It's been four years since Be Our Guest opened its doors, and to this day, you'd have better luck snagging front-row tickets to Hamilton (for free, with a backstage tour provided by the ghost of the Founding Father himself) than walking up and grabbing a table at the Beauty & The Beast-themed restaurant in Disney's Magic Kingdom. The castle requires a reservation pretty much year-round, and with the release of the live-action movie this March, it will probably get in even higher demand.
But before you plan your next vacation around whether you can score a few coveted seats, here's what you should know about the restaurant itself — and how to make the most of your meal there.
Look at The Beast's Portrait Every Time A Rose Petal Drops.
As the video below shows, Be Our Guest is a spot-on replica of the Beast's castle from the 1991 animated movie. You can dine in any one of three rooms — the grand ballroom, which you'll remember from the iconic "Tale As Old As Time" dancing scene; the castle gallery, which features a giant music box in the center, with a life-sized Belle and the Beast dancing on a rotating pedestal; and the West Wing, AKA the Beast's lair, where he brooded like an emo kid over the gradually dropping petals on the Enchanted Rose.
Fittingly, the rose is there in the corner of the room, and every 7 minutes, a petal drops. When it does, you'll hear thunder — and when you do, look at the shredded portrait of the prince over the mantle. As the lightning flashes, the image changes to that of the Beast. Blink and you'll miss it.
You'll Get Hooked On The 'Fancy Ham and Cheese.'
Though Dole Whips, Mickey ice cream bars, and turkey legs may have their own cult following at the theme parks, the chefs didn't want to rehash standard fare. Instead, they focused on where and when the movie takes place, settling on rustic, French dishes to echo Belle's hometown. Then they had to find a way to translate those dishes to the masses (the restaurant serves 546 people at a time during breakfast and lunch, and up to 340 at dinner) — without offending Francophiles, either.
"How do you create French cuisine for an American palate, in a way that's accessible to thousands of people?" asked Lenny DeGeorge, executive chef of culinary development at Disney. "You've got to go to the basics. A Croque Monsieur is really just a fancy grilled ham and cheese sandwich, so let's do that, and convey that to people. That's what gets their foot in the door."
The Croque Monsieur is still called a Croque Monsieur, but the menu description clearly conveys what's in it, and makes it relatable to anyone who's never heard of the sandwich before. It's quickly become a hit with guests.
Roses Are Hidden Everywhere.
Spot them everywhere, just like you would hidden Mickeys in the parks: carved into the backs of chairs, etched into the restaurant's columns, front and center in the Beauty and the Beast mosaic in the foyer, at the tops of columns. Counting them all can serve as a fun "I Spy" game as you wait for your meal.
Breakfast And Lunch Are A More Casual Affair.
Breakfast and lunch are a fast-casual affair, in that you order via a touchscreen on your way in, are handed your very own Enchanted Rose to take to your table, and your meals are magically (and by magically, we mean via the tracker in said Enchanted Rose) brought right where you're sitting. No waiting to hear if your number is called; no fighting through a sea of people with your perilously stacked lunch tray. You can also place your order online via MyDisneyExperience.com up to 30 days before your reservation.
Dinner is more like a traditional restaurant, with table service. There's no plastic cutlery here, and the napkins are folded into roses (that's one more, in case you're counting!). You'll get a basket of rolls as you wait for your meal, and the menu shifts from sandwiches, salads, and quiches to more formal fare, like ratatouille, grilled strip steak, and roasted lamb chops.
Parents Initially Balked At The Kids' Menu.
When Disney first polled parents about its kids' dishes, moms and dads were quick to say there's no way their chicken nugget-loving spawn would ever eat roasted pork and vegetables. Then they placed the meals in front of the children, as part of their focus groups, and were surprised to uncover how readily the kids dug in.
"They loved it," said Jean-Marie Clement, director of Food and Beverage Concept Development at Disney. "Often, the parents make the decisions for the kids, but when you can reach out to the kids directly, you'll see they're much more adventurous than you think."
There Really Is 'Grey Stuff,' And It IS Delicious.
While watching Beauty and The Beast — for research! — one line in the song "Be Our Guest" grabbed executive pastry chef for culinary development Stefan Riemer: "Try the grey stuff / it's delicious!" Though grey isn't typically an appealing color in food, he set out to change people's perception — and do so without using a drop of food coloring.
Riemer settled on creating a grey frosting, slowly whipping crushed chocolate cookies and cocoa powder into the mix until it turned a concrete grey. "Slow is the key; if you whip in too much air, it gets too light," he explained.
The end result tastes like cookies and creme, and was originally intended to top chocolate cakes as an off-the-menu dessert you couldn't order; you'd only get it by surprise, if you were celebrating a birthday or anniversary.
"The demand was so high that we had to put it on the menu," Riemer said. "People kept asking for it. They had to try it."
...It Also Changes From Lunch To Dinner.
At lunch, the grey stuff tops a cupcake, which is studded with edible crunchy chocolate pearls — not those tooth-chipping dragées you typically see in cake decorating. Over time, the way the grey stuff is served can change. It's been served as-is, as a dollop artfully swirled on the plate, on top of a rectangular slab of chocolate cake, and most recently, atop a cheesecake-like 'cookie creme' with a chocolate cookie crust — all decked out with those metallic chocolate pearls.
You've Got To Start Planning 180 Days Out.
You can book a reservation 180 days before your visit, and at a place that's as high-demand as Be Our Guest, you might want to set your alarm for 6 a.m. EST that morning — the earliest you can start booking — to ensure you snag a spot.
The Music Changes As You Move From Room to Room.
Each of the three rooms has its own variation of the songs played in the movie — in the gallery, they're more like the twinkly notes of a music box; in the ballroom, they've got the robust sound of a full orchestra — and they're all in sync, so you can notice the music subtly change as your tour the space.
There's A Secret Painted On The Ceiling.
If you look closely at the cherubs on the Grand Ballroom's ceiling, you'll notice how distinct and incredibly detailed their faces are. It's rumored they're modeled after the children of the Imagineers who worked on the restaurant, according to Walt Disney World Hidden History. A Disney rep couldn't confirm this rumor for us, but given how well the company imbues every facet of its parks with meaning, we wouldn't be surprised if it were true.
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