Friday afternoon at Magic Kingdom, built around one reservation. Sarah has wanted Be Our Guest for years — friends raved, Beauty and the Beast is her lane — so we used the pass year to make it happen. Left around 10, home around 3. Easy parking, easy entry, and the best Magic Kingdom day we have had on these passes. Knup 8.6.
Lunch was 1:15, so we had a couple of hours. Castle photos first, the way we always start here. Then Mickey’s PhilharMagic — 3D glasses, a little water and wind, Mickey and Donald chasing a hat through Aladdin, Lion King, and the rest. Still a staple. A few scenes are newer than the last time I saw it; the classics are still there. Knup 8.5.
Next was Enchanted Tales with Belle, right by the restaurant, and a first for both of us. It is a little-kid storytelling show: walk a castle, land in a ballroom, Belle comes out, kids do the skit, everyone under about four gets a photo. Sarah likes Disney theater, so she was in. I was bored, and we were clearly the adults without a four-year-old. Knup 6.0 for us. Take small kids and it is a different score.
Right before lunch we did it’s a small world. The idea — every country, then everyone together — is fine. The boat of mechanical dolls and that song on a loop is not. It stayed in my head the rest of the day. Knup 2.0.
Then the meal. Be Our Guest put us in the main hall, looking over the room, Beast walking through about every half hour. French onion soup, the black-pepper steak they call the best at Disney, the rose dessert with the grey stuff inside, and a crème brûlée. No complaints. Knup 9.5 — the best Disney restaurant of the pass year, ahead of Tusker House.
Dessert, a couple more castle selfies, and we left. Short on purpose. One ride I would skip forever, one show that is for little kids, and a lunch that justified the drive.
Knup 8.6 / 10 for the trip. Best Magic Kingdom day we have logged. The restaurant is why.
Photos
The day in bullets
- Left around 10 a.m., home around 3 p.m. Parking and entry were clean.
- Castle photos, then Mickey’s PhilharMagic. Knup 8.5.
- Enchanted Tales with Belle — first time. Kids’ storytelling; Sarah liked the theater, Ryan was bored. Knup 6.0.
- “it’s a small world” right before lunch. The song does not leave. Knup 2.0.
- 1:15 Be Our Guest — Sarah’s dream table. Black-pepper steak, French onion, the grey stuff. Knup 9.5.
- Castle selfies after dessert and out. Best Magic Kingdom day of the pass year.