Blue Bayou to Close for Refurbishment in April
As I was trying to get restaurant reservations for a client this morning, I learned that the Blue Bayou is scheduled to close for refurbishment in April.
Blue Bayou, in case you don’t already know, is located in New Orleans Square at Disneyland Park. It features Louisiana-inspired cuisine – my favorites are the Monte Cristo or the jambalaya.
The Blue Bayou is the restaurant you see when you’re on Pirates of the Caribbean.
Image credit: Alan Rappa
Blue Bayou dining reservations
Disneyland, like Walt Disney World, opens dining reservations 60 days before your park visit.
Although Disneyland dining reservations are a little more frustrating than Disney World. At Disney World, if you have a vacation package booked, you can reserve your dining reservations for the length of your visit beginning at 60 days out from travel.
But at Disneyland, you can only make dining reservations exactly 60 days out – so I log in each morning to reserve dining reservations for my clients.
In this case, my client is arriving April 22 and checks out on April 25. Their Disneyland park day is April 24, so I was hoping to get Blue Bayou reservations for them on April 24.
Image Credit: Disney
I began making reservations for their stay two days ago, and today was 60 days from April 24. If they were at Walt Disney World, I would have logged in two days ago and made all their dining reservations for their whole trip that day.
That’s why it’s great for you to work with me – an authorized Disney vacation planner. I’ll get up every day at 6 a.m. to make your dining reservations – so you don’t have to!
Blue Bayou refurbishment
So, when I logged in this morning to book Blue Bayou I realized it would be closed during my client’s stay.
As you can see in this screen grab, they’re accepting reservations at Blue Bayou on April 20. (Not that any are available – I’ll discuss that further down.)
But when I looked for April 21, 22, 23, 24 – I couldn’t select a time.
In tiny font above the times I see the word, “Refurbishment.”
I don’t know how long the restaurant will be closed for refurbishment – April 24 is as far as the dining availability window is open.
Scoring Disneyland dining reservations
Since Disneyland reopened on April 30, 2021, getting a dining reservation has been pretty tough at Disneyland Park, Disney California Adventure and Downtown Disney.
Some restaurants, like Blue Bayou, are exceptionally hard. Others that are difficult are restaurants that offer character dining.
It turns out Disneyland is releasing dining reservations on a rolling basis. So that means they’re releasing only a few tables for each day of availability at 60 days out.
Some restaurant reservations only become available at 45 days out or 30 days out – not that we have any way of knowing.
More tables are added and made available for reservation as you get closer to the date. I understand that’s due to staffing instability. That firms up as the date gets closer.
Many Disneyland restaurants have walk-up waitlists as well – which means you can show up to the restaurant the day you’re in the park and get added to a waitlist.
There’s no guarantee you’ll get a reservation from a walk-up waitlist. The recommendation has been to show up early in the day to get your name on the list.
Mobile ordering
Don’t feel like dealing with Disneyland dining reservations? Try ordering your meals from the Disneyland app. You can choose the window of time when you’d like to eat.
But I’ll say it again – working with me to plan your Disney vacation means I’ll fill you in on all the ins and outs of visiting the parks. I’ll take the stress out of your day so you can focus on having fun!
Didn’t make it to Disney in 2021!? Well we’ve got some fantastic news – Disney packages are currently available to book through the end of 2022! That gives you plenty of time for a magical Disney getaway and I’m here to help.
With new policies and procedures in place during the year ahead, there’s never been a better time to work with an Authorized Disney Vacation Planner who can help you navigate through Disney’s new way of doing things! I’ll be on hand to assist with everything from finding that perfect package and getting the best deals to organizing park passes, Disney Genie+ and dining reservations. Best of all- my services are ABSOLUTELY FREE!
Just fill out my form HERE to get your FREE, no-obligation quote. Alternatively, feel free to reach out at jbannon@mickeytravels.com or follow along on Facebook.
