Akershus Royal Banquet Hall Review + Tips

Here’s my Akershus Royal Banquet Hall review with the princesses in Epcot’s Norway pavilion! So get ready for lots of cuteness and some tips to have the best experience. 

Akershus is the only table service restaurant in the Norway pavilion in Disney World’s Epcot.

It is also one of the only places to dine with the princesses in Disney World!

The other locations are Cinderella’s Royal Table in the Magic Kingdom, Storybook Dining at Artisit Point With Snow White, and 1900 Park Fare in the Grand Floridian Resort (Cinderella and Tiana).

I’m sharing tips for visiting this popular table service dining location and a full Akershus Royal Banquet Hall review below. Let’s dive in!

Akershus Princess Dining Tips

Akershus Royal Banquet Hall is located inside this lovely building in the Norway pavillion. It is on your right as soon as you turn into the main section of the pavillion. 

Breakfast, lunch, and dinner are all served here family style, meaning there is a set menu and the food is brought out to the table for everyone to share. It is a very popular location so I suggest getting as a reservation as soon as the 60-day window opens.

Here are a few must-know tips for visiting Akershus:

I you have a Disney World Resort reservation, you can book reservations for the entire length of your stay 60 days before check-in. For this reason, I suggest you plan a visit to Epcot and Akershus towards the end of your trip, making reservations MUCH easier to get. 

Breakfast is particularly popular because it only requires one table service credit on the Disney Dining Plan, while lunch and dinner require two credits! Because breakfast there represents one of the best values on the Disney Dining Plan, it is the most popular meal. So be sure to make it a top priority for your Disney Dining reservations. 

My last tip is that kids under three eat totally for free at all character meals, including Akershus. They can even order a kids meal off at the menu (where possible) and won’t be charged. So if you can plan a trip when your little one is just under three it’s a great time to go!

Now on to the review of this excellent character meal. 

Akershus Princess Dining Basics

First, you will have to check in at this podium and you may be given a buzzer. We were right on time for our fairly early 5 pm dinner reservation and we were escorted right in.

Next, you will have a chance to have a group picture taken with a princess – ours was with Belle, which I think is the norm here. I was fumbling with my camera and getting my Magic Band scanned so, unfortunately, I didn’t get a picture.

The restaurant isn’t huge and definitely has a royal feel thanks to the chandeliers, banners and wall decorations. We were seated quickly and greeted by our server soon thereafter.

All of the servers are from Norway and it is so much fun to ask them questions about the food and their culture.

Akershus Royal Banquet Hall Review: The Princesses

While the food is great, without a doubt the princesses are the main attraction here.

This was the first time my two-and-a-half-year-old daughter had met them (with the exception of Cinderella) and she was familiar with all of them from books and movies before we went. She was completely amazed that they were all here in one place!

The princesses started visiting our table about 30 minutes after we were seated. There were four circulating around the restaurant: Aurora, Snow White, Ariel, and Cinderella. These change often and may also include Tiana, Mulan, or Mary Poppins.

They were all SO sweet with my little one and I loved that they got down to her level to talk with her and hug her.

While she pranced around the table a few minutes later, my server asked if I was enjoying myself and I said I would never forget this and started getting all weepy.

I was feeling so grateful that I got to share this time with my daughter while she was so little and sweet! This is Disney magic at it’s best.

Akershus Royal Banquet Hall Review: The Food

Since I visited Akershus has moved to a three-course family-style meal – platters of food are brought to the table for everyone to share. Expect an appetizer platter (even at breakfast), entrees, and dessert. 

The food is “Norwegian inspired” but it is definitely geared towarbd an American palate!

 The menu changes often, so check here for the most up-to-date menu.

I’m sharing some pictures of the food we had to illustrate that while it is inspired by Norway, it is nothing too crazy. 🙂 

My daughter had beef with rice and veggies but she was so in awe of the visiting princesses that she didn’t eat much. 

Our server brought us this lovely plate of desserts to finish up our meal. It included traditional Norwegian rice cream topped with strawberry sauce, apple cake with cardamom whipped cream, and chocolate mousse.

They were all excellent and offered nice variety. I especially like the mousse and my daughter loved the rice cream. I had a cup of coffee with dessert since a non-alcoholic beverage is included with the meal.

Akershus Royal Banquet Hall Cost

Dinner at Akershus isn’t a cheap affair. Breakfast runs around $55 + tax and lunch/dinner $67  + tax. Since my daughter was under three, her meal was completely free. This was part of my plan – to visit before she truned three and I would have to pay for her food!

If you can get a breakfast reservation at Akershus, it will only cost one credit on the Disney Dining Plan.

Breakfast represents an incredible value of a table service credit on the Dining Plan (get all of my advice on using the Disney Dining Plan here) hence makign this reservation extremely popular!

If you aren’t on the Dining Plan and want to know what the cheapest character dining is at Disney World, check out this post. 

There are not many dining experiences that I will remember for the rest of my life, even at Disney World. But the memories I have of our dinner at Akershus Royal Banquet Hall are so precious that I hope to have them for a lifetime.

I hope this Akershus Royal Banquet Hall review helped you know what to expect and answered your questions. Have you dined at Akershus or do you want to? Please leave a comment below!