A Disneyland Park guest claims restaurant staff deliberately mistreated her family for not ordering expensive entrees during her daughter’s 19th birthday celebration. The mother alleges Blue Bayou cast members harassed them until they left, turning what should have been a special occasion into an uncomfortable ordeal.
$27.75 Purchase Not Enough
Reddit user u/PandaMotor visited Blue Bayou on January 21 to celebrate her daughter’s birthday. The pair intentionally kept their order modest, aware of the restaurant’s reputation for mediocre food quality.
“We knew/heard the food wasn’t great there; we were there for the ambience,” the mother explained. “Still, I happily spent 27.75 on coffee, lemonade and an appetizer for the privilege. Lunch/Dinner (was right before 4pm) or dessert wasn’t completely out of the question, but this is what we started with. Apparently this wasn’t good enough to them.”
Bullied & Harassed at Blue Bayou
The guest alleges that Disney cast members treated them poorly for not ordering a full-course meal immediately.
“The waitress, and who I presume was the manager (in a different outfit than the servers), bullied and harassed [us] until we left,” she wrote. “We were there less than an hour, and there were plenty of open tables. We weren’t by the water. We weren’t rude. We just wanted to enjoy the special time and were unable to do so because of harassment by the staff for not ordering full course dinners.”
Service Deteriorates Immediately
Problems began when their server allegedly forgot cream and sugar for the guest’s coffee despite her explicit request. The waitress asked if they were ready to order, received a negative response, then “blatantly ignored” the table until the coffee went cold.
“By the time she brought some, my coffee was cold but I didn’t complain. I drank it and then sat there with an empty cup,” the Disney Park guest recalled.
The server changed when Blue Bayou transitioned from lunch to dinner menu. A manager took over service and asked if they would order dinner entrees.
“My child, clearly starting to get shaken / upset by this point, was still polite and stated that we were fine thank you,” the mother wrote. “…The manager asked us if we were magic key holders, and other strange questions, I didn’t ask why she as asking, I just wanted her to go away as other people were starting to stare at us now.”
Birthday Acknowledgment Becomes Insult
When the guest requested a coffee refill, the original waitress—still serving surrounding tables—spoke up and eventually delivered one refill. Upon delivery, she addressed the daughter in what the mother characterized as a mocking tone.
“She looked at my kid, smirked, and said ‘Oh I meant to say, Haaappy Biirthday, Sorry, we don’t offer free pieces of cake here,'” the Disneyland Resort guest recounted. “I said, ‘We knew that, and we weren’t expecting anything free, thank you.'”
The daughter wanted to leave at this point. The manager reportedly stood near the entrance, staring at their table.
“When I told my kid that we weren’t going to let them bully us and to just ignore all of this and try to enjoy the experience, that maybe the problem wasnt ‘us’, but maybe that word was out that their food wasn’t great and so they were extra aggressive to get people to order – my kid shook her head and said, the manager had been staring at her and if I could see the looks that the looks she is giving her – it feels personal, like she hates us,” the mother explained.
The discomfort became overwhelming: “It was making her so uncomfortable, and she wanted to just leave. So we did.”
So thanks Blue Bayou staff for ruining my child’s birthday celebration and special night for no good reason. I am still stunned and confused that you felt we deserved that treatment,” the Disneyland Park guest concluded.
What do you think about this Disney Park guest’s story from the Blue Bayou restaurant? We would love to hear your opinion in the comments!
It would be nice if everyone was treated up to their own personal expectations, no matter the details; however, that is not the way the world works……everyone does not get a trophy…..everyone is not a winner…..and everyone who wants to go to sit down restaurant to only order a few drinks and an appetizer with no entrees should expect to get full and perfect service. Y’all need to understand the concept of a business, they take care of paying customers, and while you certainly were paying, you spent well less than what would even be considered to be normal for one person. Maybe you do this regularly outside of Disney and that is great, but going forward for any new business you want to visit and get service without paying what would be considered anywhere near normal you might want to ask their policies and JUST ASK…are you cool if we come in take up a table, only order drinks….maybe one appetizer…..are you all COOL WITH THIS and will we get your server’s full attention and service even though you will not be making much of any money from us and the server who is probably getting paid less than half the minimum wage will not be getting much of anything for a tip either. You need to make the terms clear, because when you walk into a sit down restaurant the expectation is you are going to order at least what would be considered normal, they need to understand if you do not get 5-star service for ordering next to nothing you will be roasting them to whoever will listen on the internet. The staff and management should not and probably were not openly hostile to you, it’s just that you had other expectations. Its not fantasyland.