Dining Spotlight: Akershus Royal Banquet Hall
Every little girl’s dream is to dine with the Disney princesses at Walt Disney World! Akershus offers just that! The Akershus Royal Banquet Hall is located in Epcot’s World Showcase country of Norway. It is a character dining opportunity that allows little girls as well as boys to dine in a medieval castle. Akershus is patterned after its namesake castle found in Oslo. This medieval castle has a rustic décor as well as beautiful ceilings, wooden beams. The tapestries and banners display a medieval feel to the castle. An open story book is on display at Akershus.
When dining at Akershus Royal Banquet Hall, you will get to mingle with select Disney princesses and receive autographs and pictures. Some princesses you may encounter are Snow White, Cinderella, Princess Aurora, Ariel and Belle. Sometimes you may see Jasmine, or possibly even Mulan at your dining reservation. A memory maker photographer is located as you enter the castle with Belle to capture a magical photo memory. A princess processional occurs a couple of times during your reservation. Kids are encouraged to join in and follow their favorite princess around the dining area.
Dining at Akershus is a great way to meet many of the Disney princesses at one time and without having to stand in long lines. This saves precious time in the parks! Even though the World Showcase in Epcot opens at 11am, guests can still book a reservation for breakfast before then and get early access to this section of Epcot. Another perk of having an early breakfast reservation is to get in line for the Frozen Boat Ride, since this ride can have long wait times. Meeting Anna and Elsa is also near the Akershus Royal Banquet Hall.
Reservations can be made up to 180 days prior to trip date. It is strongly encouraged to do this because Akershus is a popular restaurant. You may eat breakfast, lunch or dinner. Please pay close attention to the menus for lunch and dinner as they have more a Scandinavian type menu. You may make dining reservations on the My Disney Experience app or go to Disneyworld.disney.go.com. A travel agent can help make dining reservations.
The American breakfast reservation can be made from 8:00am-11:10am. When dining for breakfast, guests are served family style. The menu consists of scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, cinnamon rolls, potato casserole and fresh fruits. The lunch and dinner menu have a Norwegian “Taste of Norway”. The menu consists of Scandinavian seafood, imported cheeses, cured and sliced meats, salads and fruits. Hot entrées include salmon, chicken breast and a Norwegian meatball dish called kjottkake. On the kids menu are some favorites like pizza, pasta and grilled chicken. After the meal, you can feast on the Royal Chef’s Dessert Plate, which has 3 different desserts served family style. Lunch reservations can be made from 11:55-3:30 and Dinner reservations can be made from 4:55-8:35.
Some of the dining plans are accepted at Akershus. This restaurant counts as ONE table service credit. The price range is from $35-59.99 per adult. Children cost less than adult prices. Even though this is considered a high price dining restaurant, the atmosphere and experience outweigh the high-end price. Your children will feel they are truly in a storybook castle.
Emily Edwards
