We are absolutely thrilled to bring you our first review of dinner at the Be Our Guest Restaurant in the New Fantasyland at Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom. Welcome guest author Amy Gagliardi with details of her experience during an unexpected Be Our Guest Restaurant preview night!

Be Our Guest Sneak Preview Walk-In Experience

Serendipity is one of my favorite things about visiting Disney. The unexpected coincidence of events that can make any moment a truly magical memory has come to be what I expect from each visit. This is how I came to dine at Be Our Guest Restaurant. It was quite by accident and good fortune.

My husband Peter was given a tip by a server at dinner one night that Be Our Guest would be taking walk ins the following night. He recommended we go to the podium and ask if we could dine and that is exactly what we did.

With a simple walk to the outside reservation podium, we were able to be seated for any time that we selected. In addition to myself, our party of five consisted of my husband, a friend of the family, our youngest daughter Faith and her boyfriend Jon.

Atmosphere

We were thrilled and filled with anticipation as we were escorted beyond the heavy wooden castle doors and through a foyer, which brought us to the Ballroom dining room in which we were seated. The hostess and server seemed as delighted to be a part of the dining experience as we were. The congenial warmth of the staff contributed to a feeling of hominess even in such a grand surrounding.

We were invited to wander at will throughout the 3 dining areas. We truly felt like guests as we strolled through the West Wing and Rose Gallery and wondered in awe.

The rooms connected to each other with smooth thematic transitions.

The dimly lit rooms, common to each sitting area, reinforced an enchanted fairy tale atmosphere supporting the Beauty and the Beast story line.

From our table in the Ballroom we could see the large painting of the Beast as a handsome prince, which stands tall in the West Wing. At intervals we could hear a crashing of distant thunder and at that moment, like a stroke of a clock, the face on the portrait would turn to its Beastly counterpart.

With faux snowfall gently trickling across a midnight blue back drop behind a window on the back wall of the Ballroom, we relaxed into our seats to view a rose theme at out table.

From the rose on the cover of the menu to the rose-like folding of the deeply red napkins, we were transported to another time. The room was filled with [Read more…]