Epcot’s Akershus Royal Banquet Hall Lunch Review

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Ever wonder if the Princess Character Meal at Akershus Royal Banquet Hall is worth the $40++ it costs? Deb Koma and myself review the popular princess meal in this episode.

We tell you everything you need to know from the food, to the princesses to the uniqueness of this experience.

Please Note: The Photo package has been discontinued as of late December 2014. 🙁

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17 Replies to “Epcot’s Akershus Royal Banquet Hall Lunch Review”

  1. While celebrating my daughter’s 5th birthday at Disney World in April 2014, we ate lunch at Akershus. We did not have the Dining Plan. It was such a great experience! Not only was the food fantastic(especially the trio of desserts), the staff and princesses were especially attentive to my daughter, as it was her actual birthday. They gave her a birthday card with all of their signatures, plus extra time with her, many photos,and autographs. They even brought out her dessert with a candle, which was so unexpected. My daughter still talks about her lunch there. 🙂

  2. Once again, Disney loses a little more magic. The photo package that was included with this meal is what justified the $40 price tag IMO. They are really starting to drive the middle class out of the picture when it comes to enjoying an affordable vacation.

  3. I really enjoyed your review on the lunch at Akershus in the Norway Pavilion, however, my family is in love with the breakfast (they have the BEST cheesy potato casserole), therefore we have yet to try the lunch or the dinner. The breakfast is set up very similar to the way that you described the lunch except there is no menu since everything comes out family style. What they do have is a cold buffet which has a variety of breakfast pastries, different lunch meats and cheeses, bagels with cream cheese and lox, a variety of fruits, and yogurt with some toppings, and the smoked salmon is there as well. Then they bring around a hot plate that everyone at the table shares that includes scrambled eggs, sausage links, bacon, and the cheesy potato casserole that I already mentioned.

    We have been eating here since my girls were 4 and 6, they are now 11 and 13 and even though my kids are in the preteen/teen years they still love coming back to this restaurant. What makes coming to eat at Akershus even more special is that I always make sure I get a pre-park opening reservation on a morning that does not have any magic hours (around 8amish) because being able to walk through a near empty Epcot makes for some great photo opportunities, plus the park is so beautiful that early in the morning. I do want to note that the Princess that you meet just before getting seated is always Belle (at least for the breakfast) unless for some reason she has to tend to the Beast :).

  4. My family was actually “gifted” dinner at Akershus during the Year of a Million Dreams!!! It was phenominal! But not b/c it happened to be free…which was great, of course! The people were so warm and inviting, the atmosphere was brilliant, the food was divine!!! Everything you said about the staff wanting to be sure that you were happy and satisfied is on point! You were NOT rushed! The princesses acted as though they were there to see only you! We also have kids with food allergies, the chef was phenomenal…My son still talks about the sorbet he made for him for dessert! We could not have been more overwhelmed and appreciative!

    This May we will be returning to WDW and to Akershus at the request of my now three TEENAGERS (19, 16, and 14), two of whom are boys(!!!), who never forgot what a fun and magical experience that was!!!

  5. Your review was spot on! We went to the dinner in 2012, when we were on the dining plan & it is an excellent use of dining points, so at that time the cost wasn’t as much of a factor for us. Even without the dining plan I would consider this meal as a good option for Princess dining. My husband really enjoyed his meal & didn’t mind posing for photos with beautiful princesses. My son (10 at that time) liked meeting all the princesses this way. As for my daughter & I- we were in Disney heaven.

  6. This is one of our favorite restaurants. It is a great character meal for only 1 ts credit on the dining plan. I love the grilled asparagus in the buffet. The rolls are delicious. My favorite is the meatballs. I order them all the time. The best part of the meal is dessert. Rice dream and apple cake especially. We love the character interaction. There is a great cast member who works with the princesses. Her name is Roz. We missed her on our last trip, but the trip before she said to me you look really familiar. I explained that we had been coming to the restaurant since our daughters were 8 months old.(they are now 5) She commented on how big they got. We asked if we could get a picture with her and she was so happy to. I am disappointed that the photo package was discontinued but that won’t stop us from going again on our next trip.

  7. I’m sorry, but ever since they changed it, I refuse to go anymore. It was my favorite restaurant from the beginning, but they ruined it with the whole princess thing. It was a nice place for grown ups to enjoy a nice meal with a lot of choices and they had to go and make it a kiddie place. I realize it’s Disney, but it sure was a nice reprieve from screaming kids. Now that’s gone forever.

  8. I have 2 daughters ages 5 and 7 and they love this spot.
    And quite honestly I prefer this over dining in the Castle. Do you skip the castle and never try, no, you have to try that once for the aura. But when your talking about the one-on-one time each princess takes to take pictures and interact with the children, Akershus is much better. Always felt at the Castle the princess were rushed and were on a clock to get from table to table.
    Unfortunate Disney has to take another short cut with excluding the photo package with the meal.

  9. Akershus was our first character meal with our kids way back in 2008 for breakfast. I’ve been back with my daughter for a surprise breakfast Spring Break in 2013. Both visits were great. The food is hot and delicious as well as plenty of more interesting choices for us more adventurous eaters.

    The princesses are quite sweet and my now 12-year old daughter has lovely memories and pictures to prove it. We have done Cinderella’s castle as well. If you can’t get in there or are on a budget, I highly recommend this.

    One other note, if you go for breakfast during Flower and Garden Festival time, you can get in early before Epcot opens. We were the very first ones to ride Test Track and then made our reservation with no trouble. Plus, we got good pictures without crowds.

  10. We have done this meal twice, once on honeymoon and second time with our 3 year old daughter. We loved it both times. Princesses were fantastic with our daughter spending time and interacting with her as if she was only one there. It is completely worth the dining credits spent to do this experience and I can’t recommend it highly enough

  11. Great report! We have never ate at this restaurant before but we have had meals inside the castle many times. It wasn’t that hard to get those reservations as long as I tried at the maximum days out. I even took a group of girl scouts there once, although most of them ordered off the kids menu because they didn’t like the “fancy food”. The breakfast was our favorite meal there really really good! My husband surprised me once there for our 16 year anniversary and they gave us champagne flutes, a special certificate, and he stood up and gave a speech, it was very romantic!Between these two places I think I would definitely pick the castle again, so thank you for your report, it will save us time and money.

  12. Great review with great information! I’ve been trying to decide if we want to do this on our next trip, but for the breakfast reservation. This helped tremendously! Thank you!

  13. I love this restaurant. We have been to this restaurant when it wasn’t princess themed. It was my husband’s favorite at WDW. Since we have 7 grandchildren, we always made breakfast reservations. Really enjoy the service and food, but there isn’t quite as much food as there was in the beginning. They used to serve waffles with breakfast, now you have to request them and there needs to be some medical issue. You did an excellent job of representing the place and you are right the rice cream is to die for. Did do dinner 1 time and it was very good and lots of interesting food to try. One thing I can say is that the service has always been excellent. – PS we were told that the chair in the lobby or entrance way was used in the Pirates of the Caribbean movie. We were waiting in line and a cast member from the restaurant gave us a tour of the restaurant and told us the meaning of some of the props. Was quite interesting. Thanks for the great job. I really enjoy your food videos. Both of your personalities come shining through on the show. Keep up the great work. Thanks again.

  14. I completely agree with your review. My family enjoyed the Princess breakfast exactly one year ago with my two granddaughters ages 9 and 3. We had a fabulous time. Our usual Disney trips include myself, my husband and our 16 yr old son, so this was a first for us. Pricey yes, but it was also Priceless to see the girls so excited to be eating in a castle with Belle and friends. The photo package was awesome everyone had a photo to take home.

  15. I remember reading recently that the photo package was no longer going to be included in this meal. Does anyone know what date that becomes effective?

    ALL EARS: Correct, unfortunately the photo packed was discontinued in late December 2014. I have added notes to the video.