I have mentioned in previous posts that my favorite Disney movie and princess is Belle from "Beauty and the Beast". If you'd like to read about Dallas and I's fun time with family seeing Broadway's "Beauty and the Beast" click the link here.
Towards the end of our first day exploring Magic Kingdom we came across the new additions to Fantasyland, all from my favorite Disney movie! I was ecstatic and could hardly contain myself as we made our way through Gaston's village, Enchanted Tales with Belle, and then the Be Our Guest restaurant. When we first inquired about reservations the cast member mentioned that the restaurant is usually booked up to 180 days in advance! But she did mention that we could always check to see if they had any cancellations. We seriously lucked out and within 30 minutes we had our own private table in the central ballroom of the Beast's castle. I was in heaven! And yes, I may have had watery eyes from joy for a few minutes...
(To preface this post, several of the images I used were
found from the internet. The images I photographed are the ones in
collage form.)
The entrance of the restaurant...
In order to enter the restaurant, we had to walk across a stone bridge that led to a large iron gate. There we were only allowed to pass if we had a reservation.
Beast leading the way to his castle...
A side view of the bridge walkway leading to the entrance of the restaurant.
Along the way we were greeted by several different statues and gargoyles watching over the castle. Their were also gorgeously detailed stain glass windows.
There were three main eating areas; the main ballroom (where we sat along the circumference with our own chandelier overhead) and the east and west wings. The ceiling was beautifully painted with several chandeliers dangling above.
As we entered, our hostess handed us a candelabra and then led us to our table. Each of the napkins were folded into red roses and waiting on our plates. I loved all the details!
Since we were there in December, the main ballroom had several holiday decorations including a very large and beautifully decorated Christmas tree. But my favorite detail, by far, was the snow. When we looked out the large glass windows covering the entire back wall of the ballroom, there was falling snow! It was the perfect thing to help bring a feeling of home. It was so surreal to be so warm during the holidays here in Florida, so the sight of snow helped make the holidays feel that much more real. It was the perfect touch to our magical evening!
Midway through dinner our hose was announced, the Beast. He greeted each of the guests and then retired to his library. When we finished our dinner we were invited to check out the rest of the castle and then exit through the library. That way we could take pictures with the Beast if wanted. We weren't sure how Daxton was going to react, since the Beast is not the most cuddly of characters, but he did great! He didn't want to run up and give Beast cuddles, but he was totally content being in my arms and touching the soft fur on Beast's face and hands.
After we were done eating, we walked around the restaurant, met Beast, and found some really cool details. I loved the floating rose and magic hand mirror.
We also loved the detailed gargoyles, gorgeous mosaics, and holograph picture of Beast.
As we exited the restaurant, the hallways were lined with life size suits of armor...
It was such a magical experience with not only amazing atmosphere, but great food as well.
The next day we explored Gaston's village a bit more and I continued to love all the fun details. Maurice's Amzing Popping Machine was designed directly after his inventions from the movie.
We loved Gaston's wishing fountain and especially the inscribed tribute. It read, "Tribute to Gaston. An extravagantly generous gift to the humble people of my village. From Me, Gaston."
We had so much fun and "Beauty and the Beast" remains my favorite after all these years. It's great to be transported back to your childhood like that! And it brings on a whole new element of fun experiencing things anew through the eyes of our sweet little boy.
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