Review: Disney World - Akershus Royal Banquet Hall

There is a check in station near the main walking path toward the lake side.  Its easy to walk past it if you only are looking for the restaurant sign and then you have to head back toward the lake and look for the check in station again.

We had dinner with a group of 6 (including one 3 year old).  The food was good standard breakfast food.  My family is not adventuress enough to try the lunch or dinner options so we stick to breakfast here.  Its a good mix of buffet and family style where you can go immediately to the buffet and they bring your table the warm options of eggs, potatoes, bacon and sausage.

Our waitress was good just as you would expect.

The characters were good and spent plenty of time with us. They have a princess parade which my toddler enjoyed but it was a little odd because she was big enough to want to participate but not big enough to go on her own.

Overall this is a good use of a Disney dining credit and a good option if you cant get an ADR (Advance Dining Reservation) at Cinderella's castle. 

3 Adults and 1 Child

Value of Deluxe Dining Plan 2018

We are back from our January 2018 Disney trip.  We added the Deluxe Dining Plan to our trip because the math worked for us.  You can see the pre trip numbers here.

Our meal schedule was heavy in the character meals as it was our 3 year old's first trip.  My mother-in-law joined us in the parks for 3 of our days, that is really where our value was added by having deluxe dining.  She used 6 of our credits, without her there those credits would have had much less value.  Generally speaking we would have used those credits but probably more as a shareable lunch at a quick service instead of a full table service meal. So those 6 credits would have gone from a $35-49 value down to $20-25.  We would have still saved some money, so its still good to do the math.

Big things to remember when thinking about the difference of the deluxe dining plan and the quick or standard plan is that deluxe included an appetizer and desert for table service meals.  Our 3 year old also was not required to eat off the kids menu (I think that is not the case for standard dining plan table service).  Only 3 of our meals were not buffets the first one I did not realize that she could order a standard meal/appetizer, the second we ordered her an adult appetizer (after the waitress suggested it) but a kids meal and the third (Be Our Guest) I did not order her a meal she shared with us.  It's my understanding that for quick service the meals are all grouped together and kids are not required to order kids meals so that makes for much better value.  I would recommend knowing where the best shareable quick service locations are to maximize your value.  We used one of our credits at Flame Tree BBQ and shared it between 4 people (toddler included) because we got the chicken, ribs, and pulled pork combo.

I will admit that I did not maximize our snack credits  because I had just intended to use them instead of spending any money on snacks.  Looking back I wish I would have gotten water to take into the parks as I bought several bottles of smart water, at $4.5 a bottle its a good value but if I would bought it before hand at $1.50 a bottle it would have freed up several snack credits.  Even if I only had a bottle a day to start our day with it would have given us 5 extra snack credits.  I only purchased one cupcake out of pocket when we were leaving the hotel so our credits really covered our needs just not anything extra to take home.  I also wish I would have had a better plan to have a grab and go breakfast in our room for my husband.  A bag of bagels would have saved us a lot of stress.  I had planned several late breakfasts so that we could ride stuff first then head to breakfast on those days we really needed something to take with us for he and my daughter to eat at the bus stop or walking through the park.

As I look back the best advice I can give you is check the numbers based on what you would order at each location you want to visit.  If you plan to have two rooms really check the value of one room with deluxe dining and one room with a different plan until you find a combo that will benefit you.  Be creative if you planned on having two rooms one with 2 adults and one with 2 adults and 1 child it might make more sense to have 3 adults and 1 child on the deluxe plan and the other adult on no plan.  You have to be careful because this affects your room entry but if your all going to be together or if  your rooms are adjoining keep the door open and it wont matter.  When doing the math it always makes more sense for kids to be on the deluxe plan rather than an adult.  My sister and I have discussed this option and really think the next time we visit it will be the way to save money.  What you need to do when you plan ahead is to be sure that the standard dining plan is used for buffet meals and the deluxe is used where at non buffet table service options.  You also need to be sure that you plan if you all wont be dining together that someone has meals on their account to use.  I would also have a written plan of what room will pay for which meals so that you don't have to think about it once your there.

Day 1:
Hollywood and Vine (Fantasmic Package) - 3 credits
Sci-Fi Drive In - 3 credits

Day 2:
Crystal Palace - 3 credits
Tony's Town Square - 3 credits

Day 3:
Akershus - 4 credits
Garden Grill - 4 credits

Day 4:
Be Our Guest - 3 credits
Cinderella's Royal Table - 8 credits

Day 5:
Tucker House - 4 credits
Flame Tree BBQ - 1 credit

Out of pocket	$1,339.86
Deluxe Dining	$1,090.00
Refillable Mugs (3)	$53.97
Snacks ($4.50 each)	$96.00
Total Value	$399.83

3 Adults and 1 Child

Deluxe Disney Dining Plan - Actual Cost comparison

Ok so I just planned our dining for an upcoming trip in 2018, family of 3.  We are not drinkers so I never even looked at the drink prices but for a 4 night 5 day stay the difference for paying out of pocket and the deluxe dining plan was going to be $165 more than oop.  Then I calculated the refillable mugs and snacks to be a $150 value, and we would have 7 additional dining credits to utilize while onsite (we will have some others joining us for some of the time so we can pay for a meal and utilize the credits).  If we utilize 5 of those credits at whispering canyon like we are currently considering that meal will be about $237.  Now that is a majority of character meals, but my point is just do the math.  Pick where you want to eat then check the price comparison at that point don't try to justify eating more than you would just because its a better value justify with actual numbers for me I also like its already paid for so there is less stress when we are at the parks.

Out of pocket	$924.80
Deluxe Dining	$1,090.00
Difference	$165.20
Refillable Mugs (3)	$53.97
Snacks ($4 each)	$96.00
Extra Credits Value (7)	$245.00
Total Value	$394.97

3 Adults and 1 Child

Disney Dining Plan (Deluxe Version)

So I have been reading several articles about the Disney Dining Plan and want to point out a couple of things I have noticed about the Deluxe version.

You have to eat 3 huge meals a day! - False

First they reference having 3 meals a day, that is not exactly the case you get 3 meals for each night you stay.  Our next trip we will arrive in Orlando in the late evening, stay at a cheap offsite hotel then arrive at the counter as early in the am as we can to get our vacation started.  Then we will be staying an extra night (not on our reservation) at the end of our trip so we end up with 8 nights but 9 days.  So take 24/9 and you get to spread out the meals a little more.  We will be eating at the castle one morning (before the park opens) and going to Hoopy Doo Music Review (also 2 credits).  So now we are taking 22/9 so that is 2.5 meals a day so now we are at 3 meals every other day.

You will waste 1.5 hours each time you eat! - False

Plan to eat at the restaurants that let you in the park early (Castle, Crystal Palace, Tusker House).  That way you will get you in the parks before it opens.  That will actually add to our usable park time as we will already be in the park at rope drop and be able to enjoy some great photos without a lot of people.

So if we start our day at 7am get to a before parks character meal at 8am.  Share a quick service meal in the afternoon (say in our hotel before our afternoon nap/pool time) everyday and then have dinner around 7 that is all we need to do (only time out of our park hours will be for dinner).

Character meals are the only time I will meet and greet with characters so it actually saves time from waiting in line you can multi-task.

The cost is too high / not a good value! - False

The Deluxe Plan is expensive but when if your going to eat sit down twice a day it is pretty similar in pricing except you get more times to eat and  more selection (as you don't have to worry about the cost of what your eating).  Also if you don't need to eat your 2 snacks you can purchase items that you can take home as gifts.  Some examples are popcorn, rice crispy treats, bagged candy and more...  If you don't use all your dining credits try and purchase snacks with them sometimes they let you.  Generally speaking you really need to plan out what you are going to eat as it might be cheaper to pay out of pocket but you might end up skimping out on a lot of fun.  Don't try and eat counter service for a week just to save $100 as you will really miss out on a lot of unique dining opportunities.

Convenience is not really something to count! - False 

My opinion is I like to have everything paid for before I go so I don't worry about money while on my trip it is not fun to see costs add up at every meal I don't want to be thinking about the bill I want to be enjoying Mickey and Eeyore.