Disney World might be just as busy as it was before the pandemic-related closures, but we’re still seeing the remnants of those health and safety measures to this day.
Cinderella Castle
Services like the Magical Express are gone for good, and who knows if we’ll ever see package delivery return to the hotels or not. While most of the parks have returned to normal, there are a few experiences that have yet to return. Up until recently, we weren’t sure we would ever get to experience this rare character meet and greet again, but we may have just been proven wrong!
After years of waiting, it appears as though Beast is back meeting and greeting visitors in his study at Be Our Guest restaurant in Magic Kingdom! Prior to the pandemic-related closures, diners would get to meet Beast in his study once they finished their meal during dinner. But, when this restaurant opened back up in 2020, Disney treated it as more of a traditional character meal, with Beast walking around and interacting with guests.
Be Our Guest
Many guests were seriously missing the opportunity to see Beast in his study, as it’s the only place where you can actually meet and interact with him in all of Disney World.
People missed him!
But, we had heard that the Beast would be back in his study once again soon, and it looks like that day has finally come! We passed by Be Our Guest to see if anything had changed, and we were surprised to see that it had! Of course, we had to go check it out for ourselves because it had been so long — more than FOUR years.
He’s back!
We confirmed with Cast Members that July 22nd was the Beast’s first day back meeting like this and that they’re testing things out to see how it goes. It’s possible this meet and greet could come back in full swing, or Disney could just choose to have Beast roaming around the restaurant as he has been since the restaurant reopened.
There he is!
We’ll be on the lookout for more signs that the Beast’s meet and greet is officially back at Be Our Guest in Magic Kingdom since Cast Members have told us that this is a test for now. In the meantime, we’ll be keeping up with the latest news from Disney World and more, so make sure you stay tuned to the Disney Food Blog!
See Our Latest Review of Be Our Guest at Magic Kingdom HERE!
Need Disney Restaurant Advice? We’ve Got EVERYTHING You Need to Know
The ONLY Disney Dining Planning Tool You’ll Need Is Here – Get the DFB Guide to Walt Disney World Dining!
See Our Complete Disney World Restaurants Guide
The Best Magic Kingdom Restaurants
The Best EPCOT Restaurant Restaurants
The Best Hollywood Studios Restaurants
The Best Animal Kingdom Restaurants
The Best Disney Springs Restaurants
Check Out Dozens of Disney Dining Tips and Tools
Learn All About Tipping at Disney Restaurants
How to Use Mobile Order in Disney World
Join the DFB Newsletter to get all the latest Disney food news right in your inbox! Click here to Subscribe!
Have you eaten at Be Our Guest before? Tell us in the comments.
Our handy (and portable!) ebook guides make sure you get the best deals and can plan a vacation of a lifetime.
What about Tinkerbell?, she deserves to be brought back as a meet and greet character too,
Although there have been people that have had bad vibes about her, and that’s not fair
I wish Disney would reconsider having her back without any backlash
I heard you can get an amazon delivery to your hotel. Is this true
This is great news about Beast, thanks for sharing! The one and only Beast meet and greet is definitely a huge (and sorely needed) selling point for dining at BOG. We haven’t had any plans to return to BOG, but it’s been a while since we met Beast, and it was only once. This makes me think of a merch crossover I wish Disney would do – Stitch Crashes have been a merch theme for a while now. They should do Stitch Crashes in character dining. That would be so fun! I remember when there was the Stitch promo with Stitch going to Cinderella’s Castle. Can you imagine getting a photo of Stitch and Cinderella together? That would be epic for me.
🙌 yes…. Long overdue. The portrait, the enchanted rose and the opportunity to have you r picture with the beast is what makes the Be Our Guest dining worthwhile. The food can be hit and miss.
Good move bringing back the Beast Meet and Greet. To make this change perfect, bring back the absolutely excellent quick service lunch in Beast’s Castle that they offered years ago. What an amazing lunch! The setting, food quality and order process were among the best meal options ever provided by WDW. I guess that’s why they stopped doing it. It was too good.
Hi DFB,
Do you know if the Beast will still walk around the castle? It was exciting to see him walk around and wave to the guests. Just wondered.
Thanks for all you do!!!!
Completely agree about Tink. Who more Disney than the Fab 5 and Tink? Who greeted us at the beginning of Disney’s Wonderful World of Color? Who already has a meet & greet venue at MK awaiting her return? Who in their right mind would complain about Tinker Bell? Just dont go see her! What company would shut her out based on a few complaints?
Ok – we sadly already know the answer to that last question.
As for Be Our Guest, how about putting some more food on those pricey plates? We ate there several years ago with friends from our 2006 China adoption group and will absolutely not consider ithe restaurant again. There are plenty of special-event eateries in the parks and Disney Springs without this one.
Disney can add any character that they want to Be Our Guest. It does nothing to improve the over-priced, poorly cooked food.
We ate at be our guest castle and loved it . The food was great although a little expensive. We saw the beast twice and our 6 year old grand daughter was thrilled. We would greatly recommend it.
The meet and greet is fine. I couldn’t care less as I don’t do those, but respect those who do. What I want, is the lunch menu back. Hate the prix fixe menu. Old lunch had tuna nicose salad, pork shank, great sandwiches. I think it was the best lunch anywhere!! And now? We’ve stoped going. What they offer now isn’t half as good as it was, and is twice as expensive! (I’d pay the same for the better food to be honest).
At last! Too bad it was after my last trip and I can’t afford to go for years, lol.
Great! Now bring back Tinker Bell! And roaming Characters in MK! It works great in Galaxies Edge. Also. Bring back the QS lunch at BOG. It was the best in MK. Enough with this overpriced Prix Fixe crap. I can’t believe they make more. Was By far the busiest restaurant in MK.
Hi June! The Beast still walks around as well. 🙂
Until the prix fix is gone, we won’t be back.
This is such great news !!!! Finally !!! 🥰
Now get rid of the Prix Fixe menu, and get Breakfast and Lunch quick serve back and we might try it again. Until then forget it. Used to be a great restaurant, but no longer. Does Disney even read their reviews?
They got rid of this again. We’re here today Friday august 9 2024 and he’s just waving as he walks by, he DOESNT meet in his study.
Hi Sara! One of our reporters confirmed with a CM that the meet and greet has indeed gone away again. Apparently they were testing it for a day and ultimately decided to remove it. They weren’t sure if or when it would come back again.