Akershus
Image: DisneyYou know that scene in Office Space where the restaurant manager talks about pieces of flair? He berates an employee for wearing the minimum amount of flair, arguing that more is always better. That’s something that springs to mind when I think about Akershus.
Sure, some Disney restaurants offer a few characters. Some of them are even princesses. Most of these places have the minimum amount of princesses, though. Not Akershus. That place holds the title of Disney Princess Central.
The moment you walk in the door, a Disney Princess is ready to take a picture with you. When you sit down, a different Disney Princess arrives at your table. Then, she starts posing for pictures with your family. A few minutes after that, the place has a freakin’ Disney Princess Parade! They even anoint the girls in the crowd as Disney Princesses for the day, letting them partake in the festivities.
Cinderella’s Royal Table gets all of the hype since it’s at the hub of Magic Kingdom. For my money, Akershus offers the unforgettable meal, though. Disney Princesses are everywhere, and they even parade down the walkways, bringing joyously happy girls along with them.
Plus, the place serves Gjetost cheese, which has no purpose in this discussion, but I just can’t mention Akershus without mentioning its glorious brown cheese.
The Garden Grill Restaurant
I’m kind of obsessed with The Land Pavilion at Epcot. I particularly adore Living with the Land, an engrossing attraction that celebrates Disney’s battle to innovate in the realm of food production. Sure, I sometimes use this 20-minute ride as a nap during a long Disney day, but I also pay careful attention to the foods on display during the ride.
The Garden Grill uses many of those foods during its meals. It also throws in a character meet and greet with Chip and Dale, the hosts of the titular Harvest Feast. While I have no idea which is which, I have several pictures of my encounters with the beloved chipmunk rescue rangers. And what impresses me when I see them is that the cast members in those costumes are working with a degree of difficulty.
For reasons I don’t entirely understand, The Garden Grill is a spinning restaurant. The floor rotates so slowly that you’ll barely notice while you’re sitting down eating. Over the course of an hour-long meal, however, you’ll see several parts of the adjoining Living with the Land attraction multiple times. In other words, the floor moves fast enough that you’ll rotate in a full circle two or three times. The poor costumed cast members must navigate through tight quarters (the walkways here are notoriously small) as the very ground moves beneath them. It can’t be easy.
I won’t lie and say that The Garden Grill offers my favorite meal at Disney. It probably wouldn’t even make my top 25. It is, however, unforgettable due to its three unique qualities: the complex character meet and greet, the rotating floor, and the views of Living with the Land. That’s reason enough to earn a spot on the list.
Comments
You forgot two HUGE ones.
Ohana's which feels more like having dinner at an uncle's home in Hawaii than a restaurant at Walt Disney World. The food is absolutely delicious and unlimited and the bread pudding desert is worth the price of admission on it's own. My personal favorite meal in all of WDW.
Victoria and Albert's maybe it's because of its ultra high class atmosphere or the difficulty in obtaining reservations or the high price of admission but V&A's is left off these lists way too often. This restaurant commands the very definition of unforgettable. This is definitely one meal you will remember for the rest of your life.