Walking into Disney World’s Be Our Guest restaurant is like walking straight into the classic Disney movie Beauty and the Beast and being welcomed into the story.
Including rooms straight out of the movie, the Beast’s castle holds dining rooms where guests can dine in the ballroom where Belle and the Beast danced and dined, the mysterious West Wing, and the Rose Gallery which features the magical rose as a centerpiece of the room. The elegant ballroom is larger and brighter, full of gold and rich blue and with a large ceiling painting of cherubs and clouds identical to the ceiling in the movie’s ballroom. Through the back window, it is even snowing to match the setting of the movie. The West Wing is dark and shadowy with tattered curtains and lightning through the window. The prince’s torn portrait hangs on the wall, creating a more secret and mysterious setting. The Rose Gallery by the West Wing holds the illuminated rose, which shines beneath its glass case.
Reservations are a must and start filling up six months in advance – there are two check stops where guests will be asked if they have a reservation. If you do not have one, you cannot go inside, even to look around. Although this creates the challenge of planning in advance, even as far as months ahead, it creates a peaceful dining atmosphere rather than a walkthrough attraction.
The food is delicious, and the adult menu offers the gourmet quality one would expect from the film’s depiction of the dining. Children’s options are close to those standard throughout the park, but are fancied up a bit to match the setting.
The castle offers lunch options much nicer than anywhere else in the Magic Kingdom, but dinner is a true treat. For adults, the grilled strip steak and pork chop are both wonderful, as well as the shrimp and scallops. For dessert, servers bring around a cart of options for you to hand pick your choice from cream puffs and cupcakes. There are classic options such as chocolate and strawberry as well as some more exotic and fruity options that are worth a taste for the more adventurous diners. After dinner, guests are able to take their picture with their host. The Beast greets his guests in a side room where photographs are taken as you exit the castle.
A tip to the wise: the “grey stuff” featured in the Be Our Guest song is a cookies and cream mousse no longer featured on the menu due to such high demand. If you ask for it, they will serve it to you, but it is best to ask at the end of your meal and do so delicately as the staff has been overwrought and hounded with demands for it. It is tasty, but the desserts offered are even better. However, if your Disney experience will not be complete without trying the grey stuff, the servers will gladly let you be their guest.
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