REVIEW: Be Our Guest Restaurant Begins Breakfast Test; Is It Worth The Price?
On Friday, the Be Our Guest Restaurant in New Fantasyland at the Magic Kingdom began testing breakfast service between the hours of 8 & 10 AM. We went to check it out on Sunday and see if the ever-popular restaurant’s pricey new breakfast would live up to months of speculation and hype surrounding it. Let’s find out if it did:
Yes, it is expensive.
Each table is provided a pastry tray. The pastry tray is pretty small for a party of 4, but I can see parties of 2 feeling like they got more than enough from this. With a few different reservations, we ended up having 12 in our party on Sunday morning. Now, you would think that each separate transaction would warrant a separate pastry tray, but it did not. The servers gave us 4 pastry plates for 12 people. If more than 4 people wanted a croissant, well, I guess that’s too bad. After asking several times, they did bring us a few more trays, but upon telling them that our kids would really love another croissant (if possible), the waitress vanished and never returned. I would much rather they simplify this as a basket of croissants and muffins, rather than this sampler that doesn’t feature many items that are easily share-able amongst more than 2 people. Besides that, they were the usual pastries you’d find at any of the breakfast buffets and most of the items are quite good… if you actually get one…
There is some variation in the trays as well, with a cinnamon roll being replaced with this tart in this case
The croissant doughnut was insane, but also insanely delicious. Very sweet, very soft, practically perfect in every way.
The Eggs Florentine was my favorite dish. The flaky, crisp pastry mixed with eggs and spinach was absolutely delicious.
The meat tray was good, but fairly standard.
The vegetable quiche was surprisingly edible and actually a really good option for those with special dietary needs. The crust was perfect, and there was enough flavor in it to feel satisfied with it.
The open face sandwich was also very good, but every order of this at our table was a bit cold. The ordering system at Be Our Guest can be spotty at times and you really can’t afford a delay in food coming to a guest’s table when there are eggs on it. Eggs cool down real fast and it was apparent this sat somewhere for a bit.
The kid’s meals aren’t huge, but they are kid’s meals. Our 4 and 6 year-old children enjoyed them, but there honestly was anything special about them.
Overall, some dishes were great and some mediocre, but none of them were bad. I’ve had much worse breakfasts at Disney Parks, and I wouldn’t rank this lower than many (not bringing value into play).
So, is it worth $20 a person? You might be surprised to hear maybe…
Look at it this way: A tremendous amount of guests book a breakfast reservation for the Crystal Palace really just to get in the park early and get a jump on the crowds. Crystal Palace is far more expensive than Be Our Guest Restaurant for breakfast. Yes, there are characters, and yes, it is a buffet, but the price point is significantly higher. An 8:00AM Be Our Guest Reservation is far more affordable for any family, and while there is less food and no characters, that same early advantage remains. While later reservations won’t have this advantage (and thus are more easily deemed overpriced, which I feel that the meals are), I can’t help but feel Disney priced this based on those who will receive this perk and perhaps some backlash from those paying a lot more for Cinderella’s royal Table or Crystal Palace. Be Our Guest is the closest restaurant to Seven Dwarfs Mine Train too…