Chef Mickey, Cape May or Tusker House for Breakfast

[IWannaBeAMousketeer]

I am trying to schedule a meal where we will see the Fab 5 (or most of them, anyway). My first choice was the Donald Breakfastasaurus on our AK day, but we are moving hotels that day and I'm afraid it might be too much to be at an 8am ADR. Instead on our break day, I scheduled Cape May (we will be at the Swan & Dolpin so it will be really easy to get there!) My only hesitation is the absence of Mickey at Cape May. So, I finally found a 9:10 opening at Chef Mickey (also on our break day). Which would you do? I know Chef Mickey is supposed to be THE character meal for the Fab 5, but I have also heard some mixed reviews lately. Plus, we will have to get around a little earlier on the day we are supposed to be resting (not that DDs 8 & 4 will really sleep in!).
Can someone also confirm that Mickey is usually at Tusker House?

I'm leaning towards doing Cape May and Tusker House (we have no evening plans the night before, so I can have us packed up and ready for an early am).

 

[katie111]

We did Cape May on our trip a couple weeks ago & it was my kids favorite meal. The restaurant is really nice and clean & not that big. The food was good. Honestly, my kids are 7 & 8 and they don't really notice that much who is there & who isn't. I'm sure you'll see Mickey at other times on your trip. We did Chef Mickey's for dinner & we were not fans at all. Food was not that good & the place is just so chaotic. We also did Tusker House for breakfast & I thought it was good but not great. The place is huge so we were seated so far away from the buffet. We were in some side room with just 3 tables & it was really cramped so it was hard to get photos with the characters.

 

[latexscooter]

I agree with the PP. Cape May was a fantastic breakfast but when we went earlier this year Mickey was not there - but that may not be the case all the time. However, the food and the character interaction was fabulous. We feel just as good about Tusker House because it has both the characters and good food. Chef Mickey's is one of the only character meals we didn't enjoy and I can't recommend it to anyone. Once upon a time maybe, but not now.

 

[scootch]

We are one of those who love Chef Mickey's. We prefer dinner though, but have always had great character interaction there. I have found late breakfasts at any character meal are great as it is not as rushed. We had one of the last seatings at Epcot's princess breakfast and loved it.

 

[goofy4prez]

I am not a big breakfast eater so my opinion may be a little tainted.. Further my only experience with breakfast at WDW was Cape May back in January 09.

Unlike the pp's I cannot say at all Cape May was fantastic, in my opinion it was far from fantastic (very average) and was what I would call Golden Corral in quality.

First to it's credit, there was a very nice selection of fresh fruits that were very good and fresh. As for food, this was the highlight of the table. From there, everything else is what you would expect from any breakfast buffet for a 1/3 of the cost. My biggest disappointment was for this price there sure could have been a fresh omelet station, even Golden Corral has this. I do get this is Disney and it's going to be more, but give me something for that money other than Mickey, Minnie, or Goofy giving out hugs.

Now, to show that I'm not all negative. I found Cape May to have the best character interaction of any WDW restaurant I have visited. They are very good, not rushed at all, and do get by several times. Cape May should be a model example from which the others strive to equal.

 

[maminnie]

We have done Cape May and have enjoyed it. Mornings can be so hectic at Disney so I would do whatever is easier, closer,and less rushed....everyone will likely enjoy it more.

 

[eyor44]

We have only done Cape May for dinner (wonderful), but have done Tusker House and Chef Mickey's for breakfast a couple times each. Plenty to eat and love the food at both. Yes, we have seen Mickey at Tusker House all three times we have been there.

 

[5Parks]

I would say Chef Mickey because I like buffets.

 

[MickeyNicki]

Cape May is sooo good! I have tons of pics from last month in my Nov 2010 thread

 

[snowdrift7]

Another vote for Cape May - food is delicious (dinner's yummy too), great combination of characters, and you won't feel rushed (although we always go late). It's my kids favorite character breakfast. Enjoy - wherever you go!

 

[WeLoveLilo05]

We have eaten at all 3 for breakfast

Chef Mickey's- the first time it was AWESOME, our DD has a peanut allergy so the chef made her special things, brought her out fruits that were not on the buffet line, he was just amazing. And the food was good. Second time, food was OK, and buffet line seemed a lil dirty. Both times we did not have to wait and the 2nd time we were a large party of 11. We won't do this one again in Aug.

Tusker House- I personally loved it there and we went there 3xs. There's SO much food on the buffet line, everything and anything! I like the characters in their safari gear too and the interaction with the dancing, etc. Another good thing about TH, you can run and get FPs for the safari before you check in, so when you're done you could hop on there. I'd do this again, but family wants to try something new for our Aug trip. O yes and all 3xs Mickey was at TH, unless anything has changed since Aug.

Cape May Cafe- Ok, hold the bashing lol. We did this breakfast on DDs first trip in 08. We went to Epcot and walked all the way back to WS and then to CMC, so by this time we were tired lol. DD was sick with a cold that made her miserable! We waited for no lie a good 30 mins with reservations. DD continued to crank. When we were finally seated there was something NASTY on my spoon, it looked like chocolate that hardened on the whole spoon, and it was a GLOB. The chef here came out and offered to make DD anything she wanted, again b/c of her allergy, but she was just in no mood to even eat that morning, I think I did ask for pancakes though or something. She wanted no interaction with the characters, so with all this I don't really remember the food. I think her being sick and then the whole spoon thing just turned me off. BUT we are going to try this one again in Aug, maybe we just got it on a "bad day". The characters were so cute in their beach gear though! And I think that if I do CMC again maybe I will do it later in the morning, hit Epcot at rope drop, get FP for soarin and ride TT or Nemo if possible and then walk back to CMC.

 

[shawnh199]

We have never done Cape May, but Tusker House was our favorite character breakfast and Chef Mickey's our least favorite (of 6). We won't go back to Chef Mickey unless the girls just beg us to go there. We get to see most of the Chef Mickey characters at the other character meals we do anyway.

We love Tusker for breakfast and lunch (no characters) - it is a must do for all our future Disney trips.

 

[ladeeesquire]

Personally, I thought Chef Mickey's food was pretty bad. The character interaction was good though! We did Tusker House and we all enjoyed it. I've never done cape may so can't speak to that one. But, I can say, I would not make my decision on which restaraunt based on whether or not mickey would be there. Mickey is super accessible in the parks whereas many of the characters are not.

Overall, I don't think you can go wrong with any character meal though, my dd age 3 just loved them!!! couldnt have cared less about the food.

 

[PoohsFan1]

Personally, we love Cape May Cafe....it is a must do restaurant for us. However, since you want to see Mickey that may not be the best choice. Donald's Breakfast Safari does indeed have Mickey plus they have Donald (outside taking photos before you get seated), Goofy, and Daisy. CM is our least favorite character meal but you will indeed see the fab 5, so you may want to stick with that ADR. Good luck.

 

[verticalchaos]

Of the three, I've only eaten at Cape May (did the AK breakfast when it was Restaurantasaurus), but we LOVED it! We all agreed that it was possibly the best breakfast buffet we've had on property.

 

[fenrir58]

We just did Tusker House on our last trip and even though it was pretty busy(the day before Thanksgiving), it was a great experience. Waiter was super-attentive, all the characters were really nice and interactive(we had just sat down and Mickey was at the table past ours, he was about to walk into the next section but the handler stopped him to make sure he got to our table, which was nice so we didn't miss him since it was the end of breakfast). My favorite part was the passion fruit guava juice. We were busy with Mickey the first time she came by so she just dropped two juices at our table. She came back pretty soon after and apologized for leaving juice but she didn't know if we wanted coffee or something else but she didn't want to interrupt and we told her we loved the juice, she must have made no less than 4 trips back to refill our glasses. Also, as a previous poster said, you can grab a fastpass and ride after. It was perfect, we already booked it for our next trip.

I haven't tried the other two places though.