Need Mickey Character meal but hear Chef Mickey's is awful!

[msminnieears]

We have been to CM's at least 4 times, all for dinner. Yes, I mainly go back because of the characters and the atmosphere. My kids go back because of the characters and the sundae bar. No, the food is not great. It's a buffet and to me most of the buffets at WDW are about the same. But our service has always been good and the buffet has always been clean. Just remember part of the dining experience is the characters or atmosphere at disney.

 

[blondemom]

My kids love the atmosphere in the Contemporary, so we have tried breakfast at Chef Mickey's a few times. We always feel crowded, rushed, and ignored. We don't find the food spectacular at all. I truly find that they try to rush you through your meal to make a table ready for the next guest. I have never felt that way in any other eating establishment on WDW property. The first time, we thought it was an off day, and tried again. Second time, it was the same experience. The last time we went, we were even more rushed. As soon as we would put our fork down, the server would scoop up the plate, even though we were no where near finished. My son went to pick up his napkin and they took away his plate. It was a giant rush. I was told by other guests that the best time to visit Chef Mickey's is late morning so you are one of the last groups to be seated for breakfast (and, therefore, less rushed).

I am an advocate of trying everything once for yourself and making your own opinion. We enjoy dinners at places others frown upon. And, every place is entitled to a bad day or two!!!

 

[MSSANDRA]

We find the food at CM to be ok,not great, but ok and breakfast a little better than ok. We have had GREAT luck with the characters there. We have some amazing pictures from a larger family trip there. Service we find spotty but overall ok.

 

[gtpooh]

I find Chef Mickeys too big -- the characters barely spend any time with you since they need to get around to everyone so quickly. The breakfast at the Beach/Yacht Club has some excellent characters and you got them for more time -- the food is the same everywhere for breakfast from what I can tell....

 

[danielle.st]

Cape May Cafe character breakfast is a much nicer atmosphere, less chaotic feeling and the food is much better IMO. I would only go to CM if there were no other chance to have a meal with Mickey.
Also, as it's come up, I really disliked Garden Grill. I'm not a meat eater really, so that was partly why. Their vegetarian dish was gross. The character interaction was great though.

 

[ibela]

We went for breakfast and thought it was OK at best. Some dishes were terrible (some burnt, some runny, some hard), some were fine. How does a restaurant mess up eggs and pancakes - dunno but they managed. What prevents me from going again is that the characters zip around at lightning speed. I feel like if I hesitate 2 seconds to get my camera out, my turn will be skipped. We have eaten at the CS in Contemporary several times and it always seems chaotic and the characters rushed. Bad food, bad character interaction.

 

[TheRoyalPaynes]

We've always had good luck with CM for breakfast. In fact, it's become a tradition that we HAVE to eat there the first morning of our vacation.

We've had some breakfasts that were better than others but I can't think of anything that was bad enough to complain about. We always get an early ADR so maybe that helps?

We finally at at CP for breakfast on our last trip and thought it was great, too.

After reading this thread, I'm tempted to add Donald's Breakfast Safari to our list in June!

 

[MickeyNicki]

I can honestly tell you that we LOVED Chef Mickeys breakfast! We have been there for dinner and it was disgusting so we were nervous about breakfast but it was just soooo good!

 

[whitney37354]

I'd go to Ohana for breakfast to see Mickey if you want better food, but I enjoyed CM atmosphere. I didn't feel rushed, but the food (dinner) wasn't outstanding.

 

[bradyloganmom]

We do dinner AND breakfast at Chef Mickeys every trip and have always had great food and character interaction!!!

 

[Amandancrx]

You guys are making me nervous! I've had breakfast at CM and thought it was good! Ive never experienced dinner buffet there and am going in a couple weeks for my nephew's birthday... But I guess all that matters is how much fun he has with the characters and spending his actual birthday with Mickey (right? Lol!)

 

[littledreamer7]

We like CM too and do it every trip! It's a breakfast buffet, not the best food in the world but certainly fine and filling. It's loud and fun and keeps the kids entertained. We've never had any problem getting the characters and spending some time with them.

 

[princssdisnygina]

You guys are making me nervous! I've had breakfast at CM and thought it was good! Ive never experienced dinner buffet there and am going in a couple weeks for my nephew's birthday... But I guess all that matters is how much fun he has with the characters and spending his actual birthday with Mickey (right? Lol!)

We love the dinner there. We go every year, it is one of our must-dos! The food is buffet food... IMO I think alot of people expect a gourmet meal and even though its Disney, they cook for the masses at a buffet and I never expected anything phenomenal... to us it is good for a buffet and we love the characters.

However, for breakfast... I much prefer Donald's Breakfast at Animal Kingdom. To me... it is the best buffet breakfast on property! You get Donald (pic outside), Daisy, Mickey and Goofy in their safari outfits! That has become a new must-do!

 

[bnx*disney]

We have reservations with chef Mickey for dinner. All I have heard were good things about the food. We are doing breakfast at the castle and I still wanted the kids to eat with mickey well I hope it will be good.

 

[bangzoom6877]

You guys are making me nervous! I've had breakfast at CM and thought it was good! Ive never experienced dinner buffet there and am going in a couple weeks for my nephew's birthday... But I guess all that matters is how much fun he has with the characters and spending his actual birthday with Mickey (right? Lol!)

I was so nervous about CM dinner too. We went there in July 2010 on our first night, with the whole family, a party of 10 (6 adults, and 4 kids, ages 3, 5, 6, and 9). I was particularly nervous because I made all the dining suggestions for our family for this trip, and this was the first TS meal we had. Everyone loved it, from the food to the character interaction to the service! We had a 5pm ADR, which is the time they open. Maybe that makes a difference because the food was just put out onto the buffet. We all found several foods we each loved. Desserts were also very good. I was pleasantly surprised.


Keep in mind when you read reviews that everyone has different tastes, so even though I loved CM dinner, not everyone does. For example, when I was in the buffet line at Chef Mickey's in July, a guy in line behind me asked me if I saw any french fries on the buffet and I told him I didn't. He was complaining that they should have french fries, and this is a terrible place. Everyone has different priorities and tastes.

 

[DreamLiveLoveDisney]

I love CM. I've only had breakfast there, but I've heard dinner there is good too.
My favorite character meal is Garden Grill. The character interaction is wonderful, and the food is some of the best on Disney property, IMHO.

 

[mjmartin01]

We went to Chef Mickey's for breakfast our last trip and loved it!!! I thought the food was good. We will be going there again on our next trip

 

[MWDisneyFan]

We have dinner at Chef Mickey's every year. We all like the food, dessert station, and characters.

I think it is a good buffet, and have never had any complaints!

 

[AnnetteF]

We are not big fans of buffets in general, so we have always avoided Chef Mickey's since it seems to get a lot of bad reviews, even in comparison to other buffets. I recommend Ohana breakfast or Garden Grill dinner. Both are served family style, and the character interaction at either is wonderful.

 

[danielle.st]

We love the dinner there. We go every year, it is one of our must-dos! The food is buffet food... IMO I think alot of people expect a gourmet meal and even though its Disney, they cook for the masses at a buffet and I never expected anything phenomenal... to us it is good for a buffet and we love the characters.

However, for breakfast... I much prefer Donald's Breakfast at Animal Kingdom. To me... it is the best buffet breakfast on property! You get Donald (pic outside), Daisy, Mickey and Goofy in their safari outfits! That has become a new must-do!

I don't expect gourmet. I've tried almost all of the buffets and disliked this one. I don't understand why people (not just you, others as well) can't just accept that some people may have valid reasons for saying it wasn't good enough for them to go back to or that they just didn't like it.