Chef Mickey's disgusted me

[kckmom]

We've done Chef Mickey's numerous times for breakfast and dinner. We've always preferred their breakfast over their dinner. With the exception of Biergarten, we don't care for any of the Disney dinner buffets (although H&V is the ABSOLUTE worse).

That is too bad, we ate character lunch at H&V, and the food was excellent, fish was delicious and sirloin for DH was tasty. Dessert was great. Maybe it is less busy at lunch time? Then again, that was in 2007, so who knows!

 

[lirija]

We won't do CM for dinner again, either. There wasn't much on the buffet that tasted good...even the Caesar salad was tasteless. I also thought it was dirty in the restaurant.

We didn't care for H&V either...we also had extremely slow service. It is as if they don't have enough wait staff for the number of tables or something.

OT: on this last trip, I noticed a fair amount of servers ask us up-front if we were on the dining plan, and I swear it felt like they modified their service because we said yes. The receipt offers 2 suggested tip amounts based on 18% and 20%. Based on other threads I've read, some people only tip 15%. Why should the DDP cause us to get lesser service? I always tipped 20%, but the 1 time we received stellar service (Le Cellier) I gave the server 25% and she thanked us profusely. She deserved it because she was the 1 server who didn't roll her eyes or say "oh" when I answered "Yes" to the DDP question. I didn't notice this on our first trip last year, so it was odd to notice it this past month...

 

[mickey2000]

 

[Sawyer]

The one time we went it was GROSS! We did the dinner buffet, the food was heinous, the bill was about $1,000, Mickey was RUDE and pushed my camera. CM's is dead-to-me. Glad to hear I'm not missing anything with my boycott.

 

[flamom]

we had breakfast at CM for the first time last month and really enjoyed it. the food was good,we had a nice view being near one of the big windows,all of the characters came around for pictures and autographs,we even arrived early at the podium and were seated right away. i used the bathroom and it was spotless. we also visited the gift shops and the arcade which we enjoyed. i would eat at CM again.

 

[Pirate Me]

I have a dinner at Chef Mickey's booked for the first time. I see that it's hit or miss. I'm pretty hesitant but everyone has their own opinion and tastes. I hope that we come back with a good review!

 

[krs]

We usually go for breakfast at Chef Mickey, alas this year there was nothing available for breakfast at any time during our 2 week trip so we are had to book dinner and the only time I could get was 9.05! My 2 daughters are not that impressed!

Hopefully dinner will be just as nice as breakfast.

 

[arcticdisneylovers]

We've always gone to the character buffets for the "characters" never the food. You can only expect typical mass produced buffet quality food. We always find something to fill up on but we go so we can skip the long character lines in the park. I'd rather get our pictures/authographs in air conditioned "comfort". I also enjoy watching all the interaction at the tables in view. We've always thought the price was worth, if you ignore the food

 

[wendyt_ca]

We did the Chef Mickey's breakfast buffet and thought it was outstanding. We just loved it and are doing it again this trip in Dec.

 

[Pirate Me]

I agree that the breakfast buffet was great. It was one of our favorites of the trip.

 

[dazednconfused]

We dined at Chef Mickey's last Dec. Our reservation was for 9p.m. We were not impressed with the food. Didn't like it, to be honest. But the character interaction was nice. Mickey kissed my hand!! And we saw Pluto and Goofy fighting with Donald and then shoving him out of the kitchen. It was so funny!! So, perhaps we'll try breakfast this time instead. And save our dinners for elsewhere!

 

[Disney owl]

sorry to hear you had a bad time

 

[SlightlyGoofy]

I went to Chef Mickey's in Sept '08 for a friend's wedding reception and was dismayed at the food. Now this is coming from a woman who is on a low carb diet all year long so I am pretty much starving by the time I make it to DW.

I have seen better buffets at Golden Corral and the one thing I went to try, the Oreo dessert, was very disappointing. Nothing sadder than a soggy Oreo.

I had to wait until nearly the middle of the meal to get any drink and then I never got a refill. I was less than delighted to get the bill, was on FD, and learn that I owed the waiter nearly $7 for his 'service'. I only had one plate for him to clear.

Loving the Mouse but think his house needs a bit of an overhaul. The good thing is that it made it easier for me to come home even lighter than when I left.

Slightly Goofy

 

[FlightlessDuck]

Sorry you didn't like it. I've never had bad food at Chef Mickey's, and I've never seen a disgusting bathroom anywhere in Disney World.

 

[SGMCO]

Sounds like our experiance with dinner at CM--that's why I'm not a
Buffet fan.
I saw kids touching things on the buffet and it grossed me out.
I could smell the fish from where we were sitting.
Luckly we were there for free dining--even for that price it was to much.
Plus the bathrooms were located downstairs.
I don't have the stomach to give CM another chance.

 

[SlightlyGoofy]

I have never seen a disgusting bathroom at DW either but I can attest to the fact that they are often not up to previous standards nowadays. IMO guests should do their part in keeping them nicer and especially in this downturn market where cutbacks have had to be made. When I see a piece of trash I pick it up. Just doing my part.

SG

 

[AbbyPan]

Sorry about your experience!

I've gone for both breakfast and dinner and find that Chef Mickey's is always packed. Tons of families, characters stopping at tables, tight spaces in a large open area. It can get pretty loud too. The food has always been OK.

Maybe its just too popular.

 

[Tinkerbellie16]

I'm glad I'm not alone but I did not like Chef Mickey's. Perhaps breakfast is better but dinner was not good. I also was left waiting to be seated while others filed in. Then they have you take a picture with a statue??? Then try to get you to buy it? The food was questionable and looked like an extra large kids buffet. The place was ridiculously noisy and messy. The character interaction was ok with some but other characters were not nice. Well, I kept this all to myself because my kids were so excited to see Pluto. They don't know how much I didn't like it but my husband and I agreed. We ended up eating at a counter service place later!

I wouldn't go there again if I can help it at all. (Here's a plug for Akershus though - it was awesome!!)

 

[islandsnoopy]

We've always gone to the character buffets for the "characters" never the food. You can only expect typical mass produced buffet quality food. We always find something to fill up on but we go so we can skip the long character lines in the park. I'd rather get our pictures/authographs in air conditioned "comfort". I also enjoy watching all the interaction at the tables in view. We've always thought the price was worth, if you ignore the food

We've always gone to CM for the breakfast buffet and it's always been good. It's standard breakfast items and you can't go wrong. I agree with you arcticdisneylovers. It's wonderful to see Mickey and friends without standing in line and with a/c!

 

[Will316]

We went to Chef Mickey's today, and I'll second a lot of opinions already posted here. If you are going for the food, you will definitely be disappointed, it was the worst meal we've had all week. But you shouldn't be going for the food, you are going for the characters. My recommendation would be to go for breakfast so at least you'll be eating later in the day. Go for dinner and you might be going to be hungry. But we saw all and got pictures with all the characters, which was the reason for going. If you come away disappointed, you probably went in with unfair expectations.