Chef Mickey's Honest Opinions

[Shanti]

I consider myself a Disney veteran, however we've never been to Chef Mickey's. In October we will be staying at CR, so I feel like now is the time since we will be right there. I've heard many mixed reviews. Is one meal better than another? Should we just skip it and go to The Wave? My boys are 6 and 8. Right now, I'm leaning towards breakfast but I would love to hear about others recent experiences. TIA!

Chef Mickey's will be a perfect breakfast for you and your boys. If you want to do it pre-MK opening, you can get a ressie for 7am if you book early (booking an opening-time ressie also means you won't have a wait), eat a leisurely breakfast, then walk to MK & be there by 8:30, in plenty of time to see the MK Welcome Show (on days the park opens at 9am).

We have certainly never found CM to be "icky", as one poster claimed (and we regularly eat at expensive restaurants at home). Foodwise it is no different than eating at any other WDW buffet- basic breakfast foods with so many options that everyone will go away satisfied. If you're concerned about eating at a buffet, I again recommend an early morning reservation, as the buffet will be at its very best, as everything's just been brought out. I don't care for any buffets at dinner, so we've only experienced breakfast here, and that is the meal I recommend.

The characters are great- you'll get to meet the Fab Five. Such a time-saver over doing it in the park, and you won't have to wait in line. The characters come to you! The restaurant has big windows so lots of sunlight gets in- another reason we enjoy visiting in the morning. It has that "good morning sunshine" happy mood. Reserve early and enjoy!

 

[Jadyreen1282]

The only issue we had with breakfast was with the adr. The line to the podium was 20 minutes theb another 20 to the table. In all about 30 minutes past ADR. We will go back. They had grits.

 

[RachaelA]

We've eaten there plenty of times (all dinner except 1 breakfast) and have had no issues. We did prefer the breakfast though over dinner.

 

[PrincessCrazy]

looks like most people are saying no to Chef Mickey where would you recommend for breakfast. We are on the dining plan and we do have breakfast at Akershus schedule already. Staying at POP. Doesn't have to be breakfast. We are doing each park while there. Right now we have Akershus for breakfast. Hollywood and Vine for dinner and Garden Grill schedule ( this one is DD favorite) I am opening to ideas. Going in August if that makes a difference

 

[VillainFavs]

If you're looking for a character breakfast, Tusker House is good. Lots of the same characters as CM, but food, atmosphere, service are all much better!

 

[Micca]

We were impressed with Tusker House. The food was good and they were great with my kids allergies.

Tusker House IS terrific! Chef Mickey's pales in comparison.

 

[BigAlsGal]

I HATE buffets. Like all buffets. They are so gross. I've seen kids and adults alike doing gross things. (Licking their fingers then grabbing buffet utensils). It really makes me wanna smack people then puke!

All that aside I consider chef mickeys my kick off the fun dinner! I try to put aside all the grodyness and just eat and take in the atmosphere. The food is decent. The atmosphere is chaotic. It's just what I want though. That feeling of IM AT DISNEY!!!!

 

[wulfgeat]

We have been once. We had a really good time. We had almost no wait. There were no problems with the food. The interactions with the characters were fine. It is on our list to do again when we go back. We did go the week after Thanksgiving, so the crowds were smaller. That may have made a difference.

 

[disny_luvr]

We go to Chef Mickey's every trip and have never, ever had a bad meal. We don't find it dirty, the character interaction is great and we think the food is just like any other buffet food on property. I know CM gets mixed reviews on here, but we seriously enjoy it every time. We have a reservation again for this June and are looking forward to it.

 

[MouseEars4Ever]

I'm with the crew that says "eh" to Chef Mickey's. BLT is our home base so we have eaten there many times (only for dinner on an AK day) and the best thing it has going for it is that it's a great way to meet characters without a FP or wait. I put it on par with Hollywood & Vine at HS. Tusker House at AK is by far our favorite "Fab 5" dining experience. Better variety of food options and the drinks are always a plus!

 

[mkla2015]

Chef Mickey's is ok... Its your typical mediocre buffet- nothing fantastic but nothing terrible either. I'd definitely pick breakfast over dinner. It is very chaotic and loud- kids running all over the place. It comes with a hefty price tag too if you're paying OOP.

As some others have mentioned, Tusker House is much MUCH better- it's a must do for us each trip now.

 

[pezaddict231]

We've eaten at Chef Mickey's for dinner twice, and have breakfast plans for our upcoming trip. I went in having low expectations and I was pleasantly surprised. It's not gourmet but the food has always been fresh and good. My DD loves it and actually eats. The characters are a little more rushed than other places. My all time favorite is Tusker House breakfast.

 

[DWillowBay]

We love it and don't know what the negative reviews are about. I will say that it can get loud, but.... we like the food, love the characters and, personally, I love the Contemporary!! I disagree that it is 'filthy', but on any given day that may be true. It has never been our experience.

 

[skuttle]

We went several years ago when my oldest DS12 was much younger, and before the dining plan ruined dining at WDW. We now have two more DS (3 and 5) and are staying at the Contemporary for our next trip. Since we will be right there, we are giving Chef Mickey's a try despite the bad reviews. I figure breakfast will be good enough, and the boys will enjoy it. We are staying in the tower so they will see/hear it every day. I figure we should check it out. My biggest issue is having to pay the adult price for my 12 yo that does NOT eat adult portions!

 

[pens4821]

Been to Disney 4 times and it's a must do for dinner for us. No, the food isn't gourmet, but we enjoy it. Salmon, ribs, and this last time an eggplant parm are our favorites, but don't think I've ever had anything I couldn't eat. My nephew loved the spicy tuna rolls.

We've eaten at dinner open and towards 7 and never felt that it was dirty. Also don't feel as if the food has been sitting out long, they always seem to be replenishing.

Is it expensive and loud? You bet it is! But it's the atmosphere we love (probably the only restaurant I'm ok with it) Kids are having fun, characters all around, and just has a great feel to it.

We did tusker house for lunch last time to see what it was like. Yeah, it wasn't as loud or expensive, but we didn't feel it was nearly as fun. The food also to us wasn't better. Many more selections, but felt that it was the same quality as chefs (some good, some bland, nothing horrible). Not that we would avoid it, but our buffet meal is still going to be chefs.

 

[conandrob240]

I think the breakfast is actually quite good. Dinner is just so- so.

 

[98cpTyphoonGuard]

I don't care for buffets. However, we ate breakfast there two years ago and our party of 7 were all very pleased. My 4 year old nephew loved it and got to see and get his picture taken with each of the Fab 5. We plan to have breakfast there again this November.

 

[Nancyg56]

We like Chef Mickey's. FOr several years CM was our Disney Kickoff meal, and we never were disappointed. WE were dropped right into Disney Magic! Well las August we took the little girls on our street and as I was plannign I went back and forth, should we? My DD said YES!!!!!!!! Chef Mickey is DIsney!!!!!! Holy Fun!!! The food was good. The buffet was clean. The service was excellent. ANd the Character interaction was wonderful.

I think that no matter which restaurant you are thinking about, you will need to decide for yourself.

 

[goofy4prez]

Chef Mickey (breakfast) from my experience was the most miserable and pathetic TS experience I have ever encountered at WDW. The characters were fun but from there it goes down hill and down hill fast. The service was terrible. It took us over 20 minutes for our server to refill our drinks. Several times acknowledging us and saying she will be right back. I finally got up went to the front desk and asked for a manager. The food stations were unkept, unreplenished and extremely messy. In addition there were far too many young children well under 8 years old getting their own food (parent fault) hacking and coughing at the buffet, picking their noses and etc and then handling the utensils and spilling food into the other food. But how was the food? I wish it was at least institutional cafeteria quality, but it was horrible. CM makes Golden Corral look like a 5 star restaurant. Based off of breakfast there is no way I'm willing to try this place for dinner. Never again for me.

OP, you asked about the Wave. I would say yes to going there. I was very impressed with the Wave when we had breakfast there last year. We ended up getting a last minute ADR for there and loved the buffet. In fact I liked it so much I booked another ADR with the restaurant for our departure day breakfast. A completely different experience than the chaos and slop at CM.

 

[Nancyg56]

Chef Mickey (breakfast) from my experience was the most miserable and pathetic TS experience I have ever encountered at WDW. The characters were fun but from there it goes down hill and down hill fast. The service was terrible. It took us over 20 minutes for our server to refill our drinks. Several times acknowledging us and saying she will be right back. I finally got up went to the front desk and asked for a manager. The food stations were unkept, unreplenished and extremely messy. In addition there were far too many young children well under 8 years old getting their own food (parent fault) hacking and coughing at the buffet, picking their noses and etc and then handling the utensils and spilling food into the other food. But how was the food? I wish it was at least institutional cafeteria quality, but it was horrible. CM makes Golden Corral look like a 5 star restaurant. Based off of breakfast there is no way I'm willing to try this place for dinner. Never again for me.

OP, you asked about the Wave. I would say yes to going there. I was very impressed with the Wave when we had breakfast there last year. We ended up getting a last minute ADR for there and loved the buffet. In fact I liked it so much I booked another ADR with the restaurant for our departure day breakfast. A completely different experience than the chaos and slop at CM.

LOL! Do not hold back, goofy4prez! What do you really think??? LOL!!!!!