoid feeling overwhelmed with food and to be able to maximum the value of the credits with our dining choices.
Restaurant Choices
Dining at Disney World is never cheap, but there are certainly some dining experiences that are more expensive than others. It is in the guest's best interest to use the Disney Dining Plans when they wish to dine at the more expensive restaurants and either pay out of pocket or use other discounts (Disney Annual Passholder, Disney Vacation Club Member, or Tables In Wonderland)when dining at the others.
For our Deluxe Dining Plan Experience the 3 restaurants that we chose were: Kouzzina, Coral Reef, and Akershus Royal Banquet Hall. Each provided a combination of intriguing menu choices and prices that justify using the Disney Dining Plan. For each meal that included appetizer, entree, non alcoholic beverage,and dessert our check averaged over $50 per person. All told including the actual 3 Table Service meals, snacks, and refillable drink mug, it averages slightly over $170 per person. Considering that we paid $85.52 per person for our one night of being on the Disney Deluxe Dining Plan we saved 50%!
Choose Great Snacks!
Never settle for boring snack with your Disney Dining Plan Snack Credits. Although the Disney suggested representative snacks are: Soft drinks, coffee, and ice cream bars there are so many more options to enjoy. The snack choices vary widely and change frequently. You can obtain a variety of great breakfast items (danishes, muffins, warm giant cinnamon rolls, yogurt parfaits, fresh fruit cups, etc.). There are also an unbelievable selection of dessert and pastry items available at many of the bakeries throughout Disney World. Starring Rolls at Disney's Hollywood Studios and Boulangerie Patisserie in Epcot are 2 favorites.
There are even special treats in the candy shops and many different forms of ice cream and desserts at shops and stands everywhere. Explore and spend your credits well. We even used some snack credits during this trip to get some "Zebra Domes" at the Mara at the Animal Kingdom Lodge. They are one of Disney World's most talked about treats and deservedly so.
Enjoy the Food!
Often it's all about the food, so expand your horizons. Try foods that you have never tried before, and above all, enjoy the experience! During this trip we tried the Greek specialties at Kouzzina that we recommended by our server, tasted Norwegian cuisine in their unique salad/appetizer bar, and enjoyed the delightful creations at the Coral Reef.
Disney Deluxe Dining Plan Experiment
Without a doubt the Disney Deluxe Dining Plan is a lot of food. I don't know if I could handle an entire week of it. Our one day was amazing and I could easily see two or three days, but I don't know if I would want to do it longer than that. There is too much a Disney World to enjoy to spend the entire vacation enjoying the restaurants. I am definitely glad that we chose to try the Disney Deluxe Dining Plan and I can foresee us trying it again in the future. It was too much fun not to!
