The new issue of Disney Files Magazine has an interview with Imagineer Tim Warzecha covering everything in the Beauty and the Beast area, a lot of it was news to me so I thought I'd share it, but there's some spoiler-ish stuff ahead so anyone who want to be surprised turn back now
Beauty and the Beast venues scheduled to open late this year
Be Our Guest Restaurant
Positioned across a bridge through snow-capped mountains, the Beast's castle will be home to a meticulously detailed lunch-and-dinner restaurant (serving up a casual "great food fast" lunch experience and a more formal table-service dinner) designed to immerse Guests in one of animation's most iconic spaces.
"The restaurant's main dining room faithfully recreates the famous castle ballroom you see in the film" Tim said. "From intricate floor pattern to the towering windows at the end of the ballroom to those fantastic chandeliers, the layers of detail is incredible. Our designers have really out done themselves."
Among those details are snow flurries Guests will see through the ballroom windows, helping to create a space that feeds eyes and appetites alike, and during selected hours, additional seating will be available in the ominous Castle Dining Room, where a portrait gallery will showcase castle staffers as they appeared before falling under that spell.
At the center of the Castle Dining Room, a music-box style sculpture of a dancing Belle and Beast will rotate beneath a sky-inspired tile mosaic and a chandelier that warrants a second look.
"The chandelier is designed with a beautiful rose motif" Tim said. "It's a great example of that painstaking attention to detail."
Enchanted Tales with Belle
Representing the next evolution of character meet-and -greets, Enchanted Tales with Belle will welcome Guests inside Maurice's cottage, where they'll pass through a mind-bending magic mirror and into an interactive storytelling experience starring Belle and a scene-stealing Lumiere (representing the latest evolution of the Audio-Animatronics art form), with Guests cast in supporting roles. "I think it's going to redefine what it means to interact with characters," Tim said.
Bonjour! Village Gifts
At Bonjour! Village Gifts, Guests will find merchandise in a location inspired be Belle's beloved village. "One of the most striking elements of the store will be the specialty glass used in the windows," Tim revealed. "You'll actually see it throughout the Beauty and the Beast venues. We worked with a fifth-generation, family-run glassmaker, and the craftsmanship is remarkable. Particularly for people who return year after year and really appreciate the details, I think the glasswork is one of the area's hidden treasures."
Gaston's Tavern
If the Be Our Guest Restaurant is where Guests will go to feel refined, Gaston's Tavern will be the place for Guests to feel, as Belle would say, positively primeval.
"This is a very masculine space that will again be immediately recognizable to fans of the film," Tim said. In addition to snacks and non-alcoholic beverages (it's a family friendly "tavern"), expect to find Gaston's imposing chair sitting in front of a special-effects-fueled fireplace, rustic woodwork and, of course, plenty of antlers.
Greeting Guests outside the tavern will be a statue depicting Gaston engaged in two of his favorite pastimes: celebrating himself and abusing his fateful sidekick, Lefou
"This one-of-a-kind bronze statue is bigger than life, just like Gaston," Tim explained. "It's a statue of Gaston, commissioned by Gaston, as a 'gift' to the people of the village from Gaston."
"All of these venues reprsent what Imagineering does best: really understanding the story and finding creative ways to amaze our Guests."
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Beauty and the Beast venues scheduled to open late this year
Be Our Guest Restaurant
Positioned across a bridge through snow-capped mountains, the Beast's castle will be home to a meticulously detailed lunch-and-dinner restaurant (serving up a casual "great food fast" lunch experience and a more formal table-service dinner) designed to immerse Guests in one of animation's most iconic spaces.
"The restaurant's main dining room faithfully recreates the famous castle ballroom you see in the film" Tim said. "From intricate floor pattern to the towering windows at the end of the ballroom to those fantastic chandeliers, the layers of detail is incredible. Our designers have really out done themselves."
Among those details are snow flurries Guests will see through the ballroom windows, helping to create a space that feeds eyes and appetites alike, and during selected hours, additional seating will be available in the ominous Castle Dining Room, where a portrait gallery will showcase castle staffers as they appeared before falling under that spell.
At the center of the Castle Dining Room, a music-box style sculpture of a dancing Belle and Beast will rotate beneath a sky-inspired tile mosaic and a chandelier that warrants a second look.
"The chandelier is designed with a beautiful rose motif" Tim said. "It's a great example of that painstaking attention to detail."
Enchanted Tales with Belle
Representing the next evolution of character meet-and -greets, Enchanted Tales with Belle will welcome Guests inside Maurice's cottage, where they'll pass through a mind-bending magic mirror and into an interactive storytelling experience starring Belle and a scene-stealing Lumiere (representing the latest evolution of the Audio-Animatronics art form), with Guests cast in supporting roles. "I think it's going to redefine what it means to interact with characters," Tim said.
Bonjour! Village Gifts
At Bonjour! Village Gifts, Guests will find merchandise in a location inspired be Belle's beloved village. "One of the most striking elements of the store will be the specialty glass used in the windows," Tim revealed. "You'll actually see it throughout the Beauty and the Beast venues. We worked with a fifth-generation, family-run glassmaker, and the craftsmanship is remarkable. Particularly for people who return year after year and really appreciate the details, I think the glasswork is one of the area's hidden treasures."
Gaston's Tavern
If the Be Our Guest Restaurant is where Guests will go to feel refined, Gaston's Tavern will be the place for Guests to feel, as Belle would say, positively primeval.
"This is a very masculine space that will again be immediately recognizable to fans of the film," Tim said. In addition to snacks and non-alcoholic beverages (it's a family friendly "tavern"), expect to find Gaston's imposing chair sitting in front of a special-effects-fueled fireplace, rustic woodwork and, of course, plenty of antlers.
Greeting Guests outside the tavern will be a statue depicting Gaston engaged in two of his favorite pastimes: celebrating himself and abusing his fateful sidekick, Lefou
"This one-of-a-kind bronze statue is bigger than life, just like Gaston," Tim explained. "It's a statue of Gaston, commissioned by Gaston, as a 'gift' to the people of the village from Gaston."
"All of these venues reprsent what Imagineering does best: really understanding the story and finding creative ways to amaze our Guests."
