Walt Disney World has introduced extra meal companies returning to desk service eating places, with probably the most notable reveal being a reopening date for Akershus Royal Banquet Corridor within the Norway/Arendelle pavilion in World Showcase at EPCOT. This publish will share dates, particulars, and ideas on our final expertise doing Storybook Eating at that includes the Disney Princesses.
To rapidly recap current progress, a number of character eating experiences have been just lately restored, going from normal meal companies to character meals. This consists of lunch and dinner at Crystal Palace: A Buffet with Character that includes Winnie the Pooh and Buddies, Minnie’s Seashore Bash Breakfast at Cape Might Café, and ‘Ohana Finest Buddies Breakfast that includes Lilo and Sew. All of these have returned inside the final month–breakfast at Crystal Palace comes again subsequent week.
Moreover, buffet service and common character encounters have returned to a variety of eating places. This consists of fur character eating experiences like Breakfast à la Artwork at Topolino’s Terrace — Flavors of the Riviera and Minnie’s Seasonal Dine at DHS. It additionally consists of Story Ebook Eating at Artist Level with Snow White, however not most different face character places.
One notable exception of the eating places that has already been again for some time is Cinderella’s Royal Desk, which continues to be not regular. (Regardless of current worth will increase to each character eating expertise, together with Cinderella’s Royal Desk!)
Likewise, Bon Voyage Journey Breakfast and 1900 Park Fare stay ‘briefly unavailable’, as do a handful of different places beforehand providing breakfast or different distinctive meal companies.
Regardless of this, Akershus Royal Banquet Corridor was nonetheless anticipated to return this 12 months, and reopening preparations have been underway for a couple of months. The Free Florida Blue Lounge throughout the 2022 EPCOT Meals & Wine Pageant was relocated from Akershus to Restaurant Marrakesh. Moreover, the Cultural Consultant Program returned to EPCOT over 2 months in the past.
The latter change resulted within the reopening of Monsieur Paul (in the present day!), which is our #3 restaurant in all of Walt Disney World. It’s anticipated that Takumi-Tei (our #2 restaurant) within the Japan pavilion gained’t be too far behind, which might just about restore the pre-closure eating slate in World Showcase. (Minus Restaurant Marrakesh, and it’s possible Disney has long-term plans for that venue now that it owns the situation.)
In opposition to that backdrop, Walt Disney World introduced in the present day that Akershus Royal Banquet Corridor is reopening. Right here’s the official announcement…
Walt Disney World cordially invitations you to feast at Akershus Royal Banquet Corridor, which can open its doorways as soon as once more on November 4, 2022. This eating expertise is discovered on the Norway pavilion within the World Showcase at EPCOT and provides company a style of Norwegian delicacies.
There are many plates at this royal feast, whether or not you’re trying to take pleasure in your favorites or desirous to strive one thing new. This family-style eating expertise consists of Conventional KjØttkaker that includes Norwegian meatballs or the Kylling og Melboller, a Norwegian tackle hen and dumplings.
In case you’re in search of some extra basic American-cuisine, they’ve acquired that too with Mashed Potatoes and Gravy, Grilled Salmon, and Macaroni & Cheese. And what meal is full with out dessert.
The meal serves up each a Rice Cream with strawberry sauce and a Chocolate Roulade with lingonberry cream.
Apart from the scrumptious eats and treats, what makes Akershus Royal Banquet Corridor so particular is it being residence to a novel Storybook Eating that includes the Disney Princesses. As you indulge within the Norwegian-inspired fare, you’ll be able to work together, take photographs, and create lasting reminiscences with a few of your favourite princesses.
Advance Eating Reservations will open up for Akershus Royal Banquet Corridor beginning October 24, 2022.
As I’ve lamented elsewhere, we did dinner at Akershus Royal Banquet Corridor in March 2020 to get probably the most bang for our buck from the then-new Disney Eating Plan Plus.
I had been dragging my toes on revisiting Akershus for some time, as a result of eating with face characters makes me uncomfortable. Nonetheless, it was in all probability the meal about which we obtained probably the most questions, so we did it. (I do know, play me a tragic music on the world’s smallest violin.)
A part of my private motivation for doing the Disney Princess Storybook Eating Dinner was getting again inside Akershus Citadel. We stayed till the very finish of the evening and I took a ton of architectural photographs with out different company. It was truly a enjoyable food-filled night and distinctive expertise.
Shortly after consuming at Akershus, I wrote a overview of dinner, weaving in particulars concerning the historical past of Akershus and its themed design. That overview was by no means revealed, for causes which can be in all probability apparent provided that we did dinner there in March 2020. After all, I’d by no means recycle content material…
On a completely unrelated observe, let’s have a look round Akershus Royal Banquet Corridor!
This location opened with the Norway pavilion in 1988 as Restaurant Akershus, serving a Norwegian buffet. When the Norwegian authorities stopped supporting the pavilion financially again within the early aughts, princesses have been added for breakfast, adopted by lunch and dinner a couple of years later. The restaurant was renamed Akershus Royal Banquet Corridor, a precursor to the princessification that will happen a decade later with Frozen Ever After changing Maelstrom.
Whereas princesses have been added, the restaurant largely maintains its opening day look. It’s based mostly on Akershus Citadel and Fortress, a fortified medieval fortress on Oslo harbor. That fortress and fortress was constructed within the late 1200s to guard and supply a royal residence, which was additionally strategically essential for the capital metropolis.
Whoever managed Akershus dominated Norway. From what I perceive, that is the premise of Frozen III, with Elsa seizing Akershus Royal Banquet Corridor from Belle. This culminates within the climactic Battle of Take a look at Monitor, earlier than the tear-jerking conclusion with the Guardians of the Galaxy rewinding the cosmos to revive order to the Different-World Showcase. Synergy at its best.
The Norway pavilion’s Akershus replicates many architectural options of Oslo’s actual Akershus Slott og Festning. Parts of the facade, towers, and corridor within the World Showcase model are all strikingly just like the true factor in Norway.
In All About Norway in Epcot’s World Showcase, we cowl the pavilion’s different architectural inspirations from Bergen, Ålesund, Oslo, and the Setesdal Valley.
We haven’t toured the true Akershus, however have visited quite a lot of forts, castles, and church buildings in Norway and elsewhere. The inside is paying homage to many of those, and looks like an amalgamation of places all through Scandinavia. Many of those are austere as a substitute of opulent, with largely unadorned structure.
I don’t purport to be an knowledgeable on Norwegian forts and castles, however the usage of patterns and ornamental dishware to punctuate the design “feels” genuine. (One of many coolest issues we noticed all through Norway’s countryside was church partitions lined in rosemaling.)
In the end, we’re excited for the return of Storybook Eating that includes the Disney Princesses at Akershus Royal Banquet Corridor on November 4, 2022. That is largely as a result of we all know so a lot of you’ve got been anxiously awaiting this, and it’s a family-favorite providing at EPCOT.
It is going to as soon as once more be one of many extra fashionable Advance Eating Reservations at Walt Disney World, and we’d count on these ADR slots for November and December 2022 to fill quick.
Truthfully, I’m wanting ahead to returning to Akershus, too. Our final meal there was shockingly good–and numerous enjoyable. It additionally helps that I’ve zero strain to get new character photographs, as I’ve a ton of unused ones from March 2020 and nil reluctance to recycle these photographs of us whereas eating there once more for brand spanking new meals photographs. (Simply don’t query why it seems to be like I’ve aged about 16 years in among the photographs versus others whereas Sarah nonetheless seems to be the identical!)
The underside line is that the reopening of Akershus Royal Banquet Corridor is a giant win for households in search of princess eating at EPCOT. Whereas it’s unlikely to surpass Story Ebook Eating at Artist Level, it would find yourself stunning us. Plus, that dinner is virtually unattainable to ebook, and it’s exterior the parks…so not precisely an apples to apples comparability. As well as, eating at Akershus is an opportunity to see inside an exemplar of Imagineering’s old skool World Showcase design work whereas having fun with considerably distinctive delicacies. A pleasant win for each children and oldsters!
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YOUR THOUGHTS
Have you ever dined at Akershus Royal Banquet Corridor in Epcot’s Norway pavilion? Will you be reserving lunch or dinner with the princesses right here on an upcoming go to to Epcot? Excited concerning the alternative to expertise the design and particulars of Akershus Citadel and Fortress? Do you agree or disagree with our evaluation? Any questions we might help you reply? Listening to your suggestions–even once you disagree with us–is each fascinating to us and useful to different readers, so please share your ideas under within the feedback!