Chef Mickey's dinner, worth the price?

[pixiewytch]

We have never been here before and we recently made a group reservation with some others to go. I'm usually open to just about any place I've never been to before but when I saw $28 a person for a buffet meal, that seemed a little steep to me. I'm not a huge buffet person to begin with. I like good table service and quality vs. quantity when it comes to food, although I do have a sweet tooth so the dessert bar sounds good. I know this is considered a character meal and our son will be with us so maybe it is something he can enjoy.

I'm just wondering exactly what this price includes aside from buffet food. Is the atmosphere nice or is it noisy and crowded like most buffet style restaurants. Do the characters do anything special while you are there? I'm just trying to decide if I really want to pay this much when I'm not much of a buffet person.

[Terk-1]

Tried this for dinner once and never again. It was the worst meal I have ever had on WDW property. The food was nasty :crazy2: and the service was attrocious. :furious: Complete and total waste of money, in my honest opinion. Much better places elsewhere (like O'Hana's) that I would rather spend my $$ at.

[momof2stars]

WOW is it really that bad if so I will be cancelling my reservations. Any other opinions?

[Bunchkin]

We preferred breakfast over dinner. We thought the food at breakfast was tastier!! :teeth:

[KimWDW]

Do the characters do anything special while you are there?

I think every 20 minutes they sing some song and everyone twirls their napkins in the air and sings with the characters. Also, I think Goofy stays at the desert bar and interacts with all the kids when they make their own deserts. I haven't been yet, we're trying it in October. I've heard great things, it's one of the most popular meals.

[lpbm4]

Hmm...I'm curious to hear more reviews now too as we have ADRs for December. Thanks for posting this! :)

[NancyIL]

I have eaten dinner at Chef Mickey's only once, and that was in 2002. The food was ok - but I have no desire to go back. I am going to try the character dinner at 1900 Park Fare in late November. It's $29 for adults and $14 for kids, but the 20% Disney Dining Experience Card will make the price more palatable. If nothing else, seeing the Grand Floridian at holiday time will be more visually pleasing than visiting the Contemporary!

[michelewdw]

I have to say that we still enjoy Chef Mickeys. I have kids that are 8 and 11 and believe it or not they always request to eat there each time we visit. The food is ok but for us it is definitely a great way to kick off your vacation. Maybe it would be better to go for breakfast(its cheaper than dinner) if it is your first time. The character interaction is great (if that is important).

Michele

[jeepgirl30]

CM was the hardest ADR for me to make. CRT was wide open compared to CM. So I'm hoping that is a good sign!

[alacazander]

I've only had the chance to do it once last year for breakfast and we loved it.

Good food. Large buffet area with plenty of choices. Seperate area for kids with kiddy stuff
Good character interaction. Came around several times
Fun atmophere. Bright colors and monorail coming by over head is fun!
Nice servers. Fast friendly
About every 15 minutes or so the waiters broke out into song and asked everyone to wave their napkins in the air. It was fun!

We are going for dinner this year and i've heard the mash potatoes are yummy!

Looking forward to it.

It must be popular because it hasn't been easy to get an adr at a good time!

[gurleym]

I agree the breakfast at Chef Mickey's is much much better. The characters come to each table one at a time which we like. Because you get one on one time. But other than that it is typical buffet. It can get a little noisy. Another option you may want to check on is maybe going to Boma. The price is about the same just no characters. The atmosphere is a little different as well. It is still buffet bit a lot more quiet in our opinion. Completely different atmosphere. Something you may want to check on.

[DVCRSheridan]

Absolutely! Chef Mickey's is still a must for me & it's my favorite place to eat in WDW. The atmosphere is amazing & the food is very good. It is without a doubt one of the best times you'll have during your time in WDW. I absolutely 100% recommend Chef Mickey's for anybody & everybody!!!

[Fast Pass]

Chef Mickey's is a family tradition for us. The dinner used to be good but in the last few years the food has become only average.The service we have received has always been great but alot of fellow Disers have complained of poor service.When we go to Dinner believe me its not for the food,it is for the atmoshpere and the characters.

Last year we went to the breakfast and had a way better time. We had a ressie for the last seating and the place was almost empty. The food was excellent, nice and hot and fresh. The characters were more attentive and the servers more friendly.

I would never go to the dinner again but I would do the breakfast. The price is a bit lower and the experience better.

The price for dinner with characters,no matter where you go, is about the same. An alternative is Park Fare(no Mickey and Friends) but the food for dinner is totally great!

[mumeof3]

We have gone several times thru the years and loved it,We loved the food and charecters at Dinner but we like this kind of stuff and our children were young,we are going again next week but my kids are 10,13 and 17...this time it will be Free wahoo so I can't complain,we had an awful experience at 1900 park and will never go back there even though it was years ago....

[wendy_uk]

We are having dinner there on the 31st August this is my DD's choice for her 12th birthday. I am hoping the bad reports I am reading will be out weighed by a good time for us.

[__disneygirl]

I don't know what it is about Chef Mickey's but the breakfast is excellent and the dinner is far from good. :confused3 I've never had dinner there because out of a maybe hundred reviews, I have heard maybe 2 good ones. I highly recommend it for breakfast, though! :thumbsup2

[Terk-1]

Have had breakfast a few times at CM's and was pleased. Much better food, service & character interaction. Would return for breakfast, but never again for dinner.

[Beachclubmama]

We always eat there the first and last night. My kids are 10,5, and 3 and they love it. :dance3: I would say that overall it is a good time for all of us. The character interaction is wonderful. :banana:
I hope that if you do go you have a great experience. :thumbsup2

[daisyduck123]

I've never had dinner there because out of a maybe hundred reviews, I have heard maybe 2 good ones.



Let me be #3 then. We love Chef Mickey's! :thumbsup2 We eat there twice for dinner every trip. This is my kids favorite character dinner & we always do LTT, 1900 Park Fare, & CP too. I say you've got to try it once!

[Lila95]

We had dinner at CM in 2002. The food was good, not what you find in the upscale restaraunts, but you go to CM for the character interaction. The kids in our group were 1, 3, 6, and 7. They loved it and got tons of attention from the characters. Even the adults enjoyed the songs and activities. It was well worth the money to see the kids have so much fun. If you are looking for great food, try someplace else...if you are looking for decent food but great entertainment, then give CM a try. We enjoyed it and everyone left with full tummies ;)

[LizAgna]

I'm #4 then, we also love Chef Mickey's!! We went there on our arrival day in January and plan to start each trip with dinner there. It's just a great way to counteract a long day of travelling...good food and great characters.

The beef & barley soup is out of this world!!

[vellamint]

I went with a a girlfriend last year and even though I was in quite a cranky mood (possible flight delay home because of poor weather ACK and we really wanted the Concourse Steakhouse but they could not fit us in) I was very, very happy with my meal......and I was NOT in a magical mood let me tell you so if anything I think my impression would be skewed towards NOT liking it.

I am bringing my family there next week AND it is my daughters' (twins) birthday celebration (also 12).....AND I am having my Cousin and his two kids meet us.

I Really, Really liked it and DO remember the mashed potatos being delicious also!!! Isnt that a bizarre thing to remember...lol.

[splashmtnman]

never had the dinner but can highly recommend the breakfast.

[Lets go to disney]

We loved Chef Mickeys. We had great food, great service and a all around good time. We will always go back. It is geared toward children, but still in our opinon worth every penny

[sha_lyn]

Went 1X will never go again
Food was horrble. cold bland, over cooked mush. Dessert table... Well as others said kids were allowed/encouraged to make their own. You could tell. I wouldn't touch the desserts with a 10 ft pole. It looked as if wild animals had been playing in the desserts.

Service was non existant. Saw server 2X. when he took our drink order and when he hovered over the table with the check. Table was never cleared of dirty dishes. Drinks were dropped off while we were at the buffet and were never refilled.

Character interaction was horrible. Aparently the character do not know about the room behind/above the buffet. We watched the character visit the other areas 3 times. Finally another group in our area asked their server why the characters wouldn't visit our room. He made certain they came up to us.

Oh and about the much raved about potatoes..... A Diser from the UK commented that if the wall paper paste served at CM is considered good mashed potatoes in the the US, then no one in the US has ever had good potatoes. I have to agree.

[Cannot_Wait_4Disney]

We liked CM's. The hot food was to temperature as was the cold food, and it was replenished on a timely basis. The carver didn't know how to trim the ends of his beef, but it was a mere couple minute wait for a new roast when it got down to that point. So no real big problem there.
There isn't a lot of variety, but we found two dishes that night to be spectacular. One was a seafood penne, the other a seafood salad. This had seascallops in it an lots of other fish. I got my $30 worth just out of those two. It wasn't the typical mayo dressing you see on them either. The mashed potatos were yummy, but not to die for. We also found a couple not to our liking but there wasn't any real problem with em. They just weren't to our taste. The Ravioli's were bland and the chicken rather mundane. But other nights the chicken is better presented and maybe something else is more mundane. The place was high energy all the way. The Napkin twirl was really fun. The kids were excited but there weren't any misbehaving. The Desert bar was nice. They didn't have the build your own cupcakes or cookies the last time we went. I'm wondering if they cut that out. We thought overall it was worth it.

90% are giving it the thumbs up on all ears. It's one of the hardest gets on the property. They have to be doing something right.

[aubriee]

Count me as one who enjoys dinner at CM. We've ate there twice in the last year (Sept and Jan) and will be trying breakfast there this Sept. At dinner Donald Duck is out front and really takes his time interacting with the kids. He threw one of his famous temper tantrums with my GD, who then proceeded to tell him how bad he was. He ended it by kissing her hand. We got alot of cute pictures. The other characters came around at least twice. We saw Goofy pull an older man out of his chair, then he proceeded to sit next to the man's wife and daughter with his arms around their shoulders motioning for the man to take his picture. Chip and Dale were playing peep eye with little kids. Anyway character interacation was great and food was OK. My eldest son is a VERY picky eater and even he went back for seconds. My GD loves it there and to me the look on her face is worth the $28.00+ it costs.

[gatrbait]

I live in FL, right outside of Orlando, I am a passholder, and if I don't get to Chef Mickey at least once every year life isn't good...I'm 40 and my son 18, we have been going since he was small and love everything about it...I don't do any other buffet (ok maybe Crystal Palace). The interaction is great, the food is yummy, the service very good, and on top of all that and the characters.. you get to see the monorail go thru the contemporary. yes it get's noisey but not so much you can't hear your dinning partner. Go have fun and come back and tell us what a wonderful time you have!!
Micky

[BlueJeansGirl]

We love Chef Mickey's also! I have never eaten dinner there, but do the breakfast every time we visit. My kids are 11 & 4, and love it. The character interaction is fantastic, the food is good, and we have always had excellent service. The last couple times we have gone, we have tried to do several character meals to let the kids get their "fill" of seeing & visiting with the characters more one-on-one in the restaurants, and then we can cut out a lot of waiting in the lines in the parks to see characters. It is pricey, but every time I doubt paying the price, just remember the looks on my kids faces when Minnie comes up to the table to hug them, or dance with them, or "talk" to them about what they are eating for breakfast....priceless!

[Lewisc]

YOU DON'T GO TO CHEF MICKEY'S FOR FOOD. It's a fun restaurant. Great if your kids are in to it. YOU'RE PAYING FOR THE CHARACTERS. The food is generally adequate to mediocre. Probably not much better than lower priced buffet restaurants like Golden Corral.

[Chicago262]

We have gone to Chef Mickey's for both breakfast and dinner and found both to be equally enjoyable. This year the kids voted to go for dinner. The food as well as the atmosphere made this one of our favorite places to eat. Since it is a buffet, there is always something there for everyone to eat as well as try new things.

[mtemm]

YOU DON'T GO TO CHEF MICKEY'S FOR FOOD. It's a fun restaurant. Great if your kids are in to it. YOU'RE PAYING FOR THE CHARACTERS. The food is generally adequate to mediocre. Probably not much better than lower priced buffet restaurants like Golden Corral.

okay, this scares me. I was more than happy to go and pay the price and not expect greatness from the food, but we went to the golden corral once and omg, it was so gross. please tell me its at least slightly better. please. pretty please?

[conandrob240]

We have eaten here a number of times most recently last summer for dinner. We did not like the food for dinner at all. The breakfast food was great- dinner pretty bad. The atmosphere was better for breakfast too- more relaxed and better service. We love gong here though- the little show is very cute and my nephew still talks about the mini-Mickey waffles.

[vatchr]

We were at CM for dinner and breakfast in June and we loved it! We will definitely be going back for both meals! There were six of us, 4 adults and 2 girls (4 and 6). All of the adults enjoyed the dinner buffet and found things to eat and then even go back for seconds. THe girls loved the kiddy section of the buffet and found lots to eat there. Our service was fantastic (and we were there at 6:15 pm on a Sunday) - our server was very friendly, constantly refilling our drinks and clearing away dirty dishes. She even offered us the specialty drinks that we weren't aware of being offered with the dining plan. The girls loved the flashing ice cubes! The character interaction was the highlight - it was loud and the atmosphere was great. If you don't want a lot of kids, and a lot of noise, then it's probably not a good choice for you. If you want lots of interaction with mickey, minnie, goofy, chip and dale (2 or 3 times each) and a good buffet (not the best, but still very good!) then do it and go with an open mind and have fun! We did and I can't wait to go back again!

[ryley26]

We love CM for breakfast. ITs kind of hard to mess up breakfast food. It over priced as is everything but your paying for the atmosphere and chacaters. WEe go every visit and love it so do the kids getting ther pics with characters.

[english rose 47]

If P.H. is off DDP then Chef Mickey is my next choice. We are definately buffet people so should be ok. The kids will like the characters fo sure.

[Noelle]

okay, this scares me. I was more than happy to go and pay the price and not expect greatness from the food, but we went to the golden corral once and omg, it was so gross. please tell me its at least slightly better. please. pretty please?

I'm scared too! The last time I ate at Chef Mickeys was for breakfast 14 years ago. We've been to many characters meals over the years and to a certain extent I know we are not there entirely for the food. But I don't want to spend tons of money on a meal we can't eat. Do you think I'd be better off going to the Crystal Palace?

[LoriNSC]

We had dinner there in July on our 1st night. We didn't like the food at all. Character interaction was great. My friend & her family however liked it. I won't be doing the dinner again. It was our 1st Chef Mickey's visit & it wasn't a good impression. We may try breakfast next year. :confused3

[Tam1067]

We have eaten there twice, both for dinner, the first time in 2003 and most recently this July. DH likes the food there more than I do, but really it's certainly decent food. Since it is a buffet, I think you lose a little quality when compared to a non-buffet restaurant, but overall, we enjoyed it. Plus, having Mickey and pals come to your table is just so much fun. The place is, as others have noted, loud and silly. Remember that yes you are paying for the food, but you're also paying that $28.99 for the entertainment. In our case that meant quite a bit of personal interaction with Mickey, Goofy, Chip, Dale, Minnie, and Donald.

[Cannot_Wait_4Disney]

okay, this scares me. I was more than happy to go and pay the price and not expect greatness from the food, but we went to the golden corral once and omg, it was so gross. please tell me its at least slightly better. please. pretty please?

Lewis must have one heck of a Golden Corral in his town. Ours isn't even close.

Originally Posted by Lewisc
YOU DON'T GO TO CHEF MICKEY'S FOR FOOD. It's a fun restaurant. Great if your kids are in to it. YOU'RE PAYING FOR THE CHARACTERS. The food is generally adequate to mediocre. Probably not much better than lower priced buffet restaurants like Golden Corral.

[Lewisc]

okay, this scares me. I was more than happy to go and pay the price and not expect greatness from the food, but we went to the golden corral once and omg, it was so gross. please tell me its at least slightly better. please. pretty please?

Ok the food is slightly better than the Golden Corral. :)

I won't go back to the Golden Corral. I'd go back to Chef Mickey's only if I was going with kids who would enjoy the character interaction.

Let's put it this way, Chef Mickey's is something like 3X the price of Golden Corral. The food isn't twice as good, maybe 10% better.

[cocodog]

We have never been here before and we recently made a group reservation with some others to go. I'm usually open to just about any place I've never been to before but when I saw $28 a person for a buffet meal, that seemed a little steep to me. I'm not a huge buffet person to begin with. I like good table service and quality vs. quantity when it comes to food, although I do have a sweet tooth so the dessert bar sounds good. I know this is considered a character meal and our son will be with us so maybe it is something he can enjoy.

I'm just wondering exactly what this price includes aside from buffet food. Is the atmosphere nice or is it noisy and crowded like most buffet style restaurants. Do the characters do anything special while you are there? I'm just trying to decide if I really want to pay this much when I'm not much of a buffet person.

Chef Mickey's dinner was a huge disappointment and waste of money. So much better available elsewhere !

[sha_lyn]

Well be are buffet people Like Golden Coral, the local chinese buffet etc. However as I said before I won't be eating at CM's again. The "hot" food was so luke warm I'm shocked we didn't get sick. then again we barely ate.
People keep saying you are paying for the "show" not the food. well hope and pray you never get stuck in a section that the characters ignore. It's hard to explain to a 2 1/2 yr old why minnie keeps visiting the tables below you, but won't come up to see you.

[T-i-double-g-err]

Put me in the positive category. We started our trip in January with dinner at CM. We had an ADR right at opening, and DW slipped my b-day onto the ADR when I wasn't looking. The food was generally good but not "I've died and gone to heaven." However, the character interaction was superb. Mickey came over to wish me a happy b-day and conducted the kids in singing happy b-day. Chip coaxed DS into his first character interactions. Goofy visited 4 or 5 time with a running gag with DM with napkins magically disappearing and reappearing using the wall behind us for cover. The evening definitely put in the right mood for the rest of the trip.

[disneyfreakjackie]

We have never been here before and we recently made a group reservation with some others to go. I'm usually open to just about any place I've never been to before but when I saw $28 a person for a buffet meal, that seemed a little steep to me.
We do Chef Mickey's for our arrival day dinner every trip (there are SIX of us! FIVE are considered adults and pay the adult price) ... this year it will be "free" because of free DDP being offered during our trip. YEAH!!!

If there were no free dining, we go and pay because it's GREAT!!! :banana:

[conandrob240]

I think the food at Crystal Palace (lunch) is very good. Fresh and very tasty- they have rainbow bread for the kids which our nephew loved and the adult food was good quality. Breakfast at Chef Mickey's is good- like someone else said- hard to mess up breakfast food. Dinner at chef mickeys not so good.It wasn't inedible but it wasn't something you'd go back for seconds of. Even the little one did not like it.