Be Our Guest Restaurant Dinner Review
We finally did dinner at Be Our Guest Restaurant in Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom! This review features photos of food, the restaurant when empty, and our thoughts on the experience and quality of eating here. You’re probably all familiar with Be Our Guest Restaurant by this point since it opened 4 years ago, but in case you’re not, its dinner menu offers French cuisine.
Additionally, Be Our Guest Restaurant is a 2018 Disney Dining Plan participant as a one-credit table service restaurant at dinner. It’s also really close to making our list for the best values on the Disney Dining Plan at dinner. If you’re not using the Disney Dining Plan, dinner at Be Our Guest Restaurant offers a 20% discount for Tables in Wonderland cardholders, and a 10% discount for Annual Passholders.
It’s hard to believe that Be Our Guest Restaurant opened 4 years ago. It’s even harder to believe that we’ve been trying to eat here for 4 years without success. (Well, Sarah and her sister did eat here a couple of years ago, but I did not.) Perhaps I should have my Disney blogger card revoked for that, but I think it just underscores how difficult it remains to make ADRs here unless you book 180 days (or close to it) in advance.
Speaking of which, we have an article offering Tips for Making Be Our Guest Restaurant ADRs. We also have a Lunch at Be Our Guest Restaurant Review and a Breakfast at Be Our Guest Restaurant Review (which we also recommend reading to determine which meal(s) is/are right for your party–they are all very different from one another).
Unfortunately, it’s rare for us to book trips 180 days in advance, so we often can’t take advantage of our own tips. Consequently, our best strategy has been looking for last-minute cancellations. On virtually every visit to Magic Kingdom for the last few years, we’ve stopped by the Be Our Guest Restaurant podium at 4 p.m., and have also played the ‘constantly refresh’ game on the My Disney Experience app.
All of this was to no avail until our recent trip; we were able to score a post-fireworks ADR for what I assume was one of the last seatings of the night. This meant waiting longer than we wanted to eat, but at that point, I would’ve eaten a Casey’s Corner hot dog to tide me over.
Yep, I was that desperate to eat dinner at Be Our Guest Restaurant. For all of the trouble booking this restaurant, you’d think Lumiere and other dancing dinnerware would set your table!
With that out of the way, let’s turn to ambiance. For our dinner at Be Our Guest Restaurant, we were seated in the ballroom. In the past, I’ve lamented that this is my least favorite room in the restaurant. It has some beautiful details, to be sure, but the large, cavernous size makes it loud and lacking in intimacy.
In other words, like a dressed-up mess hall. I have other quibbles about it, but those are the main ones in turns of dinner, as this is not the type of environment I’d expect from a table service, quasi-fine dining experience.
Sarah, on the other hand, favors the ballroom. She likes the beauty and grandiosity of it, but mostly enjoys watching the falling snow. I can understand this to an extent–particularly if you get a “window” table–but we were about as far from those windows as possible.
Personally, I’d recommend requesting a table in the West Wing or Rose Gallery if you’re a couple looking for a more intimate experience.
If you’re a family with kids who will potentially be restless, the Ballroom could be appealing as it’s already pretty loud and chaotic in there, so you won’t stick out.
While I normally recommend the West Wing (by far my favorite room), Sarah points out that this could be scary for little kids since it’s dark and there’s occasional lightning. That seems odd to me, but I guess it could be true?
My dad was in the mold of Calvin’s father, subjecting me to things I didn’t like to “build character.” (I turned out fine…assuming that there’s some definition of “fine” out there that includes writing a Disney blog. 😉 )
Now, on to food. As mentioned, Sarah and her sister had dined here previously.
They both loved it that meal, and Sarah ranked this as the best Magic Kingdom table service restaurant as a result. Not that the competition is exactly fierce, but I think Skipper Canteen is a worthy contender.
As normal, bread was brought out to begin our meal. It was fine–nothing special.
For appetizers, we started with Mussels Provençal with Pernod, Tomatoes, Garlic, Onions, and Herbs. This was addictively good.
The broth was incredibly flavorful (I may or may not have lapped it up with a spoon) and pretty pungent as a result of the garlic, onions, and herbs; it would’ve been a great base for a pasta or seafood dish.
The mussels themselves were tender and delicious, and it was a perfect starter for two to split. Really high quality all around.
Other options for starters include the soups that are also available (at lower price points) for lunch. I’m a fan of the French Onion Soup, but would not recommend it over the mussels.
Following starters, Sarah ordered the Roasted Lamb Chop served with Potato Pavé, Artichokes, Tomato Salsa, and Lamb Demi-glace.
She thought that the balance of fat and lean meat was about right, and gave the meat a great, tender flavor.
The accompaniments and presentation made it befitting of a fine dining meal, although the size was a bit on the small size (which seems the way Disney is trending with dishes like this).
I tried this and agreed it was delicious, and would recommend it with the portion size being my only reservation.
For my entree, I ordered the Sautéed Shrimp and Scallops with Lobster, Mushrooms, and Seasonal Vegetables in a creamy Lobster Sauce. Sarah previously ordered this when it was served in a pastry, and she loved it, so I thought I’d give it a try in its new form. It was fantastic: quality seafood in a rich (and incredible) sauce, this is one of the best dishes I’ve had at Walt Disney World in recent memory.
While the removal of the puff pastry might seem like a downgrade, it seems that the portion size of the dish has increased with the change (based on recent trends, that doesn’t sound right…so perhaps I got lucky?) and that’s a trade-off I’ll gladly take. It’s difficult to tell from the photo, but the portion here was generous. All told, a highly recommended dish.
Having filled up on glorious Casey’s Corner hot dogs (not really) before our meal, we elected to skip dessert. Actually, we decided to skip dessert because it’s all the same items that are available for lunch. Considering the high caliber of the cuisine here, it’s a bit disappointing that dessert is phoned in like this (particularly egregious at a French restaurant).
Plus, it was well after 10 p.m. at this point, meaning that we’d be having a traditional breakfast of cupcakes in only a few hours when we got up the next morning. Most people are probably going to want to try the Grey Stuff for the novelty, but we don’t think any of these desserts are particularly memorable.
After dinner, we were able to get a photo with Beast, which was a nice addition to the experience. I appreciate that Walt Disney World did not turn this into a full-blown character meal, because that would destroy any semblance of a fine dining experience the restaurant otherwise has.
BTW – Who wore it better? 😉
Before we dined here, one thing I noticed is that the guest response to dinner at Be Our Guest Restaurant is fairly divided. Based on what I’ve heard, I would say 70% of guests love dinner at Be Our Guest Restaurant, while 20% hate it, and 10% are fairly indifferent. Part of this is inconsistent food and service quality, something that plagues all table service restaurants at Walt Disney World.
If I had to guess, I’d say another part of the ‘hate it’ camp is at least in part due to sky-high expectations resulting from the difficulty of getting an ADR here. There’s also the possibility that some of that ‘love it’ camp is the result of confirmation bias: after doing all that work and hearing so much hype, some people probably want to love it and rate it more highly than they otherwise would have if they were able to walk-in to the restaurant without reservation. My point with this is that you should keep your expectations in check: I’d put dinner at Be Our Guest Restaurant among the top 25% of restaurants at Walt Disney World, but it’s far from the best.
So…was dinner at Be Our Guest Restaurant worth all of the hassle? Well, I’m glad I finally got the chance to do it, but I probably won’t go out of my way to score an ADR here again. Personally, I think Be Our Guest Restaurant and Skipper Canteen are both contenders for best table service restaurant in Magic Kingdom. Given that there’s absolutely no effort required to dine at Skipper Canteen, that’s the easy choice for me.
For the average family with kids doing their first Walt Disney World vacation (or an infrequent visit), Be Our Guest Restaurant will hold much more appeal for dinner. When viewed from that perspective, though, I think Cinderella’s Royal Table (which is underrated for its food, in my opinion) gives Be Our Guest Restaurant a run for its money. All of this is to say that I think Be Our Guest Restaurant is an excellent option; however, there are good alternatives for all demographics, so if you can’t score that elusive dinner ADR, it’s not the end of the world. Just make sure you do breakfast or lunch instead, as you’ll definitely want to see the inside of the restaurant one way or another.
Want more dining tips? Check out our 101 Delicious Walt Disney World Dining Tips. For where to eat, read our Walt Disney World Restaurant Reviews. For comprehensive advice, the best place to start is our Walt Disney World Trip Planning Guide for everything you need to know!
Planning other aspects of a Walt Disney World trip? Learn about hotels on our Walt Disney World Hotels Reviews page. To save money on tickets or determine which type to buy, read our Tips for Saving Money on Walt Disney World Tickets post. Our What to Pack for Disney Trips post takes a unique look at clever items to take. For what to do and when to do it, our Walt Disney World Ride Guides will help.
Your Thoughts…
What do you think of dinner at Be Our Guest Restaurant? Is it worth the hassle to score an ADR? Would you rather do dinner elsewhere in Magic Kingdom, or is this the best option? Does it live up to the hype? Share your thoughts in the comments!
We snagged an ADR by chance for Be Our Guest dinner a week ago and are going tonight. Took the only offered day and time and rearranged our plans to accommodate. Tom I always read your reviews to help us decide where to go and what to order. Today I noticed all of the replies for BOG were from a couple of years ago. Would it be possible for you to enter the month and year of your reviews next to the link? Even with places we always pick for dinners on our trips the menus seem to constantly change. So knowing when one of your reviews was done would give the review more perspective.
We were just at BOG for dinner last week and we were extremely disappointed. Now I’d like to make it clear that the two credits doesn’t bother us a bit.
We have previous gone to BOG for dinner in years passed and loved it, 150%. This time however, not in the least.
A lot has changed, from the napkins no longer being roses to the actual menu. We had a bigger group so of course everyone can not be happy with everything. But honestly, no one in our group liked it.
The entree selection has changed quite a bit as well as the appetizers. I think it would be ok haven the more French inspired menu, as long as you had some staples too. As in salads with choice of dressing, soups and so forth.
The buggiest disappoint for me was the dessert. There is no choice any more, everyone get the same thing. And honestly, the only thing most of my group ate from the dessert was the grey stuff.
I think if Disney wants to please the masses as far as selections go. There needs to be a bit more variety in all three categories.
We were extremely disappointed with the breakfast that we had there. The food was not good and some of our parties couldn’t even eat their meal The only thing there was the “rose,” It was very costly and very disappointing. We will not go back there for the breakfast again.
Hi Tom, I just saw on the dining reservation page that starting at the end of July this will be a 2 credit price-fix dinner. You predicted this!
It’s not mentioned here but you can put in your reservation requests through Touring Plans reservation finder and mousedining.com. If you are more flexible about your times, you may be notified when a reservation opens up because someone canceled. I recently got one the day after I put my requests in and I will be in MK in just 3 days! I snagged a 5:00 pm dinner reservation. Not bad!:)
Notified through text messages or email or both.
is the reservation like Cinderella’s castle you have to make reservations 30 ahead of time and if you don’t call first thing in the morning on 30 days before you don’t get reservations cause they sell out really quick?
I’ve been trying to snag a ADR for BE Our Guest for a while now for our trip in January. Recently they stopped letting me search for dinner reservations on Thursdays (I’m trying for Jan 18th) The dinner option is just not there. Has anyone else run into this issue? I can’t find mention of them no longer doing dinner service on Thursdays???
During our first trip to WDW, my family lucked out and scored dinner reservations for our last evening at Magic Kingdom. It was a cancellation and I happened to be looking at just the right time. We were seated in the West Wings and my children, who are still quite young, loved it! The wait staff was very attentive and our food was delicious. I was quite impressed with the steak. My kids loved that Beast walked around to make sure that everyone was having a good time. I echoe the sentiments about dessert, nothing that special. Pictures with Beast made for a perfect ending to the meal!
My mom and I had lunch there the week after your visit to BOG. I ordered the potato soup ( I’d give it a (6/10) and the children’s Beastly Feast (pork, sweet potatoes, green beans) which was an 8/10.)
The child’s plate was plenty of food, , the ballroom was lovely, the wait staff was great and we only had a few minute’s wait in line. It was a nice break in our day to have “real food,” instead of burgers and fries. We didn’t have room for a cupcake, but next time I want to try the grey stuff.
It took us several visits, too, to get an ADR for Be Our Guest, but I hope I get to go back again.
Are we assured to meet the Beast at dinner time?
He meets every night, and continues meeting guests until after the restaurant’s last seating, so you won’t have any issues.
I truly enjoyed our meals here. The steak was good so was the rest of our meal. It was my birthday and the waitresses really made me happy i went here. I believe her name was elwina. Made sure i got plenty of attention. Also got a card at the end of the meal signed by the people there and belle and the beast. Again a very special night
Is there any way to have access to just look around the restaurant without eating there? My husband and I are considering taking a semi-last minute trip at the end of May and I will definitely try repeatedly to snag a reservation but am a huge beauty and the beast fan and this will be my first time to go to Disney World, so I really want to at least see the inside! I swear I remember reading a post somewhere about taking a tour?
There isn’t, but if you call and talk to someone, they can let you know if something is available. I planned an even more last minute trip last year from graduation with my mother and did all the reservations. I think we decided to go in March and actually went in May? (Guessing, honestly.)
I managed to get a breakfast at BOG (it was the trial run, so I didn’t even try for an evening ADR). I also managed to have Lunch at Cinderella’s Royal Table. Definitely give it a shot! Call every day or two if you can’t get one right away, because someone may cancel! Let them know every day you have available too!
Hey Tom!
My October 2nd meal at Be Our Guest was my third for dinner (I’ve had lunch there just one time), with the previous two coming in December of 2012 and October of 2013. My experience has been that, while each meal was good, my specific choice improved with each visit.
My first meal was the seafood in the puff pastry that you guys had in different forms. I’d be interested to try it again without the pastry, because I was mildly disappointed with it in December of 2012. It seemed like a pretty average seafood mix at the time; the sort of thing cheap microwave dinners aspire to ape. It’s possible that my youth spent living near the Chesapeake Bay has left me overly critical of seafood offerings.
My second meal in October of 2013 was a definite improvement, with a well-flavored pork chop. But even though this was a little better, it still didn’t seem to me that what Be Our Guest was offering was any better than what I was getting at most other WDW table service restaurants. Places like the Brown Derby, Restaurant Marrakesh, and ‘Ohana were still delivering more delectable food and still had strong thematic aesthetics.
My most recent trip there was decided on mostly because there was a Disneyland regular in our party who had never been to WDW and we felt like taking her into the Magic Kingdom but not going into Be Our Guest didn’t make much sense. Whether the reality of the place was good or bad it would seem like an incomplete experience to a first-timer. I’m really glad we made that choice for two reasons: First, we were able to get seated in the West Wing, which I definitely preferred over my previous seatings in the main ballroom. Secondly, the steak I selected was both a very good cut of meat and excellently cooked and flavored. Steak can be inconsistent, but what I had in early October was better than the steaks I’ve had at Kouzzina, The Wave, or Mama Melrose.
I was worried that Be Our Guest would develop a reputation with good food and gradually cheapen its offerings as time went on, but so far that doesn’t seem to be the case. Based on my first two visits I didn’t feel too pressed about eating there again, but because of this 2016 experience I will probably return again.
….sorry to say we fall in the smaller group of people who really didn’t care much for our last dinner there.
In the past, we have been extremely fortunate in so far as our good luck in getting dinner seatings.
We have also been extremely fortunate in so far as the first few times we ate there, the dinner was excellent….but not this last time…not in august, 2016.
I ordered the chicken dish and it was just an old dried up piece of chicken….no sauce of any kind that once accompanied it….dry as wood….tasteless…almost inedible…..extremely disappointing.
this was really dull, really tasteless chicken.
i’ve had this dish numerous times and it was wonderful….something changed.
….well….everything except the prices.
Most of the other dishes in our family of four….were ok to bland….none left any impression.
This restaurant has become a tourist trap…..attracting huge crowds…paying exorbitant prices…for not the best food….based on smoke and mirrors.
Why spend all this money for food that simply isn’t that good. There are far better restaurants all over disney world to enjoy before paying these prices.
i wish i knew what happened here. It originally was a unique dining experience with some pretty decent dinner selections….and yes…the falling snow was a real nice touch…but falling snow isn’t worth eating only fair dinners at these prices
the food should be better….the food was better in the past.
That simply wasn’t the case any longer….at least in August of 2016.
Ha! You guys had exactly what we picked last time. My husband first tried to order the Coq Au Vin, but they were… out? Yes, they said they had to turn away the shipment of pork because it wasn’t to their standards. Hmm, they have standards and it shows. All 5 times we’ve eaten here have been total magic.
Hi Tom, we just returned from our Disney visit a few days ago. Still tired, but it was worth it. Thanks for your blog’s help! We had dinner at Be Our Guest on Monday, our first day in the park. We dined in the West Wing with our 8 year old granddaughter who loved it. Not scared at all. Several times during our meal there would be fanfare and the beast would appear at the door for a quick wave, which was fun for us all. Also listening to the storm build, the last petal to drop and the painting to turn from the Prince to the Beast! The food was really good, portions large enough but dessert nothing special really. The service was the worst we experienced all week…all four parks! But…we were exhausted and perhaps that made my patience less than normal. All in all, we loved it. And when we return to bring my two younger granddaughters, we will do it again! But I will go on a shorter park day.
Our girls ages 6 and 8 at the time both loved the “beast room”. They requested to sit here! I’d say just check with your kids and don’t make a big deal of it. If you think its scary it will be terrifying for them. Also Tom is definitely the better beast, just look at that smile! 😉