CRT PPO breakfast vs Askershus lunch

[MamaJJ2018]

Hello!

For our upcoming trip with an almost 3 year-old girl who adores princesses, I was able to get both an 805am Cinderella's Royal Table reservation (on a magic kingdom day) and Askershus lunch reservation (on an Epcot day). I have decided to only keep one of them, but am having a hard timing deciding which will be best for us. We will not be on the dining plan, and the out of pocket costs between the two are comparable enough to not be a major factor. I lean toward CRT feeling more “special”, but will an 805am reservation (9am park open) eat into a lot of our morning ride time before the park fills up? I don’t think there is as much for her to do at Epcot so we may feel less rushed at Askershus... any advice would be great!

 

[DrunkJam]

Hello!

For our upcoming trip with an almost 3 year-old girl who adores princesses, I was able to get both an 805am Cinderella's Royal Table reservation (on a magic kingdom day) and Askershus lunch reservation (on an Epcot day). I have decided to only keep one of them, but am having a hard timing deciding which will be best for us. We will not be on the dining plan, and the out of pocket costs between the two are comparable enough to not be a major factor. I lean toward CRT feeling more “special”, but will an 805am reservation (9am park open) eat into a lot of our morning ride time before the park fills up? I don’t think there is as much for her to do at Epcot so we may feel less rushed at Askershus... any advice would be great!

I don't know what the food is like at CRT breakfast, BUT I will say that there is something very special about going INTO the castle, if you have never done it. I found Akershus disappointing and we got way better character interaction in the castle. But, YMMV there.

 

[Helvetica]

I don't think an 8:05 reservation is really going to hurt things. I haven't been to the breakfast service at CRT, but breakfasts in general tend to go more quickly. It's not a three course meal like lunch or dinner, so you're very likely to be done by 9 am. Especially if you're able to be one of the first ones there. CRT doesn't normally seat anyone early, but I don't know if that's true for breakfast service. Personally, I'd try to be the first family of the day.

With CRT, you get a photo pass photo with Cinderella. At Askerhus it's Belle. I think CRT is more likely to get Jasmine and Askerhus it's typically Aurora. The other princesses are typically the same, but they do change. I don't know if she has a favorite one.

I've only had Askerhus for breakfast, which I enjoyed the family style there. I haven't had their lunch/dinner service.

Foodwise, I guess if its whether you want breakfast food vs lunch. If she has a favorite princess, I can see that factoring into things. Also, while the atmosphere at both are great, it's hard to beat Cinderella's Castle.

I think they're both good, but I prefer CRT.

 

[goofyintoronto]

If the price between the two isn't a huge difference (when paying out of pocket) then I would go with CRT for sure.

 

[mkla2015]

CRT will be more "magical"- it's beautiful inside of the castle. I'm not a fan of the food at CRT- the amount and quality of breakfast food at CRT for the price is terrible but you are paying for the experience. If you've never done it, I say go with CRT.

I've never had lunch at Akershus but did enjoy the breakfast there. It's definitely not as special as being inside the castle but we had better character interactions and much better food there than CRT.

 

[KenHutch]

If price is not a concern everyone with a girl needs to do CRT at least once. I have done both meals many times (2 girls)

 

[TigerlilyAJ]

I would let the typical (but not guaranteed) princess line-up be the first deciding factor, esp if your daughter has favorites. Then I would really look at the menus. Akershus isn't just a princess meal; it's also the restaurant for Norway and the menu reflects that. Lunch might not be everyone's cup of tea.

 

[piccolopat]

Threads like this make me nostalgic for the time when there was no princesses in CRT and we could get a same day reservation. I agree with PP that the atmosphere in the castle is magical and should be experienced at least once. We also enjoyed Akershus before it became a character experience but though the architecture is pretty inside, it doesn't compare to the castle. I can't comment on the food since it's been years that we've gone to either.

 

[Jacq7414]

We did an 805 CRT breakfast. They ended up adding extra magic hours that morning, so it didn’t end up being PPO. We did finish before 9 though and went straight to 7DMT with a maybe 15/20 minute wait. I would do it again. My daughter was in awe being in the castle.

 

[MamaJJ2018]

Thanks All! Disney just added extra magic hours for the morning of our CRT reservation and I think we’d prefer To not miss the park time, so will be saving that experience for another trip!