The Akershus Royal Banquet Hall

Naturally, any girl, no matter what age, longs to be a Princess--though in this society, it is often looked down upon should one make a life-long choice to forever to stay in touch with the child in them.I am never ashamed to show my dreams and hopes, acting as though I was still about 5 or 10-years-old at times, dancing around, singing Disney tunes. Especially when I am at one of us Twourtists' favorite places, the Happiest Place on Earth.

This past May, I celebrated my 20th birthday at WDW with my boyfriend and one of my best friends. Their passion for Disney is as grand as all of yours and mine, which is one of the reasons why this trip was so enjoyable. On our 4-day trip, hitting each park each day, we decided to endeavor the Akershus Royal Banquet Hall in Norway residing in EPCOT.

I have always been extremely curious about this restaurant since I was a little girl; the lure of it being a "Storybook Princess Dining Experience." Since it was MY birthday, and I wanted to truly feel like a princess this year, I decided, "Hey, why not?" So we went at 5:45pm for our reservation. Checking in and waiting for our table took much longer than expected. There were a ton of people with reservations waiting outside the restaurant, and being in the hot Florida humidity, as the sun was setting, making the heat even more unbearable, it wasn't exactly a pleasant waiting experience.

Nonetheless, we got inside, and before being seated, we were to take a picture with a Princess, this particular night it being Belle. The three of us were ecstatic, but honestly more anxious to sit down and rest, not to mention eat. But the picture was great, and copies of the picture were given to us complimentary once we were taken to our table. I have one on my refrigerator actually, with my sun burn and all. (Sorry, no digital copy to show on here.)

We ordered our drinks, and I was extremely excited to get the chance to meet my favorite princess of all, Princess Aurora, or Sleeping Beauty. As I see the princesses slowly come into the restaurant and interacting one by one, I started getting fidgety, not really wanting to eat. My focus was on seeing the princess I longed to meet the most. You would think that at 20-years-old, I wouldn't anticipating the audience of someone merely acting as the princess on the screen that I've loved since a child--but this is just one mere example of the kind of young woman I am. Our food was ordered, none of us not knowing really what to expect as we have never tasted Norwegian food before, but nevertheless excited to try something new. As we waited, I had yet to see Aurora, I started to feel hopeless and upset, as lovely as the other princesses were. Well...actually..eh, that's another story. But then the big moment came. I saw that beautiful pink dress and the long, blonde hair topped with a golden tiara and, no exaggerations, I started to cry. She walked towards our table and I was crying. I told her it was my birthday and how excited I was to see her, and she was very sweet. We took pictures and conversed, but of course, she needed to go make other little girl's dreams come true. I was beyond happy, and thoroughly enjoyed the rest of my meal. My best friend got just as excited with her favorite princess, Erin, which was great to see. :)

Though the food was somewhat bland, at least for my taste, it was rather good. I had the Sauteed Chicken Breast, which honestly after reading that there was bacon involved, there was no question that out of all the selections, that was the one I would enjoy most. Then, as my server, who was by the way extremely sweet though unfortunately I cannot remember her name, knew it was my birthday, she brought out a large plate giving a sample of all the selections of dessert with a candle in the middle. Everyone sang Happy Birthday to me, and to top it all off, our server gave me a birthday card with ALL of the princesses autographs, as well as a sweet note from my server. Not to mention the desserts were absolutely DELICIOUS. I couldn't have been happier.

The restaurant has a great theme, it's very castle-like, Baroque-esque with obviously Norwegian details. With all of the princesses walking around, it's a great experience for any fan of the Disney princesses young and old. In all honesty though, I would say this is a great option should you had originally wanted to dine at Cinderella's Royal Table but couldn't get a reservation. The menu offers some great kid-friendly options and it's less expensive, though still in my opinion pretty pricey, than CRT.

I shall never forget this experience of meeting my favorite princess, or of my boyfriend getting hit on by a Hispanic-looking Cinderella at this great restaurant. Haha. Great times, endless memories, a great birthday dinner.