The Monte Cristo at Cafe Orleans is one of Disneyland’s most famous dishes. Deep-fried sandwich, meat, cheese, powdered sugar and berry preserves for dipping.
We’ve had the Monte Cristo several times before and LOVED it, so when we returned to Cafe Orleans with our kids, it was one of the dishes we were most excited to order.
🍽️ What Is the Monte Cristo?
The Battered and Fried Monte Cristo is a sweet-and-savory sandwich. The combination of fried bread, meat, cheese, powdered sugar, and preserves makes it a pretty unique Disneyland dining experience, which is why it’s such a popular meal!
And when it’s served hot and fresh, we love it!
⭐ Our Experience
Unfortunately, our most recent Monte Cristo was a big disappointment.
The biggest issue was the temperature.
Our sandwich was barely warm when it arrived. The meat was cool, and the cheese had the texture of cheese that had already melted and then cooled down. The bread also wasn’t warm or particularly crispy—it reminded us more of a cold beignet.
Even the fries that came with it were stale (but we did enjoy the seasoning and the dipping sauce).
What We Did Like
There were still a few things we enjoyed:
- We liked the seasoning on the fries it came with
- The dipping sauce for the fries was good
- The sweet-and-savory combination is still a fun concept
Our biggest takeaway was that the flavors were there, but the execution wasn’t.
💰 Is the Monte Cristo Worth It?
Based on our experience, we wouldn’t order it again right now. And definitely not for $26.00.
That said, we wouldn’t necessarily tell someone to skip it altogether.
We’ve had the Monte Cristo before and it was so much better. And when it’s made well, we absolutely would recommend the hot, freshly cooked sandwich! (pro-tip: it’s also served for lunch at the Blue Bayou, and when we’ve had it there, it was excellent!)
Unfortunately, this time around, ours arrived with temperature and texture issues that really took away from the experience.
Our Rating: ⭐ 2/10
This rating is specifically for our experience on this visit, not a blanket rating of the Monte Cristo at Disneyland.
If you’ve been wanting to try this famous Disneyland sandwich, I’d still understand wanting to give it a shot—just know that our most recent experience didn’t live up to what we remembered.
🏰 Final Thoughts
The Monte Cristo is one of those Disneyland foods is something to try at least once, especially if you’re curious about the sweet-and-savory combination.
Would we order it again? Not based on this visit.
But we’re also not completely writing it off. If we hear that Cafe Orleans is consistently serving it hot and fresh again, we’d be willing to give it another try.
📺 Want to see the full review, including what we ordered and whether we’d go back? Watch my complete Cafe Orleans review on YouTube below.
