Luke here. Fallon asked if I wanted to ghost write any of her trip report. I said “nah that’s your thing” but the tone of her okay had some disappointment. I can’t have that. But since we’re talking disappointment, let’s use it a segueway to Be Our Guest Breakfast!
In 2016 we were on the Disney Dining Plan. As such, we had secured breakfast, lunch and dinner reservations at this most desired establishment. And for the most part those experiences were good. We had a very good supper, a solid lunch despite not being famished and most importantly – we learned how valuable a pre-park open breakfast reservation was.
Last year we were able to get photos in a mostly empty park, had pre-ordered our food and were able to secure a table in the coveted west wing and were able to ride Seven Dwarves Mine Train & Peter Pan’s Flight without fastpasses AND I was able to have 1.5 very mediocre coffees.
So the plan in 2017 was to repeat that as best we could. And we kinda did. With mixed results.
I’m not sure where Fallon is with her reports so this might be a spoiler of sorts. But after 5K race day we’d learned how easy it was to get from the Contemporary to Magic Kingdom. It’s less than a 10 minute walk. So on this day we used that knowledge to make our 8AM reservation. We called an Uber and told the guy at the Contemporary gate we were heading to an ADR. It’s important to phrase it that way because saying “we have an 8AM at Be Our Guest and frankly don’t want to get dropped off at the TTC” prolly doesn’t work. Honesty aside.
So we walked to MK from the Contempo and slipped through the much shorter resort side security checkpoint. So far so good. Then things started going not as planned…
I forgot the wallet. With all the dollars. FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU…
Most people just shake this kinda stuff off. Like the whole “Oops. People make mistakes.” ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
That’s… not really my style. I’m more of a seethe and beat yourself up and never cut myself a break kind of guy. One of the things I love about myself and find super easy to change. Yup. Totes magotes.
…UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU…
So while I was being super easy on myself, we experienced the new pre park open procedure. The railroad was down for refurbishment so now anyone showing up for rope drop is ushered into Main Street USA and cut off at the square if the don’t have a reservation for Cinderella’s Royal Table, Crystal Palace or Be Our Guest. They can get a breakfast hot dog though. Which is 90% likely a better choice than actually eating the food at BOG…
…UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU…
We show our ADR confirmation number at the checkpoints and meander our way though MK. No more empty park photos because of everyone congregating for the opening show. C’est la vie. A downer, sure. But them’s the breaks.
We get to the restaurant and check in.
We knew to pre-order for our food though. Be Our Guest is quick serve at Breakfast and Lunch (the best QS credit use on the DDP based on pricing too) so people go to these kiosks to place their order. That’s cool. But dreadfully slow if you don’t know what you’re doing. We know the skinny though so we had pre-ordered our food. When you do this you bypass the kiosks and head right to the register to pay. It saves you ~10-20 minutes really. And that’s time you can use to bask in the warming and welcoming glow of Nicholas Cage as he ushers you into the building.
…UUUUCK!!!! I’ve got like 70 bucks in my wallet for all day at Magic Kingdom. It’ll have to do since Fallon’s is at the hotel (with ducats galore) because I forgot to pack it. I suck. My muck up is AMEX’s gain. We pay and head to the West Wing.
If we hadn’t pre-ordered there’s no chance outside of dumb luck we’d be able to snag a spot here. The west wing is the most coveted section of Be Our Guest and it is super cool. There’s the torn portrait of the beast, the rose losing its petals and a pretty good Coca-Cola fountain too.
Be Our Guest is kinda neat. You pay for your food and get this rose that submits a radio frequency so servers can know to bring your order to your location. While we sat, Fallon headed to the commode because she knows that being in the bathroom = your food showing up while you make #1 or 2..
You snagged a Be Our Guest reservation. Congratulations! These are hard to come by (Hack tip: if you can’t get a reservation for 2 – look for reservations for 1 within a shorter time frame at breakfast or lunch because it’s a quick serve at that time and you can just pay separately and show up at the same time since it’s general seating inside anyhow). Always always always pre-order your food. It save so much time. And you can pre-order up to 30 days in advance.
Our reservation was for 8. We had our food by 8:08 or so. We’d pre-ordered Gaston’s somethingorother – it’s bacon & eggs. And a grey stuff cupcake. And a coffee.
Here are the reasons to go to Be Our Guest for breakfast:
- Impeccable theming (see below)
- Prime location in fantasyland for post-meal rides
- They have that hand soap in the washroom that smells good
- …
- Solid use of QS credit
- uh…
- the food
In 2016 our food was decent. Fallon had the Cronut and I had their version of eggs benny. It was alright. Not amazing. Nowhere near the worst meal of that trip (Looking at you Yak & Yeti Quick Serve). But alright.
This time – the pastries you get with your food had improved. The rest… not so much. Fallon’s cupcake was meh to the mehest. Also – what gives with those cupcake baking cups that can’t be peeled off a cupcake without destroying its structural integrity? And my meal was coooold. As a Canadian, I feel qualified to certify temperate coolness. My eggs were cold. Like they weren’t even microwaved properly. The bacon was pretty standard fast food fare and the potatoes were unworthy of wasting ketchup on.
But you know what? It doesn’t matter.
Because nobody goes to Be Our Guest for the food. And nobody heads there before 9AM to stay inside long. Because if you know what you’re doing – you’re not paying $24US for a mediocre at best scrambled egg breakfast. You are buying 2 extra fastpasses.
We’d finished our foodstuffs by 8:43 or so. Grabbed a coffee refill and headed out to the Mine Train. Unlike 2016 – this was roped off. But a line was forming of Be Our Guesters who wanted first dibs when the park open. And like last year – that’s what we got.
At about 8:55 they ushered our group into the line. By 8:57 we were off the ride. It’s super cool to get to be the absolute first people on this. I would never ever wait 210 minutes to get on this ride. It’s a super cool, smooth, roller coaster with an awesome animatronic segment with Dopey, Doc, Grumpy, Happy, Bashful, Sneezy and the other guy. But no way is it worth that amount of time. It is worth paying twice as much for a breakfast you can get at a resort quick serve to walk on without a fastpass though.
And the best part? Since we were done Mine Train before 9, we were able to scurry along to Peter Pan’s Flight and walk on that by 9:10. Another ride that’s good and cool – but I don’t really get. Sure it’s the vastly superior of the Disneyland 1955 Originals – but it’s not worth 2 hours of your time (despite how cool the queue is).
But it is worth choking down luke-warm potatoes so you can use that Fastpass for Space Mountain instead.
This came across as more negative than I’d like it to. I’d like to reiterate this. Ultimately a bad meal at Disney World is irrelevant. Because you’re still at Disney World. Life is pretty good when that’s the case. Nobody gets there by accident. So gulp down your standard sausages, ride a roller coaster, use your credit card and have a great damn day. That’s what we did. It was great 🙂
P.S. if you’re one of those people who makes a pre park open reservation then just buys a 69 cent Mickey straw so you can take advantage of the Mine Train loophole – you’re the problem and should probably get diarrhea.