UPDATE: Please note that as of February 25, 2015, FastPass+ is no longer available, as Be Our Guest Restaurant began to accept Advanced Dining Reservations for lunch. For further information, please click here.
This morning, we began hearing rumors of another twist in the having-lunch-at-Be Our Guest Restaurant-Saga.
According to our friends at AllEars, Disney is now only permitting guests who have a FastPass+ reservation to dine at Be Our Guest Restaurant during lunch service.
Effectively, this means that, at least for now, you no longer have the option to stand in line and wait for a table during the lunch service at Be Our Guest Restaurant in Magic Kingdom’s New Fantasyland.
While this may be welcome news for resort guests, it remains up in the air at press time what impact this will have on day guests, annual passholders, and others who are not staying at a Disney resort or who cannot get a FastPass+.
This is a developing story, so we’ll be sure to keep you informed as details emerge! For now, it looks like you’ll need to take advantage of a Be Our Guest FastPass+ Reservation Invitation, should one come your way.
Be Our Guest FastPass+ Reservation Invitation
It remains to be seen if this is another step in the FastPass+ experiment, or if it is just Disney’s method of dealing with the lunch crowds that continue to swarm Be Our Guest nearly two years after the restaurant’s opening.
And with some reports trickling out that the system in place isn’t accepting FastPass+ reservations beyond the month of October, we are wondering if this is simply a transitional measure for something yet to come.
We Are Always Up for Lunch at Be Our Guest! — Braised Pork Coq Au Vin Style
Stay tuned to Disney Food Blog as we continue to help you decide how best to go about enjoying lunch in Beast’s Castle!
How do you feel about Be Our Guest Restaurant restricting lunch service to those with a FastPass+ Reservation? Join the conversation below in comments!
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Super strange. I just hit my 60 days out for FastPass+ reservations and this morning tried to do a lunch reservation for Be Our Guest via https://beourguestlunch.disney.go.com/ — EVERY day of our trip said there were no FastPass+ reservations available.
I wonder whether it’s a system error or if indeed every reservation sold out by 9AM EST.
They actually did this a few weeks back with the Anna and Elsa meet and greet. No walk ups, just fast passes. The fast pass line was as long as any regular line. It did not work very well as everyone was expecting a fast pass experience and just got a big line. People were not very happy. I wonder if it will work any better with Be Our Guest? How are people to know when they are doing this kind of thing?
Tim- in order to do the lunch fastpass, you need to wait for the email from Disney with the 12-digit confirmation number, which is sent about 3 weeks out from your arrival. (Sometimes- not everyone gets the email. Also the Magical Express confirmation number works, if you have one.) But you do have to wait until about 25 or so days before your trip to even try making the fastpass for this.
I was lucky enough to get the email for my trip last month, and LOVED my meal there. I can imagine it being super frustrating for people who are essentially locked out of eating there with this news, though.
Hi AJ
I just had lunch at B.O.G. today (10/8/14) around 1 p.m. but it was a process to get in with out a fast pass. I am staying at the Grand Floridian but did not get a fast pass invite for my stay (bummer huh) and I went straight to B.O.G. this morning at rope drop to get a virtual pass (the 15 minute window tickets) but was told they were not giving them out and to just stand in the stand by line. I came back around 11 a.m. and was told lunch was at capacity and they were not accepting any more guests. I stood firmly planted at the entrance until I saw a Cast member receive the virtual passes and I managed to secure enough for my party. They went like hot cakes. I did however see other resort guests go to city hall and try and secure a fast pass for lunch that way.
Basically I was told that if and when they pass out the virtual passes will depend on the daily crowd level and demand for lunch. I have to say that I was left with a sour taste in my mouth after hearing so many different things by different cast members working the front to B.O.G. but my persistence did help to get my entire family in for lunch.
Hope that helps
@Kathy, did I hear that they recently did something similar with Toy Story Mania over at DHS, too? I wonder if this is part of a larger test they’re doing to try to tinker with FastPass+ or crowd control something? It seems like these have been randomly popping up and disappearing lately.
So as it stands, those of us at the Swan/Dolphin are completely shut out of BOG lunch. We were willing to do the line, but now that’s been taken away. Thanks, WDW.
Tim- I kept checking the site and when I was about 25 days from my trip there was availability. I’m now 10 days away so that’s recent. There’s still hope for you yet 🙂
Arrrgh. We are staying offsite for our trip in the last week of October, and I was really, really hoping for a virtual pass for lunch. BOG was already completed booked for dinner every day of our trip by the time we made our plans. This is a big disappointment for me. 🙁
I love this place and def want to eat here on my next trip. Do you have to have a smart phone for the fast pass + program? I’ve asked people this before, but nobody knew. Thanks. BTW, I only have a stupid phone.
P.S. I always stay in a WDW resort.
I wonder if they are switching over to table service for lunch. I just tried logging in for my trip and it only gave me about a week out to make a FP+ for lunch. My trip is about 25 days out, so I have my fingers crossed that we’ll still get to make a FP for this. One more pre-trip headache. I’ve been enough times that I don’t care whether we go again, but it is our first choice of QS in MK.
I am very close to being livid about this. As an annual passholder, I go to the Magic Kingdom every few weeks or so and always have lunch at Be Our Guest. I learned to get in line early to make sure I am able to get into the restaurant when it opens at 10:30. I can understand the popularity of the restaurant, but this is just getting silly. Maybe Disney should work on providing quality food and dining experiences around the park (that don’t involve reservations and character greetings). I’m also upset for non-resort guests who are not able to get FastPass+ reservations and want a chance to experience Be Our Guest. I know from experience how difficult dinner reservations are to come by and believe lunch is a great (if not better) alternative. This whole thing is frustrating.
You do not need the e-mail to book your fastpass+. At 27 days out I was able to book mine and I didn’t received the e-mail until a few days later.
What seems weird is that my family received the fast pass invite about a month ago when we made resort reservations, and while we like BOG, it isn’t a huge “must do” for us. So Disney is shutting out some of the hardcore fans who really love this place while making allowances for those (like us) who are rather indifferent. Odd.
I am even happier now that I was able to secure a dinner reservation for BOG just recently for our trip next week. For awhile I had resigned myself to just waiting in line for lunch (never got an e-mail), but looks like that wouldn’t have even been a possibility.
I just don’t get why it’s such a big deal to let people wait in line if they want to. I understand cutting off the line at some point as they do need to close between lunch and dinner, but otherwise if someone wants to wait in a half hour or longer line for lunch then let them.
It’s one thing for rides and characters (though I’m not a fan) but for quick service restaurants for lunch is just ridiculous. As a passholder the joy is to be able to go to the parks whenever I want so I can enjoy it. If I want to stand in a line for lunch that should be my affair. Forcing us to plan these things is unbelieveable.
Ouch! I hope this isn’t a omen of things to come.
A little bit of something….I was on one of my other talk boards and one person said that she was on with a CM about the BOG fastpass not being available. The CM said that she had no info at this time. She then asked if they were going to start serving breakfast…the CM got very quiet….wonder if they are going to start doing this to help spread out the crowds and are not quite sure what they are going to do about FP starting in NOV…hmmmmmmmm
You don’t need to wait for the email to make the FastPass+ reservation on the separate website, but you do need to be staying on site and be 27 or fewer days out. Our vacation is starting on November 1 – so far people have been able to make reservations up through October 31, but there have been no reports of anyone being able to get one starting in November. I keep trying every few hours or so, but nothing has opened up. I’m getting discouraged and wondering when there will be any sort of official announcement of what the plan is going forward. Starting to wonder if its even worth continuing to check…
Well. This is most annoying. I have been trying to get a FP for this since day 60 and even at day 27 when the window was supposed to be open for me as a Disney resort guest, I am at day 16 and still can’t obtain a FP. Now, I can’t even wait in line. Seriously Disney? For a quick service lunch? I am beyond irritated with Disney these days. If I didn’t already have my trip paid and the plans made, and only 2 weeks out, I would consider a vacation elsewhere. I don’t mind a few small changes here and there, but this is too many all at once and I am fed up! This is the last straw for me. Disney is simply a capitalistic money sucking corporate cash cow and no one seems to care about customer satisfaction any more. I have always been the biggest defender of the good intent and positives of Disney, but my rose colored glasses are off now and the fantasy is over. I won’t let this ruin my vacation, but for the first time ever in 40+ years, I am certainly not planning a return trip to WDW any longer once this trip is finished.
Maybe they should take Be Our Guest off the “Must Do Disney” since they won’t allow you in…
It’s becoming an elitist vacation destination. Stay on property or you get 2nd class treatment. I know this might be tests only but still FP+ only for Toy Story. Now you need a FP+ to dine at a restaurant. AND to top it off if I don’t get an invite I cannot get a FP+ for BOG! It’s absolutely NUTS!!! I’m starting to dread my trip in Feb. And that’s a first! I’m always excited to be going to Disney. Very sad situation.
Elitist is right. There are even tiers among the Disney resorts. It’s not the way it should be. It’s not the way it was meant to be.
We stayed at the Contemporary resort last weekend as a special treat for my 40th birthday. we didn’t receive an email invitation and I was unsuccessful trying to book through the site . so you don’t always get preferential treatment even if you are paying a lot of money and booked 15 months ahead. . We were going to try walk up tomorrow. (Now that we are staying in a non Disney hotel) . its okay I have a list of snacks I’d like to try from the DFB guide that should keep me going through the day
I went to ate at BOG twice last year. The first time we were in line before the restaurant opened and the second time we only waited about 10mins. I actually had a reservation for dinner but cancelled it because the menu wasn’t appealing. It sucks that Disney is chaging the walk up system. It worked perfectly fine imo
Speaking as a MK regular this is heartbreaking. I’ve only ever managed to go to be our guest once because no one in my party really cares enough to wait in the line for it. I’m an orlando native and a disney fanatic but I can’t afford to stay at the resorts just to get fp+ for midway and other stuff. I don’t understand the appeal of fp for most things besides the super popular stuff but I know a lot of people swear by it. Disney shouldn’t be switching to only fp+ though because while it’s better for them sometimes people like to be spontaneous and don’t mind a wait.
Hey everyone – I got my Fastpass email today to reserve a time for BOG. I picked Nov. 1 as that is the day we will be at MK. But there are no times available.
Is this normal to not have any times available the same day you get the email?
Thanks!
Jon
I just had lunch there this week (10/6) and I did have a FP+ time. I had gotten an email and tried to make a reservation, but when I went in there were no times available, but then I received a second email a week or so later and I was able to get in. Even with the FP+ reservation, there was still a 25 minute wait, and I saw many people turned away.
Can I just say, I don’t get the hype. Yes, seeing the restaurant was nice, and the rooms were impressive – very impressive. I enjoyed my lunch. The food was pretty good, but nothing outstanding. I enjoyed the French Onion soup and the Veggie quiche. As far as a quick service lunch goes, it was definitely above average. That being said, I was by myself and spent almost $20. and I purchase the least expensive entree and no dessert. Again, I wouldn’t consider it wildly expensive, but not the best value around, either. I ate pretty late (2pm) and had a FP+, and the dining room was crowded and loud and it took me a while to find an available seat. There seemed to be a sense of anxiety around the whole process, from the podium outside, to the line, to finding a table, to vacating for the next guests. For me, it wasn’t bad. I wasn’t starving and I was alone and patient. However, if I was with a family or group and I had to wait nearly a half hour during non-peak season with a FP, spending the money I did for every member of my party, and having to lock myself in to a time and in some cases, a menu choice, for a quick service restaurant, I just can’t see how this is such a coveted thing. Perhaps it is different if you can snag reservations for the sit-down dinner as I’m guessing you get more bang for your buck. I’m glad I did it, but I definitely do NOT have to do this again. If you can’t get a FP+ reservation, I really wouldn’t sweat it. I’ll be having Magic Kingdom lunches at Columbia’s Harbour House from now on, with food that is just as good, significantly cheaper and without all the stress and noise and hassle.
Last year I used the BOG website to book lunch with no problem. This year I had an onsite resort reservation and the invitation email but every time I would go to the BOG site it would only offer me availability a week out. The site apparently recognized me from last year and did not offer a place to enter my new reservation number. Of course by a week out there was no availability. I asked about this at BOG in September and the Cast Members just kind of shrugged it off with the tired old “test phase” excuse used for every FastPass Plus snafu.
Disney is trying this with Toy Story Mania as well. Getting rid of stand by all together. If they continue with this trend I’m going to be spending my vacation dollars elsewhere. People spend a lot of money to get to go there, and to be told that they may not be able to do certain things is beyond ridiculous. Add in all the planning and stress involved with booking a Disney vacation, it’s just not much of a vacation at all to be honest.
It’s perfectly fine for Disney to offer wonderful perks for their Disney resort guests (makes total business sense, too, of course), but don’t TAKE AWAY experiences from day-guests and annual pass holders. Ultimately, that isn’t good for business.
I’m at MK today (9 oct) they are allowing people to queue for BOG today. I asked a cast member she said you can queue and they will cut the line when it’s at capacity. The queue was long at 10 am for lunch ( they don’t open til 10.30) I didn’t bother to stand in line. But good news for anyone who us prepared to get there early and wait
I received the invite e-mail 2 days ago for our trip during the last weekend of October. For the 5 days we are staying, there are no reservations available! Why send the invite if there are no reservations–it’s not like they don’t know what days you’ll be there (they are the only days you can choose from when in the invitation).
Ugh, no email and no option to pick FastPass+ times on the website. Have a trip at the end of the month and was going to try for lunch since there wasn’t a dinner reservation to be had in our 9-night stay. Guess that’s not happening….
Have had both lunch and dinner at BOG and really prefer dinner. The menu is better, it is less crowded and a lot less noise! Lunch in June 2014 came as a surprise with an email invitation. Had previously received those invitations multiple times, but by the time I was able to get to the web site, it indicated that there was no availabilty. When I called and complained, WDW said that those spots are taken very quickly. Surprisingly, dinner reservations for January 2015 were made in July 2014 line and did not require a phone conversation at 7:00 A.M.
I remember when you could ride all the rides in one day.
You could eat at the castle with no reservations.
Not sure what the solution would be. But it seems like a real ordeal anymore to go on Vacation ad Disney now.
The lines are 60-90 mins. and on Peter pan really???
You can not just go to a good restaurant with out making reservations 180 day out. And stay at a Disney hotel.
They have so many “add on’s” MNSSHP, MVMCP, now the Frozen thing. It’s not good enough just to buy your 100.00 ticket. I LOVE Disney as much as anyone believe me. But dang now with the fast pass + you have to have your whole vacation planned online ahead of time. And if you don’t have a smart phone or computer (as I know a lot of older folks don’t) you can really miss out. I think they need to just add on more Larger themed restaurant’s that they could close off portions if for some reason they hit a slow time. I think there is a call for Better dining options as they seem to always be full and ressies hard to get, so why not build on more Really cool themed LARGE restaurant’s with Great quality food. If for some strange reason you hit a slow time just close off part of it. People want a nice place to go and are willing to spend 35.00 or so a person on lunch so let them have it. There are plenty of places to grab a burger and nuggets if that is the option they want or they can even bring food in. I feel bad for the folks who are flying down for a week at the kingdom and find out you can’t just wing it at Disney if you want to take advantage of a lot of things they have to offer. Has anyone tried the fastpass+ for parades and fireworks? How in the world does that work? Ok done venting now 🙂
Hi all –
I just tried to book a BOG Fast Pass+ on the https://beourguestlunch.disney.go.com/ website using my 12-digit confirmation number (located in the address bar when you click on your Reservation in My Disney Experience) for our upcoming December 1-6 trip.
I kept getting an error message saying that my “username or password do not match” and then found myself locked out of My Disney Experience as well. I called Disney’s online help desk, and the Cast Member who reset my password informed me that the window for booking Be Our Guest Fast Passes on the BeOurGuestLunch website opens 28 days out from your trip.
Hope this helps!!
Beth W.
Why not just call it a reservation now instead of a FP? Because that’s what it is, ultimately. You need a reservation or you’re not getting in.
Our trip starts November 1st and I had been attempting to get a fp+ for BOG for a few days now, but to no avail. I just received an invitation e-mail from Disney, but still no fast passes are available. 🙁 Like others, I’ve not seen anyone mention getting a fp+ for November, but why send out the invitation e-mail if none are available?
This is much worse than lunch going reservation-only because at least reservations can be made by anybody who wants one. But these FPs can only be gotten by on-site resort guests and not even all of them get one. It’s shamelessly elitist.
I don’t understand that at all. If you have tickets already booked you should be able to get FP+. Especially if you have an annual pass.
I’ve been trying since I was able to call and get my number, nothing. Then I got the email and immediately went online and tried and still nothing. We are 22 days out, Disney Dining was no help when I called.
Does anyone know — Will they allow people to go in to check out the castle and the different dining rooms if they do not want to eat there? Or are you only allowed inside if you have been invited and plan to order food?!
I’m going to be at Disney in 8 days. 🙂
I have been trying to get a BOG lunch res on the beourguestlunch website for my Nov 4 trip (yes, staying onsite), checking multiple times every day since the beginning of Sept, and have been unable to get one — getting “no fastpasses available”. From what I read on other websites too, basically NO ONE is getting advance reservations on the beourguestlunch website starting Nov 1 and beyond.
According to TheMainStreetMouse website (on Oct 9), they were onsite at BOG that day (Oct 9) and found the following: A stand-by line is open from 10-10:30am and 2-2:30pm. Otherwise, Disney resort guests can make a reservation at BOG (how?) that gives you a time window to go to BOG and wait (or is this referring to reservations made on the beourguestlunch website for October? — which is now not letting any reservations for Nov). Supposedly, this is a testing only period until Oct 29, 2014, after which Disney will decide what policy to use for BOG Lunch going forward.
I guess the only thing to do is keep trying the beourguestlunch website every day until you leave, and keep checking the DFB here, and other websites like disboards, to find out what the new policy will be.
Haven’t been to WDW since 2011, before BOG opened, and really, am more interested in just seeing the whole place — but from what I remember reading before, you can’t go in to just look around — you can only get in when you eat.
We arrive on November 1st. We have found it impossible to even get the option for the BOG FP. We started checking at 27 days out. I’ve read that the reservation for lunch Fast pass+ only goes up until oct. 31st. We’ve been planning this trip for over a years and it is frustrating how fast everything is changing every day. Any suggestions?
Have spent so many hours setting up fast passes (trying at 12:00 at night ) on first date available to make them also many many calls for reservations. Wow. Really takes a lot of the fun out of going. Perhaps they need to limit the number of guests who can enter the parks each day. Or stop building hotels and begin building more restaurants and rides. Have been coming to disney since 1970, seems changes are not necessarily for the better.
Am I understanding right no one has been able to get in for November? Who does the email come from what does it say!
I just learned about the no line policy for be our guest lunch. I had planned to wait when I was not able to get a dinner reservation. Am staying on property. I contacted the help desk and was given the reservation website and they explained how to go about getting a reservation, but no luck. I will be there Oct. 29-Nov3 and no availability at all for that time period. I am sad as doing new experiences at Disney is something I really look forward to on any disney trip. Be our Guest is new since our last visit, so kinda sad I am going to miss out on this experience. Hope they don’t change the mine ride policy before I come. Not loving that the fast pass monster is beginning to take the disney magic away.
One rumor I heard is that it will become part of the regular FP+ system effective 11/1. So anyone can book.
We were at Magic Kingdom yesterday and getting in for lunch ANYWHERE was darn near impossible. Magic Kingdom was recommended and the crowd levels were average, which seemed to be an accurate assessment. I had no problem with the lines and waits for rides but for lunch! Long lines starting outside of Columbia Harbor House and the Village Haus at 2 PM to be able to get in and order food. We’re annual passholders who live in town so we just left and had lunch off property. But I couldn’t help thinking how lucky we are to just say “Eff it Disney” and leave. It we had spent $1000’s on plane tickets, hotels, and theme park tickets we would have just had to suck it up and spent an hour in line to get lunch.