Royal Banquet Review: Character Buffet in the Disneyland Hotel at Disneyland Paris

Hi everyone!

Jeff and I dined at Royal Banquet buffet in the Disneyland Hotel at Disneyland Paris during our one-night stay (we then returned with friends during another visit). This is our Royal Banquet review from the first visit on opening day of the hotel.

Royal Banquet is a character buffet featuring Mickey & his friends in royal costumes that are exclusive to the Disneyland Hotel. The five-star hotel received a royal transformation and reopened on January 25th, 2024. We met Mickey, Minnie, Donald and Daisy for lunch (Goofy and Pluto were joining Mickey and Minnie during dinner while we were there). The cost of the Royal Banquet is 100€ for adults and 50 € for children and includes one cold drink (soda/water). I think guests can book lunch if staying at another Disneyland Paris hotel, but that information has changed a few times.

Here is our Royal Banquet review! First, our video and then photos below. (And check out our Disneyland Hotel article list, which will grow in the coming weeks).

We checked into the Royal Banquet at the exterior podium, which also serves as a podium to La Table de Lumière. I forgot to photograph the podium, but should have a picture in the coming days.

There is a secondary podium inside the restaurant, and we checked in to be seated. A shield with the initials of Royal Banquet is at the back.

The drink menu for the Royal Banquet sits on the table. The buffet includes one non-alcoholic soft drink (there aren’t refills of beverages in France). There are also wines, beers, and cocktails (and other beverages) for purchase.

The Royal Banquet features portrait galleries, including a smaller Disney villains dining room. Here you can see portraits including The Queen of Hearts from “Alice in Wonderland”, King Candy from “Wreck-It Ralph” and King Magnifico from the new “Wish” film.

We were seated in a different room. Portraits here included an “Atlantis” portrait. I will show a few more portraits later, but I photographed many more.

While walking the restaurant, Mickey and Minnie arrived in their royal costumes. These outfits are exclusive to the Disneyland Hotel. We also met Donald and Daisy during our meal, but sometimes you will find Pluto and Goofy instead (I have photos of them at the end of the article).

The plates have the initials for Royal Banquet.

We arrived at the beginning of service and photographed the food. By the time we were done with photos, the buffet line was long and moved slow. If you see an empty queue, it is a great time to fill up your plate.

I am showing many buffet items, but not all. There is a lot to choose from! I was asked how the buffet measures up compared to Cape Cod at Disney’s Newport Bay Club and the Downtown Restaurant in Disney’s Hotel New York – The Art of Marvel. The buffet seems smaller to me, and there are less options than Downtown for those who don’t eat seafood. But you are paying for the exclusivity of the characters in particular. And if you like seafood, there are so many great choices.

Salad greens are a staple of any Disneyland Paris buffet.

Items for the salad included carrots, small tomatoes, and purple cauliflower.

At first I thought the left side item was celery, but they are cucumbers. Then there were lentils and other items here.

Nearby were hard-boiled quail’s eggs.

Next is Iberico Cebo ham, which is something special for a Disneyland Paris buffet.

There was Bruschetta.

Chicken pâté en croûte sits next to dry aged Charolaise beef.

Roast ham with herbs was nearby.

There was an Agrabah soup with chickpeas, lentils and lamb.

We are heading into the seafood area, which was Jeff’s favorite location on the buffet. There were small items like anchovy fillet.

Smoked salmon and smoked halibut were available.

New Zealand Mussel Escabeche is next.

While a photo from Disney made this tower of seafood look like large, full lobsters, these are Langoustines (part of the lobster family). They are smaller and Jeff said it tasted different than a regular lobster he is used to. He did say today that they were a surprise for him, something he had not had before and he would go back for these next time.

There were plenty of them for guests to enjoy.

Whelk (sea snail) was on the buffet.

A spiral of shrimp sat on a serving dish. Jeff said these are the best shrimp he has had in quite some time, very large and delicious.

The D’isigny butter from Normandy is all over Disneyland Paris property due to the history (D’isigny became Disney).

There was also a dish of smaller shrimp, Crevette Grise.

A bowl of crab claws ends the seafood area.

The non-seafood dishes were fine but not as impressive looking as the seafood bar in the middle. There was Tiana’s Palace Jambalaya, King Stefan’s Banquet Special (confit leg of lamb), green beans, rice and more.

Mickey Majestic Potatoes seemed to be a favorite, although I preferred a different type of potato on the buffet.

The Once Upon a Thyme Potatoes were very tasty.

I also tried the Neapolitan beef meatballs, which were nice but not special.

Disneyland Paris loves to serve cooked mushrooms on buffets, and I am always happy for that.

I forgot to try the ratatouille, but next time (whenever that is).

There was a carved ham.

We were also brought rolls to the table, with a fleur-de-lis symbol on them.

No Disneyland Paris buffet is complete without cheeses. Various cheeses included sheep’s milk cheese and Fresh PDO Crottin de Chavignol goat’s cheese, made in the Sancerre region of France. Next to it, cider confit with apple and Calvados.

For dessert, there were quite a few items. A macaron tower has become a Disneyland Paris buffet staple.

Many items are themed to royalty, including an Enchanted Rose dessert.

My favorite item was this hazelnut and almond dessert. It reminds me of a king cake in looks but not in taste.

For me, some of the desserts had too much going on as far as multiple flavors (for example, I like coconut but not with apricot, and I like apricot but generally not in dessert form.) For example, this Colours of the Wind dessert is a pineapple-coconut-apricot dessert and coconut biscuit. Jeff loved it, though!

There were lemon meringue tartlets.

The Excalibur dessert features chocolate-caramel, chunky mango-passion fruit compote and a hazelnut biscuit.

There were raspberry tartlets with crowns.

I think I forgot to photograph the sign for this, but this Bippidy Bobbidy dessert is delicious!

The Bayou Dessert with Princess Tiana was beautiful and this was one of Jeff’s favorite desserts.

There were also beignets.

And if you want fruit, there was some at the end (and jellies).

While we were dining, Daisy was the first character to come by. They all came by multiple times while we were there.

Daisy wears a blue dress and a crown.

She showed us her crown.

Donald has a nautical themed royal outfit.

He let us know he was the #1 duck.

He wears an outfit with multiple anchor symbols.

Donald’s shoes are themed as well.

He even has a hat, but different than what he normally wears.

Mickey was next to arrive. He took a seat at the tiara themed table location for a photo.

Mickey has a lot of purple in his costume, down to his shoes and also in his hat.

In the Royal Collection Boutique, there is a Mickey plush that is based on Mickey here at the restaurant (I don’t know why there aren’t more plush of the other Disney characters from the hotel). Jeff showed the plush to Mickey, who posed with it.

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This plush has been VERY popular and kept flying off the shelves.

Minnie was next, wearing her crown and also with a lot of purple to match Mickey.

Minnie did a curtsy.

Minnie posed one more time.

We posed with Minnie. The room we were in has great lighting during the day for photos.

While in the foyer last night, we also saw Goofy and Pluto in their regal wear from the Royal Banquet.

 We didn’t realize at first if the drink was included as with other buffets, but one soft drink is.

At some point, I may write up an article with more portraits but I have a lot more to come from our Deluxe experience, including room, Deluxe lounge, La Table de Lumière, characters and much more.

The portraits are lovely!

The Royal Banquet will be a must-do when staying at the Disneyland Hotel for many guests. The big draw here are the exclusive characters but also the seafood on the buffet was a huge plus for Jeff. For me, I am a more picky eater but still found plenty to enjoy.

The restaurant offers delicious and high-quality items, and is a cut above other Disneyland Paris buffet restaurants (just as Inventions was prior). That doesn’t mean it is my personal favorite buffet, it is a matter of what you like to eat.

Jeff and I booked the Disneyland Hotel ourselves, and there was no discount for having our Disneyland Paris Infinity Pass (we could have taken the tickets off the room but it would not have changed the price).

We will have much more to share from the Disneyland Hotel at Disneyland Paris!