BB - Can we order appetizers and Dessert only?

[Catgyrl]

Hi all-

One month away! I'm so stoked!

I just made my PS reservation for lunch at Blue Bayou on October 21st. I e-mailed my travel buddy the menu and she was like, "Yikes!! Prices are a bit steep." She asked if we could just order appetizers and dessert for the 3 of us to share, instead of getting full meals. I don't see how that would be a problem, seeing that people on here have reported only going for dessert and ambiance. Was I right?

 

[Queenbillabong]

I think you can do that - they can't tell you what to order Some people routinely have just an appetizer and salad for a meal.

 

[Sherry E]

Hi all-

One month away! I'm so stoked!

I just made my PS reservation for lunch at Blue Bayou on October 21st. I e-mailed my travel buddy the menu and she was like, "Yikes!! Prices are a bit steep." She asked if we could just order appetizers and dessert for the 3 of us to share, instead of getting full meals. I don't see how that would be a problem, seeing that people on here have reported only going for dessert and ambiance. Was I right?

Yes you can just order appetizers and dessert! You can even just get dessert! That is what we are doing in two weeks, so my friend can see BB but we don't have to pay big bucks to sit there!

 

[Catgyrl]

Sherry E and Queenbillabong - thanks for the quick replies! I think I also read where you can share a plate (though they do charge for the plate, or something). Is that true? If so, we may lean towards that. I really do want to go there at least once to try things out.

Edit: I just looked at the menu again and yes, I see the split plate charge of $4.00.

 

[Queenbillabong]

Yes, there is a share charge of $4.99. You used to each get the soup/salad and sides, but I have heard recently that may have changed, so I'm not sure. It's worth asking though.

FWIW - most meals in the park are way too big for one person anyway so sharing is a good plan!!

 

[Sherry E]

I even told the CM on the phone when I made the PS for Blue Bayou that we were doing a 'dessert meal,' so they will have that notated on our PS when we arrive. The only thing is, the dessert I want is that big cookie boat, which is basically big enough for at least two people to eat. But I don't want to be completely cheap and just order one dessert for two or three of us, so we will probably have to order at least two cookie boats and maybe a key lime pie or something just so we have one item per person and kind of balance it out. The specific day I have BB scheduled is going to be a jam-packed eating day because of other people with us, so I made the dessert PS for BB at 8:00 p.m. that night, so we will have at least a little room to be able to scarf down sweets! At least we will be too full to even be tempted to shell out the big bucks and order real food!

 

[SnowWhite09]

Hi all-

One month away! I'm so stoked!

I just made my PS reservation for lunch at Blue Bayou on October 21st. I e-mailed my travel buddy the menu and she was like, "Yikes!! Prices are a bit steep." She asked if we could just order appetizers and dessert for the 3 of us to share, instead of getting full meals. I don't see how that would be a problem, seeing that people on here have reported only going for dessert and ambiance. Was I right?

Hi Cathy,

Do you have the link to the BB menu?

If so, it would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

Tara

 

[bonita_babe232]

this is all the resturants at the resort.... it has the menu and prices http://allears.net/dlr/din/menu/menus.htm#dl

 

[SnowWhite09]

this is all the resturants at the resort.... it has the menu and prices http://allears.net/dlr/din/menu/menus.htm#dl

Thanks so much!

 

[Sherry E]

Beware to anyone who is planning a meal of any kind - dessert or regular - at Blue Bayou soon. Some folks on the DISboards - myself included - have had less than spectacular experiences there in just the last couple of weeks. I think BB should really look into taking ACTUAL, real reservations from guests rather than the Priority Seating, because they clearly overbook and people are left squished like sardines in a hot and cramped waiting room for a long time, often with no place to sit because the seating in that room is limited. And if you want a waterside table, be prepared to wait longer than an hour. We were told one hour wait for waterside and we declined...but we waited an hour to be seated anyway!!! Other folks on here have held out for the waterside tables and then were seated as far away from the water as you could get.

The hostess taking the names at the front was cold and unfriendly, but the people she seemed to LIKE were seated before the other guests! The waitress was nice, but she described the cake option as "chocolate cake," so my friend ordered it, only to discover it was chocolate mousse cake. She couldn't eat it because the mousse would upset her stomach. She thought it was regular chocolate cake. My Flying Dutchman cookie boat was good, but not worth an hour-long wait. And I just wouldn't pay $36 for a steak. If I am shelling out big bucks, I either want to get a LOT of food, or I want to get the best table by the water, and we were all the way in the back of the restaurant. So....not worth it for me!

But I am in the minority, other than the DIS-ers who have had negative BB meals in the last two weeks. Most people love it and think it is worth it!

 

[YellowMickeyPonchos]

I wouldn't tell them you are only doing dessert or reduced items. Why? Because it opens you up for worse treatment. (Shouldn't happen at Disney, but anything is possible.)

Why? The server isn't making as much money off the dessert only. If you order a full meal, then they get a bigger tip. Therefore, a motivation for better service. Also, another reason to put you in a crappy seat - you won't be there as long as folks eating a full meal.

Once again, not a good reason for bad service, but it happens.

 

[Sherry E]

I wouldn't tell them you are only doing dessert or reduced items. Why? Because it opens you up for worse treatment. (Shouldn't happen at Disney, but anything is possible.)

Why? The server isn't making as much money off the dessert only. If you order a full meal, then they get a bigger tip. Therefore, a motivation for better service. Also, another reason to put you in a crappy seat - you won't be there as long as folks eating a full meal.

Once again, not a good reason for bad service, but it happens.

Good point, Nancy, to not let them know it is dessert or appetizers only. In fact, Bumbershoot was saying that there was a rumor on another board about BB no longer taking dessert-only PS's. It seems they can't force you to order a 'real meal' once you sit down, but telling them in advance may work against you!

In any case, I started a thread about complaining about a negative Disney experience AFTER returning home and what their response was, and I have been very surprised at the stories I am hearing about DLR's apathy towards people getting sick from their food and unclean or bad hotel rooms - like mine, which had poo-smelling water from the faucet. More times than not, Disney does nothing to make reparations, it appears, unless the disgruntled guest is persistent. I LOVE DLR - that will never change - but I am kind of surprised that their customer service is lacking in comparison to some other places like Chili's, or Marie Callender's or something, who will comp your meal if you complain.

 

[bumbershoot]

Yeah, I would never tell a reservation person what I was planning to order. Wouldn't do it at a normal restaurant, so it wouldn't even occur to me to do it at a Disney place.

I was reading the reply by the guy with the awful service in your thread, Sherry, and I felt so bad for him, but some of what he said didn't make all that much sense. You cannot MAKE a PS for a waterside table, but he said he had. If he thought he had, the PS CM was showing their ignorance, b/c you just can't.

IF you book during the very first seating of the day (11:30am) and IF you check in as one of the first ten, I believe, groups, then it's almost impossible to NOT get waterside unless your group is too big for the tables they have at the water. All other seatings though, you just can't make that PS for water.

(and we prefer non waterside seating b/c you're less cramped and there's more light, but the light thing is b/c of my having had Lasik when I shouldn't, and not everyone has the light/dark issues I have)

Along with the "you can't order dessert only" rumor there was also the rumor that they didn't give each person a salad or soup with a "split plate" anymore, but there were just as many people, if not more, stating that they HAD, as recently as the people who didn't, gotten their own salad or soup. And it all came so soon after a long convo I had with a server about the split plate, where she told me that their policy is to give separate soup/salad, and they make the plate look full (so we each got two portobello mushrooms on our plates, b/c they were on the small side, when she said a non-split plate would have gotten only 3 mushrooms that day)...that their policy is to be generous...it just all spoke so much of it being dependent on the CM you got. A mouseplanet mod said they were trying to get official word on it, but I never saw an update about it.

 

[Sherry E]

Yeah, I would never tell a reservation person what I was planning to order. Wouldn't do it at a normal restaurant, so it wouldn't even occur to me to do it at a Disney place.

I was reading the reply by the guy with the awful service in your thread, Sherry, and I felt so bad for him, but some of what he said didn't make all that much sense. You cannot MAKE a PS for a waterside table, but he said he had. If he thought he had, the PS CM was showing their ignorance, b/c you just can't.

IF you book during the very first seating of the day (11:30am) and IF you check in as one of the first ten, I believe, groups, then it's almost impossible to NOT get waterside unless your group is too big for the tables they have at the water. All other seatings though, you just can't make that PS for water.

(and we prefer non waterside seating b/c you're less cramped and there's more light, but the light thing is b/c of my having had Lasik when I shouldn't, and not everyone has the light/dark issues I have)

Along with the "you can't order dessert only" rumor there was also the rumor that they didn't give each person a salad or soup with a "split plate" anymore, but there were just as many people, if not more, stating that they HAD, as recently as the people who didn't, gotten their own salad or soup. And it all came so soon after a long convo I had with a server about the split plate, where she told me that their policy is to give separate soup/salad, and they make the plate look full (so we each got two portobello mushrooms on our plates, b/c they were on the small side, when she said a non-split plate would have gotten only 3 mushrooms that day)...that their policy is to be generous...it just all spoke so much of it being dependent on the CM you got. A mouseplanet mod said they were trying to get official word on it, but I never saw an update about it.

I will have to remember that 11:30 a.m. thing in case my friend ever wants to go back. I could take or leave the Blue Bayou. I would not want to wait an hour to be seated again. But she was disappointed and she really wanted to experience it. So maybe an 11:30 meal would be a better chance for waterside. You are absolutely right - the Disneyland Dining folks very clearly say that they cannot help you with waterside requests. I don't know what they told anyone else but they told me they can't even notate it on the PS when they make it for you. They said the only way to finagle it is to mention it when you show up at BB. And when you show up at BB and request it, they tell you it will take an hour. We declined because we didn't want to wait and hour for waterside, but we ended up waiting that long anyway for a table way in the back!!! Again, that could have been because of the time and day we went (Saturday night). If we did do an 11:30 a.m. on a Thursday or something, maybe it wouldn't be so bad!!!

 

[WendyT]

We went this last Thursday night for just dessert and told the cast member what we were going to order when we made our priority seating arrangements. We had to wait in the overcrowded lobby, however it seemed everyone was being seated in the order of their priority seatings. I have to say - the server's face dropped when she realized we were there for dessert only. We only got our drink refills after hunting down the server and asking for them and then only half of our party was refilled. I don't think my husband ever got a refill on his drink.
I felt bad when I made the reservations knowing that the server would get a lower tip and had fully planned on leaving a VERY generous tip. Unfortunately our service was so poor that we left 15%. Luckily the family was so happy with our cookie boats (yes, that was plural) that it didn't dampen our experience.
I won't return to BB. It was not something I would like to repeat, but I am glad I tried it.

 

[Sherry E]

We went this last Thursday night for just dessert and told the cast member what we were going to order when we made our priority seating arrangements. We had to wait in the overcrowded lobby, however it seemed everyone was being seated in the order of their priority seatings. I have to say - the server's face dropped when she realized we were there for dessert only. We only got our drink refills after hunting down the server and asking for them and then only half of our party was refilled. I don't think my husband ever got a refill on his drink.
I felt bad when I made the reservations knowing that the server would get a lower tip and had fully planned on leaving a VERY generous tip. Unfortunately our service was so poor that we left 15%. Luckily the family was so happy with our cookie boats (yes, that was plural) that it didn't dampen our experience.
I won't return to BB. It was not something I would like to repeat, but I am glad I tried it.

Ditto! Not something I need to do again, unless someone is treating me and we go at a less busy time. The waiting room was TOO hot and crowded and we stood for too long. But it was nice to do it just to say we did it. I wonder if you had the same server we had - our server also looked very disappointed when we told her we were a dessert only table!!! I liked the cookie boat but it was a lot of cookie to handle. I actually think I would have just preferred ice cream!

 

[YellowMickeyPonchos]

I hate to say it, but even way before I joined the DIS, for around 2 years, I've been telling people they went downhill. When they reopened after the Pirates rehab and changed their policies about reservations, we gave them a shot. We were highly unimpressed. We went there with another family - total of 5 adults 2 kids, and it was ghastly. We even felt snubbed for having our toddlers in our group - happy, laughing children!

(I have to prefix my next statement, we used to be Napa Rose regulars - once a month or more pre-kids and once every 2-3 months, before baby #2.)

We thought they were too pretentious. That was the immediate feeling we got from them - from the hostess at the desk, all the way through the staff. The Napa is a thousand times more friendly! The server was haughty, the food was poor and small in portion, and we just thought someone had said to them "We are the Napa of the park - no one is better than us! - Act like it!"

Then, when we really looked at the pricing, we decided that if we wanted to pay that much, we would go to the Napa instead. There was no comparing the two experiences.

I would never pay that much for the atmosphere.

 

[Krissy Marissy]

I haven't been back since they reopened as I was last at DL while they were doing the refurb. I have heard many bad things about it from regular guests and that is upsetting. BB used to be a great place to eat you know? They sound like an expensive disappointment now. Bummer. I was hoping to go for dessert but will try it while I am there without the kids I guess. I am sad that this place has changed and not for the better.

 

[YellowMickeyPonchos]

We have a new dessert to try - someone posted a photo of the Mile High Chocolate Cake you can get at the Golden Horseshoe on the Disneyland Photo of the Day thread.... OMG!

I think that looks like a fine place to take my business to!

Keep in mind that it really takes a lot for me to say I won't go back to someplace, only things like food poisoning and that has only stopped me in the arena of fast food like Taco Bell.... It didn't even stop me for Ariel's Grotto (but I didn't have much choice due to the out-of-towners with us). I just thought of that as getting back on the horse that threw me!

 

[Sherry E]

'Haughty' is a good word for it, Nancy. We just felt the hostess at the front was cold. Not that she has to chit chat with every single customer, but she just didn't have that inner Disney spirit that most CMs seem to have - at least, they are able to channel their inner Disney even if they aren't feeling it! This hostess was up at the front of the BB, and she kind of sets the tone for the evening because she is the first one everyone sees, but she just seemed annoyed with 'silly' questions from the people waiting and was quick to kind of stop someone before they even got a full sentence out - until she found other people from Texas like she was, that is!