Princess Dining - Norway or the Castle

[TinkerBrig]

I have been to the Castle for a princess breakfast and it was wonderful. How is the princess buffet in Norway? Which meal would be the best?

 

[TiggerTrigger]

We've done CRT twice (L,D) and Akershus twice (L,D) and while I think the castle is a must at least once, I think Akershus is better once you get past the awe of the castle. I think the princess interaction is pretty similar at both, and while the atmosphere at CRT is a hands down winner, we've found the food and service to be better at Akershus. Both have their own check in headaches- but if you've done CRT already- IMO I think you should try Akershus.

 

[LynneyPooh]

We've done both for breakfast CRT (june) and Akershus (oct). DD10 like both princess interactions, however she enjoyed the breakfast better at Akerhaus (truthfully so did I and DH). While not a huge fan of buffets, we liked having a variety of choice.
If Cinderella in her ballgown is a must then go to CRT, but Belle is in her yellow ballgown at Akerhaus. Snow White was in her blue and red and Ariel was in her green at both places.(Not sure if that's an issue, but DD was quick to ask Belle at CRT where her yellow dress was-BTW @ home because she had errands to run before bf and didn't have time to change into her gown )
IMO if you've done CRT, give Akerhaus a try. Have fun!

 

[LynneyPooh]

PS- forgot to add, my brother who eats anything told us never to eat dinner in Norway-(it's norweigein food)- it was his worst meal in a week if disney dining; since I can be a very picky eater we stuck with the breakfast.
However I'm sure there are many who enjoy this type of food.

 

[melodyka]

I agree with pp, since you have already done CRT give Akershus a try. We actually preferred it because I think it is a better value.

enjoy

 

[disney212]

We have also done both and prefer Norway, better value and we liked the food too!

 

[ladyfoundhertramp]

We had a 5.20 ADR in Norway. We arrived at the little podium outside the restaurant and checked in around 5.10. We waited about 15 mins before being called into the building to be greeted by Belle in her evening gown. Yet another striking Princess. After our family photo we were seated in a little alcove right by the cold buffet. It's a very small restaurant, maybe one of the smallest I have been in yet on property. But it is quaint, looks like a cottage almost in the front and the back looks like a medieval dining room with banners and flags as well as coats of armor on the walls. We were greeted by our server and she informed us that dining plan guests could also order shirley temples or any of the alcoholic mixed beverages in a virgin version. The cold buffet was nice it offered a house salad, cheese and meats (we had swiss, gouda, turkey and salami) various cold pasta salads, salmon, pickled herring, cold shrimp and various rolls. It was a nice change of pace for a Disney dinner. For entrees DD12 ordered the baked chicken over risotto--she didnt care much for this at all. I never tried it so I cant comment. DH and I both had the beef tips over potatoes with a mushroom gravy--this was delicious! We nearly licked our plates clean! For dessert you get a family style sampler with chocolate mousse, puffed pastry with fresh fruit and rice cream with a strawberry sauce. The rice cream was my favorite--it was a sweet and creamier version of rice pudding topped with a fantastic strawberry sauce. DD & DH loved the mousse, very rich and good.We all sampled the pastry, but that fell a little flat with flavor. The princesses were lovely as usual--we were greeted by Cinderella, Snow White, Ariel and Aurora. They are always so fantastic with the kids--DD3 was in heaven! They even do a small parade of princesses about halfway through the meal and the children can join them. It is worth a try if you have a Princess lover.

 

[PoohsFan1]

We love the breakfast at Norway it is a must do each time we are there...in fact we are planning on having breakfast there twice on our next trip. The cold buffet bar has wonderful cheeses, fruits, breakfast pastries, and deli meats....they have other things on there that I don't get however. And the hot food that is served to your table is awesome, especially the cheesy potatoes . Also, the princesses that come around the table are great, they like to spend a lot of time at each of the tables.

We have eaten at CRT breakfast a couple of times (we usually go for dinner) and we really like it. We are planning on dining here as well for breakfast for our upcoming trip too (we will be on DxDP which helps). All the food there is great and the princesses are wonderful.

 

[gatorskin76]

Is Akershus a better value? I thought the same thing, but when comparing breakfast prices it didn't appear there was much difference. The CRT price includes gratuity, which if you tip between 15 and 20% is a pretty significant factor. When I tried to figure out what the price would be with TIW for 2 adults and one child I came up with:

Akershus - $100
CRT - $96

I was using the prices from allears.

I haven't done CRT, but it appears you get more with their included picture package.

 

[MolonLabe]

We did both for dinner in May.

The castle for us was the hands down winner. The food and service was head and shoulders above Ashk.

Ashk. food was very salty and while it was edible, I'd be hard pressed to say it was anything beyond "ok" or a marginal "good". Service at Ashk was good but not on the same level as CRT. We really felt like royalty and that we were the only table our waiter was assigned.

We seemed to have more time with the princesses at CRT as well. For a Dinner, it would be the CRT every time over norway.

If you have NOT done Ashk. then I would say do it. It's a bit of a difference experience and unless you luck out in the princess encounter and get belle in her yellow dress there, it's the only time you can meet her in that dress, from my experience anyway.

For us two must do places to eat are Marakesh and Le Chefs de France... service and food make them the top two places we have eaten at at any of the parks. That said we haven't done the signature restaurants. CRT is the only place we've been willing to drop 2 DDP vouchers on.

 

[shannonstar]

We liked Akershus for breakfast. And it was nice to be one of the first groups on Test Track since we did the earliest time.

We did CRT for lunch and it was okay. The food wasn't worth it, but the character interaction was good.

If I was OOP, I would probably do split meals at lunch. If I was DDP, I would do Akershus for breakfast.

 

[disneykittin]

Is Akershus a better value? I thought the same thing, but when comparing breakfast prices it didn't appear there was much difference. The CRT price includes gratuity, which if you tip between 15 and 20% is a pretty significant factor. When I tried to figure out what the price would be with TIW for 2 adults and one child I came up with:

Akershus - $100
CRT - $96

I was using the prices from allears.

I haven't done CRT, but it appears you get more with their included picture package.

I noticed that too when comparing prices. They seem almost identical price-wise. I've heard that Akershus was cheaper, too. Maybe in recent years Akershus has raised their prices?

 

[tarheelmjfan]

Is Akershus a better value? I thought the same thing, but when comparing breakfast prices it didn't appear there was much difference. The CRT price includes gratuity, which if you tip between 15 and 20% is a pretty significant factor. When I tried to figure out what the price would be with TIW for 2 adults and one child I came up with:

Akershus - $100
CRT - $96

I was using the prices from allears.

I haven't done CRT, but it appears you get more with their included picture package.

PSB is a better value for those on DDP. The difference is 1 credit vs. 2. We pay OOP w/ TIW & prefer CRT. We liked the food & atmosphere better. Both meals we had were for breakfast. We'll definitely return to CRT for the experience, if nothing else. We probably would only return to PSB, if we had guests who wanted to get into Epcot early.

 

[nicoleakr]

We liked the ark house breakfast I have never done the castle but I would try the ark house if you have never gone there before!

 

[LynneyPooh]

Is Akershus a better value? I thought the same thing, but when comparing breakfast prices it didn't appear there was much difference. The CRT price includes gratuity, which if you tip between 15 and 20% is a pretty significant factor. When I tried to figure out what the price would be with TIW for 2 adults and one child I came up with:

Akershus - $100
CRT - $96

I was using the prices from allears.

I haven't done CRT, but it appears you get more with their included picture package.

Not sure if its a change in policy, or because we were on the DxDP, but in Oct our photo was included @ Akerhaus. I went in expecting this to be extra, I noticed the table next to us thought the same Check on this also...

 

[university]

We did Akershus for breakfast because it was only 1 ts credit. IMO, this was the best breakfast I had during the entire trip. The potato casserole is to die for. The eggs were amazing. My DH was thrilled with the fresh berries at the cold buffet. The downside was the size of the bathroom (when you have an infant and take the Disney Tour of Changing Tables bathroom size counts) and the rushed interactions with the princesses. We were so rushed through Belle I had no idea they took my picture with my kids. I look like a gargoyle. LOL.

 

[gatorskin76]

Not sure if its a change in policy, or because we were on the DxDP, but in Oct our photo was included @ Akerhaus. I went in expecting this to be extra, I noticed the table next to us thought the same Check on this also...

Yes, the picture is included at Akershus, but it looks like you get a few additional photos at CRT. You also get the surprise gift.

Definitely when on the dining plan Akershus is a no brainer for value.

 

[happydayva]

LOVE the castle-Akershus-not so much. Just my opinion!!

 

[DEA]

I've eaten breakfast at both places on different occasions, and find that Akershus beats CRT hands-down on everything except actually being in Cinderella Castle. If that's the important thing, then you need to do CRT. If you want princesses and good food, Akershus is better for princess interaction, food quality, and, of course, bang-for-the-buck as it's less expensive, especially on the DDP.

 

[mmay60046]

I have been to the Castle for a princess breakfast and it was wonderful. How is the princess buffet in Norway? Which meal would be the best?

We did CRT for breakfast in 2005, Akershus for lunch in 2011.


I think the breakfast at CRT is probably different now, but when we did it in '05 we had to choose either a hot or cold breakfast. I chose the hot breakfast and it was probably the worst food I've ever eaten at Disney World. The princess interaction with my daughter was great, and it was also really cool to be in the Magic Kingdom before it opened which allowed us to get some great pics where it was just us on an empty Main Street and posing in front of the castle with nobody else around. Very cool. Those 2 things made it worth it......but the food was awful.

The lunch at Akershus on the other hand was very good. I like a wide variety of foods and so I very much enjoyed everything offered for lunch there. Those who are more picky eaters might not find something that they like. The princess interaction was great here as well.