Garden Grill or Akershus

[constantstar]

I'm torn between Garden Grill and Akershus. Which do you guys think has better food and which has a better character experience?

 

[chuckinthechat]

I haven't done Akershus but I really enjoyed Garden Grill when we were there. The food was good and the characters were fantastic plus it is kind of fun to see the scenes from living with the land

 

[brandigregory]

Absolutely, without question I would choose Akershus. The food is better because it is unique and wonderful (boring American dishes for unadventurous peeps). Characters are totally different. Akershus is Belle at the greeting with a free picture. Then you get 4 other princesses. We had Ariel, Cinderella, Snow White and Aurora. Best princess encounter, WAY better than CRT. The kids get to go on Princesstrain dancing around the room which they love. If you have girls or princess lovers this is absolutely what you want to pick.

Garden Grill was average. Food was good but not amazing. Character experience is decent but way better at Chef Mickey's IMO. We thought the experience was kind of boring and we are big character dining people - we have done them all except Cape May which we are doing in Nov!

Good Luck! Happy to answer any questions you may have!

 

[heath92681]

We struggled with this decision as well, and we decided to go with Akershus. Reservations for Akershus have been much harder to come by, so not sure if that's any indication as to which will be better....

 

[constantstar]

We do have a 4 year old daughter and a 2 year old son. I asked my daughter today which characters she'd prefer and surprisingly she said Mickey and Pluto. Neither of my kids really know Chip & Dale and the only princess DD is obsessed with is Elsa. I've heard the princesses can be hurried while the characters at GG spend more time and may visit more than once per meal. To me, neither of the places that have food that excite me - besides those rolls at GG, they look amazing!

Our other TS meals will be Tusker House, 1900 Park Fare, & Cape May. Perhaps we should have a break from characters for this meal? Ah, who knows!

 

[JessieH]

I've got the same question! Lunch menu at Akershus looks risky for my kids. I think dd would rather see the princesses, but is it worth it if she doesn't eat? We already have reservations for CRT and Chef Mickey's...so I feel like we have characters covered. Would love to know what you decide to do!

 

[wdw4rfam]

I've done both and although the princesses at akershus are great, the food was not. We have been to GG many times and the food is good and it's quiet compared to other character meals, with a lot of character interaction since its small.

 

[Dianekulka]

I heard Akershus is better!!! We haven't been personally but my SIL is a frequent diner there. We were going to try to get in there Dec but no such luck since we booked what seems to be last minute

 

[momof2n2]

I feel like they are two decidedly different experiences. Different cuisine and different characters. If your kids have no strong feelings either way, maybe try something else altogether.

 

[cmorris303]

Garden Grill was my kids absolute favorite this past trip. They loved it! The characters were great and had them cracking up.

 

[chewysmom]

Garden Grill for the food. Akershus for this characters.

 

[ErinInCT]

My kids are not daring eaters and Akershus menu did not appeal (except breakfast). But we had to do it when the girls were younger and more into princesses. Just did GG for the first time for dinner and it was great. The characters spent loads of times, came back twice! The food was so good and we had seconds on anything we wanted! One of my daughters gets skeeved out at buffets and having the buffet food brought to the table worked out well! Plus when they figured out that the restaurant was rotating while we ate they loved it that much more!

 

[melifeld]

Garden Grill is awesome. We had a fantastic experience there. We enjoyed it so much that we have a reservation for our trip next month. We have also been to Akershus, and it was fine. We just had a lot more fun at Garden Grill.

 

[MrsDuck]

Garden Grill - easily! Food is pretty good PLUS character interaction is the best we've ever had! We go pretty frequently and love it.

 

[Nancyg56]

I have been to GG dinner and Akershus breakfast. I liked both btu my DGD loved GG a lot. The food was good, the service was wonderful, and the atmosphere was definately more relaxed than Akershus. There is a sense of urgency at Akershus that was not present at GG. The charactes made several rounds and even though they knew they had stopped by our table, they cam eback again and again. it was really nice.