Day Four: Why Yes, I Will Be Your Guest!
We went back to DHS in the morning because DF said it wouldn't be right for me not to ride my favourite ride (Tower of Terror) on my birthday trip. We did the usual thing, headed straight for Toy Story Mania for fastpasses. I really wanted to do this because it's one of the few great rides at DHS that DF and I can ride together. Thanks to traffic built up outside the DHS parking lot it took 45 minutes to get there from OKW. We weren't really sweating it while we were on the bus. But when we got the FPs they were already for 1:50. Ack. DF was annoyed that we got them instead of me getting ToT FPs, because lo and behold at 9:45 (45 minutes after park opening) the wait was already listed as 70 minutes. Again, I've never seen the line that long.
DF grumbled about the whole TSM and ToT FP situation, but I'm actually glad things happened the way they did. I had a chance to get a good, long and close look at all the nooks and crannies of ToT and figure out where I might request we take photos during our portrait session in the queue. Anyway 83 photos later and I love and appreciate the ToT theming even more!
I promise I won't share all 83 photos here. 82 tops!
I never noticed the HTH crest in the stonework before!
Minus the ghosty fastpass users
After the ride I spotted a menu on the wall behind a plant near the on-ride photo area. Can I just reiterate how much I love and appreciate Disney theming!
I wish the Sunset Room was an actual room and not just a decorative door. I bet it'd make a great reception space!
At the end of it all the whole line and ride only took around 30-40 minutes. Could be worse! DF insisted we head back over to the Animation building to meet Wreck-it Ralph and Vanellope (edit: because Wreck-It Ralph is an instant animated classic, and what sane person wouldn't want to meet the movie's stars? --DF.) The line is themed like the video game hub in the movie, with many hilarious retro video game references that I'm guessing most of the kids in the line don't understand.
"Sonic the Hedgehog 2: CANCELLED - Rings on the Track"
I loved playing that game in... hmm... 1997? But then again kids can download every game ever made now, so maybe they know all the jokes better than me too. Oh wait, here's a classic waiting in the line photo. Our Yeti posing next to the Yeti t-shirt I made for DF for Christmas. We have way too much fun!
Vanellope and I are surprisingly well-coordinated.
And speaking of Sugar Rush, we made a beeline for Starring Rolls for a breakfast cupcake/my first ever Disney cupcake.
I present to you, the chocolate peanut butter mountain of cupcake glory.
More than one CM at Starring Rolls told me how jealous they were that they weren't also eating this cupcake. And boy, was that a good cupcake! And I'm afraid I do endorse a strict must-eat-as-much-cake-for-breakfast-on-birthday-trips as possible rule. It's hard, but I do try.
According to my camera we followed this up immediately with lunch at Bill and Min's Dockside Diner. Huh. Well dessert first then! I had the sausage, but it was a little too heavy on the fennel for my liking. And DF went for the frankfurter, which was pretty good, but they were out of the pretzel buns or something. This is what happens when you let Wallace Beery steer the ship.
As we were eating we heard the announcement about the next American Idol Experience show happening soon, so we stuffed our food down and speed walked ourselves on over... only to find that the elastic meaning of "soon" meant "30 minutes from now." I took a lot of photos of this because we'd never seen it before. I ended up deleting most of the later on in the day when we came to the unexpected realization that our memory card was full. What?! We are going to need to bring a lot of spare cards on our honeymoon if we'd managed to fill a whole one in just three and a half days. Although, true, I don't usually take 83 photos of a single attraction...
We're not Idol fans. We do not worships Idols--maybe Kelly Clarkson around the holidays, but that's it. And yet The American Idol Experience is fairly well done. It's a pretty thorough Idol experience, and not a bad way to get out of the sun. There's an endorsement: "This attraction blocks harmful UV rays, has four walls and a roof."
Next we decided to try out the new(-ish?) Legend of Captain Jack Sparrow attraction. May I just say... that is not a good attraction. It does not feel up to Disney standards. And let's keep in mind that I'd been marveling at broken pottery around the ToT queue all morning, so I am open to appreciating the underappreciated. There is nothing more to say.
Finally our TSM FP were ready and we went in there the second the clock turned 1:50. Punctual. It was fun as usual. DF's score went down from last time, but I improved. He still beat me though. Grumble, grumble.
We decided to finish off our visit DHS with a viewing of the Beauty and the Beast show. I have a strange relationship with this show. Apparently during my first trip to Disney in 1992 my parents and I were waiting for the show for hours, and then right when we got to the front of the line a group of VIPs went in and another family from behind us in the line snuck in with them. And then the CM told my parents the show was full and we couldn't go in. Of course, my dad was pretty furious and explained about the line-jumpers but they were nowhere to be found and there was nothing the CM would do but let me go alone and watch from the stairs. This incident still causes such ire in my dad I dare not mention the Beauty in the Beast show in front of him, and thus I have not seen it since then.
This time, however, I decided we should watch it and then we just not mention it. Good plan. Also I'm happy to see they built a cover for over the seating. I remember it being so hot and bright that I could barely see.
We got in no problem this time, but the theatre did still fill up pretty well. The show is of course BatB lite, so I'm sure I needn't go into too many details. But I did at this point observe I'd seen about three or four different variations of Belle's gold dress throughout the parks. It's funny how it's different for everything - the show, the parade, the meet & greets.
As soon as the audience knew the show was ended, but before the curtains were fully closed, there was a mad dash to exit. Elbows flying, children tossed out of the way. Move it people, we've got places to be!
We waited until the crowd dispersed then took a leisurely stroll out of DHS and back to OKW to rest and freshen up. That night we had two last objectives to fulfill. Experience an amazing time at Be Our Guest and get our favourite spot for Wishes!
But first, a quick photo-op!
In reality, I had no choice but go to the Emporium because I was freezing and I needed another sweater to go over my first sweater. I've never been so cold at Disney. Does not compute.
Finally... Be Our Guest!
This. Is. So. Awesome.
Once our buzzer went off we were ushered inside by a hostess who gave us a full run-down of all the amazing details of the restaurant. I couldn't believe some of the things she was telling us and DF was totally awe-struck. And I'm not going to post any photos, because none of the ones we took are good enough to do this place any justice. Seriously, it needs to be seen to be believed.
If this is the direction sit-down dining is going at WDW, I'm all for it. I'd say the decor is beautiful, but calling it decoration ignores the immersive experience the restaurant gives you. From every table, point of view and vantage point, you are in the movie. The only nit-picky criticism would be that the room was a little too dimly lit.
For a single-credit table service restaurant, the food is very good. I started with a trio of salads: roasted beet, watermelon, and tomato and green bean. The flavours were refreshing and varied, with the tomato and green bean salad as the standout. Perhaps I would have had a higher opinion of the roasted beet salad had I not had a superior beet salad the night before at Artist Point. DF ordered mussels (Bryan: "always a crap-shoot, if you've read
Kitchen Confidential") but these mussels were plump, sweet and very, very fresh. They didn't skimp on the portion size, either. DF remarked at how intense the seasoning was (in a good way) with really vibrant leek and lemon zest dialing up the flavour.
Mains were more hit than miss. I ordered a perfectly cooked pork chop with a gratin of mac 'n' cheese and a side of green beans. The pork chop was probably the best piece of meat I've had at Disney. DF's luck ran out with a pan-seared salmon on a leek fondue. Not sure where the fondue went, but it seemed to have been mixed in with some mashed potatoes. It was tasty and the salmon was well-cooked, but DF said it was too heavy and ate like a deconstructed fish pie. I think he'd have preferred a fish pie, because they put vegetables in a fish pie.
Desserts are served from rolling carts and the servers plate them at your table (so you better believe there's some major squeeze-bottle action going on.) It looks like there's a high turnover for the desserts, so if you're worried about freshness, they don't sit there all night. DF was stuffed, and we "shared" a chocolate cream puff. Yummy! There was no art to it, just delicious, creamy, chocolaty, puffy goodness.
Service was friendly, if a little slow compared to other WDW restaurants, but who could possibly be in a rush to leave this gorgeous place? DF was in a state of awe through the entire meal and remarked that we don't have a must-do restaurant, a place we need to eat once every trip, but Be Our Guest might very well be it. It's just that spectacular. We'll definitely be there next time, for our rehearsal dinner.
Okay maybe just one photo. I did get to try the grey stuff!
It's delicious! Don't believe me? Look at the (empty) dishes.
On our way out, we were invited to go into the dark west wing (an adjacent room with a few more tables) to see the rose.
We also stopped by to see the master of the house.
So Wishes. We got to our favourite spot at 8:30 and there were already people camped out there. Gasp! There was still space beside them so we were close enough. And we got there just in time, because about 10 minutes later a family had decided they were going to camp out directly behind us. That was a little awkward.
We just tried to carry on like they weren't even there.
'Night Magic Kingdom! See you next time, during our wedding trip!
There are plenty of other Disney resorts to try after all!
I am so excited for cake and Mickey and Minnie, and Mickey and Minnie being there at the same time as cake! 
Excellent! (I see your counter is down to 0! Yay! Have an awesome trip!)
Sounds like you had a fantastic time and delicious food! I can't wait to eat at Be Our Guest. Just this morning I was debating on whether to go for lunch or dinner, but I think it's pretty obvious that we need to do dinner.
I love him. Love. Him. Anyway, I had high hopes for this one. Sad day. 
