Please explain Be Our Guest?

[rifamtrav]

I'm so confused! This probably has been asked many times before, but I couldn't find it in a search...
So, Be Our Guest is counter service at lunch but table service for dinner, but reservations are recommended (and impossible to get) for both. I see that you can pre-order lunch, is that an option only if you have ADR? Can you actually attempt to walk up and place an order and find a table, or is that not possible? If you can, then is there something other than 'pre-ordering'?

Also, we've been trying for ADR for dinner for 3 people, at least daily since our window opened, no luck. I'm assuming it's partially because that evening is Night of Joy, so maybe it's not even open? Apparently BOG can't be booked from the app, just online.

Is there something I'm missing or is this really just very popular and it's not at all likely that we could just show up for lunch (maybe very early or very late?) and expect to find a seat? Is it possible to order "to go" from the lunch menu if there are no tables available? TIA

 

[rwdavis2]

No "to go" meals. I've been reading, if I'm correct, they won't take walk ups.

For lunch your either pre-order online or order at the kiosk inside and they bring you the food.

 

[Brenda Kim]

No TO GO and must have ADR, only walk ups would be if ADR's were cancelled. At least from what I have read and seen, of course it never hurts to ask and always keep looking for an ADR opening.

It is now the most popular ADR for both lunch and dinner in the MK, if not WDW. We booked 180 days from our trip in February, the dead part of February and it was booked all the way until the second to the last day of our trip.

 

[rifamtrav]

Thanks, we've really been trying for the dinner ADR, but then I looked at the lunch menu and can see why that's so popular too. I guess we'll keep trying, but if it doesn't happen, oh well, there's always next time.

 

[figment_jii]

I'm so confused! This probably has been asked many times before, but I couldn't find it in a search...
So, Be Our Guest is counter service at lunch but table service for dinner, but reservations are recommended (and impossible to get) for both. I see that you can pre-order lunch, is that an option only if you have ADR? Can you actually attempt to walk up and place an order and find a table, or is that not possible? If you can, then is there something other than 'pre-ordering'?

You can pre-order your lunch meal only if you have an ADR. BOG (at lunch) is the only CS location that uses the ADR system. If you are lucky enough to get a walk-up or if you have an ADR and don't know what you want, you can always make you selection when you get there.

Also, we've been trying for ADR for dinner for 3 people, at least daily since our window opened, no luck. I'm assuming it's partially because that evening is Night of Joy, so maybe it's not even open? Apparently BOG can't be booked from the app, just online.

BoG is the most popular dining location in WDW. However, as you noted, BOG appears to not be open on the Night of Joy nights. For both 9/11 and 9/12, BOG only lists lunch hours (10:30 pm to 4:30 pm).

Is there something I'm missing or is this really just very popular and it's not at all likely that we could just show up for lunch (maybe very early or very late?) and expect to find a seat? Is it possible to order "to go" from the lunch menu if there are no tables available? TIA

Unfortunately, none of the Disney dining locations are really designed to handle "to go" orders in the traditional sense. For BoG, you would still need to be able to place an order, which means you'd have to be there at a time when they were taking walk-ups. Getting a walk-up is possible, but not guaranteed, so it's the choice of last resort (as in, it can't hurt to try walking-up, the worse they can say is "no"). Even if you can take the food to do, you might have to stop at another CS location to get plasticware and they might not have containers (they may give you a paper plate to cover your food with, but that's about it).

 

[Lucius Best]

Like others have said, you need ADR for both lunch and dinner. When I've been there for lunch, everyone without an ADR was getting turned away. There is nothing preventing you from booking an ADR from the MDE app, except the fact that it is super popular and the ADRs are gobbled up immediately. If you do manage to get a lunch ADR, pre-ordering can definitely save time.

On our last trip, we booked relatively late (4 months in advance) and BOG was completely full for lunch and dinner for our entire stay. We kept trying, and managed to get a lunch ADR (through the MDE app, it was more than a month in advance, I forget exactly). We were clueless about pre-ordering, we waited 15+ minutes to order at the kiosks, if we had known, we could have gone right in.

Suggestions I've seen before are to be flexible (we were looking for either lunch or dinner on any of three different weekdays), keep trying, especially 45 days out (deadline for people to cancel their trips with full refund) and 60 or 30 days out (when people can book FPs and might be rearranging their ADRs).

 

[Disnsyncey]

I'm so confused! This probably has been asked many times before, but I couldn't find it in a search...
So, Be Our Guest is counter service at lunch but table service for dinner, but reservations are recommended (and impossible to get) for both. I see that you can pre-order lunch, is that an option only if you have ADR? Can you actually attempt to walk up and place an order and find a table, or is that not possible? If you can, then is there something other than 'pre-ordering'?

Also, we've been trying for ADR for dinner for 3 people, at least daily since our window opened, no luck. I'm assuming it's partially because that evening is Night of Joy, so maybe it's not even open? Apparently BOG can't be booked from the app, just online.

Is there something I'm missing or is this really just very popular and it's not at all likely that we could just show up for lunch (maybe very early or very late?) and expect to find a seat? Is it possible to order "to go" from the lunch menu if there are no tables available? TIA

not saying that this will happen again, but either last year or the year before (was it open then?) at NoJ, BoG was completely open, no need for ADRs, and it was EMPTY.....like I guess nobody realized they could eat there......my friend has pictures....but not sure if it was CS or TS....

 

[amytaylor2]

I was having the same problem for our spur of the moment trip. We REALLY wanted to go to BOG for lunch especially since we only have the quick service dining plan. I signed up for the Disney Dining Buddy. It cost $8 but it constantly searches for the reservation you want. It took me about 3 weeks before I got the first notification that my reservation was available. I missed the first 2 texts because they came in the middle of the night so by the time I saw them they had been taken. I did manage to get the 3rd one for 12:15 on the day I wanted. It was worth the $8 for me!

 

[BradChristian]

Keep trying... I've had both BOG lunch and dinner pop up at 30 days out... I think its interesting to not be open during night of joy though... I'm sure some youth pastors would love a break away and a nice dinner? Maybe they are using BOG for a private event that night.

 

[SnipsNSnails]

We must be going at a not busy time in late Feb. I got dinner and 8 AM breakfast at our 180 - 4 days ago. After reading this thread I thought maybe I should have gotten lunch for our first day too and popped on quick and grabbed 12:55 for 7 just a minute ago. I am so excited to eat there!

 

[Disnsyncey]

Keep trying... I've had both BOG lunch and dinner pop up at 30 days out... I think its interesting to not be open during night of joy though... I'm sure some youth pastors would love a break away and a nice dinner? Maybe they are using BOG for a private event that night.

when my friend went to NoJ, they weren't having any sort of event, it was CS basically...or at least that's what I gathered....and EMPTY

 

[rifamtrav]

YIPPEE! After randomly hitting "find a table" button on my computer and phone app, dozens of times over the last several days, with "sorry no tables available" reply each time, this morning at 6:41 I actually got a time!!! We now have an ADR for lunch at 10:50am. I was so shocked, I almost didn't know what to do to complete the ADR, and even broke my cardinal rule of not entering CC info on the phone. But, hey it's BOG!!! (My DD has been making all the ADRS and she has her CC linked, but I didn't have one on my account yet.)

So, now the big dilemma, what to order???? Anyone have any advice?

 

[tomatecerise]

Braised pork and lemon meringue cupcake

 

[rifamtrav]

OMG, even at 10:50am, DH would love that braised pork!
DD is pescatarian (loves anthing veggie too), any recommendations?