VIDEO - First look inside the Be Our Guest Restaurant in the new Fantasyland

[ISTCrew20]

This!!! Exactly!

I feel like I'm taking crazy pills here. Why is everyone getting all worked up over the circus and the mural? It is for this very reason that Disney continues to get away with mediocrity - the fans and guests that don't know any better will continue to prasie Disney for whatever subpar product they dish out.

Wheeew. I'm glad I'm not alone. I really think the only thing to be truly groundbreaking with this project is Enchanted Tales, which I hear has quite a few neat effects going for it. I did Little Mermaid out in California and was so let down. I honestly found Epcot's Nemo ride to be more immersive. My thoughts all along about Be Our Guest is that, no matter how impressive it looks (which isn't saying much after viewing the video) it will still fall prey to WDW dining.

Not to turn this into any kind of comparison, but my money is better spent at Universal and Seaworld these days. Better offerings, great (free) seasonal events, good merchandise, and several knew projects in the works that actually get me excited.

 

[jmick71]

i know everyone is complaining about the dome, but in the movie there is no dome. if you watch this clip from the movie you will see that the ceiling is completely flat. : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9qtTPTxvoPA
as many of you know the ball room in the movie was created by using CG, and in the movie the ceiling is "painted"(in the cg model) to look like a dome, similar to the way michelangelo painted the sistine chapel here is a picture:

the very top of the Sistine chapel is not curved, it is actually flat. same as the ceiling of the CG model of the ballroom

(the shapes on the ceiling of the ballroom are very common in renaissance ceilings to create the illusion of a dome!) I can tell it is not a real dome because the shadows of those shapes on the ceiling do not change in that big sweep that zooms into the ceiling.

As long as they paint and decorate everything correctly it will be perfect

(im an art GEEK it takes a keen eye to see these things)

i just wish it ceiling was higher in the restaurant

 

[ChristianG]

Dome or not, the movie version still has beautiful detail on the ceiling.
This version is just a white ceiling. Very plain and boring.
Unless they plan to add to it, I'm not a fan.

 

[jmick71]

Dome or not, the movie version still has beautiful detail on the ceiling.
This version is just a white ceiling. Very plain and boring.
Unless they plan to add to it, I'm not a fan.

the room is not even close to being done yet... the only paint that is in the room in this video is primer( except the mural lol)

 

[KingdomofDreams]

From my perspective, it always appeared to be domed. Even looking at this screen cap, it still appears domed to me.

I totally get that they haven't even begun painting and putting on the finishing touches, but I guess the smaller scale coupled with the completely flat appearance of the ceiling makes for a less than stellar first impression. Maybe they'll wow us in the end. I truly hope so.

 

[Ignohippo]

This!!! Exactly!

I feel like I'm taking crazy pills here. Why is everyone getting all worked up over the circus and the mural? It is for this very reason that Disney continues to get away with mediocrity - the fans and guests that don't know any better will continue to prasie Disney for whatever subpar product they dish out.

I agree with this completely. I'm still blown away that they've managed to spend $300 million plus on this. I don't know where the money imagineering spends goes to, but it seems more and more like the military buyers that paid $7,000 for a toilet seat are now in charge of the imagineering budget.

The Be Our Guest restaurant is arguably the #2 attraction of this expansion, yet they go cheap on what's basically a wallpaper mural and a flat ceiling in what should be a breathtaking ballroom. Amazing.

What happened to innovation?

And don't get me started on "CircusLand". What a joke.

 

[danlb_2000]

From my perspective, it always appeared to be domed. Even looking at this screen cap, it still appears domed to me.

I totally get that they haven't even begun painting and putting on the finishing touches, but I guess the smaller scale coupled with the completely flat appearance of the ceiling makes for a less than stellar first impression. Maybe they'll wow us in the end. I truly hope so.

The room we saw in the video is clearly not at tall as the one in the movie, but if they do really good job on the painting and details it should come out just an impressive as the room in the movie. I build sets for my local community theater and they always look a little boring until the final finishes and other details start going on.

 

[Ignohippo]

From my perspective, it always appeared to be domed. Even looking at this screen cap, it still appears domed to me.

I totally get that they haven't even begun painting and putting on the finishing touches, but I guess the smaller scale coupled with the completely flat appearance of the ceiling makes for a less than stellar first impression. Maybe they'll wow us in the end. I truly hope so.

The imagineers are extremely talented. I'm sure they'll come through in the end. I'm going to hold off on judgement from now on until the FLE is done.

 

[nor'easter]

You aren't taking pills (although I will say mine definitely help in dealing with the absurdity that runs rampant in the fan community!) ... fans are so used to either staleness or mediocrity from Disney in O-town that they'll get excited about anything.

Wait until they reopen Dumbo in a new locale ... and the train station and the barnstormer with new paint and props. They'll be so proud, you'd think this was WWoHP ... or EPCOT Center.

~Busch Gardens Williamsburg? Europa Park? Perhaps both ...~

Don't forget that they might be adding a bunch of classic foamheads. That's got some people here excited.

 

[akritas]

i know everyone is complaining about the dome, but in the movie there is no dome. if you watch this clip from the movie you will see that the ceiling is completely flat. : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9qtTPTxvoPA
as many of you know the ball room in the movie was created by using CG, and in the movie the ceiling is "painted"(in the cg model) to look like a dome

Looking at the clip, you are completely right—good eye! It is rendered in the movie as a trompe l'oeil ceiling with oculus, like a Rococo version of Mantegna's Camera Picta. So aside from the fact that the room isn't finished yet, it looks like they are pretty faithful to the film and its period.

(im an art GEEK it takes a keen eye to see these things)

From one to another, good job rockin' those formal analysis skillz!

 

[jmick71]

Looking at the clip, you are completely right—good eye! It is rendered in the movie as a trompe l'oeil ceiling with oculus, like a Rococo version of Mantegna's Camera Picta. So aside from the fact that the room isn't finished yet, it looks like they are pretty faithful to the film and its period.



From one to another, good job rockin' those formal analysis skillz!

HOORAY for analyzing!

if the workmanship in story book circus is any indication on how the theming in the rest of fantasyland will be, i think we all get an amazing treat

 

[mouseology]

Has anyone heard any details on the West Wing portion of the restaurant? There's so much they could do with immersive themeing with a room like that.

 

[Magenta Panther]

Has anyone heard any details on the West Wing portion of the restaurant? There's so much they could do with immersive themeing with a room like that.

That's the room I'm most interested in too! I hope it's kinda creepy...

 

[JustInTime]

Wow. It wasn't domed...

 

[magicallactose]

Sorry, I just had to chime in in response to Jmick71. The ballroom in the movie is, in fact, domed. In all the behind-the-scenes notes I have read on the movie, it is referred to as a dome. This excerpt from a behind-the-scene booklet I have even refers to exact dimensions as given by the CG animators who created the ballroom:

The dimensions of the ballroom are enormous with 72-foot ceilings, a length of 184 feet from door to door, and a width of 126 feet. There are 28 wall window sections around the room and a dome that is 86 feet by 61 feet.

Beauty and the Beast has always been my favourite Disney animated musical. That is why this restaurant had me more excited than anything else in the Fantasyland expansion (I would have preferred a ride, but WDW hasn't exactly offered me anything to get excited about in ten years, so I'll take what I can get).

That is why I was sorely disappointed when I saw the video and realized that not only had they scaled down the size of the room to such a huge degree, but that they also omitted the dome. Now I am sure that the room will look considerably nicer when decorated and lit theatrically, but that is not that point. Disney has missed the chance to create a truly impressive architectural space, and once again I'll bet it's because of cost-cutting. I expected them to up their game in response to the incredibly detailed WWOHP (I mean, look at the scale and detailing of some of the rooms within Hogwarts)

 

[phi2134]

It's a small teaser, take it for what you will, everyone has their own opinion. This to some people is exciting because it symbolizes that the actual work is being done and it will open this year.

I think people all look at these things with their own opinion. I am excited about the whole fantasyland expansion opening, but when I saw the mural I was kind of blah and kept forwarding through the video to see what else they would show.

I was hoping for more and I was a tad disappointed they didn't show more, but in the end I do think it might be a little better to hold off the teasers and wait for the finished product, or at least give us a huge wow factor to be excited for.

 

[ryno1982]

I agree that it's supposed to be a dome. Just look at the outside of the castle where the ballroom is- giant dome on top.

 

[rioriz]

I for one wish Disney would quit showing us previews of non finished products so that we can deal with all the belly aching at once and not drag it on for months on end until opening! :shrug: