Chef Mickey's - Breakfast or Dinner?

[Shellee999]

We want to give Chef Mickey's a try on our summer trip, despite all of the negative reviews I see in my searches. The question is, is the experience/food any better or worse at breakfast vs. dinner? I think I would prefer for it to be our dinner, in order to make the most of the DDP, but I'm not set on that. Thanks!

 

[ArmyWife7]

We ate breakfast there last week and thought it was one of our best meals. DH is very critical and he really enjoyed it.

 

[ADisneyQueen]

We had dinner there 2x and a brunch on New Years Day. Both were good, but we preferred the dinner. We just eat a bigger dinner,too, and wanted to get our money's worth. My kids were more hungry at the end of the day from walking around.

 

[Johnny_B]

I always thought CM for dinner was terrible but the breakfast is WONDERFUL! Love the cheesy potatoes and cheese blintzes! Can you tell I like cheese?

We had dinner there 2x and a brunch on New Years Day. Both were good, but we preferred the dinner. We just eat a bigger dinner,too, and wanted to get our money's worth. My kids were more hungry at the end of the day from walking around.

 

[mmorris72]

We have eaten dinner there twice and will NOT be eating dinner there again. We did not care for it. There is NOT a big selection of food. We will stick with breakfast.

 

[buckeev]

We ate there once at Halloween and twice during Christmas break and we were pleased with our meals and our time there. All diners though...(did Cape May and Tusker House for our breakfast character meals...YUMMY!)
The quality was a big improvement over the meals we had there in 2010, and will be going again on next trip!

 

[Julie711]

We have eaten there once this past May for dinner and will be going back. We really enjoyed it, not sure what the negative reviews are about. The food selection was really good and we love character meals!

 

[ppony]

not sure what the negative reviews are about.

You were really lucky then. A TON of negative reviews (of which I had to finally agree with and add to) don't come from nowhere.

 

[Stacy_C]

A TON of negative reviews (of which I had to finally agree with and add to) don't come from nowhere.

But, in general, people are more likely to post about their negative experiences than good ones no matter what the subject matter is. So, it's probably easier to find "A TON" of negative reviews.

I guess we've gotten lucky about 10 times so far because we've had at least that many meals at Chef Mickey's since 2003 and we've loved every single one of them.

 

[ppony]

But, in general, people are more likely to post about their negative experiences than good ones no matter what the subject matter is. So, it's probably easier to find "A TON" of negative reviews.

I guess we've gotten lucky about 10 times so far because we've had at least that many meals at Chef Mickey's since 2003 and we've loved every single one of them.

When I say "ton" too, I mean far more than could be explained away by just posting because you're unhappy. Don't dismiss it so readily. I post far more positives myself than negatives. And I've eaten at CMs far more than 10 times in 18 years. We used to eat there 3-4 times per visit and even ate there when it was in DTD, but the last 2 trips we ate there were the last straws. When I asked my DH if he wanted to try it again his eyes turned to saucers and that was met w/ a resounding NO. If food was that bad at a local eatery, they'd close in a week. No one would eat there. Well, for the price anyway. Ol Country Buffet seems to keep going though it's food is better, CMs entertainment is better . Captive audiences are very forgiving audiences. Thankfully, we refuse to be captive. This from a person that was just craving a hot dog on Sunday night while staying at the BLT and since I couldn't find one anywhere at the resort, I went to the CR shop and paid $10 for Oscar Meyers, buns and mustard. I'm NOT exactly high tone but I'm not paying over a honey-bee anymore for a meal I leave hungry.

*** edit: never mind about the Old Country Buffet comment. They are apparently filing bankruptcy and closing 81 stores. So bad food even at cheap prices DOES eventually catch up.

 

[JustCallMeMommy]

I am surprised that so many people are loving the breakfast. I haven't had dinner there, but I thought breakfast food was absolutely atrocious. I didn't have my expectations set high either - I was expecting a normal breakfast buffet with powdered eggs and cold bacon. It was hands down the worst meal I have had on Disney property (I haven't even had another bad meal - I'm pretty easy to please). The food didn't look appetizing - like it had been out too long - and there were a lot of potato and hash type dishes. DD and DH ended up eating cereal.

I must say though the character interaction was great, and I really considered that to be what I was paying for. I wouldn't return unless I was bringing someone new for the experience, and even then, I would try dinner.

 

[Shellee999]

Thanks for all the responses. I won't be going to CM with high expectations, but DS is 3 and loves the fab 5. So I expect whichever meal I go to, it won't be great, but it won't matter if he loves it.

 

[ppony]

Thanks for all the responses. I won't be going to CM with high expectations, but DS is 3 and loves the fab 5. So I expect whichever meal I go to, it won't be great, but it won't matter if he loves it.

That's good and I really DO hope you have a wonderful time. I LOVE the character meals for the reason you stated. Sometimes paying that $$$$$ is pure and siple about the characters and CMs is teh fab 5 which is why people love to go so much. It's probably different too when it's OOP and points because they are not equal. OOP can make you feel more angry about being "taken" which is probably where my biggest problem is and I apologize to you, the OP for having cluttered up your thread. Honestly, i may even make an ADR one more time w/o telling hubby just to give my non-verbal autistic son who has an unimaginable time waiting in lines around people w/o bothering them immensely, his chance to meet the big cheese whome he ADORES! It may actually be worth the $170 it will cost us.

 

[Ginny Favers]

This is the thing that's got me SO confused about choosing meals at Disney. You get so many people who HATE the place, and then you get a bunch of people who LOVE it to death! Last time I went, I chose the places that I thought had the best reviews, and was disappointed by half of them.

It's so difficult to make a decision based on the experiences of others. And as much as I love hearing about other people's experiences, I've come to the realization that there are far too many factors that go into it that one never can tell if they'll like it unless they just suck it up and go there. My new philosophy is just to choose the places that sound the best for me and my family, and come up with my own opinions.

And therefore I am going to Chef Mickey's for dinner. But those of you who hate it, I won't say you didn't warn me.

 

[DisneyTravelers2008]

Its been a while since we were there.Ok...a verly long while. We had breakfast while there in January 2009. But I thought it was really good. I guess we you pay that much you expect it to be super awesome! For me it is more about character interaction. It was worth every penny for the experience. And I would eat there again for sure.

 

[seawind42]

...we went to CM two years ago for dinner, and it is one of the top memories of our trip. We enjoyed the food (there was a large selection), but I think what makes CM a good choice is the overall experience. The character interaction was fabulous - my daughter was just turning 4 at the time, and all the characters visited her at least once, if not twice. Got lots of great pictures and video. She had a smile on her face the entire time. And think of it this way, even if the food doesn't turn out to be stellar, you still get to visit the Contemporary - so you can watch the monorail go through the hotel, which never gets old; you can visit the gift shops, which are very nice there; and, you can go out on one of the balconies, where you can get a great view of the Magic Kingdom fireworks (which we've done multiple times). All in all, I don't think you can go wrong.

 

[ladyfoundhertramp]

And it was FANTASTIC! First--character interaction (since that's what your really paying for) was great. They were not on top of each other and spent a few minutes at each table.

Now for the food:

There was an assortment of cereals,danishes and doughnuts..the glazed doughnut holes were SO GOOD. There was plenty of fresh fruit as well as granola and yogurt. Some other items were breakfast pizza, hash browns. cinnamon rolls, scrambled eggs, grits, oatmeal, breakfast potatoes, sausage, bacon, biscuits and gravy, breakfast potatoes, salmon and lox/bagels, mickey waffles with various toppings to add, pancakes, crepes, and my personal favorite was a turkey hash (this was outstanding!)

I would HIGHLY recommend breakfast

 

[Johnny_B]

I LOVE potato and hash type dishes, which is probably why I love the breakfast.

I am surprised that so many people are loving the breakfast. I haven't had dinner there, but I thought breakfast food was absolutely atrocious. . . . and there were a lot of potato and hash type dishes.

 

[Tinkerbellah]

both!!

 

[momH2the4th]

We always go to CM for breakfast. We've never done dinner there so I can't comment on it. My family loves the breakfast buffets, which we usually have around 10:00 as we are not early risers, but play late into the night. The breakfast is the perfect way to get us started with lots of energy for our full day in the parks and we can burn it off. We love the character interaction and everything else about CM. I'm sure which ever one you choose will be a good experience for your family!