Be Our Guest - Dinner

[ww52]

No matter how we plan ahead, it always seems we need at least one more day. I though we had everything pretty well set for our trip in July, and then we made a change that upset several other things. Way too much detail to go into this, but we need in effect to give up a half day at Magic Kingdom.

Quick level setting - we have 11 of us in the party - four children that will be ages 2 through 6. Four parents, 3 grandparents (I'm one)

We scored the Cinderella Castle dinner so no way we give that up. We paid for Early Morning Magic so no way we give that up. What's left is an afternoon that we have the Be Our Guest dinner reserved.

Tough decision - and I know asking "is it worth it" will get a huge number of opinions that won't really help me decide. Many will say it was great, others will say it was essentially an interesting restaurant but not worth it etc.

So let me put it this way - is this a "headliner"? If we missed it would we truly regret it? I guess it would depend on what takes it's place - and the answer in effect is seeing the early morning Welcome show at the castle.

It's complicated as to why that is. But if we try to do all that (Castle dinner, Be our Guest, Early Morning Magic, Welcome show) that would be four separate trips to MK on 4 different days - our plan called for 3. So to get 4 we'd have to give up a visit at Epcot (we had 3 planned), or the Studios (we had two planned). We only have one planned at AK so that's not an option. And we have a "sleep in" day, which giving up also is not an option.

I'm sort of talking myself into giving up Be Our Guest this time - will we regret it?

Thanks much!

 

[Calee]

I dont think BOG dinner is worth it anymore. It is a pre fixe meal so you are locked into ordering a certain way, and nothing on the menu knocks my socks off enough to make it a must do, or even a really want to do lol.

At lunch and breakfast it is quick service. I do think one of those is worth it to see inside the castle if you have never been in.

 

[ww52]

Interesting - never thought of lunch or breakfast; though it might be too late to snag a reservation for that

Probably a dumb question (considering Disney) but is there anyway to "tour" the inside without having a reservation? To look around - knowing we can't interact with the Beast (who I think is the only character there)?

 

[ww52]

And ignoring my probably dumb question above -
with a reservation can we tour / browse / look around everywhere besides the dinning room we are assigned (I assume we'll be in the ballroom but obviously for the price we're paying for dinner I want to be sure we can see everything there.)

 

[Disco Lemonade]

Interesting - never thought of lunch or breakfast; though it might be too late to snag a reservation for that

Probably a dumb question (considering Disney) but is there anyway to "tour" the inside without having a reservation? To look around - knowing we can't interact with the Beast (who I think is the only character there)?

I suppose you could try to just walk in and see if anyone stops you? I was curious about Gaston’s Tavern, so I just went in one exit and out the other. We did lunch at Be our Guest and it was pretty brutal. Even with a reservation, it still took an hour in line before we could even order. It may eat up more of your day than you want.

 

[Macprincess]

I would give up Be Our Guest. It sounds like you have a fabulous trip planed. The Grandchildren are 2-6 they're going to be thrilled to just be at Disney. They're not even going to know they missed something by not seeing Be Our Guest unless you point it out. Enjoy this special trip making those memories.

 

[orangecuse]

You cannot go in to look around since it is reservation only all day. If you do lunch you can order ahead of time so you don’t wait in line. You could always set up a touring plans reservation finder for breakfast and lunch and see what ya get!

 

[KayaWildfire]

Another thing to keep in mind if you do end up switching to breakfast or lunch, this is a seat yourself quick service hybrid so you can have multiple reservations within a few minutes of each other and still sit together. But definitely preorder if you're going this route, it can be done day of, no need to stand in line. And yes I would absolutely give the dinner, it's not that great I would rearrange my whole life over it.

 

[Dunshie23]

Depends on the kids you're with and if they like beauty and the beast. We had done breakfast on a previous trip and really didn't enjoy it. We debated going back after that. Dinner wasn't the greatest I've ever had, but it also wasn't bad. My 2 year old is obsessed with the beast so this being our only opportunity for her to meet him, we couldn't give it up. She wore her Belle dress for the occasion and was thrilled beyond belief to have met him.

 

[BarlowFamily]

No, you will not truly regret it if you do not have dinner at BoG. It's a "headliner" in that it is still so hard to get a reservation. But your family will have an amazing trip without dinner here.

And I say that as a HUGE Beauty and the Beast fan. I love dinner in the Beast's Castle, and we will likely splurge again in the future. If you have any Beauty and the Beasts fans in your family, a late breakfast or lunch reservation will get you all in the castle. Order meals if you'd like, or make it just a snack break with cupcakes topped with "the grey stuff." If you decide to go, I have found great availability for an ADR a few days out. I'm always looking for parties of 3-5 though, so maybe splitting yours up will help for reservations. And yes! Preorder!

Enjoy your magical trip with those grandbabies!!

 

[ww52]

Thank you everyone for the responses! So difficult to plan - the worst of course is thinking about potential regrets as I sit at my computer.

What I need to do is re-watch video from our last trip and remember how thrilling it is to just BE there no matter how much or little we do! I really don't remember regretting anything about ANY of the eight trips we've taken through the years.

Thankfully my two boys are a large part of the planning process so what they think their little ones want is the driver.

We decided to keep the reservation - and to manage the early morning magic in a way that allows us to see the welcome IF we even decide to that once we are there.

 

[evlaina]

Thank you everyone for the responses! So difficult to plan - the worst of course is thinking about potential regrets as I sit at my computer.

What I need to do is re-watch video from our last trip and remember how thrilling it is to just BE there no matter how much or little we do! I really don't remember regretting anything about ANY of the eight trips we've taken through the years.

Thankfully my two boys are a large part of the planning process so what they think their little ones want is the driver.

We decided to keep the reservation - and to manage the early morning magic in a way that allows us to see the welcome IF we even decide to that once we are there.

Honestly you're not missing much by not seeing the Welcome show, it isn't anything special. When we do EMM, we book it out of Fantasyland and head towards Frontierland before the regular guests can.

I agree with keeping the dinner, and I'm not that much of a BOG dinner fan. But I have 2 little girls that love it, and meeting the beast. Plus the filet is good.

 

[only hope]

If they are using the West Wing and/or Rose Gallery rooms during dinner, there is no guarantee that you’ll be seated in the ball room. You can request to wait to be seated there. I haven’t done dinner (and won’t, too expensive) since they changed it so I don’t know if they still use those rooms and/or if they’re at least open for people to look at. I do know that once you exit into the library there’s no going back.

 

[Allison]

I suppose you could try to just walk in and see if anyone stops you?

They do stop you. You need an ADR to be allowed in.

 

[KenHutch]

You will not miss BoG we at there on the 2018 trip and both girls put it on their never again list as we are already planning our 2021 trip and I ask them for their must do list of restaurants.

 

[sponica]

I'd skip dinner and try for bfast or lunch instead. It's nice to see the inside, but I wasn't overly impressed with the meal before it was pre-fixe.

They do let you walk around to the other rooms, I can't remember which one we were seated in for dinner.