Laughing Lindsay

Travel Reviews, Giveaways, & More!

Blue Bayou Restaurant at Disneyland Review

By Leave a Comment

It took five trips, but I finally got to eat at the Blue Bayou Restaurant at Disneyland last month! I thought I would do a review to help you determine if it’s worth the hype.

Blue Bayou Restaurant

Blue Bayou Restaurant

For those who don’t know, this is a classic restaurant at Disneyland. In fact, it opened in 1967 and Walt Disney himself was involved in the planning of the restaurant! The restaurant is located inside of the Pirates of the Caribbean ride! In fact, people in the boats ride by the restaurant! If you are lucky enough to get a riverside table, you can see the people and wave. It’s this immersive theming and ties to Walt Disney himself that makes the restaurant so popular.

The Ambiance

I believe the best part of this restaurant is the ambiance. It is next level themed to the Louisiana Bayou! You feel like you are dining at night on the bayou. There’s a big tree and balloon lanterns hang above you. Watching the boats on the ride go by adds to the feeling that you are somewhere else. I will also note that there’s something to be said for going into the cool, dark room of this restaurant when it’s hot and sunny outside.

While I didn’t get a riverside table, I still enjoyed the ambiance here. It was a relaxing meal that was much welcomed after running around a theme park that morning. Plus, it was much calmer than a Disneyland character meal.

The Food

I booked this restaurant specifically for lunch (instead of dinner) so that I could get the Monte Cristo. I have a bit of a tradition of enjoying a Monte Cristo during my solo Disneyland trips. Previously, I enjoyed it at Cafe Orleans. So, I didn’t want to give up this tradition and instead was happy to try it at Blue Bayou. I’m happy to say the sandwich tasted the same. Although, I did appreciate a cast member brining me a small plate and dumping the strawberry preserves on it to demonstrate how much easier it is to enjoy versus cramming my sandwich into the tiny container. No one had ever shown me that at Cafe Orleans.

Additionally, instead of the lovely fries that I get at Cafe Orleans, there are other sides here. At Blue Bayou, it comes with truffle potato chips and roasted fruit salad. The chips seemed like regular house-made chips to me. They reminded me of a restaurant back home that makes their own chips. The roasted fruit salad seemed like a regular salad to me too. So, I definitely prefer the fries at Cafe Orleans over these sides.

The real star of this meal was the seasonal Doberge Cake! It had thin layers of pumpkin cake, with caramel buttercream, and chocolate whipped ganache! If you happen to eat here while this cake is available, I highly recommend getting it. It was one of my favorite things I ate on this entire trip! Yummy! The combination of the flavors was the best! I can’t decide if I’m sad it’s seasonal and I won’t get it again or if I’m happy that I won’t have to resist the pull of the cake to eat here again.

Tips for Getting a Reservation

This is probably one of the most popular restaurants at Disneyland and it can be difficult to get a reservation. In fact, I’ve tried on previous trips to get a reservation and came up empty handed. This time, I was able to grab one exactly 60 days out. So, make sure you check right when reservations open up. Also, keep checking back and you can also look into a waiting list on the day you want to dine here. Who knows, you might get lucky!

Is Blue Bayou Restaurant worth it?

I am so glad I was able to finally eat at Blue Bayou Restaurant. It’s a classic for a reason. However, I will probably stick to enjoying my Monte Cristo at Cafe Orleans. It’s cheaper ($26 vs $34) and comes with those tasty fries I haven’t had anywhere else. Although, if that cake is there, that does make it harder to decide. I think this restaurant is perfect for any Disney fans or if you want somewhere more romantic or with an immersive indoor theme to eat. However, you can enjoy some of the same foods elsewhere in the park for cheaper.

Goofy’s Kitchen Halloween Breakfast at Disneyland Review

By Leave a Comment

On my recent visit to Disneyland, I was able to try Goofy’s Kitchen Halloween Breakfast! Here’s a look at that experience!

Goofy's Kitchen Halloween Breakfast

Goofy’s Kitchen Halloween Breakfast

Last year, I was able to do the Fall Brunch at this restaurant. So, this trip, I opted to book a breakfast time slot. Breakfast is a few dollars cheaper ($69 vs $74). Plus, I thought this would give everyone a good idea of the differences between the two meals.

The Characters

Even though I technically ate here last year, I got to see the characters in different costumes! Disney is continuing to use last year’s Halloween costumes at this meal. That’s great for anyone who didn’t visit last year or for anyone (like me) who didn’t get to see everyone in their costumes last year. Once again, I got to meet Goofy, Minnie, Chip, and Dale in last year’s costumes! Unfortunately, I missed out on seeing Pluto.

You get a picture with Goofy when you first arrive and it’s uploaded to your Disney account. Then, you see the other characters during the meal. I had several great interactions with the characters at this meal. In fact, I wore last year’s Disneyland Halloween shirt to this meal, which matched this meal’s vibe and costumes! Minnie actually noticed my shirt and was excited about it!

The Food

As I stated above, I booked a breakfast time slot. However, I have to admit I was a touch disappointed with the food this time. The waffles were as hard as a rock! I tried to cut an ear off and it was almost too hard to cut! The pizza was also tough and hard to cut or bite. I don’t remember what it was called, but there’s also a Mickey shaped egg thing. It tasted ok enough but was also tough. I’m guessing the food was left sitting out too long and got hard/tough.

The dessert spread was plentiful. Although, it’s still odd to me that they serve dessert at breakfast. The beignets/donuts were pretty good. I also liked the cinnamon roll.

Is Goofy’s Kitchen Halloween Breakfast worth it?

At $69, it’s a pretty pricey meal! Personally, given the quality of the food, I was disappointed in this meal. I think from now on I will just stick with brunch as I prefer those types of foods. Plus, it seems like that food might be fresher.

Clarabelle’s Enchanted Halloween Dinner Review

By Leave a Comment

I’ve just returned from another solo trip to Disneyland where I got to experience the new Clarabelle’s Enchanted Halloween Dinner! So, here’s a review of that experience.

Clarabelle's Enchanted Halloween Dinner

Clarabelle’s Enchanted Halloween Dinner

Clarabelle’s Enchanted Halloween Dinner is the newest seasonal character dinner meal at Disneyland Resort. It’s held at Storytellers Cafe at the Grand Californian Hotel during dinner only. During the morning hours right now, you can experience Mickey’s Autumn Adventures Brunch or Breakfast, which I was lucky enough to do last year. You can click that link to read my review of that meal.

I will start by saying that this turned into a really long meal. For whatever reason, they were running behind schedule. I wasn’t seated until 20 minutes after my reservation time. An hour later, I had seen only two characters! It took right at two hours to see everyone! I don’t know that I’ve had a character meal last that long since they are usually pushing you out the door. However, I did notice several people approaching the characters before they came to their table. If you are reading this, please don’t do that. The whole point of a character meal is that the characters come to your table while you are eating.

The Characters

The best part of this meal has to be the special characters! Let’s start with the fact that it’s headliner is Clarabelle Cow! I actually had never met her, so it was exciting to finally meet her. Also, I’m a sucker for Donald. So, I am happy to see Disneyland adding more Donald to the character meals. Daisy, Goofy, and Pluto are also at this meal.

Plus, I loved that the characters are wearing Halloween costumes! It was the perfect way to begin my Halloween trip to Disneyland!

The Food

Given the high price tag for this meal, I appreciated the various food options here. The standout items to me were the lobster ravioli and pumpkin bread pudding. The ravioli was the only thing I went back for for seconds. The salmon was also pretty good as were the mashed potatoes. The apple cider pork chop didn’t have as much of an apple cider flavor as I was hoping for. The chicken was a little dry. The vegetable medley was good but basic. The pumpkin cookie was fine. I actually liked the bat macaron. It features a peanut butter cream that I really liked. The chocolate cake thing was meh for me. A little one note.

Overall, it’s an elevated buffet meal. I think there’s something for everyone at this meal.

Is Clarabelle’s Enchanted Halloween Dinner worth it?

It costs $79 per adult, plus tax and gratuity to eat this meal (Kids are $42). So, it’s a really expensive meal. Plus, this experience ended up running long. So, I think those are important pieces of information to know before declaring this meal worth it or not. Personally, I enjoyed the food and loved meeting the characters in their unique costumes. So, it was worth it for me. However, it’s definitely a budget buster and time suck. I can see other folks determining it’s not worth it.

Goofy’s Kitchen Halloween Brunch at Disneyland Review

By Leave a Comment

Last month, I was able to experience the limited time Goofy’s Kitchen Halloween Brunch character meal at Disneyland Hotel! Here’s a review of that experience to help others decide if this meal is worth the high cost.

Goofy's Kitchen Halloween Brunch

Goofy’s Kitchen Halloween Brunch

Last year, I was lucky enough to visit this character buffet meal at Disneyland Hotel on two occasions. I first visited last year for breakfast and then again in the fall last year for dinner. You can click those links to see what the restaurant is like for regular dining. One of my complaints about last year’s fall trip to Disneyland was that they announced things too late and we missed doing any seasonal special dining. Thankfully, this year my trip was later and I was able to enjoy this one.

The Characters

This is the second year that Disneyland has hosted a special Halloween overlay at this restaurant. Last year, the characters wore their costumes from the previous year (2022). This year they are wearing last year’s (2023) costumes. I don’t know if they plan to continue rotating in the previous year’s costumes or not, but I like that I could finally get a photo with the characters with their special costumes. Last year, I managed to meet only Minnie in her costume. So, I was tickled to meet Chip, Dale, Goofy, Pluto, and Minnie in last year’s costumes!

I only wish they included Donald Duck at Disneyland character meals! Nonetheless, I enjoyed meeting the characters in their special Halloween costumes! They were adorable!

The Food

Having previously enjoyed breakfast here, I was excited to sample the brunch this time. I was happy to find a selection of typical breakfast foods (like Mickey waffles) as well as some more lunch time items. I was very happy to find some butternut squash ravioli! That’s the kind of food I was hoping to have over at Mickey’s Autumn Adventures Brunch. I was equally happy to see a selection of pumpkin and apple desserts here. I wish they had shared some of those treats with the other meal though. Also, many of the desserts had an artificial flavor to them. So, that was a tad disappointing but not overly surprising.

I have to say I was pretty impressed with the overall selection and quality of food available here. There’s something for everyone to enjoy.

Is Goofy’s Kitchen Halloween Brunch worth it?

Priced at $65/adult and $36/child, this is a pricey meal. Plus, they automatically added gratuity to my meal here. So, it’s definitely not a cheap experience. However, it was nice to get some seasonal foods and meet the characters in their Halloween costumes. I think it’s worth it if you have the budget for it and enjoy Halloween.

Mickey’s Autumn Adventures Brunch at Disneyland Review

By Leave a Comment

I’ve just returned from another lovely solo Disneyland trip and this time I got to try the all new Mickey’s Autumn Adventures Brunch at Storytellers Cafe at the Grand Californian Hotel! So, if you are wondering if this pricey meal is worth it or not, keep reading!

Mickey's Autumn Adventures Brunch

Mickey’s Autumn Adventures Brunch

As I stated above, this is an all-new character meal offering at Disneyland. It’s a fall spin on the regular Storytellers Cafe character meal. Having previously done the regular Storytellers Cafe Character Breakfast last year and the Storytellers Cafe Character Brunch, I opted to do the brunch since I preferred that meal over breakfast last time. I also managed to book it on my Disney California Adventure day, since the hotel has its own entrance into the park.

The Characters

I’ll start with a look at the adorable new costumes the characters are wearing! Each one has a fall look that goes perfectly with the theme. I love how over the top with pumpkins Minnie’s outfit is! Mickey’s outfit is also amazing! It felt like the characters were ready to go to a pumpkin patch or apple orchard in their outfits. I liked that Pluto even got a new pumpkin shaped name tag on his collar. Overall, I was impressed with the costumes and it was a great way to kick off the fall season for me!

The Food

Last time I ate breakfast at this restaurant, I missed the additional options that eating brunch brings. So, I decided to return for brunch this time. Previously, when I ate brunch here, I was able to order some additional items from the kitchen in addition to visiting the buffet. This time, that wasn’t the case. Instead, the buffet was filled with both breakfast and lunch items.

Honestly, the food available was very similar to what I had last year at the regular meal. I was disappointed in the lack of seasonal items. Where’s the pumpkin or apple items? It seems like such a missed opportunity to do something special with the autumn theme and instead put out regular foods.

The food itself was fine. I know everyone says the food here is upgraded over Goofy’s Kitchen and it probably is. However, I also noticed a good bit of overlap between restaurants this time. The BBQ chicken tasted just like the BBQ chicken I had at Goofy’s Kitchen last year. Both restaurants had the beignets/donuts too. I enjoyed the fish and vegetables, but they were both available with slight variations at Goofy’s Kitchen this time too.

Overall, the food was fine. Nothing to get too excited over.

Is Mickey’s Autumn Adventures Brunch worth it?

This is a pricey meal. It’s $65/adult and $36/child. If you are looking for some fall foods, I’d say to look elsewhere. However, if you want to see the characters in some unique fall outfits, then this is the perfect meal for you. You are paying for the fall themed outfits here and not so much the food.