For some a trip to Orlando and visits to one or more of the city’s mammoth theme parks is an annual event. For others it is a once-in-a-lifetime happening.

For your next (or first) adventure plan on a special splurge which will make your trip ever so more enjoyable.
This “splurge’’ is not just for the rich and famous. It is available to anyone who wishes to make their vacation more of a “piece of cake.’’

One of the most difficult and time-consuming parts of a theme park visit is getting everyone in your group to agree on where to dine for lunch or dinner. Once you reach this agreement, the wait to get in and be served is usually long in your restaurant of choice.

Availing yourself of a Princess lunch or a character breakfast in Walt Disney World is a sure way to reserve dining seats while enjoying a memorable meal.

We celebrated my granddaughter’s birthday with a Princess lunch at Akershu’s Royal Banquet Hall in the World Showcase area of Epcot during a recent and very busy spring break week at the Orlando park. We got a taste of Norway not soon forgotten.

The event was heaven for the little princesses. But it also turned out to be a banquet for big princesses, queens and kings. My granddaughters were able to get up close and personal with Cinderella, Belle, Ariel and Mulan. The girls could pose for pictures and have the Disney princesses personally autograph their books. Many of the little princesses in the dining hall had come attired in their own princess finery.

To get autographs of the princesses or other storybook characters in Epcot you can either luck into seeing them intermittently throughout the park or wait in line, often for more than an hour, at various spots around the park, such as the Epcot Character Spot. Anytime we check one of those spots the wait time was at least one hour.

For my three-and-six-year-old granddaughters this chance to be close to the princesses was reason alone for attending the lunch, for the adults the dining rewards were far greater.
The lunch was a true banquet including appetizers, main courses and desserts more than worthy of the price charged.
The appetizers were offered as a beautiful buffet; an authentic Norwegian “cold table’’ with meats, seafood, salads, cheeses and breads, enabling those with real hunger pangs to satisfy themselves quickly.

The entrees were large and imaginative portions of barbecued pork, lamb stew, sautéed chicken breast, traditional Kjottkake (a Norwegian specialty) or a lighter soup and sandwich of grilled salmon served to your table.

And on the slim chance you were still hungry drinks and dessert are included.

The desserts are served family-style and ours featured a “Majesty cake,’’ a traditional rice cream with a strawberry sauce and a Cappuccino chocolate cheesecake.

Chef John Viereck made a special visit out to our table when I requested some dietary changes. He easily tailored my entree to fit my request and went above and beyond by sending out some delicious tapioca rolls instead of the usual bread offerings.

“We are happy to discuss and attempt to accommodate special dietary requests of guests with food allergies or other health-related restrictions,’’ said Chef John. “After all this is Disney World where we make dreams come true for everyone.’’

If you book a character breakfast generally you will have a large, hearty meal which should enable your family to skip lunch and therefore get a head start on the day’s attractions and rides.

Even if you can’t get a reservation for a character breakfast or lunch on the day you wish to attend another easy and inexpensive option is to pack snacks, purchase a drink and grab a shady spot and have a quick respite.

SeaWorld, another large and well-visited Orlando theme park, has packaged a series of diverse experiences of upclose and educational programs some of which include dining options.

For our family attending a “Backstage at Believe luncheon” at The Cove not only gave us a close look at the amazing relationship between humans and killer whales it also provided a surprisingly abundant and delicious lunch.

We were seated in a private dining area where guests are within inches of the water where the whales swim. At the same time you are within feet of another tempting buffet.

Once again you dine comfortably while you have an upclose viewing of the main attraction - killer whales.
It is hard to top this educational experience paired with dining option when wait times for the very popular Shamu show, featuring the well-known killer whale can easily top an hour.
On the day we visited most of the show seats in Shamu Stadium filled quickly even some waiting in line didn’t make it in. Our dining package included reserved seats for the show so we could dine leisurely avoiding the long wait line and were assured of a reserved seat.

The buffet lunch included a variety of dishes, including chicken, seafood, meat, pasta, salads and vegetables.
Diners were even offered drink refills which could be carried into the stadium in plastic cups.

Once again desserts were popular especially the candy fish and lots of M&M’s.

All the young diners were also given beautiful wood-carved whale tail necklaces as a souvenir of their visit.

Depending on the size of your family or group dining options can easily add hundreds of dollars to your theme park visit. But since most park visitors are going to spend those same dollars on meals within the park anyway, these special packaged events offer more value and perks.

And definitely made our visits so much more enjoyable.

Dining Adventures at SeaWorld

Backstage at Believe requires reservations and the meal is priced at $24.95, plus tax, for adults and $9.95 for children ages 3-9. For reservations at The Cove call 1-888-800-5447.
Backstage at Believe holds shows at 12 p.m. and 2 p.m.
A Dine with Shamu option is available at 4:15 p.m.
There is also the “Sharks Underwater Grill’’ which is a full-service, upscale restaurant that immerses guests in an underwater world to dine with inhabitants of the deep. It is open from 11 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.
Call (800) 327-2424 for more information.

Princess Storybook Dining at Epcot

Located in the Akershus Royal Banquet Hall in World Showcase. Meals are scheduled from 8:30 to 10:35 a.m. for breakfasts. 11:20 a.m. to 2:55 p.m. for lunches and 4:20 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. for dinners.
The charge for the Princess lunch is $24.95 for adults and $13.00 for kids. For more information check the Walt Disney World website.

Through June 1, the Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando is hosting
The Epcot International Flower and Garden Festival.This beautiful event features topiaries, 30 million blooms, floral beds, bonsai trees, lush rose gardens and master gardeners happenings. For more info on this call (407) 939-6244. Or visit their website: www.disneyworld.com/flower.

(Diane "Cookie" Siskin is a former Chattanoogan now living in Florida with her husband, Charles Siskin. An award-winning travel writer and editor, she can be reached at cookie@gnt.net)