The new Fantasyland expansion will be soft opening on November 19^th with a grand opening December 6^th. It has been a great experience to be able to see it being built and grow over the past year. The one new addition that I have been waiting for with anticipation is the Be Our Guest restaurant. Beauty and the Beast is one of my favorite Disney movies and to be able to be fully immersed into the story with French cuisine is très magnifique! It all starts with a walk through an old gateway to a stone bridge and through wrought-iron gates with six beastly figures are featured along the sides. They represent the story of the Beast’s transformation as you enter a forbidden castle in the Fantasyland countryside. If you are dining for Lunch you will enter through the Armor Hallway, where six suits of armor stand along the wall. If you listen closely, you may hear something from the suits of armor! You will then enter the Beast’s Parlor to place lunch orders on five guest-activated terminals. For dinner, guests enter directly into the majestic Ballroom.

The music also plays a big role in the themeing of BOG. In the Ballroom, a 50-piece orchestra recorded the music from the film. In the Rose Gallery, special music box arrangements of the same pieces heard in the Ballroom, in perfect synchrony, so that guests moving from room to room will hear the same tune transformed from one style to another. In the West Wing, a somber, melancholy arrangement of the same. The servers complete the picture, dressed in a style inspired by European fashions from the 1400s to the 1600s with royal colors. Be Our Guest has three different dining rooms.

• The mysterious, forbidden West Wing, featuring an enchanted rose in the bell jar slowly dropping petals as time runs out for the beast. Over the fireplace, a portrait of the young prince in human form is slashed by the claws of the beast. As lightning flashes, the image in the portrait transforms, changing from prince to Beast.

 

• The Rose Gallery with a large music box nearly 7 feet tall of a twirling, larger-than-life figures of Belle and Beast (this dining room available at lunch only pictured above). Adorned with rose accents, paintings and tapestries and intricate tile mosaics on the floor.

 

• Decorated with a coffered, 20-foot ceiling with fluffy clouds and cherubs, the Ballroom at Be Our Guest Restaurant features sparkling chandeliers designed to convey the elegance of the Beast’s Castle in “Beauty and the Beast.”  At the far end of the room, 18-foot-tall arched windows look out to the French countryside, where a light “snow” falls through the starry sky.

The restaurant will be serving a non-traditional quick service lunch. You can order from guest-activated terminals and then your meal will be delivered to you at your table and served on china!  They will be serving up French bistro style cuisine such as tuna Niçoise salad, Croque Monsieur sandwich with carved ham, Gruyere cheese, béchamel and pommes frites.Carved turkey on a warm baguette with Dijon mayonnaise, grilled steak sandwich with garlic butter spread, both with pommes frites. Braised pork that’s been cooked for eight hours and for lighter fare, there’s vegetable quiche or quinoa, shallot and chive salad. Click here for menus. If you are using the Disney Dining Plan, lunch is one quick-service credit and dinner is one table-service credit. They will also be taking Tables in Wonderland.

Dinner with have appetizers such as a charcuterie plate with cured meats and sausages, mussels steamed in white wine, French onion or potato leek soup, and a salad with champagne vinaigrette. A salad trio with three mini portions of roasted beet, raisins and orange; green beans, tomatoes and roasted shallots; and watermelon, radish and mint.

Entrées include a thyme-scented pork rack chop with au gratin pasta, rotisserie rock hen with roasted fingerling potatoes, pan-seared salmon in leek fondue, grilled strip steak with pommes frites, sautéed shrimp and scallops with veggies in puff pastry with creamy lobster sauce, and an oven-baked ratatouille.

Desserts consist of cupcakes: strawberry cream cheese, lemon meringue or triple chocolate, a chocolate cream puff and a passion fruit cream puff. I can’t wait to try all of these!

For the kids ages 9 and under for lunch entrées a carved turkey sandwich, roasted pulled pork, Mickey meatloaf, seared mahi mahi, or whole-grain macaroni topped with marinara and mozzarella. For dinner, there is grilled steak, grilled fish of the day, whole-grain macaroni or grilled chicken breast. I so happy with the healthy, hearty meal choices planned for children. They are even making the ketchup from scratch using carrots! Also, there will be alcoholic beverages served! That’s right Be Our Guest will be serving a variety of wines and beers for the first time in the Magic Kingdom. Wine will be able to be ordered by the glass or bottle. The wines are from France’s famous wine growing regions including Champagne, Alsace, Loire, Rhone, Burgundy and Bordeaux. We have our reservations booked for November and can’t wait to report back on our dining experience. You can book your reservations online or by calling 407-WDW-DINE. Are you looking forward to dining at Be Our Guest? Please share your plans below!