Is Chef Mickey's really that bad?

[kels420]

Mickey and Pluto are not at Cape May. Pluto is not at Tusker House. Only Pluto is also at Garden Grill.

True. My apologies- I was thinking primarily Mickey/Minnie

 

[DCDisney]

We've only done dinner there not breakfast but after a number of bad experiences it's on our will NEVER go again list with only 1 other restaurant. It is loud, chaotic, routinely get seated late, servers are indifferent and refills of drinks scarce, food all over the floor and buffet, hot food not hot and cold food not cold, people let their kids run wild way way more than any other character meals. Chefs that deal with allergies way less helpful than other locations. My kids appreciate and enjoy character meals far more if we only do 1 or 2 per trip so they are something special and Chef Mickey's doesn't make the cut.

 

[Rivermonster]

Yikes. Maybe we made a mistake in booking there

 

[MomForFrozenAddicts]

I've been to Chef Mickey twice. Last year and 10 years ago. The first time was not too bad but not great either. CP and CRT were both much better in comparison. Last summer, I went with my 2 daughters and both love the place. It is my least favorite character meals last year(we did 1900, H&V, Akershusx2, and CP) Nothing really stands out to me. Somehow, kids just love Chef Mickey. My older one chose Chef Mickey over 1900 & CP this year. She isn't even into the Fab5!! Well, the most important thing to me is my kids get to have a good time, so Chef Mickey is it.

 

[TJA]

Since I am already doing breakfast at 1900 Park Fare and Ohana's, I didn't want to book another breakfast. I was hoping to do a later dinner at Chef Mickey's on our last day. If I was paying OOP I would definitely not do it based on majority of the negative reviews. I am thinking maybe I should just do it for the kids to experience at least once. Also, since Chef Mickey's will be our last dinner of our vacation, I figured if I leave sick at least my vacation is over. lol

I haven't finished reading this thread, but I say go to Chef Mickeys. Gosh, we love Chef Mickeys! The food isn't great by any means, but we've never thought it was disgusting either. As with any buffet, I find a few things that I love and steer clear from having too many different things that I don't love. It's just so fun for the kids -- the music, the characters, the whole thing.

 

[TJA]

Wow, only a Disney restaurant can get away with serving disgusting food at high prices and still get booked solid. LOL

I was going to say the same thing -- it's a very hard-to-get ADR. Some people must like it LOL (including us).

 

[KEVD]

I know everyone is entitled to their opinions and I'm certainly not criticizing the negative reviews. But I'm just kind of surprised to hear descriptions like "Awful", "Disgusting", "Very Bad". I am not a picky eater nor do I consider myself to have a refined palate. But we do eat out a lot. We go to Chef Mickey's for breakfast every time we visit WDW. We've always found the food to be good. Not "fantastic" but good. It's actually my wife who is the huge Chef Mickey's fan and that's pretty much why it's on our must do list. Personally, I prefer Crystal Palace because of the atmosphere and because it's always such a mellow, pleasant experience. But back to Chef Mickey's... good food, very lively (one could even call it chaotic) and it's cool that they have the classic Disney characters and we enjoy the interaction.

Anyway, that's my two cents.

 

[disneyAndi14]

The food is like a hospital cafeteria, old country buffet, Golden Corral except triple the price, if you are ok with that then do it. The characters are great. We did dinner and would never go again.

 

[lynch34]

Yikes. Maybe we made a mistake in booking there

If its anything other than breakfast - get rid of it ASAP. Awful.

 

[Bella749]

While I agree that breakfast would be the best time to go because how can you really screw up breakfast. I am already going to book 2 breakfasts that only have characters in the morning so can't switch those to dinner. I didn't want to use my credit up on another breakfast. Plus I like being at the parks at rope drop. Even though majority of you said the dinner food at Chef Mickey's is disgusting, you also said your kids loved it and had a great time. My kids won't be young forever so I want them to experience that excitement at Chef Mickey's at least once. I can manage to eat lousy food if it will put a smile on my kids faces! And who knows maybe I will go to dinner there and come back and tell everyone how great the food was and you can all call me crazy! LOL

 

[Disney Sheri]

I was thinking about going to Chef Mickey's for dinner for our upcoming trip, but after reading so many negative reviews I am having second thoughts. Is it really that bad where you wouldn't even eat there if you had free dining?

Been there for both dinner and breakfast. Last time was in 2014 in June for dinner. I would go back but not every trip. It was loud but fun. We were celebrating my daughter's 16th Birthday and that is where she wanted to go. The food was okay. Honestly-it was a better meal for us than Le'Cellier and everyone loves that place.

 

[jenjersnap]

I think that is the right attitude, @Bella749. I eat at a couple places I don't like much because my kids enjoy them and their joy brings me joy so all is well. You know to temper your own expectations, but I hope you do enjoy it!

 

[TempleOT]

We had dinner there last year. We all enjoyed it. The kids were over the moon with the character interaction and my husband really enjoyed the buffet. I found the food to be just fine--not fine dining for sure, but solid dinner type food. We would go again for sure. To each his own!

 

[DCDisney]

I think it really depends on your kids. Mine were happy about going there but would get upset by something every time we ate there besides me being more and more disgusted by the place. They didn't like the food on the floor for sure but maybe other kids don't notice that? They did really notice other kids behaving badly including disrupting our character visits. Not that mine are angels but they are expected to behave in restaurants. We aren't picky eaters at all and love Crystal Palace for breakfast and Trails End for dinner but I do care about things being relatively healthy in terms of food temperature and waste disposal. I don't understand why even many QS places can make homemade mashed potatoes but CM can't. Same with mac and cheese lots of buffets have nicely made mac and cheese and the pre-made stuff but CM just the pre-made stuff. Same for their desserts. It just feels like no one there cares about doing a good job.

 

[HollVoll]

We have breakfast at chef mickeys everytime we vacation. We Love it!

Ditto.

 

[KarmaCat]

My one and only trip to Chef Mickey's was 2012. The food at Chef Mickey's is not the best, not the worst... I kind of enjoyed the high-energy environment, but there is ONE REASON I will not be returning there, and it's not the food:

BIRDS!!!!

Because the Contemporary Resort is open to the outside where the monorail comes into the building, there were a ton of birds hanging out in the ceiling structures at Chef Mickey's. I literally had birds chirping and flapping above me as I tried to eat--and a feather actually floated down onto my table (not into my food, thank goodness, but onto my table nonetheless). It just made me feel like the environment was not clean, and after a while, it started to creep me out in an Alfred Hitchcock sort of way. I kept uncontrollably looking up at the ceiling to see what all the birds were doing up there. I kept worrying that they were going to use the bathroom on me or my food since they were perched right above me; they have to go sometime, right?

Okay, I'm getting the heebie-jeebies just writing this. I must stop now.

Suffice it to say that once at Chef Mickey's was enough for me!!!

 

[The Librarian]

My kids loved it! We went for an early dinner (5ish) in December 2014 (they were 5 and 8 at the time), and were seated when there were plenty of empty tables. We went immediately to the buffet and filled up plates.

I liked the little metal bowls with beef short ribs sitting in some kind of grit (didn't eat much of that part). The meat was delicious. I also ate a few things from the salad bar, and maybe tried a couple of other things. I had 2 partially filled plates, to make sure there was room for dessert, kids ate one plate only (the usual chicken nuggets type of fare, and I throw on some broccoli to make myself feel better, lol). The food had just been put out so it seemed fresh(ish). My kids were in heaven meeting the characters. They also loved the dessert table-mostly the soft serve ice cream.

I do think, as with all buffets, that going early is key. By the time we were leaving, it was very crowded. That being said, I would never go to Chef Mickey's (or any other character meal) "just for the food". You are paying for the experience and the chance to stuff your face if you are so inclined. I feel similarly about the other character meals we have done (Akershus, Crystal Palace, CRT, Garden Grill, Cape May breakfast)

 

[choover2576]

Does anyone know how the dinner compares to Goofy's Kitchen at Disneyland Hotel? The food and character interaction are usually pretty good there. If Chef Mickey's isn't very good, than maybe I won't have to stay up until 3am to get my ADR?!

 

[heehee611]

I recommend Tusker House for the same characters (except Pluto isn't at Tusker House, who my 4 year old loves, so we went to Ohana for breakfast one mornng so we could see him). Haven't done dinner at Chef Mickeys but breakfast was okay. Food isn't great but the characters were. But if you can see the same characters with much better food, why go to Chef Mickeys?

 

[Auntie Peep]

We have given Chef Mick's the third try and to answer your question as concisely as possible YES! It is that bad. Please don't ever make me go back.