A Louisiana-inspired restaurant located within Disneyland Park's New Orleans Square, known for its unique ambiance overlooking the Pirates of the Caribbean ride.
The Blue Bayou Restaurant offers a unique dining experience within Disneyland Park's New Orleans Square, providing a perpetual twilight ambiance that overlooks the Pirates of the Caribbean ride. Guests dine under twinkling lanterns and a large willow tree, creating an immersive, romantic, and nostalgic atmosphere. It's known for its difficult-to-secure reservations, often requiring booking two months in advance.
Customer Perception
Customers consistently praise the restaurant's incredible ambiance, especially the unique experience of dining alongside the Pirates of the Caribbean ride. While the food is generally considered delicious and worth the price, some reviews mention inconsistencies in dish quality (e.g., salty filet mignon, cold prime rib) or service. Reservations are notoriously difficult to obtain, and guests are advised to book far in advance. Many consider it a must-try experience at Disneyland, at least once.
Additional Details
The restaurant is located inside Disneyland Park, specifically in New Orleans Square. It offers a prix fixe menu, such as the '70th Celebration Prix Fixe Menu,' which includes multiple courses. Special celebration cakes, like the Dark Chocolate Happy Birthday Mickey Cake, can be ordered, though it's advised to confirm with the server upon arrival even if added via the app.
Vegetarian options (e.g., Vegetable Hearts Salad)Accommodations for gluten intolerance
Best Times to Visit
Reservations are highly recommended and should be made two months in advance, ideally right when they open at 6 AM PST, due to high demand. Requesting a table near the water (overlooking the ride) is a popular tip to enhance the experience.
This turned out to be my favorite meal of the trip - actually it was more than a meal, it was an experience and a core memory. My husband and I checked in and waiting about 20 minutes before we were seated, but it was well worth the wait. We sat at a table right on the water, tucked away in the corner - it was so romantic and inviting.
Our server David was super attentive and had great dad jokes throughout the evening. We ordered two hurricanes to celebrate and boy, were they tasty!
We started with the crab cakes and gumbo, both of which were outstanding - so full of flavor and savory goodness. The crab cakes were all crab and the gumbo proteins were so tender, they melted in my mouth. My husband got the sustainable fish - a steelhead trout that evening - and I got the ribeye. Both meals were extraordinary. I don’t understand when people say the food here is just okay. That was not our experience. We had empty plates at the end of the evening. The ribeye was cooked perfect and the compound butter was an excellent addition. My husband’s fish was flaky and super flavorful.
The ambience here is the icing on this delicious cake. Being right next to the water, watching the Pirates boats going by, seeing the fireflies dance, soft jazz music playing - it was sensory overload and an experience I will never forget.
I went here for my girlfriend's 30th birthday. The server gave her a birthday card, which was nice! My girlfriend and I got the 70th Celebration Prixe Fix Menu ($89 each) and crab cakes ($18). The 70th Celebration Prixe Fix Menu was a 3 course meal (vegetable hearts salad, filet mignon, and chocolate-pistachio cheesecake.
The vegetable hearts salad and chocolate-pistachio cheesecake was our favorite part of this 70th Celebration Prixe Fix Menu. The crab cakes was also very good! The filet mignon was a little too salty and the vegetables that came along with it were a little too spicy for us. We didnt finish the filet mignon portion of thr menu.
To book a reservation, you will have to use the Disneyland app/website or go on the Disneyland website. We had ordered the Dark Chocolate Happy Birthday Mickey Cake ($50), but it never came out. Our server explained to us that they do not see what we added this on the Disney app. Therefore, if you want a Mickey Celebration Cake, you should let the server know when you get to Blue Bayou. However, I am not sure what the purpose of allowing customers to add Mickey Celebration Cakes on the Disneyland app/website if the servers do not see it.
4
Did the walk-in option at Blue Bayou on 3/27/26 with my husband, both of our first times (a dream come true!). It was interesting walking-in. The hostess at the front sort of seemed reluctant to give us a table, but anyway, we got in around 6:00pm after asking twice within 5 minutes. (We were told it would be a 30-40 minute wait, but ended up getting seated right away.)
We shared the 70th Celebration Prix Fixe meal which included an appetizer, entree, and dessert. The appetizer was a Vegetable Hearts Salad which was just okay! I didn’t really like how all the dressing was at the bottom of the bowl, so we were confused but ended up figuring it out and mixing it ourselves. Would rate that a 6.5 or 7/10. The entree was the Ribeye Steak and Prawns with Western Style Butter. Okay this dish was 10/10!!! We asked for the steak to be cooked medium rare. It did come out more in the rare side, but it tasted SO good. The butter flavor reminded me of movie-theater-butter. The prawns tasted good. The baked potato came with cheese, bacon bits, green onion, and sour cream on the side; it was good too. The asparagus was soft and had a plain flavor but I didn’t mind that. We really enjoyed the entree as a whole. The dessert was a Chocolate-Pistachio Cheesecake which my husband had since I am gluten intolerant. He rated it 8/10. For myself, I got a separate dessert order, the Petite Sundae, which just came with vanilla ice cream, whipped cream, Oreos as Mickey ears, sprinkles, and chocolate syrup. Can’t go wrong with the vanilla ice cream, whipped cream, and chocolate syrup! I didn’t eat the Oreos, and felt like the sprinkles were way too hard. I’d give that a 8/10.
Our total came out to $111.25 with an order of Coke (which was refillable). The service was generally good, it seemed to vary by table. The ambience was nice even though we sat furthest from the Pirates ride. Overall, we were really glad to have had dinner there as it was our goal for the trip. I’m not exactly sure if I would come again. Maybe! Definitely great to try at least once.
4
what a treat it was to enjoy a meal at the blue bayou while we were at disneyland! while it was extremely hard to get a reservation -- HIGHLY recommend making a reservation. when you check in, see if you can request a table near the water! totally made our experience 10x better
FOOD
the kids had a blast -- they had options for even the pickiest kids! the crab cakes were INCREDIBLE. the prime rib was a touch cold which was a little disappointing. the chicken was amazing, with a great kick!
SERVICE
the service was amazing. from checking in with the hostess, to our server, and the food runners, everyone was just so kind and brought the disney magic to dinner!
AMBIANCE
i mean the entire place is AWESOME. it's decorated like you're in NOLA, and pirates in the background?! simply incredible, and truly doesn't get better than that!
an absolute MUST if you're in disneyland. it's a great experience that everyone should have at least once in their life!
5
We were so excited to make reservations to eat at the Blue Bayou restaurant inside of the Pirates of the Caribbean ride.
We had a late evening meal and everyone was extremely happy with the food that was served. We got a variety off the menu and were pleased with each meal. The crab cakes were a pleasant appetizer to start off our meal. The market fish was amazing and very tasty.
Our female server was ok, but nothing special. She rarely came to our table and then spilled water on my daughter when she passed by.
The man JR was amazing!!!! He was super sweet and made our meal amazing and gave us great suggestions of places to visit while at the park. We felt well taken care of with him.
Overall, if you want a spectacular experience for the ambiance of a cool place to eat, then make sure to make reservations here. The food is expensive (30-60 a plate) but the food is quite delicious and worth it. I wish we had room for dessert, since we saw several tables order and were impressed with what we saw.
