Keep Blue Bayou ressies or Cafe Orleans ressies

mickeymom22

DIS Veteran
Joined
Dec 28, 2012
I keep debating on which one of these to cancel. I see a lot of reviews saying the food isn't that good at Blue Bayou. I feel like people love the atmosphere so they don't mind the price, but my family loves good food.

Is it possible to just eat dessert or have drinks in the Blue Bayou so we can experience the atmosphere?

So torn...
 
If you've never done BB before, then definitely keep that one.

Here's my take: BB is a theme restaurant at a theme park. If you go in knowing that, your expectations should be set accordingly. Sometimes people go into BB expecting a fine dining experience or something more than it is, and if that is your expectation, it won't necessarily measure up. I don't mean this to be disparaging at all - I like BB a lot - it's just that sometimes I think people build it up into something that it was never really meant to be and so they end up disappointed.

Cafe Orleans is also good. But I think people see it more for what it is, so it doesn't get built up the way BB does, which means less people talking about being disappointed.

There are people who prefer one or the other for whatever reason (perhaps a past good or bad experience), and some people prefer the menu at one or the other... but in the grand scheme of things, there is not a major difference in the quality of food. Go with BB if it's your first time. If you love it, then you can go back... if not, then you can try Cafe Orleans next time.
 
My family also enjoys good food. In fact, we plan vacations around where we are going to eat. We ate at Blue Bayou maybe 14 years ago and the food was terrible and expensive. But, my kids are 18, 17 and 12 now and they really wanted to try it for the atmosphere. My kids also wanted to see Fantasmic (my boys have seen it, but they don't remember). The Blue Bayou Fantasmic package was our solution. The lunch package has the monte cristo on the menu which we loved at Cafe Orleans.

We ate there last week. It's one and done for us. While we loved the atmosphere, it's very dark. We arrived 20 minutes before our reservation to request a waterside table and was able to get it. We liked the salmon, lamb chops and veggie pasta--those were all pretty good. My husband's ribeye was terrible. It just wasn't good quality. He would have liked a better quality, smaller piece than a large mediocre piece. The monte cristo was mostly batter--I barely ate it. We love the monte cristo at Cafe Orleans--this was not the same. Best desserts were creme brûlée and the sorcerer mickey. Hazelnut cake was not good.

The next day we had lunch at Cafe Orleans. It was as good as we remembered it.

I don't know if you can just eat dessert or have drinks--I doubt it.
 
I like both the Blue Bayou and Cafe Orleans. Both have their pros and cons. Blue Bayou is more expensive, but I do enjoy the atmosphere. Cafe Orleans has a lot of good food options and it's fun to do some people watching while you eat. Depending on when you're going, weather can also be an issue. Blue Bayou is entirely indoors (and air conditioned). Cafe Orleans is mostly outdoor seating (so no A/C and it does close if it is raining).

For the Blue Bayou, they did recently introduce a menu with separately price appetizers and they do have a dessert menu (very limited selection). I suppose you could make a reservation and only order apps or desserts. They do not have "drinks" in the sense of alcoholic beverages, so I haven't heard of anyone going in and just ordering a soda/coffee/tea/etc.
 


We’ve done BB a couple of times and while I’m glad we’ve done it, we probably won’t go again. I do think everyone should try it once if they can because it does have a great atmosphere eating inside the Pirates ride. Make sure you request a waterside table, it’s worth the extra wait.

We love Cafe Orleans! Monte Cristo and beignets at Cafe Orleans is definitely a must do for us!! I like sitting outside and people watching as we enjoy our meal.
 
BB was some place I ate every trip, and for me the atmosphere cannot be beat. If you have never been I would say you should try it at least once. The first time I ate there in 2012 it was probably the most expensive meal I have ever eaten and I loved every minute of it. I ate there again last October and while it wasn't terrible, I did feel things were over seasoned and the lobster tail was so tiny compared to previous trips. If you go as others have said, be sure to request the waterside table; it is worth it!.

Cafe Orleans has become my new must do every trip, but that could also be because I have changed traveling partners. My ex-husband and I had BB as our place so my new BF and I have chosen CO as ours simply because we like to split the Monte Cristo and pomme frittes and beignets.
 
I tried CO long before BB because it was supposed to be cheaper, etc. everyone raves about the garlic fries. We have a local restaurant with amazing garlic fries so those were a total letdown.

On the other hand I love BB. The dark atmosphere is great. I always get the salmon. It has been consistently good over the past 4 years I’ve gone there.
 


The portion size at BB is fairly generous (to us, at least), so perhaps your family could share an entree or two? The Monte Cristo sandwiches are super filling. CO is a better bargain and has good people watching. If you plan to watch F!, the BB package might be a way to dine at BB and get great viewing for the F!, too. Not exactly cheap, but great viewing with the least wait time. Otherwise, if food matters more, I'd go with CO and several rides on POTC to enjoy the bayou atmosphere.
 
I'm partial to BB. I have been going there since the '70s, so we go way back :)

That said, I will admit that it has gone downhill as far as food quality & price hikes since what I'm guessing would be the introduction of the Fantasmic packages. I'm not sure those 2 things are related but they seem to be to me. But anyway, I always shared the surf and turf (filet and lobster tail) with one of my daughters for dinner or Monte Cristo (shared between 4 of us!) for lunch. MC at BB used to come with salad and sides and was much bigger. Portions now are a lot smaller but the prices are not. I don't think the quality is the same now, but as far as I know, the MCs they serve at CO are exactly the same, quality wise. They use the same kitchen, or at least they always used to. The last time I had the surf and turf at BB, while the filet was excellent, the lobster tail was so bad it was inedible, so that's very disappointing and I doubt I would order it again.

I have never had great service at CO. It takes forever, the staff seems harried and therefore not very friendly, and at least part of my order is either wrong, missing, or our food all arrives at different times. Having a reservation has not meant we are seated quickly. The food is no better IMO than BB and it's not cheap, either. I'd rather have the waterside table in BB. Now, BB service has almost always been very good for me, with the exception that you can often feel rushed. However, I prefer that to waiting forever for the staff to bring your food, refill a drink, bring the bill, and then bring back the change.
 
We decided to pass on Blue Bayou and stick with Cafe Orleans. I've never done either, but Cafe Orleans is highly recommended by Disney Food Blog and something about her voice just makes me trust her lol (really scientific lol) I also like the idea of trying the Beignets with a sauce.
 
If you want that atmosphere, and you don't mind paying top dollar for it, go to BB. If you want good food at decent prices go to Cafe Orleans. I personally prefer the atmosphere at Orleans. We like sitting outside and watching the people. We don't care for how dark it is at BB nor do we feel the prices match up very well with the quality of the food they serve there.
 
I keep debating on which one of these to cancel. I see a lot of reviews saying the food isn't that good at Blue Bayou. I feel like people love the atmosphere so they don't mind the price, but my family loves good food.

Is it possible to just eat dessert or have drinks in the Blue Bayou so we can experience the atmosphere?

So torn...
I think you could totally just do drinks and desserts at BB or even appetizers. We love BB because of the atmosphere and would recommend it to anyone who hasn't done it before. We always get a couple of the Monte Cristos to split. We also enjoyed Cafe Orleans...again we got the MC and the beignets. I think we also got some specialty fries. So I don't think you could go wrong with either. But my kids still talk about BB and how cool it was to watch the boats go by and get drinks that glowed in the dark!

We're planning a trip back to Disneyland in a couple of years. I have no doubt BB will be the first reservation I make!
 
Depends on what you are expecting or desiring:

BB:
Indoors, great for hot times of the day.
More and better menu options than CO, IMO.
Can boat watch while you eat.
Bread is really good.

CO:
Outdoors, good for people watching. Indoor seating feels cramped and busy.
Not as good a menu after they got rid of the seafood crepe. Fries are coated with starch (blech :-D )
Servers not quite as attentive as BB.
Mickey beignets!
Watch out for bird stuff if seated outside :-(

That said, we still go to both depending on the time of year and day...
 
One side note: if your eyes have trouble adjusting to dim light or to dramatic changes from bright sun to dim light, BB might be a bit of a problem. We have friends who've had Lasix and BB is just too dark for them now. Going from afternoon sun to the bayou makes them feel uncomfortable and even unsafe (walking from the table to the restroom can be a little scary). The menus have little lights now, but the room is still fairly dark.
 

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