REVIEW: Is This Character Breakfast in EPCOT Still Worth the Price?

A huge update we’ve been waiting for has finally come to Disney World!

Akershus Royal Banquet Hall

Akershus Royal Banquet Hall in the Norway Pavilion is home to a character meal with Disney Princesses. It reopened with dinner a while back, and breakfast has now returned as well! We were there on the first day breakfast returned and shared a first look with you, but now it’s time for our FULL review!

Atmosphere

Akershus Royal Banquet Hall is a character dining restaurant located in Norway in the World Showcase. Here, you can enjoy a meal and meet some of the Disney Princesses. The space is modeled after a Norwegian castle, and it really does feel like that! You can see medieval stonework on the outside of the restaurant, and that decor carries through to the interior.

Akershus Royal Banquet Hall

Just like dinner service, breakfast is a Princess Storybook Dining character meal, meaning you can expect to be joined by some of your favorite princesses during your experience! There are large, stone archways and wooden trusses in the ceiling with different sigils hanging from them. Chandeliers hang down from the ceilings and there are lit sconces on the red walls.

It’s like you’re inside a castle!

There are a few different dining rooms here. But, no matter where you’re seated, chances are you’ll still be able to feel the castle vibes thanks to the stone walls and wooden accents throughout the restaurant. And, since the characters make their way throughout Akershus, you’ll be able to interact with them without having to leave your seat.

Plenty of seating

Speaking of characters, we were pretty excited to see some of our favorite princesses, so we sat down at our table. It was set with stoneware and weighty flatware — as you would expect at any royal banquet!

Our table setting

Menu

This is a prix fixe menu, and each meal will cost $53 per adult and $34 per child ages 3-9. The price does not include tax or gratuity. Breakfast here is served family-style, rather than as a buffet. Our server told us she would “be our buffet” for the meal. The first course was a platter of pastries, meats, and cheeses.

©Disney

There are assorted fountain drinks, fresh Joffrey’s Coffee, and Twinings Hot Tea. Plus, there’s an allergy-friendly menu available — you just need to ask for it!

Characters

As we mentioned before, this is a character meal featuring some iconic Disney Princesses! There may be some different faces depending on the date of your visit, but you’re guaranteed to see at least a few familiar ladies. We got to interact with Aurora…

…and then Tiana stopped by!

Belle came over shortly after to show off that gorgeous yellow gown…

Belle

…and Ariel stopped by after that!

Ariel

We even got to see the OG Disney Princess, Snow White!

Snow White

Each princess spends a few minutes at each table, and diners will also receive this autograph card featuring all the princesses’ signatures! We visited with each princess for a few minutes and took lots of photos. You can likely count on seeing each princess at least once during your meal!

Back of the autograph card at Akershus

If you have a princess fan in your family or travel party and are looking to get a ton of character interactions done at once, consider booking a reservation at Akershus. We often see more availability at this princess meal than say, Cinderella’s Royal Table or Be Our Guest in Magic Kingdom!

Eats

Now, on to the best part — breakfast! Why would anyone ever eat anything other than breakfast food?! This family-style meal is $53 per adult and $34 per child at breakfast. Since things are family-style, your food is brought to your table — starting with the Breakfast Pastries and Accompaniments! 

There were two types of meat, two kinds of cheese, jam, salmon dip, a croissant, a cinnamon roll, and a chocolate pastry. This little plate packed a punch!

Starting with the pastries, the chocolate one was light, moist, and chocolatey. It reminded us of a Cheshire Cat Tail without the icing. The cinnamon roll wasn’t too dry or sweet but tasted fresh and wasn’t anything too impressive. The croissant was buttery and light too, if maybe a bit stale. The berry compote was fresh, sweet, and tart at the same time.

The salami and ham were pretty average, and likely something you could find in the grocery store. Still, each meat was salty and delicious when paired with the cheeses. Speaking of the cheese, one was a cheddar and the other was a Swiss cheese. Each was good, but again, it was your typical cubed cheese situation here (isn’t that a Dave Matthews Band song?).

The star of this entire platter, though, was the salmon dip. We loved this! It was incredibly salty in the best way possible, and pretty heavy on the dill — but somehow it worked. Being that it was a salmon dip, it did have a fish-forward flavor, but it wasn’t overly fishy by any means.

Pastries and accompaniments

Then, we moved on to the main course! There is plenty of food to go around here, and we didn’t know where we should start. But, we ended up making a very difficult decision and started with…

…the Norwegian Waffles, of course! These were SO tasty. They’re not quite as thick or crispy on the outside as what you might be used to from a Belgian Waffle, but these little heart-shaped pillows of pleasure were light and fluffy. They were sweet on their own but the powdered sugar added a little extra. We didn’t even add syrup to ours — that’s how good they were!

Norwegian Waffle

Next up, we went for something savory with the Potato Casserole. We would eat several helpings of this if we thought our stomachs could take it. The potatoes were soft without being soggy, and had a rich, buttery, cheesy flavor throughout. We wish there had maybe been some onions or another flavor for more depth, but we’ve hardly ever met a potato we didn’t like.

Potato Casserole

Unfortunately, we weren’t quite as wowed by the eggs. They’re your typical powdered, run-of-the-mill buffet eggs. They did have a bit more seasoning than what you might find at a quick-service meal, but overall we weren’t too excited about these.

Scrambled eggs

Oh bacon, we love you. Even when you’re bad, you’re good. This bacon was by no means bad, but it was your standard buffet-ish bacon — pretty thin and chewy. It did have good flavor, though! The sausage links were much of the same — moist, tasty, salty, and flavorful. But, if you’ve had a breakfast sausage link at any chain restaurant across the US, you’ve had these.

Sausage and Bacon

Life is all about balance, and we were served a bowl of fresh fruit! It was definitely fresh, and we loved that it was a pretty decent portion.

The blueberries were firm and juicy, while the strawberries were sweet and flavorful. The grapes were alright, and the honeydew had more flavor than we’ve had before — though that could be from being surrounded by other fruit!

Fresh fruit

Throughout our meal, we sipped on water along with Joffrey’s freshly brewed coffee (which was delicious!). You can also get fountain drinks, juices, and tea as well.

Coffee

The waffles were definitely a standout for us, and we wouldn’t mind if Disney dropped the recipe for that potato casserole, either!

Nosh or Not

You should book a breakfast reservation at Akershus if…

  • You’re looking for a sit-down, family-style meal to start your morning in EPCOT.
  • You have a Princess fan in your party and want to get a bunch of character interactions out of the way at one time.
  • You love standard breakfast food like waffles, potatoes, bacon, and sausage but want to have a fancier experience.

You should skip breakfast at Akershus if…

  • You’re looking for something a bit different than your typical breakfast fare.
  • You don’t want to devote an hour or more to sitting down during your park day.
  • You don’t really care about Disney Princesses or character meals.
  • You’re looking to stick to a budget.

Overall

Akershus might be a great option if you’ve been trying to get a reservation at another popular character meal like those at Cinderella’s Royal Table or Be Our Guest in Magic Kingdom. We got to interact with each princess at least once, and it’s a great way to knock out a ton of interactions at once. But, the food wasn’t anything that knocked our socks off. It was pretty standard breakfast fare, though we did really love those waffles, we’ve had similar quality meals at quick-service restaurants throughout the parks and hotels. Akershus is still a solid option for character dining at breakfast, lunch, and dinner in EPCOT.

Full spread

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Have you eaten at Akershus? Tell us in the comments.

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