If you’ve ever ridden Pirates of the Caribbean at Disneyland, after your boat launches, you may notice a romantic, candle-lit restaurant with colorful lanterns amidst the fireflies. And you may wonder what that magical place is. It’s Blue Bayou, one of the most in-demand dining experiences at Disneyland! It offers a taste of the old New Orleans in the Louisiana bayou from a time when the steamboat ruled the mighty Mississippi. Dining at Blue Bayou is one of our most romantic things to do at Disneyland, but it's fun for the whole family. If you are wondering what the restaurant is like and how to get a reservation, we have the details right here!
Where Is the Location of Blue Bayou at Disneyland?
Blue Bayou is located inside the Disneyland theme park, so you'll need a Disneyland ticket and theme park reservation to enter the park to dine at this location. You’ll find the entrance to Blue Bayou at 31 Royal Street in New Orleans Square. It is just to the right of the Pirates of the Caribbean ride exit. The indoor dining area is next to the water at the Pirates of the Caribbean. Once you check in (you can use mobile check-in through the Disneyland app), you may sit in the waiting area and they will text you when your table is ready.
Food and Beverage at Blue Bayou at Disneyland
There's a kids' menu for children ages 3 to 9. Kids' entrees come with a small milk or Dasani water and a choice of two sides (seasonal vegetables, jasmine rice, fruit or mashed potatoes).
Blue Bayou has themed beverages. The nonalcoholic Mint Julep, 31 Royal Street Signature Julep (seasonal) and Louisiana Lemonade are toadally fun for the whole family, especially if you get a souvenir glow cube in this dark setting. It just makes your experience feel more special! Your drinks and Mint Julep are refillable, so you'll get your money's worth of Mint Julep at this location (or Café Orleans) versus buying a single cup at Mint Julep Bar or French Market ... just sayin'! I can find any way to justify the expense of my meal at Blue Bayou to my more frugal hubby, Leap.
Blue Bayou sells adult beverages. You can enjoy wine, beer or a cocktail at Blue Bayou in Disneyland. The cocktail may change, but you can usually choose a Hurricane, martini or margarita. You can end your meal with a glass of sparkling wine (or cider) and dessert.
Is anyone celebrating a birthday? When you reserve, be sure to add a Mickey cake. There’s plenty of this rich mousse-like dessert to go around. The chocolate ears, buttons and tail are also edible.
If you have any allergies, you can note them when you reserve. You can notify the host and your server. There's also an allergy-friendly menu available upon request.
Blue Bayou Atmosphere
The setting is what makes this dining location truly special. Is it outside or inside? It feels like you are dining on an outside plantation patio at night along the mysterious water lands of the bayous. It is perpetually evening at Blue Bayou. Colorful lanterns are strung over the tables, wisteria hangs from the lattice and shooting stars streak across the dark skies. Your table is lit by candlelight. Listen for cricket chirps and rustling leaves while you dine under mossy trees.
Whether you come with a loved one or the whole family, it feels like romantic outdoor dining, but the weather is always perfect (because you are in an air-conditioned, indoor environment). We love to eat lunch here because it gets us out of the sun for a bit and allows us to rest our flippers and catch our breath before heading back into the bustling theme park.
While the food is more upscale than you might find elsewhere in the park, don't worry about dressing up unless that's how you like to dress in the park. Everyone arrives in their comfortable theme park clothes.
How to Get Blue Bayou Disneyland Reservations
Blue Bayou is one of the hardest places to get into at Disneyland outside of the private Club 33. Ideally, you’ll want to get a dining reservation. Reservations are generally released 60 days in advance at 3 a.m. PT (so you may lose some sleep! But it's worth it, right?). Occasionally, Disney releases them closer to 6 a.m., so if you do not see any, keep checking. Since reservations do move quickly, you’ll want some backup plans:
- Keep checking — Don’t give up! You just might pick up a reservation that someone else cancels.
- Look in the middle of the night. Have insomnia? Put that bad baby to work for you. Pick up your phone and try to see if any reservations pop up. We've had the best luck getting park and dining reservations when we look when most other people are sleeping.
- Quickly select any reservation for any time and any party size that comes available for your date. If you need to modify once you are in the park, you might have some luck as the restaurants are much more accommodating to parties that have a reservation than people without. They may help you change a time or add or drop a person if you have a reservation. That said, it should be a number relatively close to your actual party size (selecting 4 people when you have 3, versus selecting 2 people when you have 8). Just go talk to the restaurant in person to see if they can accommodate your changes. (It's typically easier to remove rather than add people to your reservation.)
- Ask if they have walk-up availability. You might get lucky! We've had some luck walking up and asking if they have a table available. If they have room, they will seat you! We had luck right when the restaurant opened for the day. Blue Bayou opens at about 11 a.m.
- If you cannot get into Blue Bayou, the nearby Café Orleans can be a little easier to get into. And it also has Monte Cristo and Mint Julep, not to mention the delicious Pommes Frites you cannot get anywhere else.
- For fine dining in Disney California Adventure, look to Carthay Circle. It is similarly challenging to get into, but the food is great and the dining room is opulent.
- Consider Napa Rose. For other fine dining options at the Disneyland Resort, Napa Rose at Disney's Grand Californian Hotel & Spa is particularly nice.
What About Dining Packages and After Dark Parties?
Blue Bayou has a Fantasmic! Dining Package. You reserve lunch or dinner and request to upgrade to the Fantasmic! Dining Package from your server. It's $89 per adult and $35 per kid plus tax and gratuity. (We did the math and all the food we ordered actually came to about the same price as the package, so it's toadally worth it for the food and the viewing section.) You'll get a voucher for a reserved viewing area that is seated on the ground, front and center! Hop over to our Disneyland Fantasmic! tips post and the Disneyland Dining Reservations for the latest news and dining package information.
The four-course meal comes with bread, starter, entree, dessert and a nonalcoholic beverage. You can view the menu and reserve at the Fantasmic! dining packages page.
Blue Bayou is not usually available during Disneyland After Dark events, but there have been special occasions when it is open for separately ticketed events. It's something to keep an eye on if there is a future Disneyland After Dark party that could open reservations for Blue Bayou. But honestly, save Blue Bayou for when you have time to relax and enjoy it. Those After Dark parties just fly by, and we want to experience all the other parts of the party.
Do you have any questions about dining at Blue Bayou? Ask away in the comments below. Don't froget — you will need a Disneyland theme park ticket to access this dining location.
Related: Best Table-Service Restaurants at Disneyland Park
Related: Best Table-Service Restaurants at Disney California Adventure
Hoppy planning!
