Chef Mickey's for dinner?

[stitch34]

How is it? Asking about the food, not the character interaction. We've done breakfast there and enjoyed that, and do a TON of character meals each trip, so am not really concerned which has best character interaction.

For dinner buffets we've done Crystal Palace and 1900 PF - both we LOVE. Hollywood & Vine - eh, wasn't impressed. Can Chef Mickey's be compared to any of these places?

It would be for our first day when we arrive for our August trip and will be super hungry from traveling. Usually do Park Fare of CP first day - just don't want to be disappointed in Chef Mickey's if do that again, as we were disappointed in H&V. Should I just stick with breakfast at CM?


Also... while I'm at it... same question but for our Thanksgiving trip - Park Fare of Chef Mickey's?

 

[JerseyJanice]

We've eaten at Chef Mickey's for dinner every time we've been to Disney since 1999. We have had mostly excellent experiences with the food, the exception being one time (2/08) when it was just good.

I've eaten at Crystal Palace for lunch and dinner, and also had breakfast at 1900 PF. I enjoyed those meals a lot and would rate Chef Mickey as the same calibre.

IMO, you usually can't go wrong with a monorail resort AYCE. We also really enjoy Ohana.

 

[w-family]

We went there for dinner on our last trip, and we all loved it. We have been to 1900 PF and I would also rate it the same.

 

[sharadoc]

We had dinner there in January and have crossed it off the list. Didn't think the selection was that great - lots of casseroles and mushy food. Pastas don't do that well at buffets and there was plenty of pasta, potatoes, cheesy potatoes, potato casserole and chicken and pasta. We actually thought the salad bar was the best part, even the dessert wasn't THAT great to us.

It's very busy and very big. I would be willing to go back for breakfast, but never again for dinner.

 

[ChasPowl]

I would rate CM close to 1900PF and slightly better than CP. I didn't think that CM had any really outstanding selections, while 1900PF had good prime rib and the strawberry soup.

 

[praline3001]

CM .... well I call it the Dumbo of Dining places

The line can get really long and it has one of the slowest turn over rates!

It is GOOD and it is FUN but try and make sure you get first seating and your experience will be MUCH better!

We eat here at least one meal each trip ... when I have that 6pm ADR I know we have an hour wait for a table or close to it

1900 parkfare is good and our fav character meal
Two very different places ~ kind of apples and oranges really. The step sisters have an adlib comedy act and are a hoot to watch. Both have great food as well.

My family always prefers the face characters over the costumed ones ~ but every family is different.

My advice ~ hit CM's but hit it before the 6pm rush

 

[marcyinPA]

The food is not gourmet, but it's good and probably a little above average as far as buffet food goes. They also have a great dessert bar, which is leaps and bounds better than 1900 Park Fare (imho!).

It has always been our first night tradition to eat at CM's, but this is the first trip in about 4 trips that we were not able to get an ADR I was really bummed out, since our first night is my birthday.

 

[hmgray95]

We ate there for the first time last May, and didn't really have a great experience. The service was horrible, no one was making sure that the characters didn't skip any tables, and the food was only so-so. When the characters did come by, they were great (especially Goofy). We did have a late seating, which probably didn't help matters. I will give it a second chance in the future, because I believe you shouldn't judge a place on just one trip, but will probably wait a few years before we go back.

 

[MickeyNicki]

Did it once, characters were awesome food was horrible

 

[ktlm]

We ate there for dinner last week. We thought the salad and desserts were great, but the rest of the food was horrible. It was so bad that my mother in law threw up within a couple of hours of eating it and said she will never go back. The restaurant was disgustingly dirty too. My DH took one look at the floor (both around the buffet and around the tables) and did not want to eat there. We usually aren't that picky either. I would have to say it was the only bad meal we had in our entire week at WDW (again not counting the salad and dessert which if that is all you want to eat it would be a good dinner). Maybe we just hit it on a bad night.

 

[Rachie]

I will never go back to Chef Mickeys for dinner...the food was really bad...it tasted like Ryans or a buffet place that has the food sitting out for several housr!!! The service was only okay. Breakfast was only somewhat better but I think I may skip that too next time !

 

[eyeheartgoofy]

We ate at Chef Mickey's for the first time in April 2009. I was not impressed with the dinner selections at all. Our previous experience with character buffet dinners were 1900 Park Fare in 2008 and Crystal Palace in 2007 ... both Park Fare and CP were far better in terms of selection and quality. I don't know if this had to do with an overall decrease in quality and selection at all character buffets due to budget cuts I've been reading about or what (as our previous experiences were in years past), but our entire party was very disappointed with the food at Chef Mickey's.

As an example, at 1900 Park Fare in 2008, I was able to get a large piece of tender and moist prime rib with fresh cranberry relish. At Chef Mickey's, I got a 1/2 portion of tough, dried out "past it's prime rib" with canned cranberry jelly.

My kids loved the Chef Mickey experience though, so I think we will try breakfast next time (less expensive).