Ultimate Bragging Rights! TCD's New Fantasyland Passholder Preview TR

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Happy hunting for the new magical shot. Do you know all of the shots we can do?

No, I'm sure that I don't.

And, that reminds me that we didn't try to get any when we were at the Halloween party.

I will have to ask you about all the magic shots the next time I see you.

TCD

[stefa70 205]

I like the big, muscly, horny statue by the dining room.

By horny, I mean, he has horns, not that he's feeling frisky.

Geez, sausages, dix and horny stautes. WTH is happening here? This is like a Stef report. :banana:

DO NOT talk to devores about picture stuff. He is a photography bully.

[alexwyattmommy 181]

Great update. Love the Beauty and the Beast photo. Your twins are so stinkin cute.

[devores 382]

DO NOT talk to devores about picture stuff. He is a photography bully.

I have NO idea what youre talking about.........

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Can't wait to get to this area on the 30th!

I hope that you have a great time.

I will look forward to seeing your photos!

I like the big, muscly, horny statue by the dining room.

By horny, I mean, he has horns, not that he's feeling frisky.

Geez, sausages, dix and horny stautes. WTH is happening here? This is like a Stef report. :banana:

DO NOT talk to devores about picture stuff. He is a photography bully.

Yeah, I don't know what is going on with this report. Weird stuff for sure.

I'll address the bully comment below.

Great update. Love the Beauty and the Beast photo. Your twins are so stinkin cute.

Aw, thanks.

I really like that photo too.

I have NO idea what youre talking about.........

Hmmm.

I have to believe Devores on this.

I can't believe that anyone bullied Stef and lived to talk about it.

TCD

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Looks like I can squeeze in one more update today.

I think we are getting near the end.

But this one still doesn't get us inside the restaurant. We will make it on the next one, I promise.

We left off with admiring the scenery from the bridge to the Be Our Guest restaurant.

I have some more scenery photos to share.

Before I get to those, I wanted to share a brief exerpt of something that I read in the Mickey Monitor. The Mickey Monitor is the little magazine they send to passholders on a quarterly basis. It usually highlights the events coming up for each season. The fall edition had a big article about the Food and Wine Festival. But, it had a really nice artistic rendering of Belle and the Beast on the cover, and the cover story was about the passholder previews of the new Fantasyland area. The article quoted one of the imagineers who worked on the project. This is what he had to say:

First of all, there’s the look and feel of the land itself. Passholders are sure to find this fanciful fairy tale

forest a comfortable place to sit, stroll and explore. This amazing new land is layered with surprises and

designed with the same sort of multi-plane camera effect Walt Disney pioneered in his films.

“As we developed this concept we built a huge 3D model,” said Chris. (You can actually see the New

Fantasyland model in person at One Man’s Dream at Disney’s Hollywood Studios®.) “That way, we

could create the right sight lines and that sense that there’s something new around every corner.”

I am pleased to say that they accomplished what they set out to do. Yes, there are new attractions, but all of the details in this new area are what sets it apart from anything I have seen at WDW before. There really is a sense that there is something new around every corner.

This is one of my favorite views in the new area, from the BOG bridge:

Look at that!

A waterfall.

Cascading down a mountain into a babbling brook, which then flows through the forest and under the bridge upon which I am standing.

Awesome!

The elevation changes back here are unique.

From what I understand, there are no utilidors under this new area. So, they can build up and use the ground level to assist with the illusion that we are up higher than we really are.

After our little tour of the restaurant, it was still too early for us to check in.

So, we headed back to the village.

The plan now was that we would just sit by the fountain and enjoy the atmosphere for maybe 15 minutes or so until we could go and check in.

So we grabbed a seat and watched Gaston work the crowd:

And we enjoyed how the setting sun fell on Prince Eric's castle:

I like how in the photo above, you can see everyone taking photos of the Gaston fountain. That is going to be one of the most photographed items in this area for sure.

And the gift shop:

As beautiful as all of this is, it will be even more so once that mine train ride gets finished:

These are some shots of the forest looking toward the BOG restaurant:

Speaking of details, this is one that I tried to capture, but will need to make a better try the next time. This shows the roof of one of the side wings of Gaston's tavern. The roof looks like a thatched roof, and there is something up there that looks like a ladder lying across the roof. I think this is supposed to be a tool that they use to make these types of roofs:

Since we were here, and I had the time, I thought I would try to get a good photo of the Gaston statue. Here we are:

I meant to point out something there in the background in an earlier photo. Do you see that they have posts and chains set up there? They had guests lined up outside of the tavern earlier to wait their turn to buy the pork shanks and LeFou brew that they sell inside. This was just a preview, and they had a line out the door. I don't want to be there when they open this area up to everyone.

I took a couple more statue photos. I have to say that having LeFou right under Gaston like that just ain't right:

At least LeFou is averting his eyes.

But still.

These shots are looking toward the BOG bridge, that's Maurice's cottage you see there in the second one:

From here, we walked back to the bridge by BOG. It was almost time.

Another photo of the Beast's castle:

The line for Belle had actually grown longer. Must have been all the mermaid people like us who found out they could see Belle too:

We checked in here:

I have heard that for the lunches in the restaurant, they use magic roses to guide the castmembers to the guests tables.

I thought maybe that the pagers they give guests after checking in might be themed.

I thought wrong:

We were told it would be about 10 minutes until our table was ready.

That gave us time for one final look at stuff before darkness hit.

There is Prince Eric's castle from over here by the BOG bridge. Note how the construction wall curves around the mine train ride area for now:

When that mine train ride is built, we will look back at these photos and say wow, so that's what's under that mountain:

That canvas you see down there blocks the view under the bridge that you walk over to go to the village. I think that the canvas will be gone one the mine train opens, and there will be water flowing under there and into the mine train area- which will look awesome:

A shot of some of the trees around BOG:

Remember, every single tree that we see here was brought in and planted. They did a great job creating a forest feel.

Guess what?

I have another light fixture photo.

Maybe Duane was right.

This is one of the posts for the big gate in front of BOG:

This is one of the shields on the gate. This shield is an element that is a design element reused several times througout the restaurant:

It was right about here that our beeper went off and a castmember came out and called us by name.

It was time for us to go in and be seated!

We will pick it up from there in the next update.

TCD

[Beckers 1,136]

Yeah, CFA is Chick Fil A. In the last 8-10 years they have been popping (side note, spell changed that to pooping!) up all over.

Loving your pics! When we were at MNSSHP we were able to look around (BOG wasn't open to look in that night) and ride Little Mermaid. It was dark and we were rushing and now I see how little we saw. Being dark and trying to cram in as much as humanly possible, we missed a lot! Sounds like I need a return trip.

[kampfirekim 260]

:bravo: This TR is getting me very excited about the new expansion. :)

[alexwyattmommy 181]

Loved having two updates.

[CCIntrigue...aka Gwen 547]

Awesome updates, as always! Looking forward to your review of dinner at BOG. I'll cover lunch in my report.

[mommy rainbo.....Bo 41]

Great updates. Can't wait for more.

[Duane 152]

Guess what?

I have another light fixture photo.

Maybe Duane was right.

This is one of the posts for the big gate in front of BOG:

I wouldn't worry about that light fixture fetish... I must confess something here... I'm kind of the same way about those kind of things.

Having a commercial property/project manager background, I am constantly studying and looking from a facilities point of view on how the light fixtures get serviced, how Disney got by with getting the blessings of the Fire Mashall, how would one go about repairing this or that when it breaks, etc. You get the picture....

Claudine and Ash refuse to go with me to any type of airplane or ship museum because I spend hours looking at the gauges and switches and tracing out pipes and wires.

My name is Duane and I am a "details stickler" "Not wrong, just different"

[anolefan 8]

Great updates!

It has been over a year since we had passes, so this report is really making me want to visit again.

[J&J Adventuring..Julia 22]

Yup, I am a geek so I'll explain this the best I can. An NPC is a non player character in a game (typically a video game or Role playing game). Any player not controlled by the said player. An FPS is a First person Shooter (think Halo or Call of Duty). Geek/Nerd references always get me.

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Yeah, CFA is Chick Fil A. In the last 8-10 years they have been popping (side note, spell changed that to pooping!) up all over.

Loving your pics! When we were at MNSSHP we were able to look around (BOG wasn't open to look in that night) and ride Little Mermaid. It was dark and we were rushing and now I see how little we saw. Being dark and trying to cram in as much as humanly possible, we missed a lot! Sounds like I need a return trip.

Well, good for CFA. I thought they were just in the south.

Yes, you need a return trip. But, the new Fantasyland must be seen during the day and at night too. The lighting all around the area is really neat, with all of those light fixtures and such.

:bravo: This TR is getting me very excited about the new expansion. :)

I'm glad you like it.

Now, you just need to get your gang down here.

Loved having two updates.

I try.

Looks like it may be just one today. But, I'll see what I can do.

Awesome updates, as always! Looking forward to your review of dinner at BOG. I'll cover lunch in my report.

Dinner is coming right up.

I will look forward to hearing about lunch. That is probably the first thing on our list for our next visit.

Great updates. Can't wait for more.

Thanks.

More is on the way.

Please stand by.

I wouldn't worry about that light fixture fetish... I must confess something here... I'm kind of the same way about those kind of things.

Having a commercial property/project manager background, I am constantly studying and looking from a facilities point of view on how the light fixtures get serviced, how Disney got by with getting the blessings of the Fire Mashall, how would one go about repairing this or that when it breaks, etc. You get the picture....

Claudine and Ash refuse to go with me to any type of airplane or ship museum because I spend hours looking at the gauges and switches and tracing out pipes and wires.

My name is Duane and I am a "details stickler" "Not wrong, just different"

Hmm. Now I don't feel so bad. I don't pay that much attention to the details. But, I have to say, the details are what sets Disney apart from any other theme park or resort.

Great updates!

It has been over a year since we had passes, so this report is really making me want to visit again.

Yes, it's getting to be time.

There is a lot of new stuff being rolled out this year.

It might make sense to wait till the craziness dies down, but then it's time for a visit.

Yup, I am a geek so I'll explain this the best I can. An NPC is a non player character in a game (typically a video game or Role playing game). Any player not controlled by the said player. An FPS is a First person Shooter (think Halo or Call of Duty). Geek/Nerd references always get me.

Thanks for explaning that. I googled it, and lots of geeks were, well, geeked, about how funny that saying was, but nobody explained it for the non-geeks.

I am certain that there were a lot of inside jokes in that movie that went right over my head.

Even so, we all enjoyed it, and it is a movie that we all want to see again.

TCD

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

And now, our dinner . . .

We were ushered in through those big wooden doors and walked to our table.

I don't know if you can ask to be seated in a certain dining room, or request a table in a certain location of the room, but we didn't.

I was afraid we would be seated off to the side or in some side room, but we were brought to a table right in the big ball room.

The girls were thrilled!:

Our table had a perfect view of the giant windows at the end of the room where they have created an outdoor scene and an illusion that it is snowing:

The cloth napkins at our place settings were folded like roses:

We had a fantastic server.

She was very friendly and enthusiastic.

She confirmed that this was the first night BOG had been opened to regular guests. Up to now, it was "friends and family."

We asked her how she liked working here. She shared that she loved it, but was little worried about whether or not she had made the right decision to come work here. She had been a server at Artist's Point in Wilderness Lodge, which is a much calmer atmosphere, and probably a lot less hectic of a pace than she will experience here. But, she was recruited to work here, and so far, she liked it. It is interesting to note that it seems like Disney hand picked the orginal crew of servers for this restaurant. That's a good sign.

Our server presented us with our menus:

And the beer and wine list:

I didn't really pay attention to the wine.

It looks like there's plenty to choose from.

But, there are only four beers.

One from France and three from Belgium.

No Bud Light for me.

This is some kind of classy joint.

Our server told me that the French beer is the most popular beer in France. I figured I would give it a whirl:

See how the glass matches the bottle?

The server said they have four different glasses they use for the beer.

Cool.

That gave me an idea for another way to get Ultimate Bragging Rights.

I am going to call it the TCD GRANDE SLAM. (I put an e on the end of Grand to make it sound French). The way to earn these bragging rights is to go to BOG and drink one of each of the beers in a single sitting. That is going to be expensive, but it comes with UBR's so, it's worth it.

We could see the West Wing from where we were sitting in the ballroom.

Our server said it would be OK to look around in there.

So we did.

There's a big fireplace with a portrait above:

And, the enchanted rose is in there too. The windows behind the rose have special effects, like lightning, and the rose is animated. Petals fall from it:

The portrait of the Master is animated:

The room itself is kind of dark, and there is a lot of torn fabric hanging around:

The West Wing is cool, and I think maybe kids would like the mysterious feel of it, but I liked the main ballroom better. Here, we sat under these beautiful chandeliers and the ornate mural, which looks just like the one from the movie:

After we ordered, our server brought us a basket of rolls and butter, which were great. The Disney Cruise Line serves these same rolls, and I would imagine they are used at the other sit down places around WDW. They kind of have a French Bread consistency and taste.

We did not order any appetizers, and our food came out in what I would consider an acceptable time.

I ordered the pork chop. It was served with green beans and a French version of macaroni and cheese:

Twin #2 ordered the Cornish Hen, which was served with asparagus and roasted potatoes. There were some other doo dads on the plate too:

Twin #1 ordered the sauteed shrimp and scallops. It was served in a puff pastry with lobster sauce and some vegetables mixed in:

We had all intentionally ordered something different so we could try three different entrees.

I loved them all.

The pork chop was excellent, and the green beans were great. There were some other vegetables mixed in, and they were well seasoned. The macaroni may have been the best thing on the plate. The girls really liked it too.

The shrimp and scallop dish was great too, and there were a lot of shrimp and scallops in the pastry. The pastry itself was very light and delicious.

The cornish hen was good, but it was basically just roast chicken. Not anything special. Twin #2 did love the roasted potatoes.

The portion sizes were good, and everything was cooked properly.

All, in all, we had no complaints about our entrees. The side items were good too.

This is certainly not gourmet food, but it is way better than anything you would expect to be served in a theme park.

When we placed our order, we asked our server about the Grey Stuff.

For those of you who haven't seen the movie, the Be Our Guest song has a line in it that says "Try the Grey Stuff, it's delicious."

I think it was the official Disney blog that said they would serve the Grey Stuff in BOG, but it wasn't on the menu.

So we asked.

The server said it was a special dessert, for special occasions, and it could not be ordered.

But, right after she cleared our plates, she brought us two servings of Grey Stuff:

That stuff is delcious!

So what is it?

It is like mousse. The server told us that it is cookies and cream flavored mousse. Then they drop some candy pearls on it. If you have ever been to the Food and Wine Festival at Epcot, they had a dessert just like this there last year. In fact, the twins swear that this is the same thing they had at the Food and Wine Festival last year. It is interesting that it was removed from the menu this year.

You know what?

The Grey Stuff qualifies as another new cool thing we did. That makes 5 new cool things we got to do on this one-day trip.

It is good to be TCD.

As we were enjoying the Grey Stuff, our server wheeled the dessert cart up.

The desserts are just cream puffs and cupcakes.

But, that cart makes them seem special:

Twin #1 picked out the triple chocolate cupcake:

And twin #2 picked out the strawberry cream cheese cupcake:

I had a bite of each. OK, maybe I had more than one bite. Those were some good cupcakes!

After we finished, our server said feel free to look all around- and that we could even go behind the curtain to look at the third dining room. The third dining room is called the Rose Gallery. From what I've heard, it is only opened for lunch, not dinner. At first I thought this meant that the other dining rooms were closed at lunch, but I have since learned that all three dining rooms are open for lunch, but the Rose Gallery is closed for dinner.

The big feature in the Rose Gallery is a giant Beauty and the Beast music box:

This thing spins around, and plays music.

The walls of the room are covered with art work. I guess that's why it's called a gallery:

This is another beautiful room. But, of the three, it has kind of a plain feeling, I guess that's why they only use it for lunch:

That's 30 photos.

I have a few more to share plus some videos of the special effects in the restaurant.

I'll post those in a follow up post.

And I'll share my final thoughts about the restaurant.

TCD

[mouseketab.....Carol 1,261]

Oh that looks REALLY good. The shrimp dish I HAVE to try!!!!!!!

[MetalDad 33]

That's funny. I have been playing Be Our Guest at the beginning of the meal at most gigs I play for well over a decade, actually since about '95. I always thought it was funny that the lyrics said "try the grey stuff, it's delicious!". Now I know...there's Grey Stuff!

[stefa70 205]

Of all the things you just showed us, the grey stuff sounds amazing!

Looks like a huge restaurant. Is it dark in there or is it just your photos?

Where's devores? I'm SURE he could give you some pointers, if it's the latter.

(For Dave: :nahnah: )

Can't wait to see all of this in person!

[caveat lector 181]

Wow, it is not a good idea to get behind on TCD TR reading. Once the train leaves the station, it's full steam ahead.

[Nicki aka Rebelstand 272]

I want to try the Grey Stuff

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

This is just a quick follow-up post to the Be Our Guest review.

Here's a video showing the Master's portrait in the West Wing:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tWxXYbvYZvI&feature=youtu.be

This one show the enchanted rose- you can see some glitter falling, but no petals. I guess they don't fall that often. We did see the petals fall, but none fell while I was taping:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vQILoyvti3Y&feature=plcp

This is the last photo from our visit to the restaurant:

My final thoughts?

We were blown away!

There is not another restaurant in a theme park that compares to this.

When the menu was announced for BOG, I looked at it, and thought that it was likley we would never bother to eat there.

But, now that we have tried it, I can't wait to go back.

The only problem is the place is supposedly booked solid for dinners through the end of the year.

I may be wrong about this, but I am thinking that they have to allowed some spaces for walk-ups.

They can't give out all the spots for ADR's and then tell everyone else tough.

So, we will see.

In the meantime, we are looking forward to trying it for lunch.

Next up . . .

We try to squeeze in a visit to Belle before our preview time is up.

TCD

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Do you know you can only post two video links in a single post?

Here's one more video.

It's of the main ballroom.

I tried to capture the snowfall, but failed.

It looks really good in person:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y3nSHBnBppg&feature=plcp

TCD

[CCIntrigue...aka Gwen 547]

Glad to hear you had such a great experience at BOG for dinner! Your pics are great.

[alexwyattmommy 181]

This is so going on my bucket list.

Thank you!