Confused about the "Be Our Guest" restaurant at Disney's Magic Kingdom?

I recently moved back to central Florida after a 25 year absence. While I was raised near Walt Disney World and went often as a child, after I moved out west as an adult, my visits were few and far between. Fortunately for this Disney-Junkie, I had a lot of friends in Anaheim, CA, so I could go to Disneyland and California Adventure to get my fix. So, after we got moved in and settled, I was ready for a trip to the Magic Kingdom. Especially because I hadn't been there since the updates to Fantasyland. When May 2014 rolled around, I grabbed a couple of friends and headed down to WDW. 

One of the things I really wanted to do was eat at the "Be Our Guest" restaurant at Beast's Castle. It is literally like walking into the movie "Beauty and the Beast": the ballroom, the West Wing, the library, the halls... everything done to the littlest detail. When we got to the park, we bee-lined it for the restaurant, and got there about 10am. We actually had a little time to pop our heads inside and take a photo in front of the stain-glassed window. The restaurant opens at 10:30am, so we actually went to Ariel's Grotto next door, and made it back to the line just before they started letting people in. I loved it! You go into the library where they have computers and you order your food. I had the quiche and we all had a cupcake with the "gray stuff" that's delicious (lyrics from the song - yup! That's really what it's called). 

Once you complete your order and pay, your order is magically transferred into a glowing red rose. Take that rose to your table and the staff will know where to deliver your food. We sat in the main ballroom, next to a window that had snow falling in it. That was cool, but if you time it right, you can try to get a table in the forbidden West Wing. You'll find the shredded portrait of Beast in human form, as well as the magical rose floating under it's glass dome. Definitely the best room. My friends and I really enjoyed the experience.

(The Forbidden West Wing)

Now...flash forward to November 14, 2014. For whatever reason, in 6 months between my visits, Disney went stupid about this restaurant. I had just bought my annual pass and I had three friends in town from my form hometown just outside of Las Vegas. They had never been to the Magic Kingdom (shocking, I know!) so I met them down there and we headed in. I had been telling them all about the feast at "Be Our Guest" because if this was the only time they were going to go there, it was an experience I didn't want them to miss. As with my previous visit, we went straight to the restaurant. We got there a little bit after they opened, but there was no lines for FastPass or standby. I thought maybe it was temporarily closed, but there were four cast members standing at the end of the bridge that leads to the restaurant. I approached one and asked what was happening. He said, "The restaurant is at capacity so we can't let anyone else in".  And this is where the problems started.

(Main Ballroom)

First of all, there were people coming out of the dining room as we were standing there, so the "at capacity" thing didn't make sense. Next I asked why there were no lines; there were just random gatherings of people mulling around the bridge where the cast members were. They said they don't do the lines anymore (which was why I couldn't get us a FastPass on my 'My Disney Experience' app...it won't let you), but if we wanted to hang around or check back, that was our option, which was apparently why all these people were hanging out. Honestly, if they had called out that they had an available table, I fear for the safety of anyone in the vicinity because these people would have stampeded! I asked the employee why this tactic was better than the previously organized Standby and FastPass lines, and he couldn't give me a reason. There was also a person taking dinner reservations, but if the Disney website is to be believed, you'd have to book it months ahead of time. 

We decided we didn't want to waste a lot of time waiting there, especially because the park was closing early that day due to the special Christmas event.  While we were walking around the park, we came across some cast members working at the FastPass kiosks in Frontierland. I went up and asked one what was going on at "Be Our Guest" and the mess it was without the lines. Now THAT cast member told me that, "You can't get into the restaurant unless you are staying at one of the WDW resorts with a reservation booked far in advance, or if you have a special email invitation that is just sent out randomly to guests via email". HOW STUPID. So if you're just a guest who has spent hundreds of dollars to go to the park, you still can't get in. Honestly, if they're going to make it an exclusive thing (such as the famous Club 33 at Disneyland), then it should have been built somewhere else not taking up space in the park. And, more importantly, why didn't the cast members at the "Be Our Guest" entrance just tell people this, instead of letting people loiter around when there are other places in the park they'd rather be?  

Needless to say, when I got home, I wrote Disney an email about this. They did have a wonderful person (Holly) call me back, and she said it was a trial thing, but really wasn't sure it would stay that way or go back to normal. Fast forward three weeks, and my mom and I are planning to park-hop for a couple of days. We have room reservations at one of the Disney resorts. So...let's try this again. Now that I'm staying at the park, there should be no problem getting reservations. Uh, not so fast. If you use the Disney Experience app on your Android or Iphone, "Be Our Guest" doesn't work, so don't even bother trying to make a reservation or FastPass through that route. I called the dinner reservation phone number from the Disney website and the girl that answered said dinner reservations were being made 180 days in advance (Keep that in mind if you're planning a trip and know your dates. Living in FL, we have the option of getting up one morning, saying, "Let's go to Disney," and we're there an hour later, so we don't plan that far ahead.). This girl also said that she didn't make lunch reservations and didn't know how to do that. Out went another email to Holly, who, once again, saved us. I'm passing this help on to you... this is the only way to make reservations for "Be Our Guest" and the website is not published anywhere that I saw on the Disney website. If you make reservations with this particular restaurant, it will not show up on your Disney Experience App as dining reservations or FastPass. It will only show your booking on the website below. I was assured by Holly that this is not a problem and that the hosts at the bridge will have our names when we get there. Wish us luck!

You will go to the following website and follow the instructions:  https://beourguestlunch.disney.go.com/

Hopefully, this will save you time and frustration. I do highly recommend going if you can, at least once. It was a fun experience for me and that's why I go to such lengths to get the reservations.

On an additional note, I recommend you stop at Gaston's Tavern, which is just around the corner from Beast's castle. It looks just like it does in the movies (everything decorated with antlers) and a fountain in front displays Gaston's form at it's best (or at least, in HIS opinion). You really have to try a LeFou's Brew (non-alcoholic) at least once! Yum! And if you happen to be a fan of Gaston, I've found that he is the most consistently available character in the park. By that I mean every time I have walked past there, Gaston is there in person for photo ops and autographs. You'll find him between the fountain and the restrooms near Gaston's Tavern.  He's a lot of fun, too, so stop by and let him flirt with you a bit or compare muscles with the males in the line.

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Hershey, PA - Sweeeeet!

I no sooner got home from my excursion to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Studios Orlando, and my mom hit me with a road trip to Pennsylvania. I seem to have been going nonstop since, and getting stuff up on my blog when it happens is a losing battle, I'm afraid!

I'm trying to catch up on the road trip, since we were in quite a few areas that didn't have very good Internet. The reason behind the trip to Pennsylvania is because my mother's family is from there. My grandpa's enormous family of 15 siblings, many of whom worked in the coal mines, and my grandmother's much-smaller Lithuanian family were all from PA. My mom was born there as well. She's the genealogist of the family and she's been wanting to take a trip up for years. So we finally just got in the car and went.

Hershey was one of the first places we went once we got up to Pennsylvania. I've wanted to go there since I was a kid. I was only up in PA twice before; once at a family reunion and once for a funeral. I knew about Hershey, but we didn't get to go either time. So, mom decided it was time. It was a bribe for me NOT getting to go to Philadelphia, which was really the only place I wanted to go. Mom lived there briefly when she was growing up, but I've never been and there are several museums and landmarks I really would like to see. Well it didn't happen THIS trip! Among some of the things on my list was the Mutter Museum at the College of Physicians of Philadelphia. 

Another is Tun Tavern, birthplace of the Marine Corps. I was in the Marines when I was a younger, less broken train wreck. I guess that one goes on the bucket list for the time being. I would have loved a ghost tour of Eastern State Penitentiary, which is a very famous prison (now abandoned and practically falling down, but they do have tours),  I was also a corrections sergeant when I worked. I know it may seem weird to those who don't work in jails or prisons, but I like to visit the old ones, to see how far we've come, and how far back we should go...when prison was a punishment, not a cushy place to spend your life doing nothing constructive but sucking down tax dollars, Not only did I NOT get there, but then my mom informs me that when she was growing up, they literally live down the block from the prison. That's just wrong, mom!  Basically, I'm a history junkie and I could easily spend a week there and not see everything I want to! The country was practically born there!

But now, back to Hershey. When I was living in Vegas, we actually had a small candy factory (and tour) for Ethel M's. There's also a big M&M shop and experience near the MGM Grand on the Strip.  I guess I thought it would be like that. But Hershey was like that, plus Willy Wonka, plus Disney! If you're lucky, you might see the human Hershey bar (costume) wandering around for pictures.

We walked about the town a bit to see what there was to see, while we waited for "The Hershey Story" on Chocolate Avenue to open. A few things to point out about Hershey is that obviously it's changed and grown quite a bit since my mom had been there last (about 40 years). The original factory (which looks a little like the chocolate factory in the early "Willy Wonka" movie), is apparently not used anymore. They have a more modern factory that is attached to a ginormous souvenir store under the name "Hershey's Chocolate World". A word of advice, don't pay for both (The Hershey Story and Hershey's Chocolate World). They basically have the same things. But, if you specifically want to go on the factory tour, that is at Chocolate World. If you want the museum, then I suggest The Hershey Story. We really enjoyed the latter. I guess because we have Ethel M's in Henderson (Las Vegas), we weren't really interested in seeing another modernized chocolate factory. BUT, if nothing else, go to the free part of Chocolate World just to shop and enjoy a Hershey's ice cream sundae!

The Hershey Story Museum was very interesting. It shows you the progress and origins of chocolate and there are some interactive exhibits as well. At one part, you receive a time card and then walk through the chocolate making process the way it was done originally, as if you are a new employee. Once you finish a station, you get a raised stamp on your time card. A nice little souvenir. There is also a small store and a cafe. We enjoyed the chocolate tasting at the cafe. It's set up just like a beer sampling flight would; six or seven different flavors of chocolate going from mild to strong. Mom and I shared it and it was yummy!  If you are going to the Hershey Story, I strongly recommend you do the combination ticket of the museum and the Chocolate Lab. We had a blast there! 

They sit you at a long table (just like a lab in high school) with other people. You have to put on a little apron and a hair net and they give each person a little plastic chocolate mold.  There are a variety of items you can add to your chocolate... we had mini-marshmallows, white chocolate chips and a few others. They bring the melted chocolate to the table and you put it in your mold, add your goodies, top it off with a little more chocolate and then they take them to the fridge to solidify while they tell you the history of chocolate making and Hershey. Best part? You get to lick the spoons!  Ha, ha, ha! At the end of the lab, they bring your chocolate bars back to you, all nice and solid and you have a goody for later! We posted pics of the lab on Facebook and of course all of my friends immediately told me how much we look like Lucy and Ethel in the chocolate factory from one of the old "I Love Lucy" shows. Unfortunately, I couldn't argue; especially with the red hair!

I didn't really want to go to the Hershey Park. I had just been to Universal Studios the week prior and I was roller-coastered out. Besides, my mom wouldn't go (party pooper) and who wants to go to an amusement park alone? In the end it didn't matter. The park wasn't open the day we were there anyway. They shut down for two weeks (beginning of October) to prepare for Hershey Park's Halloween festivities. The park has grown tremendously since my mom was there as a kid. It's hard to go anywhere in Hershey and NOT see a roller-coaster track going this way or that.

We stayed at a hotel outside of town, but there are several B&B's in the area. If you REALLY want to max out the credit card, you can stay at the Hotel Hershey which was built in 1933. WAY out of our budget, however. It's huge!  And I suspect it was modeled after the old railroad hotels that cropped up across the country as the railroad progressed. As you come in to town, take a moment to look up on the hill at the Hotel Hershey. There's a nice photo op with "Welcome to Hershey" written in flowers on the hillside.

There are also Hershey Gardens and Butterfly House, wineries, several interesting caves in the area and the Antique Automobile Club of America Museum. If you really want to do Hershey justice, plan on staying more than one day. That's all the time we had on our agenda but if you're going with family, give yourself lots of time to do everything in the area.