9th Birthday at DL

[Ladyslug]

The chicken. It was just plain chicken with vegetables. Very mediocre for $35. My dad had the salmon for $42 and he said the salmon he had at Mimi’s Bistro the night before was better and half the price. When we spend money like what they are charging at Blue Bayou, we expect excellent food. The food isn’t bad, but it’s not excellent. Had my chicken been $20, that would’ve been more in line. We expect to pay more at Disney, but the food should be excellent. We love the table service restaurants at Epcot in World Showcase and the new fine dining options at Disney Springs, but have been underwhelmed at Disneyland so far.

That's very strange. I've had that chicken plate at Blue Bayou (for lunch) and it was so large I split it with my sister and we were both full afterwards (it was approximately half a roast chicken, and the scalloped potatoes were also part of the dish). I won't say it's the best roast chicken and vegetables I've ever had or anything -- the high cost for Blue Bayou is definitely for the atmosphere, not the food, but there is usually plenty of both.

I also like the idea of the Afternoon Tea as a birthday celebration!

 

[Rory607]

I enjoyed Blue Bayou, but our kids weren’t all that impressed. The only character meal we’ve done at DL was Donald’s Seaside Breakfast and it was so much fun! The character interaction was so much better than any character meal we’ve done at WDW(and that’s a lot). It was just less crowded and the characters have much more time to spend at each table. Kids were 7 and 3 at the time. They are also huge Stitch fans, so that was the biggest draw for them.

 

[SOCALMouseMommy]

The chicken. It was just plain chicken with vegetables. Very mediocre for $35. My dad had the salmon for $42 and he said the salmon he had at Mimi’s Bistro the night before was better and half the price. When we spend money like what they are charging at Blue Bayou, we expect excellent food. The food isn’t bad, but it’s not excellent. Had my chicken been $20, that would’ve been more in line. We expect to pay more at Disney, but the food should be excellent. We love the table service restaurants at Epcot in World Showcase and the new fine dining options at Disney Springs, but have been underwhelmed at Disneyland so far.

Wow so your chicken didn’t come with the potatoes in addition to the vegetables? Hmmmm... Blue Bayou is not fine dining, so I can see how that would be disappointing if you were expecting a fine dining experience. My meal (lamb) was really delicious! You are definitely paying for the atmosphere though.

I had a really great meal at Carthay Circle (also not “fine dining” but the food is better than BB). I’ve heard great things about Napa Rose and Steakhouse 55, but haven’t eaten there yet.

 

[Aurora0427]

Wow so your chicken didn’t come with the potatoes in addition to the vegetables? Hmmmm... Blue Bayou is not fine dining, so I can see how that would be disappointing if you were expecting a fine dining experience. My meal (lamb) was really delicious! You are definitely paying for the atmosphere though.

I had a really great meal at Carthay Circle (also not “fine dining” but the food is better than BB). I’ve heard great things about Napa Rose and Steakhouse 55, but haven’t eaten there yet.

Oh it had mashed potatoes. They were so forgettable I forgot to mention them. Actually scalloped potatoes.

We didn’t expect fine dining but for what they are charging the food should still be excellent, because the cost is very close to fine dining. I just expected more. Obviously you loved it and that’s great.

Carthay is on our list to try once it reopens!

I think my overall point is I feel like Disney should invest in making the food excellent. They absolutely could and then we’d have no issue paying $35 for chicken, vegetables and a side of scalloped potatoes.

 

[Aurora0427]

That's very strange. I've had that chicken plate at Blue Bayou (for lunch) and it was so large I split it with my sister and we were both full afterwards (it was approximately half a roast chicken, and the scalloped potatoes were also part of the dish). I won't say it's the best roast chicken and vegetables I've ever had or anything -- the high cost for Blue Bayou is definitely for the atmosphere, not the food, but there is usually plenty of both.

I also like the idea of the Afternoon Tea as a birthday celebration!

My mom and I were definitely served much less than half a roasted chicken. It was a very small piece of chicken and we both had our own entrees. We are both small people and I do intermittent fasting so my stomach has shrunk and I was still hungry. Perhaps it was an off day?!

It’s the atmosphere... we can say we did it once and check the box. My kids loved watching the boats and we had a great table.

 

[Jimsig]

I hadn't heard of that tour. I will definitely check it out!

It's about a 3.5 hour (IIRC) walking tour and talks about the history of Walt and DL. When we did it we got front of the line access to Alice, rode the railroad, and saw Mr Lincoln. At the end of the tour you usually get to go in Walt's apartment above the fire station which is really cool. It also includes a box lunch from Jolly Holiday.

There are a few threads here about it if you do a search.

 

[SOCALMouseMommy]

Oh it had mashed potatoes. They were so forgettable I forgot to mention them. Actually scalloped potatoes.

We didn’t expect fine dining but for what they are charging the food should still be excellent, because the cost is very close to fine dining. I just expected more. Obviously you loved it and that’s great.

Carthay is on our list to try once it reopens!

I think my overall point is I feel like Disney should invest in making the food excellent. They absolutely could and then we’d have no issue paying $35 for chicken, vegetables and a side of scalloped potatoes.

I think BB is heavily dependent on what you order. I see lots of people complain that the food is not great. I’ve only eaten there once so I guess I got lucky!

 

[LilyJC]

We have been curious about Donald’s seaside breakfast. Is the food similar to Minnie’s at Plaza Inn?

Oh man, sorry for the delayed response. We’ve never done Minnie’s at Plaza Inn, but I recently saw pictures on Disneyhungry’s IG. Definitely some similarities (little Mickey waffles), but in my opinion slightly more appetizing at Donald’s. And I found the chilaquiles at Donald’s to be much better than the ones at Lamplight Lounge brunch (but the Steakhouse 55 chilaquiles are the best I’ve had at DLR).

 

[whoever]

Wow so your chicken didn’t come with the potatoes in addition to the vegetables? Hmmmm... Blue Bayou is not fine dining, so I can see how that would be disappointing if you were expecting a fine dining experience. My meal (lamb) was really delicious! You are definitely paying for the atmosphere though.

I had a really great meal at Carthay Circle (also not “fine dining” but the food is better than BB). I’ve heard great things about Napa Rose and Steakhouse 55, but haven’t eaten there yet.

Napa Rose is the best meal on property (unless you are doing 21 Royal), followed by C33, then SH55. Carthay isn't all that great anymore. All are good options however. SH55 is the best value out of the bunch IMHO.

 

[crystal1313]

We LOVE SH55.

We took our kids to BB when they were younger and thought they would love it....and they could have cared less! LOL. So we have not been back. If we are going to spend that much on dinner, we would like to have a cocktail with it. We are thinking of taking them to try SH55 next trip since they are older now and they love steak. We used to have one nice meal at Cartahy, but the last coupleof times it hasn't been all that great....

I took my son on a bday trip for his 7th bday. He has never really been into characters, so we didn't do a special meal like that. But I did say "yes" to everything he asked for that day. I didn't tell him I was going to do that, but anything he asked for, we did. Usually we limit their treats to one a day at the parks. But that day was special. =)

Have a great trip!