I know I haven't posted a non-recipe related post in awhile, but I just couldn't resist
Anyway, we were at Disney during the off-season, January 27th through February 2nd, and I was amazed at how busy the New Fantasyland was. From the moment the park opened until the moment it closed, the area was jammed. Some of it was poor crowd flow because so much is still under construction, but a lot of it was just people wanting to get in and look around and experience the new rides (the new Little Mermaid ride is awesome, by the way).
I had considered trying to get in to Be Our Guest for the counterserve lunch seating, but the line was just SO LONG... The Cast Member said that the line started forming 30 minutes before the doors opened for lunch, and they cut it off between 1:30 and 2:00 to ensure they could close it in time to prepare for dinner, and the wait time was anywhere from 30-45+ minutes. Call me crazy, but I'm not in the mood to wait that long for a counterserve, especially when we had reservations for dinner already. Knowing what I know now though, I'd say that if I didn't have a reservation during my trip, I'd wait in that line without a second thought...
This experience is just that amazing.
We arrived for our reservation about 30 minutes early... A must because the check-in line at the end of the bridge was at least 20-30 people deep, almost all of whom were hoping to get in without a reservation, all of whom were turned away. I don't think I can say often enough, if you don't have an advance dining reservation, you're just not going to get in. There is absolutely no room for walk-ups.
After waiting about 10 minutes, we were checked in and allowed across the bridge to wait for our little pager to go off. I'm not sure about anybody else in our party, but I was so excited to get in that I had butterflies in my stomach. Standing on that gorgeous bridge, in the shadow of Beast's Castle, right by these giant doors... Let's just say Disney magic was in full force. I was completely in the moment in a way that was totally unexpected for a 30-something on her 8th trip to WDW. Every time the door opened, I'd try to sneak a peak and every little bit I saw just got me more and more excited.
After about 3 minutes, our pager went off, the front door cracked ever-so-slightly, and our hostess slid out, menus in-hand. I remember she gave us a little spiel, but I'll be honest, I'm not sure about what, I was waaay too focused on just getting in the castle. I think it was something about meeting The Beast, or something mood/story related, I'm honestly not sure. Finally, it was time to go in. The doors swung open and I finally got my first really good look at that dining room. To say it was jaw dropping would be the understatement of the century. When you walk through the doors, it's like you literally become part of the movie and you're completely submerged in a reality that you thought only existed in the movies. I'm almost ashamed to say that, at that moment, it would have taken very little convincing to get me to think it was all completely real. There's so much to look at everywhere, it's overwhelming to take in... The stained glass window, the mosaic telling the story of the fall of Prince Adam (yeah, that's Beast's real name) and the eventual transformation that Belle created, the suits of armor that gossip about the activities of the castle, even the napkins folded like roses on the tables. The details, they were everywhere, and they were astounding. I so deeply regret not watching "Beauty and the Beast" before our vacation because I'm sure there were little details everywhere that were straight from the movie that I totally missed. I was totally absorbed in this fantastic world and I delighted in every moment that I could pretend that, here we were, guests of the Beast.
The hostess walked us to our table, and I think by this point our entire party was totally swept up in the experience... It's hard not to be when you're standing in the center of the ballroom, underneath the gold chandeliers, watching the snow fall out sapphire blue windows. And we totally, totally lucked out by hitting the table jackpot. We were seated in the ballroom, near the windows, but along the walkway so we were right next to Beast as he walked through on his receiving parade through the dining rooms, and we had a perfect view of the West Wing and the magic portrait of Prince Adam over the fireplace. The other dining room, The Library/Rose Room, was closed and despite numerous attempts to get a quick look, followed by numerous polite requests from staff to not go in, we never got a good look (before people get upset over us so blatantly trying to break the rules, our server told us she couldn't let us in, but she was the one who suggested we try and pop in and encouraged us in our mission to sneak a peek).
Our party of 4 ended up all ordering different things, which was fantastic as we all got a really great chance to menu-sample without looking like gluttons. For an appetizer we got the cured meat platter (designed for at least two), and I was dying to try the famous french onion soup. And because I am a two-year-old at heart, I had to order the big light-up drink... What can I say? I like things that light up and I wanted to keep the big goblet.
The apps and drinks hit the table relatively quickly. The lemonade was all-natural, sweetened with organic cane juice, and topped with a super sweet and super tart wildberry foam. While it was good, it was super, duper sweet, and a little overly tart for me. Next time, the fruit punch. But the goblet was super cool and surprisingly big and totally worth the money, for me at least (truth time, I'm in my dark office writing this while randomly flicking on and off the light in my BoG goblet, and I do this quite often). The cured meat platter... It was good, don't get me wrong, but I'm not a meat and bread person per say, and while I found a lot on there to enjoy, there were some mystery meats that were a tad adventurous for this New Hampshire girl. My idea of living wild with my deli meat is getting real bacon instead of turkey bacon, so getting a mouthful of what I suspect was Pâté... Kind of a shock to the tastebuds. And the stomach. Blech. This, however, is a case of me not being cultured enough for the admittedly fancy platter that was, without a doubt, a very great experience (and value) for those who are more sophisticated then I am. 
The French onion soup, however... Holy cow. That was absolutely phenominal and I couldn't get enough of it. It was perfectly seasoned and not at all salty as French onion soup has a tendency to be. The broth is a hearty vege broth and the onions are actually sweet onions, which was utterly brilliant because it made the dish fresher, lighter, and with a slight sweetness, and the crouton and Gruyere were the perfect accents. The opinion around the table was unanimous that the soup was unbelievable and despite being the only person who ordered it initially, everybody else at the table actually requested their own bowls as well (and it came out like lightning, I might add... Only a minute or two after it was requested). Rest assured, I'm on the hunt for this recipe...
All of this was just a beautiful, beautiful warm-up for the dinner, and dessert, about to hit our table...
Be Our Guest, Part 2
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