Travel: Disney World, Florida (part 2 of 3)

Day 3 Thursday 17th March 2016

Thursday was an extremely special day, as Siegfried and I had a table booked at the Magic Kingdom's Beauty & the Beast-themed restaurant, Be Our Guest. I'd been wanting to go here since I'd heard about it from a university friend who went during our year abroad, but this desire significantly increased after Siegfried and I watched the film not long after we got together. The movie occupies a special place in our hearts; we think of it as "our" movie (like when couples have particular songs). So the first thing we'd done when we decided to go to Disney World was to ring for a reservation. Having done extensive research, I was keen to get a lunch reservation, as it reflected the best choice and value for money. But when we first rang (literally about six weeks prior to our trip!), Be Our Guest could only offer a breakfast reservation. Thankfully, after two more weeks of ringing almost daily and a tip to not try again until the week before we arrived, we managed to book an 11:30am table. 

The main ballroom

It was everything I had dreamed and more. Trip Advisor and Google reviews had made me more than a little apprehensive, but I personally loved it. You do have to line up to order your food beforehand (at least, at breakfast and lunch; dinner is a seated service), and you also then seat yourself, but finding a table isn't hard. And the the atmosphere inside is truly magical! It's set into a hill in "New Fantasyland", which is a recent extension of Disney World's. It's topped with a miniature replica of the Beast's castle; one of those cleverly built structures that look like they're bigger than they actually are. Inside, there are three rooms - the main ballroom, complete with huge chandeliers and fake snowy mountains outside the windows, the "library", which actually contains no books but a lot of paintings and a twirling statue of Belle and the Beast, and the West Wing, which houses the enchanted rose and ripped portrait of the Beast in his human form. 

The view from our table in the library

Initially, we sat down at the first available table for two that we saw, which was at the back of the main ballroom. However, being able to see glimpses of the other rooms led me to explore more fully, and I'm so glad I did because otherwise I may not have discovered the other two rooms! They're off the main ballroom, and are therefore slightly more cosy. The West Wing was a bit too dark for me (it was only midday outside after all!), so we moved to the library. I was slightly worried we'd be asked to vacate the table, as it was for four people, but a very friendly waitress came over, scanned our MagicBand, and let us know that we could help ourselves to silverware and drinks at the front of the room. This indicated a somewhat high level of trust, as you don't have to show anyone proof that you've purchased particular drinks, but instead are free to take what you want! Freakily, they then track where you are via the GPS in your MagicBand (or you're given a plastic "rose" that I presume also contains GPS) and deliver the food directly to your table! It came wheeled out in a beautiful wood and glass cabinet; they really do the finishing touches so well! 

We'd ordered the Croque Monsieur and the roast beef sandwich, with the intention of each trying the other's, and I'd decided to have the "Master's Cupcake" because it was topped with the famous "grey stuff" from the 'Be Our Guest' song in Beauty & the Beast. The roast beef sandwich seemed to have been lost in translation, but I didn't mind in the slightest because our waitress then brought it quickly and offered us an additional dessert as compensation! The food was surprisingly good; better than standard Disney fair and not much more expensive. My beef was tender and juicy, with a lovely dressing and green leaves and tomatoes inside olive-y ciabatta bread; I was even able to get the horseradish sour cream on the side. The Croque Monsieur was not as impressive but still good, but our free additional dessert - the triple chocolate cupcake - was probably what stole the show. Both cupcakes had gorgeously fresh and fluffy sponge, but the grey stuff was somewhat bland and uninspiring. I'm still glad I got it, just for the novelty, but the triple chocolate cupcake was absolutely divine and definitely worth the $5, had we paid for it! 

Mostly, it was fun sitting in the awesomely well-thought-out environment, looking at the pictures on the walls and everyone else having a good time. It wasn't too crowded at all, despite our struggle to get a reservation, and we were able to wander around soaking it all in and taking (lots of!) pictures after we'd finished eating. I'df really recommend it to anyone visiting Disney World, and especially if you're a Beauty & the Beast fan. It only set us back $20/£14 per person, although breakfast and dinner will be a bit more. You can check out the menu here, as there's also the option to pre-order if you're in a rush. I think the Beast often makes appearances during dinner too - which, as I mentioned earlier, is a sit-down affair. Siegfried and I are now determined to do dinner next time we visit!

The rest of the day kind of pales in comparison to that adventure, but we got onto a couple more rides (It's a Small World and Tomorrowland Speedway) before deciding to take the monorail that connects the Magic Kingdom with a couple of the nearest Disney resorts: the Contemporary; the Polynesian; and the Grand Floridian. Zig wanted me to see each of these because they're amongst the nicest resorts and when his family was better off he stayed in each of them. We shared the sticky wing appetizer and a pina colava (basically a raspberry pina colada, which we also got for free because our server forgot to bring it to us with the food!) at the Polynesian, and he bought me a lovely Elsa charm at the Grand Floridian. It was only $5/£3.50, and I can wear it on all of the plain necklace chains I have, or attach it to my Thomas Sabo charm bracelet! 

We'd planned to meet up with the rest of the group in the mid-afternoon, who were spending the day - as it was St. Patrick's - "drinking around the world" at Epcot. We didn't actually end up getting there until about two hours before the park closed, but I think that's actually quite a good thing because there's no way we could've afforded to join in! Instead, we took some pre-mixed drinks in old Coke bottles (I know, rebels!), had a couple of drinks there, and then ended the night by watching the Epcot fireworks; perfect!

So, as this post has ended up being much longer than I thought it might, I'm going to leave it here for today, and do one last Disney post - talking about the end of our trip - soon. There's also going to be a more travel-tips-esque post coming about D.C., as I've built up quite a bit of local knowledge I'd like to share. I'd love to hear what others recommend when visiting both Disney and/or D.C.!