Alex Coleman
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Nov 4, 2017
- Messages
- 416
Introduction
Be Our Guest Restaurant is a large eatery in the Fantasyland area of Magic Kingdom. Our review will cover the breakfast and lunch service. Sarah and I have not eaten at Be Our Guest for dinner… yet! Once we do, we will share our thoughts! This restaurant is interesting because for breakfast and lunch it is one of several Quick Service options at MK. For dinner, Be Our Guest is a Table Service option. Coming July 27, 2018, dinner will be retooling and turning into a pre fixe dining experience. As of now, there has been no announcement that the breakfast or lunch menus will be changing.
Let’s be clear about one thing, Be our Guest is a truly special restaurant. Depending on who you ask, it is the best restaurant in MK. For Sarah and I, we prefer the dining experience at Cinderella’s Royal Table. This is not because it is necessarily a better restaurant, but because it is in Cinderella’s Castle and there is a princess meet and greet. Sarah loves those princesses!
Breakfast at Be Our Guest is served from 8am-10:30am and lunch is served from 11am-2:30pm. These advanced dining reservations are some of the most difficult to snag at Walt Disney World property. Sarah and I have made it a priority to eat here, so I have done the difficult work of being up before dawn 180 days before our arrival each time. I know what you are thinking, husband of the year award! You are right to think so. 
You will want to do the same if you are looking to dine here. There are people who get reservations or walk up and eat there, but it makes life more difficult. For the ultra-planners, you can arrange what you would like to eat up to 30 days before you arrive! I am this planner, so I have done this every time we have eaten here.
Atmosphere
The main reason why Be Our Guest is so great is because of the atmosphere. The theming inside of the restaurant is unbelievable. There are three distinct dining areas, all themed based on areas of Belle and Beast’s Castle. The main dining area is the Grand Ballroom. This dining area features a scenic backdrop and a beautiful chandelier. This is the largest of the dining spaces.
There is also the West Wing. A very dark and small, but incredibly beautiful dining space. Sarah and I have eaten here four times and have not been able to get a table in this space. Still on the bucket list, I suppose! This space is complete with enchanted rose!
The last space is the Castle Gallery. This space is Belle’s private library and features Belle and Beast dancing in the center of the dining room. This is another great space, but lacks some of the grandeur of the other two rooms. The other two rooms are breathtaking, this room is above average.
Food (Breakfast)
The Disney World website classifies this restaurant as “American, French Cuisine”. I would say that the breakfast menu leans heavily on the American, rather than the French cuisine. These meals are large and heavy, but really delicious. When Sarah and I ate here during our September 2017 trip, I ordered the Croque Madame and Sarah ordered the Croissant Doughnut. For the first time in forever, I ordered the better meal! This never happens! The sandwich was delicious. The bread was sweet and the egg was done well. My only complaint was that there was a lot of bechamel sauce. It overwhelmed the rest of the sandwich. Sarah disagrees, but I thought it was a bit much.
We were really excited about Sarah’s donut before we ate it, but it underwhelmed a bit. We both are big fans of what has been called the “cronut”. There is a small donut shop in Monrovia, California (near where we live) called AM Donut & Yogurt that serves cronuts and we love them. This donut was just slightly bland.
Hot tip: this is a massive amount of food. Each entree includes a small bowl of fresh fruit and a plate of assorted pastries. Sarah and I walked away from this meal completely stuffed. I am not sure that we would finish this meal in any other circumstance. It was a lot of food. We tend to constantly overeat at Disney World, judge us if you must!
Food (Lunch)
Again, the Disney World website classifies this restaurant as “American, French Cuisine”. As opposed to the breakfast menu, the lunch menu leans more heavily on French cuisine, rather than American. When we ate here during our October 2016 trip, I ordered the Braised Pork (Coq Au Vin Style) and Sarah ordered the Carved Turkey Sandwich. I thought the pork was both a better meal and a better value. The pork was tender and tasty. The turkey sandwich was alright, but not spectacular.
During our November 2017 trip, I ordered the French Dip Sandwich and Sarah ordered the Croque Monsieur. Again, I ordered the better dish! Apparently I am a Be Our Guest savant. There was a decent amount of meat on the French dip sandwich, but there was not nearly enough au jus. I do love all the au jus in the whole world!
Sarah’s sandwich tasted much better than it looked, but that is not saying much. It came out in a state of disarray and just tasted like a normal grilled cheese sandwich with ham. Be Our guest was another Disney World restaurant that disappointed with Pomme Frites (french fries). They were incredibly cold and there was a massive amount of them. I usually would not complain about the latter point, but the lack of quality made me not want to eat the incredible quantity.
Cost
According to the Disney World website, Be Our Guest Restaurant is classified with “$$$” which means you should expect to pay roughly $35 to $59.99, per adult. This is slightly misleading. That number is far more reflective of dinner service, rather than breakfast and lunch. But do not be fooled, this is not a cheap meal.
Disney certainly seems to love an upcharge on a special experience. Be Our Guest is one of those special experiences. However special the experience, it is hard to justify $25 for a breakfast entree with a plate of pastries. It is very expensive. The lunch menu is much more reasonable. The full entrees range from $12.99 to $16.99. These prices are much more in line with normal WDW prices.
For the Disney Dining Plan users, the breakfast and lunch menus requires one Quick Service credit per meal. Breakfast is the best use of a QS dining plan credit at Magic Kingdom and probably on the entire WDW property. The atmosphere is the biggest draw and the food is more than adequate to merit using a credit here. The real draw for breakfast, however, is that you gain early access to MK.
Who Should Eat Here?
Even though I have said this a few times about a few different eateries, I will say it again for Be Our Guest. Everyone should try to eat here at least once. If you have the means and ability, you should try to go for multiple meals (breakfast and a lunch, or breakfast and a dinner). Hot tip: if you snag a breakfast reservation, you can get into the park early! Lunch is still a great use of a credit, so plan on going at some point.
Hot tip: you will likely need an advanced dining reservation to eat here. Not only will you need to make the reservation, but you will probably need to do so on the 180 day mark. I am very particular and dedicated to dining reservations. I get up directly at 7am Eastern Standard Time to ensure I book what I want. You can try to get a dining reservation without being this diligent, but there are never guarantees you will be able to grab one. Be Our Guest and Cinderella’s Royal Table are possibly the hardest dining reservations to get on property, so plan accordingly.
Have you eaten at Be Our Guest Restaurant? What what your experience? Share your thoughts in the comments section! For other reviews including resorts and other restaurants, check out our Reviews page!
