Closer Look: Be Our Guest Restaurant At Walt Disney World

in Disney, Food

Be Our Guest Restaurant

(Article updated January 28, 2019)

One of New Fantasyland’s most extravagant and highly immersive attractions isn’t a ride or a show, but rather a restaurant that transports its visitors inside a classic Disney animated film. Walt Disney World opened Be Our Guest restaurant in 2012, bringing to life some of the most memorable settings from 1991’s “Beauty and the Beast.” Guests can dine inside a few famous locations, placing themselves inside the film’s story while putting Disney’s service “to the test.”

The Be Our Guest experience begins outside, forcing visitors to cross a stone bridge and approach an ominous entrance, tucked within sharp, rocky hills featuring the Beast’s castle perched high overhead. From nearby gargoyles and cold textures, it’s clear the film’s infamous curse has not been lifted, at least not yet. Disney’s Imagineers felt this was the appropriate time and place to begin the story. “That’s really when we would like to travel to the castle, and we want our Guests to go there,” explained Imagineer Chris Beatty.

Beatty is Disney’s creative director for not only Be Our Guest Restaurant but all of the New Fantasyland expansion, the Magic Kingdom’s largest ever. To discuss the design, decor, dining at the new restaurant, I sat down with him and Chef Michael Deardorff inside its Castle Gallery. I shared some of their thoughts and insight on the creation of this establishment both on Show 399 and in an article for Fox News.

In this article, we take a closer look at all the details that went into creating Be Our Guest, beginning with the video tour of the restaurant below, guided by Beatty’s descriptions.


Be Our Guest restaurant full tour with Walt Disney Imagineer Chris Beatty


Story Through Design

Outside the Be Our Guest Restaurant and continuing into its foyer, there is a distinct feeling of coldness, decorated with hard stone, metal, and desaturated tones. Beautiful scenery is juxtaposed with crumbling architecture, hinting that things aren’t quite right around this cursed castle.

Be Our Guest restaurant

Be Our Guest restaurant

Be Our Guest restaurant

(Check out our previous preview article for a more in-depth look at the entrance, bridge, and surrounding scenery.)

Continuing through the restaurant, Guests pass through a hallway lined with suits of armor, where wood and tapestries make an appearance, lightening the mood slightly. However, magical whispers emanating from behind those shiny helmets leave Guests on edge.

Be Our Guest restaurant

Be Our Guest restaurant

But the mood and the story take a distinct turn as Guests round a corner into the castle’s study, warm and inviting with a fire roaring in the fireplace and softwood finishes combined with colorful wallpaper and lush upholstery.

Be Our Guest restaurant

Be Our Guest restaurant

As a surprise, Guests dining at the Be Our Guest restaurant on its official preview opening night on Nov. 19, 2012, those who fought for first-day reservations were delighted to find the Beast himself making special appearances within. The restaurant is not character dining, but this castle master will make himself available for pictures nightly during dinner service, tucked away in his study.

Be Our Guest restaurant

Be Our Guest restaurant

This ballroom is the largest of three dining rooms of the Be Our Guest restaurant, with two wings off to the sides, each representing “different time zones,” as Beatty called them. It’s here that the curse appears to be lifted, not placing Guests inside a frightening, cobweb-lined hall but instead a gorgeous one that captures one of the most famous Disney animated sequences in history. With snow falling in the giant picture windows across a rich mountainous landscape, Guests are quickly transported to somewhere other than balmy Orlando, Florida, enveloped in hues of gold and sparkling marble in a regal dining environment that’s relaxing and cozy, but also huge and impressive.

Be Our Guest restaurant

Be Our Guest restaurant

Be Our Guest restaurant

Be Our Guest restaurant

The Beast’s ominous West Wing serves as the smallest dining room, containing only a handful of tables in a dimly lit environment. It’s Beatty’s own favorite of the three, offering a glimpse into the darker moments from the film. Through special effects, the movie’s iconic rose drips petals as time passes, with a lightning-and-thunder storm rolling in, periodically loudly crashing outside the room’s windows. And a nearby portrait of the Beast as a young prince flashes to its more menacing form with each lightning strike. It’s a truly unique dining environment that’s not intended for everyone. “I think that’s why it’s really the smallest of the three rooms,” explained Beatty. “There might just be a select group of people that want to dine in a place that sort of feels like, ‘Oh my gosh, any minute the Beast could bust in the door and roar at us and throw us out.”

Be Our Guest restaurant

Be Our Guest restaurant

Be Our Guest restaurant

Be Our Guest restaurant

And Beast does occasionally make an appearance in the West Wing over dinner, as well as in the rest of the restaurant, not roaring but waving politely before retiring to the study for a meet-and-greet.

Be Our Guest restaurant

Lastly, the Castle Gallery offers a complete contrast to the West Wing. Imagineers watched “Beauty and the Beast” repeatedly in need of a third room to seat patrons. They talked about the restaurant with some of the film’s animators before deciding on representing the rest of the movie’s “enchanted objects” like Chip and Mrs. Potts through tapestries lining the walls. The room’s centerpiece is a glorious music box featuring a rotating sculpture of Belle and the Beast in their famous ballroom dance. Music unites this relatively simple room with the far grander ballroom, as the ballroom’s bold orchestration of the “Beauty and the Beast” score is duplicated in sync with a dainty rendition recorded on a music box player for the Castle Gallery. Guests passing between the spaces will notice a seamless transition from one musical version to the other.

Be Our Guest restaurant

Be Our Guest restaurant

Be Our Guest restaurant

Be Our Guest restaurant

Be Our Guest restaurant

Be Our Guest restaurant

Be Our Guest restaurant

Be Our Guest restaurant

In total, the restaurant can seat up to nearly 550 Guests, immersing them into instantly recognizable places from the classic animated movie across differing moments in time. Beatty summarized, “We picked moments within the film that we felt all of our Guests would enjoy going to – would expect to go to.”

Story Through Cuisine

The food ties directly in with the “Beauty and the Beast” story. Chef Michael Deardorff, a 25-year Disney veteran and a team of culinary experts, utilized the restaurant’s design to aid in developing its cuisine. “When the menu was originally handed to us,” explained Deardorff, “we took the layout of this place and the artwork and tried to incorporate how does this menu actually fit in this theme.”

The food served in Be Our Guest is unlike anything else in the Magic Kingdom. “The general public now is much more sophisticated when it comes to food, obviously with the food channels and all the media out there surrounding food,” admitted Deardorff. “And of course, this is a tough business because when it comes to food, everyone’s an expert.” French-inspired cuisine dominates the dinner menu, served via traditional table service. In contrast, a separate quick-service breakfast and lunch menu offers faster options, ordered via kiosks but still served tableside. Reservations are recommended for all meals, especially dinner.

The breakfast and/or lunch ordering process begins in the aforementioned suit of armor hallway and the study, placing orders via touch screen kiosks. From there, each party is handed a plastic rose and instructed to select a table – any table – throughout all three rooms of the restaurant. By placing that rose on the table, Chef Deardorff’s team receives a “table association,” linking that party’s order to that particular location via embedded computer systems. Then while patrons get up to get their drinks and silverware, servers bring food to the table. It’s a pleasant departure from standing around a counter waiting for food. More simply, as Deardorff put it, “You just want a seat, and then it’s nice to be waited on.”

Be Our Guest restaurant

For breakfast, there are traditional French dishes such as the Croque Madame, an open-faced ham sandwich topped with a fried egg, Gruyere cheese, and béchamel served with fresh fruit and a selection of pastries, or the Vegetable Quiche. Scrambled eggs, a few breakfast sandwiches, and assorted meats and cheeses are also available.

At lunch, there’s a simple French Onion Soup featuring onions with a thyme infusion and a beef-free broth, topped with a generous portion of Gruyere cheese — the melty cheese on top superior to the too-hot-to-eat broth underneath. Potato Leek Soup provides a creamy alternative filled with flavor and far calmer in temperature.

French Onion Soup and fruit juice punch and wild berry extract sweetened with organic cane juice and topped with lemon-lime foam.
Potato Leek Soup

For lunch entrees, the Tuna Nicoise Salad contains a poached egg and seared rare tuna. During the restaurant’s preview days, the steak sandwich wasn’t much of a success, with many patrons disliking its rather tough meat, but the soup and tuna salad received mostly high praise. Chef Deardorff claims the menu’s turkey meatloaf intended for children is “one of the best meatloaves I’ve ever had,” containing 30% grain and vegetables. It’s one of several healthier alternatives available for children but is certainly also enjoyed by adults.

In Summer 2018, Be Our Guest Restaurant began serving a prix-fixe menu for dinner, during which shiny white plates with little garnish let the dishes stand on their own merits, for better or worse. Among the best appetizers is the platter of assorted cured meats and sausages, a mixture of thinly-sliced cured meats that are salty in the best possible way, smooth and creamy flavored pâté, and sweet chicken sausages, all served bold cornichons and pickled onions. The French Onion Soup returns from lunchtime.

Be Our Guest restaurant
Charcuterie Plate

During the early days of Be, Our Guest, when this article was first written, none of the entrees particularly stood out as anything spectacular. They were all far superior to any other food served within the Magic Kingdom, but across the grand scope of Walt Disney World dining, there were many better choices for the price. Now, however, Guests can choose from the following entrees at dinner with the prix-fixe menu, which costs $60 for adults (ages 10 and up) and $36 for children (ages 3 to 9), or 2-table service credits per person:

  • Roasted Pork Tenderloin – Crispy Berkshire Pork Belly, Caramelized Cipollini, Roasted Asparagus, Brussels Sprouts, Cauliflower Purée, and sprinkled with Bacon Dust
  • Spice-dusted Lamb Chops – Roasted Salsify, Baby Zucchini, Charred Tomatoes, and Royal Trumpet Mushrooms with a Lamb Demi
  • Saffron-infused Seafood Bouillabaisse – Seasonal Fish, Maine Lobster, Shrimp, Confit Potatoes, and Baby Fennel
  • Smoked Ricotta and Corn Tortellini – Roasted Corn and Peppadew Relish, Rainbow Cauliflower, and Asparagus with a Corn-infused Nage
  • Center-cut Filet Mignon – Robuchon Yukon Potatoes, Seasonal Vegetables, and Cipollini Marmalade with a Red Wine Glaze
  • Poulet Rouge Chicken – Faro Wheat Risotto, Seasonal Vegetables, Crisp Pancetta, and Garlic Butter Sauce

The meal is topped off with a Dessert Trio, which features an Almond Macaron, Dark Chocolate Truffle, and a White Chocolate “Chip” Cup with Grey Stuff and Crisp Pearls.

Previously, dessert was wheeled to each table under a glass case showcasing decadent French sweets, including cupcakes and cream puffs (these desserts are still available on the quick-service lunch menu). There is no wrong choice here, as they are all equally rich and delightful. The unbelievably moist cupcake flavors are Strawberry Cream Cheese, Triple Chocolate, and Lemon Meringue, all of which taste exactly like their names suggest, in perfect form. The cream puffs are equally fulfilling, with the flavors of Chocolate or Lemon-Raspberry. No one should leave Be Our Guest without having dessert, as it far surpasses both the appetizer and entree courses in taste, presentation, and originality.

Triple chocolate cupcake
Lemon Meringue cupcake
Be Our Guest restaurant
Chocolate cream puff
Be Our Guest restaurant
Lemon-Raspberry cream puff

When the menus for Be Our Guest were first revealed several years ago, all fans of “Beauty and the Beast” were shouting, “Where’s the Grey Stuff?” It stunned the chefs. “The blogs lit up about the Grey Stuff, and it was like, that thing took on a life of its own,” said Chef Deardorff. “We all look at each other like, ‘What the heck is the grey stuff?’ Because you’re thinking food, and there is no grey – unless you’re talking licorice – there’s not a lot of grey food.” Going back and watching the film, Deardorff heard the lyrics, “Try the grey stuff, it’s delicious. Don’t believe me? Ask the dishes!” and shortly thereafter, a sweet mousse-like concoction was developed to satiate fans’ desires. However, its specific flavor remained a secret. At that time, not every Be Our Guest patron got to try it. The Grey Stuff was reserved for those celebrating special occasions, such as a birthday or anniversary.

Be Our Guest restaurant

Eventually, Be Our Guest added The Master’s Cupcake, a chocolate sponge cake topped with Lumiere’s “grey stuff,” to the breakfast and lunch menu. At dinner, the grey stuff comes with the White Chocolate “Chip” Cup.

When it was announced that alcoholic beverages would be served in the Magic Kingdom at Be Our Guest Restaurant, the news was met with much concern by traditionalist Disney fans. But Disney kept it classy with a solid wine and beer list and pairing recommendations on the food menu. And such drinks cannot leave the premises, leaving them to be enjoyed solely and appropriately over dinner. Since Be Our Guest opened, Magic Kingdom began serving alcohol during meals at the Jungle Cruise-themed Jungle Navigation Co. LTD Skipper Canteen Restaurant.

Be Our Guest restaurant

Orlando locals and monthly Walt Disney World visitors Desiree Moss and Timothy Juckett enjoyed their first evening at the Be Our Guest Restaurant but weren’t blown away. “I don’t think it was extraordinary but still perfect,” said Juckett. “The overall experience was the best part, more than anything else.” But despite the food not quite living up to expectations and being outshined by the elaborate decor, Moss will return for more atmosphere. She concludes, “I would want to try one of the other dining rooms.”

Guests visiting the New Fantasyland expansion of the Magic Kingdom will surely expect nothing short of top-notch entertainment that Disney’s theme parks have become famous for, and the Be, Our Guest Restaurant, delivers on creating an incredibly well-decorated environment that convincingly immerses visitors into the world of “Beauty and the Beast.”

While its cuisine isn’t perfect, it’s better than most other offerings in the park. Though Walt Disney World’s other parks and hotel restaurants offer better food choices, none come anywhere near, rivaling the full experience of dining within Be Our Guest, a restaurant that shows off a perfectly executed design plan that will draw excited fans regardless of the food.

The Be Our Guest Restaurant and New Fantasyland expansion had their official grand openings on December 6, 2012. To see the full breakfast, lunch, and dinner menus, visit the Walt Disney World website.

View Comments (17)