Chef Mickey's... good or bad??

[foxxxy83]

Hey guys! Like the header suggests, is Chef Mickey's any good or not?? We on DDP on our trip in Oct. Completed ADRs a few weeks ago and got all the ones we wanted.. Tusker House and CRT being the main ones.. booked Chef Mickey's for dinner after returning from Seaworld but am now wondering if I've done right thing?? Read LOADS of FAB reviews before booking it but since have read a LOT of bad ones about service being less than friendly, food being cold and poor quality and characters ignoring people. Am now wondering whether or not to cancel it and book MNSSHP in for that night with room service while we get ready. What would any of you do?? x

 

[joolz1910]

We went to Chef Mickey's before MVMCP and the kids really loved it. The food was so-so but we will be booking a return visit. Twirling those napkins in the air again!

 

[Vixster]

If your not doing the Halloween party I would book That over chef mickey a lot of fun not that I been to chef mickey yet I'm booked for October to on dinning plan and have tickets to the Halloween party

 

[foxxxy83]

Not booked MNSSHP yet but me and DS REALLY enjoyed it when we went so was planning on doing it. There's two days when it would fit into our plans but with the bad reviews I read recently on Tripadvisor, am thinking cancel Chef Mickey's and book it in for then. I know the folks on here are SO clued up on ALL things Disney though so figured best thing to do was ask on here and see what the responses were like before making any definite decision. ALL replies are highly appreciated!

 

[ninamouse]

We did both last October. We LOVED Chef Mickeys and I highly recommend it. Unfortunately we did not enjoy MNSSHP. Despite all the reviews, we just found it so crowded and crazy with the little ones. The parade was ok but not worth the extra cash. Just my opinion though..

 

[deakam]

How old are the kids? We did Chef Mickey's and had a great time. The food was good and we were visited twice by the characters. I don't think I would do it without kids because there are places with better food. That being said we did not have anything that was bad. As far as the Halloween party goes, we did the party after a very early dinner. It was great to get the reactions from staff and characters to the adults in costume. Last year my DS age 23 was dressed as the Beast. We had a 5pm reservation at Be Our Guest. The staff called him the Master and when we went to see the Beast after dinner the interaction with my son was great. We have also found that if you stay until midnight the park really clears out after 10pm. The only meet and greet that still had a stupid long line after 10pm was Jack and Sally. Needless to say, they will be the first ones on our list this year.

 

[foxxxy83]

Will just be me, my mum and DS who will be nearly 8. He LOVES the characters and my mum has never been but is always up for a laugh

 

[scoobydooby]

Hi there. For my kids at that age Sea World and an evening party on the same night would have been too much. It's much more tiring than you imagine. If I were making the massive spend on a party I would arrive as soon as possible for it, eat in that park early and rest and swim prior to the event.

Now onto the question! We have eaten at Chef Mickeys for dinner several times and the food has been pretty much the same every time. Decent buffet. Nothing outstanding but no particular complaints.

Service and character interaction have ranged from outstanding to poor. On Christmas Eve one year it was a zoo in there and we just gave up waiting to see all the characters.

At it's best it is fantastic for character interaction. At it's worst they miss tables out.

In my experience booking the earliest possible dinner service works well. Booking in the last hour of dining does not work well.

That's our experience anyway. YMMV.

 

[brownierose]

My past two experiences have been at posited ends of the spectrum.

In 2012, we went for breakfast abd had 1 dd (she was 3). We went on our departure day and president Obama was visiting mk thst morning do everyone seemed on edge. Dd enjoyed it but the adults bit so much. We were in a smaller room so very noisy. I was a bit disappointed as dd3 was waiting for mickey and when he came over they started a celebration -- he left and never came back -- not the way we would have wanted the trip to end.

Fast forward to 2014, we have dd5 abd dd1 -- went for dinner. We were in the larger room. Food was great ! Characters were very attentive (Donald visited us twice!).

Booking again for October for dinner!

 

[foxxxy83]

OK, that's really informative. Thanks! Can't remember what we did last time but am guessing DTD coz I remember we had an early dinner ADR for Liberty Tree Tavern and we wanted time to dress up and get there (we were staying at Hilton Bonnet Creek) That has to be the busiest two weeks of my life though! We did SO much and yet it seems like nothing compared to how much there is to do over there!

 

[foxxxy83]

My past two experiences have been at posited ends of the spectrum.

In 2012, we went for breakfast abd had 1 dd (she was 3). We went on our departure day and president Obama was visiting mk thst morning do everyone seemed on edge. Dd enjoyed it but the adults bit so much. We were in a smaller room so very noisy. I was a bit disappointed as dd3 was waiting for mickey and when he came over they started a celebration -- he left and never came back -- not the way we would have wanted the trip to end.

Fast forward to 2014, we have dd5 abd dd1 -- went for dinner. We were in the larger room. Food was great ! Characters were very attentive (Donald visited us twice!).

Booking again for October for dinner!

Sorry, last thing I posted was re MNSSHP.. apologies if it didn't seem to make sense in the flow of conversation guys. As for Chef Mickey's, thanks for letting me know both sides. Maybe it's just one of those things that is pure chance.. people are human and if they're stressed etc then may be a bad experience but most Disney experiences on the whole are amazing.

 

[Kath2003]

Out of the Disney character meals we have done, it was the worst. Very noisy, food average, felt very canteen-like. Maybe it's better at dinner?

 

[2Tiggies]

Chef Mickeys is a place I think is worth trying at least once if you have small children or are character fans. But I am not sure I'd pay OOP for it. We had a fairly good experience there but we were seated with a theme park view so we were not in the main dining area which may have been what prevented us from getting the noisy experience others have reported. With that said, character meals generally tend to be noisy. As far as food goes, it was hot, fresh and tasty. I didn't feel the variety was as good as at Cape May or Crystal Palace but it was fine and I am glad a tried it.

Regarding reviews, you will be hard pressed to find a Disney restaurant or resort that doesn't have mixed reviews. Some of it is down to expectation, some down to perception and some perfectly justified. Miles will vary on this.

 

[cliveywolves]

Mmm, torn on this done it twice , but wouldn't do again now.. 1st time was great with characters lots of interaction but 2nd non existent... Also feels rushed like a school canteen when we've done it..

 

[disneyholic family]

we ate there late on a saturday night.
it seemed to be the last seating of the night.

the character interaction was pretty good - and there were people who came around several times to make sure we'd seen all of the characters (and that's despite the fact that we were a table of 6 adults).

the server was quite good.
The food was what one would expect - i think it's supposed to be american food, and that's what it seemed to be.

We had a very good chef the night we were there.
He came out to take the veggies among us around the buffet to point out what we could and couldn't eat.
He was really nice and obviously very proud of their food quality - he said they made everything there from scratch.
He also offered to prepare us something to order, but we were happy with what was available on the buffet.

it's not gourmet, so i wouldn't go there thinking that.
But it was fun. I enjoyed the silly napkins around the head thing.
And all the kids around us seemed to be having a very nice time.
As did we (despite our advanced ages )

 

[2Tiggies]

i think it's supposed to be american food, and that's what it seemed to be.

That made me

 

[disneyholic family]

That made me

well, the most common criticism i hear of the food is that it's bland.
That's sort of a description of average american food - bland.
Not ethnic american, american american - you know - american cheese, burgers, fries.
basically, don't expect boma

 

[clareyfairymouse]

I guess it also depends on how much time you think you will spend at Sea World. Although MNSSHP doesn't technically start until around 6pm (I think) when the park closes, they let people with the party wrist bands in from 4.

When abouts are you going in Sept/Oct? They are long but great fun nights however made harder if you go to the first couple shows or the ones really close to Halloween.

On the Chef Mickey front I've only ever done breakfast & been a few times. Yes, it is a bit noisy but that's what I had expected from working my napkin around my head
The chefs have also been good at giving guidance on special dietary requirements which I thought was really good. We were sat next to a group when we visited last time in November who needed some specific help & the head chef was really attentive which you could see put them at ease.

 

[2Tiggies]

Yes MNSSHP officially starts at 7

Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards

 

[foxxxy83]

I guess it also depends on how much time you think you will spend at Sea World. Although MNSSHP doesn't technically start until around 6pm (I think) when the park closes, they let people with the party wrist bands in from 4.

When abouts are you going in Sept/Oct? They are long but great fun nights however made harder if you go to the first couple shows or the ones really close to Halloween.

On the Chef Mickey front I've only ever done breakfast & been a few times. Yes, it is a bit noisy but that's what I had expected from working my napkin around my head
The chefs have also been good at giving guidance on special dietary requirements which I thought was really good. We were sat next to a group when we visited last time in November who needed some specific help & the head chef was really attentive which you could see put them at ease.

We're there 21-28 Oct and are hitting Seaworld Fri 24 Oct but, if we decide to go down the MNSSHP route, we could do Sun 26 Oct as well if we jiggle things slightly. MNSSHP I think starts at 7.30 but I may have that wrong. It may be 7pm. Last time we did Seaworld, we had seen all we wanted to and done Dine With Shamu then left at half 5. We aren't doing Dine With Shamu this time so figured we would have plenty of time to get back to the hotel and have a chill out while getting changed into our fancy dress.