If you want to eat with Disney princesses at EPCOT, Akershus Royal Banquet Hall is the place to book. The character meal is inside the Norway Pavilion, where Disney Princesses visit the dining room while you eat a family-style Norwegian-inspired breakfast, lunch or dinner.
I’ve done the Akershus princess dining experience, and I think its biggest advantage is simple: you can meet several princesses during one relaxed meal instead of spending a large part of your EPCOT day looking for individual character meet-and-greets.
Dinner isn’t cheap, though. Disney currently charges $69 per adult and $46 per child ages 3 to 9 for lunch or dinner, before tax and gratuity. Breakfast costs less at $62 per adult and $39 per child.
Akershus Is EPCOT’s Princess Character Meal
Akershus Royal Banquet Hall is located in the Norway Pavilion of EPCOT World Showcase, close to Frozen Ever After.
The restaurant is designed like a medieval Norwegian castle, with high ceilings, stonework, wooden details and heraldic banners. It feels much more like a banquet hall than a standard theme park restaurant.
The main reason to come, of course, is the Princess Storybook Dining. Disney describes the experience as a royal procession of princess friends visiting the dining room while Guests eat.
If meeting princesses is a major priority for someone in your group, I think that’s the real value of Akershus. You’re combining character time with a meal you would probably need to stop for anyway.
How Much Does Akershus Princess Dining Cost?
| Meal | Adult 10+ | Child 3–9 |
|---|---|---|
| Breakfast | $62 | $39 |
| Lunch | $69 | $46 |
| Dinner | $69 | $46 |
Those prices are before tax and gratuity.
For a family of two adults and two children, dinner comes to $230 before tax and gratuity. That makes Akershus a significant part of the food budget, even before adding specialty drinks.
I wouldn’t judge the price purely against the food. Part of what you’re paying for is having the character experience happen while you eat.
You can confirm current prices on the official Akershus Royal Banquet Hall page before your trip.
Which Princesses Are at Akershus?
This is one detail I would not plan too rigidly around.
Disney promotes Belle and other Disney Princesses as part of the Akershus Storybook Dining experience, but it also specifically warns that character appearances can change.
I’ve encountered several princesses during the same meal, which is exactly what makes Akershus so useful if characters are important to your trip. But I wouldn’t promise a child that Cinderella, Ariel, Snow White or another specific princess will definitely be there on your date.
If there’s one particular character you absolutely need to meet, check my EPCOT character meet-and-greet guide too rather than relying solely on the dining lineup.
The Food Is Family-Style Now
One important change from older Akershus reviews is how the meal is served.
Akershus currently serves its meals family-style. You aren’t going through the old appetizer buffet and then choosing an individual plated entrée.
At lunch and dinner, Disney currently serves a spread that includes items such as lefse with cinnamon butter, cheeses, chilled Nordic shrimp salad and Princess Garden Greens to start.
The main family-style meal includes Norwegian meatballs with lingonberry jam, seasonal vegetables, mashed potatoes with brown gravy, seared salmon, chicken and macaroni and cheese.
Dessert is another shared platter with a selection of Norwegian-inspired sweets.
I like this format for a character meal because you’re not constantly getting up from the table and worrying that a princess will arrive while someone is away getting food.
Breakfast Is a Different Akershus Experience
If your main goal is meeting princesses rather than having a Scandinavian-inspired dinner, I would seriously consider breakfast.
The breakfast menu is considerably more familiar. Disney currently serves pastries, fruit, cheesy potato casserole, scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage links and Norwegian waffles family-style.
It’s also cheaper than lunch or dinner.
For adults, the difference is $7 per person. For children, it’s $7 as well. That isn’t an enormous savings, but breakfast may work better for picky eaters who aren’t interested in salmon, Norwegian meatballs or some of the other lunch and dinner foods.
On the other hand, I like dinner because it gives you an air-conditioned sit-down break after you’ve already spent hours in EPCOT.
I’d Choose Dinner If the Meal Is Part of the Experience
For me, dinner still makes the most sense if I’m treating Akershus as one of the memorable experiences of the day rather than simply the most efficient way to meet princesses.
The castle-like dining room feels particularly good after spending much of the day outside, and a substantial family-style meal gives you a chance to stop for a while instead of immediately heading back into another queue.
If I’m looking almost entirely at value, though, breakfast becomes harder to ignore. You still get Princess Storybook Dining but pay less and receive food that’s probably easier for a wider range of kids.
How to Book Akershus
Disney strongly recommends advance reservations for Akershus.
Most Guests can book Walt Disney World dining reservations up to 60 days in advance. Disney Resort hotel Guests get a useful planning advantage: beginning 60 days before arrival, they can make reservations for their entire stay for up to a 10-night visit.
Disney currently says new reservation windows for select restaurants become available at approximately 6:00 AM.
If Akershus is one of the highest-priority reservations on the trip, I would look for it as soon as your booking window opens rather than assuming you’ll find a prime dinner time later.
Availability can also reappear when other Guests change their plans, so I would keep checking if you initially come up empty.
A Dining Reservation Doesn’t Get You Into EPCOT
Akershus is inside EPCOT, so you still need valid theme park admission for everyone ages 3 and older who is dining.
Depending on your admission type, a park reservation may also be required. Disney makes it clear that having a restaurant reservation does not guarantee entry to the park.
If you’re still budgeting the park portion of the day, see my guide to EPCOT admission prices.
Frozen Ever After Is Right Nearby
Akershus is in a useful part of EPCOT if Frozen is important to your family.
Frozen Ever After is also in the Norway Pavilion, so I like thinking about the attraction and Akershus together rather than crossing World Showcase several times unnecessarily.
This is particularly useful with younger kids. You can spend some time around Norway, ride Frozen and then have princess dining without turning the entire afternoon into a long walk back and forth across EPCOT.
If you aren’t familiar with how spread out the park is, my guide to how much walking to expect at EPCOT gives you a better idea.
Is Akershus Princess Dining Worth $69?
I think Akershus is worth it when meeting princesses is one of the main priorities of the trip.
If nobody in the group particularly cares about the characters, I wouldn’t spend $69 per adult just for the food. EPCOT has too many other restaurants I’d choose purely as dining experiences.
But that’s not really what Akershus is selling.
You’re getting a sit-down meal inside EPCOT while multiple Disney Princesses circulate through the restaurant. Instead of using separate chunks of the park day waiting for character photos and autographs, those interactions happen while everyone is already sitting down to eat.
For a child who loves Disney princesses, that can make the cost much easier to justify.
For adults or families who don’t care much about characters, I’d put the money toward another restaurant and use my EPCOT restaurant guide to choose somewhere based more heavily on the food.
Akershus vs. Meeting Princesses Around EPCOT
You don’t need to book Akershus to see princesses at EPCOT.
Princess characters also appear at individual locations around the park. The tradeoff is time. Meeting several characters separately can mean finding their locations, checking schedules and potentially waiting in multiple lines.
That’s why I see Akershus less as “expensive Norwegian food” and more as a way to bundle a meal and several character interactions into the same part of the day.
If you’re already planning a full park day around character experiences, compare the restaurant with my current EPCOT character guide before deciding which approach makes more sense.
