Chef Mickey vs. 1900 Park Fare

[Local_Girl]

Hi everyone!

I'm trying to decide between these 2 restaurants for dinner for our family of 4 (me, DH, DS 9 and DD 6). The trip is a surprise for the kids so I can't get their input...I do know that they really like the Pooh characters, though I think they would like the "festive" atmosphere at Chef Mickey that I've read so much about. For what it's worth, we already have the Chef Mickey PS, but I'll change it if we decide on 1900 Park Fare instead. We cannot afford to do both.

After checking out Deb Will's web site to see the buffet offerings, I'm leaning toward Chef Mickey. Is it true that the menus change daily?

I'd appreciate hearing opinions from anyone who has tried one or both of these restaurants--Thank you!!

 

[lovelyk68]

Hi!
We did Chef Mickey last year and the atmosphere was wonderful. It was very lively and party-like. My five-year-old loved it! He said it was the "best vacation ever". That said, my husband and I really didn't care for the food, so I don't know that we will go back. The bill with tip was $100 for the five of us (one was an infant, so she was free) and that is a little steep for food I don't care for.

One thing that I learned from the boards. If you do eat there, make sure to sit in the main dining area and not the section behind the glass. It is so much more fun out in the main area.

 

[weloveminnie]

I would love to have 1900 Park Fare because we're staying at the Grand Floridian.

 

[hallie]

We did Chef Mickeys last time for dinner and loved it!! I've never been to Park Fare but I've read mixed reviews.

 

[poober25]

I would do 1900 Park Faire for a variety of reasons.

1) The food is much better, IMO.
2) The characters at Chef Mickey's are easily seen all the time elsewhere. (except Max and I don't know if he's there every night.) While Pooh and Tigger may be found elsewhere, Eeyore is not found very often and we didn't see Piglet anywhere else. We actually only saw Pooh and Tigger briefly once. But as I said, the Chef Mickey characters we can see really at any park almost all the time.
3) I felt there was more character interaction at Park Faire. My sone got to bounce with Tigger and my daughter (11 mo.) got to sit on Piglet's lap. Chef Mickey's just seemed like sign and pose to me.
4) If your kids really like Mickey and don't care for Pooh characters then I would do Chef Mickey's, otherwise I would do Park Faire. The only other possible plus I could see for Chef's is that they do a picture there in front of the dinner plate, but you have to pay 26.50 to get two 8x10 pics and 2 little magnet pics.

Hope this helps.

 

[MsDisney23]

If it where me I would do Chef Mickey's. We are doing both this trip Chef Mickey's and 1900 Park Fare! Can not wait to try out Park Fare.....

 

[Mom of 5]

We thought the food at 1900 Park Fare was MUCH better than Chef Mickey's. DH says Chef Mickey's was kinda comparable to our local Ryan's buffet (yuck ).

But the characters at Chef Mickey's were great-

 

[A kid at heart]

My vote goes for 1900 hands down! The food is way better and the character intervention is excellent!

The last 3 times that we had gone to chef mickeys, the food was awful and the character intervention was mediocre.

 

[sha_lyn]

CM= cold bland over cooked food, extremely loud, poor service, could be seated up stairs (about 4 or 5 stairs, not fun with kids carrying pates full of food)
1900 PF ... great food, better service (but not wonderful). Calmer setting and no steps.

 

[100%Disney]

We are doing both in Dec. mainly because I want to tour the hotels, and we have to eat sometime. If I get down there and decide to cancel one of them it will be Chef Mickey's bacause I Really want to eat at 1900 PF.

 

[Local_Girl]

Thank you very much everyone, for sharing your experiences and opinions. I'm a little surprised that Chef Mickey didn't fare better (pardon the pun... ). Since my kids really like the Pooh characters, and I'd love to see the Grand Floridian in its holiday finery, and the food at 1900 Park Fare generally gets better reviews...I just may have to get a PS there.

Thanks again for your input!!

 

[Lesley]

We have tried both (though our 1900 experience was pre-Pooh...with Belle, Peter Pan, Capt. Hook, etc....) and prefer Chef Mickeys. We have always had wonderful food there. Our experience at 1900 was not very good. The food on the buffet was fine, but it was all rather boring stuff, the characters barely made it around and the service was non-existant. We have not returned because of this.

Just had to pop in with the dissenting view...though perhaps 1900 has improved! Oh, and the service we've received at CM has always been superb! Great wait staff there.