One of the most popular attractions in Magic Kingdom is Enchanted Tales with Belle in New Fantasyland. Enchanted Tales With Belle is housed inside Maurice’s Cottage. Those who know the Beauty and the Beast story with know that Maurice is Belle’s father, who has some rather wild ideas for inventions.
We saw that there was only a 20 minute wait so decided to get in line to experience Enchanted Tales with Belle. The wait is usually much longer than that with at least a 45 minutes so grab a Fast Pass if you want to experience this attraction.
The line takes you on a winding path towards Maurice’s Cottage. The landscaping and theme are excellent. You will see lots of Maurice’s strange inventions along the way.
We reached the inside of Maurice’s house and were very impressed with the attention to detail of the theming. The thing that really caught our eye was the portrait of Belle with her mother. Also we loved that Belle’s height chart had been drawn onto the wall.
We noticed that the line seemed to have stopped moving.
“Just trying to get things cleared up”, is not what you want to hear from a Disney Cast Member.
We waited. And waited. And waited some more. It was obvious that the line wasn’t going anywhere any time soon. But we had that usual dilemma of “Well we have waited for 45 minutes we can’t give up now. We are so close!’.
By the time we finally got to the next stage of the attraction we had been waiting over an hour, most of it in the same room. I am very used to waiting in line for Disney attractions but when you are not moving, and have no idea how much longer the wait will be, it seems so much more difficult.
At this point I admit I was not in the best frame of mind to experience Enchanted Tales With Belle. It probably would have had to have been the best attraction I had ever seen for me to feel great about it after that frustrating wait, and my children felt the same.
We did try and put these thoughts behind us when eventually we got into Maurice’s Workshop. 45 guests at a time move on to this next stage. I was excited to see how the ‘magic mirror’ worked. The magic mirror is a present from The Beast to Maurice so that he can see Belle when he wants to. It opens a gateway to The Beast’s Castle. That part of the attraction was very impressive. I have no idea how they did it but the mirror on the wall was transformed. At this point my interest was inspired again and I was beginning to forget the wait.
Unfortunately this did not last very long. After the impressive mirror effect you walk into a room with a very enthusiastic Cast Member who introduces you to Madame Wardrobe. The Cast Member then explains that we will all surprise Belle with a recreation of the Beauty and the Beast story.
This really should teach me not to go into an attraction without researching what it is. It is rare that I ever do that, and this experience teaches me never to do it again! My children all looked at me knowing that we were thinking the same thing – we just waited well over an hour to do something that we really don’t want to do.
Guests are invited to join in to recreate the story for Belle. The Cast Member hands out props and costumes for the chosen guests. This is a wonderful attraction for those who have young children, particularly of course, fans of Belle. But for us at this moment we just wanted to leave as we knew this was not for us.
The Cast Member then leads us into the Beast’s Library. This is impressive of course. Thankfully there is seating! I was so pleased as I think having to stand any longer may have been the final straw!
Belle appears and her fans are of course very appreciative. The Cast Member leads the chosen participants through the story for Belle. To show her appreciation Belle leads the participants around the library to the song Be Or Guest. The ‘actors’ get a special bookmark to commemorate the occasion.
There is then a photo opportunity with Belle. She won’t sign autographs but the bookmarks do have her signature on.
I really wanted to like Enchanted Tales With Belle but unfortunately it just wasn’t for me. I should have researched it more carefully before I went in – but sometimes I do want to keep the surprise element of an attraction I haven’t experienced before. If we had done this 10 years ago when my daughter was obsessed with Disney Princesses then I am sure I would have loved it (if we hadn’t had the extended wait).
When we came out of Enchanted Tales With Belle we saw that the delay was a medical emergency as the paramedics were at the scene. It sort of would have helped in the wait to know that as we would have probably got out of the line, realizing that this unfortunate event may take a while to deal with. Or a better way to deal with this would have been to give all the guests in line a Fast Pass and tell us to return later, as I realize there is no way the Cast Members could know how long the delay was going to be.
Our conclusion on Enchanted Tales With Belle? This is an enchanting attraction if you want to meet Princess Belle. But if the lines are long and you are not very interested in what is really a Disney Princess meet and greet with some fabulous theming, then give this one a miss.
Have you experienced Enchanted Tales With Belle in New Fantasyland?
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Alison Meacham is the founder of EverythingMouse Disney Blog. For over 15 years she has shared her love of Disney Parks, Disney Cruises and Universal Orlando. In over 30 years of Disney Travel she has spent countless months in Disney Parks and has sailed on over 45 cruises. A British native and now a United States resident she splits her time between California, Florida and the UK. And spends a serious amount of time sailing the seven seas. She helps over 200,000 people per month follow their Disney travel dreams.
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