REVIEW: Fantasmic! Dining Package at Blue Bayou Leaves a Lot to be Desired

With the return of “Fantasmic!” comes the return of “Fantasmic!” dining packages. We had lunch at Blue Bayou Restaurant as part of a “Fantasmic!” dining package on the first day of the show’s return.

‘Fantasmic!’ Dining Package Details

Blue Bayou Restaurant sign illuminated at night

The Blue Bayou dining package at Disneyland Park is $89 per adult and $35 per child. It includes a multi-course meal at Blue Bayou Restaurant and reserved seating for viewing “Fantasmic!” Guests can choose lunch (starting at 11 a.m.) or dinner (starting at 4 p.m.). It’s available to book online.

Blue Bayou Dining Package Menu

Image of two adult lunch menus from a restaurant called Fantasy, listing starters, entrees, sweet selections, and wine pairings with prices. The menus are placed on a dark granite surface.

The dining package menu features a selection of items from Blue Bayou’s regular menu. It is not the same food that Disney announced originally for the package. Here is what is available on the adult menu:

Starters

  • Chicken Gumbo
  • Heirloom Tomato & Watermelon Salad
  • Strawberry & Pistachio Salad

Entrées

  • Blackened Ribeye & Bourbon Shrimp (additional $10)
  • Sustainable Market Fish
  • Creole Roasted Chicken
  • Pistachio Lemon-Basil Pasta
  • Monte Cristo

Sweet Selections

  • Chocolate Decadence Tart
  • Crème Brûlée Tart
  • Seasonal Sorbet

The meal includes bread service, a starter, an entrée, and a dessert.

We previously reviewed Blue Bayou’s Monte Cristo.

A restaurant menu titled "Kids' Lunch/Dinner." Options include various starters, entrees, sides, and desserts. The price is $35, and it includes allergy and special diet information.

Here is the kids’ menu, which includes one starter, one entrée, two “selections,” and one dessert with DASANI water or low-fat milk:

Starters

  • Vegetable Crudité
  • Cup of Chicken Gumbo

Entrées

  • Roasted Chicken
  • Sautéed Shrimp
  • Whole-Grain Pasta
  • Petite Steak

Selections

  • Market Vegetables
  • Seasonal Fruit
  • Steamed Rice
  • Mashed Potatoes

Desserts

  • Berries
  • Petite Sundae

Drinks

Three drinks on a table: a glass of water with ice, a glass of a light-colored beverage with ice, and a glass of a dark-colored beverage with ice. A lit lamp is in the center.

Though not listed on the menu, each adult meal does include a soft drink.

Bread Service

A menu beside a square white plate with two butter sticks, a cup of red sauce, and a loaf of bread on a granite surface evoking a Blue Bayou dining experience.
A hand holding a piece of bread, broken in half, over a white plate. The bread appears soft and fluffy, almost fantasmic in its texture.

Rating out of 7: 6

Sadly, the bread service ended up being the best part of the main meal. The bread was light and fluffy and had a lot of flavor provided by the rosemary. The butter was salty, but spread nicely. The strawberry jelly was incredible.

Starters

Chicken Gumbo

Tasso ham, andouille sausage, and peppers with steamed rice

A bowl of Chicken Gumbo garnished with white rice and chopped green herbs, placed on a white saucer on a grey speckled table, next to a menu and a glass of water.

Rating out of 7: 5.5

We found this to be the best option of all the starters. The serving is on the small side, but it was incredibly flavorful, with broth that had just the right amount of spice. The ham added a ton of amazing flavor and packed a bit of a punch. Overall, this was quite delicious.

Heirloom Tomato & Watermelon Salad

Greens, agave crema, and pickled watermelon rind & shallot vinaigrette

A fresh salad with cucumber slices, watermelon, arugula, and cheese is served on a white plate at Blue Bayou with a menu and glass in the background.

Rating out of 7: 5

This salad was a little weird, with the watermelon providing an overwhelming flavor. The tomatoes were not the best quality, but, on the plus side, the pickled watermelon rind was delicious and the shallot vinaigrette added a very nice little kick. The portion was decent, especially for a starter, and, despite the fact that it was on the weird side, it was still pretty good.

Strawberry & Pistachio Salad

Toasted quinoa, blue cheese, and purple radish with aged balsamic

A plate of mixed salad with strawberries, radishes, greens, crumbled cheese, and pistachios on a dark tabletop. A fork and napkin rest to the side.

Rating out of 7: 3

If we had to describe this salad in one word, it would be “sandy.” There were too many grainy elements in the salad with the quinoa, pistachio bits, and blue cheese. The balsamic had a nice flavor, but it really couldn’t make up for the distracting texture of the salad itself.

Entrées

Blackened Ribeye & Bourbon Shrimp – additional $10

Mashed potatoes, seasonal vegetables, herbed marrow butter, peppercorn demi and bourbon demi

A plated meal featuring a grilled ribeye topped with herb butter with shrimp, broccolini, and mashed potatoes. It's on a restaurant table at Blue Bayou, with a menu partially visible underneath the plate.

Rating out of 7: 4

This offering is an additional $10 on the already $89 Dining Package. While the steak butter was nice, the steak itself was extremely fatty and not the best quality. The portions that were edible were cooked well, but there was such an exuberant amount of fat. The potatoes were also delicious but certainly not $100 delicious. The peppercorn and bourbon demi was absolutely flavorless. We do think it was an amazing portion size.

Creole Roasted Chicken

Andouille sausage, roasted shrimp, creole rice, and creole sauce

A plated dish featuring grilled shrimp and creole roasted chicken on a bed of seasoned rice, garnished with a fried crispy topping and sitting in a tomato-based sauce with green onions sprinkled on top.

Rating out of 7: 5.5

We thought this was the best entrée of the bunch, but that’s not saying much. The chicken was well cooked, but somewhat bland, and the “creole sauce” was just slightly spicy tomato sauce. The rice was dense and had a weird flavor to it, but it was somehow less disgusting on the other entrées.

Pistachio Lemon-Basil Pasta

Asparagus, squash blossoms, pea tendrils, and cherry tomatoes in a pistachio-basil pesto

A plate of lemon-basil green spaghetti, garnished with yellow squash blossoms and seasoned vegetables with a bread roll to the side.

Rating out of 7: 3

While the pasta and the vegetables were nicely cooked, the flavors of this dish were lacking. The pesto was so bland that we ended up asking for salt and pepper shakers to add some flavor to the pasta.

Desserts

Chocolate Decadence Tart

Dark chocolate-coffee custard with a chocolate cookie crust, topped with a mousse rock and Mickey decoration

A chocolate dessert topped with a white mousse dome and a figure of Mickey Mouse dressed as a wizard, reminiscent of Fantasmic, on a white plate from the Blue Bayou.

Rating out of 7: 7

Surprisingly, the absolute best item from this meal was the Mickey chocolate tart. In fact, it is one of the best items we’ve had at a Disney table service restaurant. It had an amazing dark chocolate flavor. The chocolate syrup topping was crunchy, delicious, and flavorful — all the things you would want from a dessert. The mousse rock was difficult to crack into, but when we did, we discovered it had a raspberry filling. The mousse was fine, but the chocolate tart is the real star of the show.

Overall

A hand holding a wand accessory in front of a store entrance with people walking by, reminiscent of a scene from Blue Bayou.

Rating out of 7: 2

At the end of the meal, we were given a special commemorative light-up swizzle stick with a firefly at the end. Overall, this meal left a lot to be desired. The food was averaged at best, with the only amazing option being a dessert. Though the package gives you guaranteed seating for “Fantasmic!,” we don’t think the offering matches the $90 price tag.

For more Disneyland Resort news and info, follow Disneyland News Today on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. For Disney Parks news worldwide, visit WDWNT.

The post REVIEW: Fantasmic! Dining Package at Blue Bayou Leaves a Lot to be Desired appeared first on WDW News Today.