We had ate at Cafe Orleans twice on our previous trip in January 2017, we really enjoyed it and it was on our must-do again list for this trip. We were planning on just making a normal reservation, but then we heard that they were offering Fantasmic dining packages for a limited time while River Belle Terrace underwent some renovations. We had never watched Fantasmic at Disneyland, we didn’t have time on our first two trips, and it was closed during our third trip, so it was something that was high on our priority list.

We made a reservation for 3pm, which is a bit of an odd time, but we knew we’d be up crazy early for the Avengers 5k that morning and would want to have a shower and a quick nap before heading to the parks, so this way we knew we wouldn’t be too rushed.

Of course, we were still rushed haha, and had to walk very quickly from Tomorrowland in order to get there on time. Cafe Orleans is always busy though, and we did have a bit of a wait – although I believe those with the dining package had less of a wait than those with regular dining reservations. The park was so crowded that day they weren’t even accepting walk-ups.

By the time we were led to our table, we were both hangry – you know, hungry and angry. Our anger was just grumpiness from being awake so early that day and from being hungry. I felt bad, because we were a little short with our server at the beginning of this meal (don’t worry, we talked to her and apologized once we had some food in our stomach haha).

It was difficult to find the options for the three course dining package online due to this being offered temporarily, but we had found one that listed the amazing Pommes Frites as a choice for the appetizer course. When we were handed our menus at the table though, this was not on there, and we weren’t thrilled since we had already decided that’s what we would both be choosing as our first course. Our server told us that had never been an option, ever, but we kept asking why we had seen it online (again, tired, hungry and grumpy – not my finest moment). This entire thing was stupid, since it’s not like those fries are expensive, and we just asked for an order of them anyways and paid for it in addition to our three course meal.

Anyways, this is what the menu looked like that we were given:

For the appetizer portion of the meal, Luke ordered the La Salade de Maison – baby greens, cherry tomatoes, candied pecans and goat cheese with a raspberry vinaigrette.

It’s not a salad I would care for, but Luke really enjoyed it. The greens were clearly really fresh, the candied pecans brought a nice sweet taste and the feta was creamy and delicious. 

I went for their seasonal soup, which was a Chicken Gumbo. I actually didn’t know what gumbo was, and asked our waitress if it had seafood in it. She looked at me like I was a complete moron and repeated very slowly “I just said it was chicken gumbo.” I don’t eat seafood of any kind, so I was worried it would have shrimp or something gross in it, but she assured me that the only meat was chicken.

This was not what I was expecting, but it was really good! I still couldn’t tell you exactly what gumbo is, but I know I liked this one, and would order it again.

Our third appetizer, as mentioned above that we paid for in addition to the dining package were the Pommes Frites – traditional French fried potatoes tossed with garlic, Parmesan and parsley, served with a Cajun Spice Remoulade, $7. We’ve had these from here before and love them, they are on my can’t miss at Disneyland list. The remoulade I could take or leave, I’m not a huge fan, but I love shoestring style fries and the garlic-Parmesan these are coated in is so tasty!

For my entree, I chose the Steak and Potatoes– chef’s choice house-rubbed steak, garlic mashed potatoes and seasonal vegetables served with a beer-molasses sauce

This was so good! I didn’t eat the Brussel Sprouts, because those things are nasty (but Luke ate them and thought they were great), but I enjoyed the carrots and broccoli. I was worried about the sauce (I’m not a fan of beer or molasses), but this was great! I had requested a well-done steak, so I’m not sure if it’s always chopped up into smaller pieces or if that was the Chef’s way of ensuring it was fully cooked, but I didn’t care. This was cooked the way I like my steak – not bleeding on my plate, but not tough and dry and chewy. I’m not an expert on steak (despite living in Alberta), but I do know this wasn’t a super fancy, expensive cut – but again, I didn’t care and I really enjoyed it. Potatoes are one of my favourite foods, and these didn’t disappoint- nice and garlicky and creamy.

For his entree, Luke decided on the Bourbon Street Chicken – honey-kissed Chicken with Hoppin’ John, seasonal vegetables and bourbon sauce

Neither one of us knew exactly what he was going to get – what does honey-kissed mean? What the heck is Hoppin’ John? What will Bourbon sauce taste like?

Luke thought this was delicious – I had a piece of the chicken and I agreed. I might have also stole that carrot off his plate haha. It turns out Hoppin’ John is the type of rice this was served with, which Luke loved. 

There were two options for dessert so we decided to get one of each and share.

I went for the Maleficent Dragon – crunchy milk chocolate base and special dark chocolate-blackberry ganache centre with caramel mousse and orange-vanilla sauce

I’m not a huge blackberry fan, but I took my first bite of this and really enjoyed it. I took another bite, this time from more inside, and was really surprised when strong heat hit my mouth.

Apparently, there was cayenne pepper in the chocolate part at the bottom. It wasn’t mentioned in the description, but it’s also a dessert paying homage to a fire-breathing dragon – so it totally makes sense. I was examining it, trying to figure out which part the spiciness was coming from when our waitress walked over, and she looked mortified – she kept asking if everything was ok, and if I had found something in my dessert – I think she was scared I had found a hair or something in it. She laughed once I explained that I just wasn’t expecting the heat. I’m a bit of a wimp with spice, but cayenne pepper just works so well with chocolate that I really enjoyed this.

Luke went for the other dessert option, and ordered the Coconut Cake – layers of toasted coconut, vanilla cake and coconut cream garnished with Mardi-Gras-inspired toasted coconut flakes, caramel and raspberry sauces

Luke told me afterwards that he wasn’t really excited about ordering this, but it ended up being so much better than he thought it would be, and he really liked it. I stole a few bites, and I agreed. You have to like coconut, but if you’re a fan then you will like this. The cake was light and fluffy, the coconut was toasted so it added a nice crunchiness, and the raspberry sauce complimented everything so well. I would consider ordering this again for sure.

Also included with our Fantasmic dining package was a drink (all of Disneyland is alcohol free, and this restaurant is included in that). We both had the Mint Julep – which had changed a bit since our January trip, but was still delicious. I didn’t keep track of how many, but we both had multiple refills of these.

The cost for the Fantasmic dining package was $45 each, plus the $7 for the Pommes Frites. I used my Annual Pass to save 15%, so our total bill came to $88.84 after tax. Everything we ordered is on the regular menu with the exception of the Maleficent dessert, but I figure the reserved section for Fantasmic cost us about $10 total – which is a great deal. The view from our section was fantastic, and we didn’t have to stake out a spot hours in advance. The show is phenomenal there,  and I was so glad we did this dining package. I’m sad that the package was only a limited time thing at Cafe Orleans, but we will be back at this restaurant, possibly to eat the exact same items we had on this trip haha.