Chef Mickeys in DECLINE

[annie1995]

Now I am really not sure if we should eat there or not?? There has to be someone out there who has eaten there that likes it??!! Anyone??!!

 

[jenks0718]

Please go and try it out for yourself. I honestly liked it a lot. Grant you it was breakfast, but I can hardly think it would be that horrid for dinner. My kids still talk about how much fun we had!

 

[NoelGypsy]

The last time I ate at Chef Mickey's was December 2004. We had a ball. All the characters came around, except Mickey. We got the hostess and said we never saw Mickey and she said I will bring him over to you, and she did
The food was good. We had prime rib, which was good. I have a picture of one of the plates of Prime Rib (email me if you want me to send you a picture, I dont know how to insert it on the Disboards ) There was some fat on the outside of it, but it was tasty and we just cut it off, it is unlimited so you can always go back for more Everything else we ate was very good, we had no complaints. It is typical buffet food, salads, pasta, meat, potatoes, rice,etc. so if you are expecting more this is not the place to go.
We also had ALOT of interaction with the characters ( I also have alot of pictures of the interaction) We had Chip and Dale, Donald by us alot, and Minnie stopped by. And when we were leaving we ran into Goofy on the way out and we were having fun doing jokes about pin trading (He did not like that I had almost all Mickey pins on my lanyard... LOL )
Everytime I have gone to Chef Mickey's it has been good. The only thing is the dessert section is always a mess.
If you have never been there, do try it, it is alot of fun interacting with the characters

 

[annie1995]

Thank you for the positive responses. We are going to keep our ADR's and I will definately post a review when we get back!!

Only 24 days, 13 hours, and 10 long minutes until we are back at POP!!!

 

[WDW1st-timers]

Thank you for the positive responses. We are going to keep our ADR's and I will definately post a review when we get back!!

Only 24 days, 13 hours, and 10 long minutes until we are back at POP!!!

You are going to be at POP when we are. If you see my lime green Mickey head, come over and say hi.

 

[cocodog]

Anyone else have this experience or is it just us?? We used to be big fans and this really was a yucky experience there. I just didn't have a tactful way to tell our waitress that this meal was awful. I really wanted to, but when I looked around and saw that everyone else seemed to be OK with it, I thought I would look like a nit picker or a complainer and I am not. they just have a way at WDW of making any negative experiences seem your own fault.


Lives4Disney

Your recent experince sounds very similar to our experience. My ds was really looking forward to Mickey macaroni. One bite and he gave the 'thumbs down' sign. It was a sign of the whole buffet. NOTHING was good! Even the desserts looked pretty, but were not good. Definitely the worst restaurant I have been to at WDW!

 

[annie1995]

You are going to be at POP when we are. If you see my lime green Mickey head, come over and say hi.

I will look for you! I am dancing right now, can't stand the wait any longer!!

June 2004 Riverside/ POP
September 16-25 POP

 

[Dizneydaz]

We've never been to Chef Mickey's before and now I'm wondering if I should change our dinner ADR to someplace else. I booked it because I heard it was good (food especially). I don't want to waste my TS points if its not up to par. Would you do Chef Mickeys or Park Faire, for dinner?

24 days and counting! POFQ.

 

[WDW1st-timers]

I will look for you! I am dancing right now, can't stand the wait any longer!!

June 2004 Riverside/ POP
September 16-25 POP

We are crossing the ambassador bridge from Windsor....and since you are from Michigan...would you like alittle head start on going. I'm sure we could strap you down to the roof. just kidding. Have a good trip...who's to say...maybe we will see each other at Chef Mickey's.

 

[java]

I posted here how much I hated our Breakfast at Chef Mickeys*after really liking it last time. It was a total bust- bad service bad food bad everything. And unfortunatly I had read here about the napkin twirl and imagine what is flying out of those napkins- and I ran for cover during the twirl.

 

[daisyduck123]

We had a great time at Chef Mickeys this past April...we had an 8:30 seating, good food and great character interaction. Have a great trip!!! I am so jealous!!

 

[triplefigs]

Ok, so I guess the food may not be very good and the place a little "sticky". BUT, how was everyone's character interaction? It looks like CM is the best place to see a lot of non-princess characters at one time. We are planning on eating at CM our first night. Was thinking it would be good to let the kids meet them so we're not chasing all over the parks looking for Mickey.

Thanks for any advice!

 

[Lives4Disney]

TripleFigs - Hi, again! We sat there for over an hour and only saw Goofy and one of the Chipmunks. Donald was there, greeting people as they came in. I was disappointed this time with the character interaction, also. It just wasn't up to it's usual. Very fleeting and only time for pics. We missed out on Mickey, Minnie, and a chipmunk. The characters used to goof around with my girls, torment my son a bit, pose for lots of photos. Not this time.

Chef Mickeys has ALWAYS been a favorite of ours. Been there too many times to count. It is a family Disney tradition for us. My son is now 15 and we started going there when he was just a little guy. That is the only reason I posted this - it was so different and such a surprising disappointment. We had eaten there for dinner & bfast last August, November, February, May, and now this past trip. WE have loved it and thought it was fun until this last dinner.

Of course, go for yourself. Maybe you will have a better experience. I don't know if ours was a fluke as we have been many times and left happy - but this time really turned us off. As I said, we have eaten there for YEARS and always enjoyed the place. Just wanted to post this yucky visit because it was so different from the past.

Regarding the FATTY ham and prime rib, The ham was basically transparent with fat - not just one bite, but it was almost all FAT. The whole slice was gross. My prime rib - and I have had lots of prime rib in the past - was nasty. It was stringy, fatty and greasy. Very different quality from a good slice of prime rib. I know somebody commented about how the fat marbling is a sign of good beef, but this was just overly fatty.

Anyway.....Good luck to you all that will be dining there shortly. I hope it meets your expectations and is better than it was for us.

Lives4Disney

 

[Jackson4]

I am so bummed to read these reviews. DS and I have a ressie for breakfast in Sept. I don't intend on cancelling since we have never been to Chef Mickey's before. I guess the best I can do is give it a try and hope to be pleasantly surprised! As long as the character interaction is good - it will still be worth it, as there are so few character meals without princesses.

We were just at Chef Mickeys for Dinner last week. We really had a great time! The Characters were great & I didn't think the food was bad. I wasn't planning on a gourmet meal or anything, I was more going for the characters, but I was pleasantly surprised by the food. I think after reading everthing i was expecting the worst! I wouldn't cancel your plans. I also heard the Donald Breakfast is pretty good!

 

[WeLubDeeDub]

We just got back and had a great time at CM's. The food was alright, not the best, but certainly not the worst. The kids mac and cheese was pretty good. The only bad thing I had was the prime rib, only cause it came in either rare or well done. I even sarcastically told the carver, "wow, some choices". The mashed potatoes were good, as was the velvet cheesecake (I really can't remember everything I had, but the only thing left on my plate was the prime rib). Our waitress was really nice, and checked on us a few times. She also had to keep up with my rapid drinking habit (pink lemonade--4-5 glasses!), which she did wonderfully.

The character interaction was really good. Our DD was dressed like Minnie, and the characters loved it. Mickey was the only one that was really in and out, although he showed his affection and bashfulness for DD. Goofy stopped by us when we were waiting in the lobby and bowed to her. When Minnie came she pointed out that their dresses matched and posed for about 3 pictures. Chip (I think) was really playful, as he kept on flipping DD's ears down over her eyes. Both Chip and Dale signed DD's autograph book. When Goofy came to our table, he kissed DD and then covered his eyes with his ears to show how smitten he was. He also posed just for me to snap his picture. Upon leaving, Donald was waiting in the lobby. He signed DD's book and posed for pictures.

All in all, we really enjoyed Chef Mickey's. But our expectation was more for the experience rather than the quality of the food (which pretty much applied to our whole trip).

 

[poohguys]

I am getting a little nervous now. We have reservations at CM on Oct. 9th for my DS's 5th birthday. I hope the food is better by then. If enough people complain maybe Disney will see that there are some issues to be looked in to. We ate both breakfast and dinner there in Sept 2003. The food was fine and the character interaction was great. We saw all of them several times. Our server was great at both meals-we never had to ask for refills on our drinks. I hope to hear some good reviews before we go.

 

[tiggersmom2]

I was at Chef Mickey's at the end of May and it was great. I have been when it wasn't so great....I truly believe CM's to be a crap shoot and I lucked out!!!

 

[NMW]

I think in general you are much safer with a character breakfast. I mean, how hard is to mess up bacon? We were planning on doing Chef Mickey for dinner one night when we go in December. I'm changing it to the Kona Cafe or the Concourse Steakhouse-not just because of this thread-just because we'd rather have better food.

 

[jann1033]

The more fat and marbelling the better. Unfatty Prime Rib is a sign it's actually a piece of select grade beef with tenderizer and flavor enhancer in it, which will give it a very high sodium content. Choice grade also has some marbelling but not as much as Prime.


http://www.ams.usda.gov/kidsweb/beefgrades.htm

not a big fan of prime rib but i always thought the streaky,marbled fat ( looks kind of like marble hence the name) melted when you cooked it( from my own experince, nothing scientific) so there might be fat aound the outside but once it's cooked hunks of fat big enough to bite into in the interior isn't marbling . thinking it might not be good meat just fatty meat... nothing like a cold hunk of fat

haven't eaten at CM but it sounds like the "normal" disney experience...some really off days and some on days...(like our Ohana's must have been an off day cause it stunk. ) maybe different chefs? do they actually prepare the food onsite or is it trucked in from someplace else? anyone know how the kitchen(s) at WDW really work????

 

[PixieDust742]

I am a fairly picky eater (well, I'm a vegetarian) who has eaten at Chef Mickey's at least 3 times and liked it. The food isn't too adventurous, of course, but I thought it was good. I can always find plenty to eat there. The parmesan mashed potatoes are my favorite at Chef Mickey's, along with the make your own sundae bar. I also think that it is pretty hit or miss, though I have never had a bad experience there. It is one of the most requested character meals on Disney property and is almost always completely booked far in advance. So please, try Chef Mickey's for yourself and give it a shot. You may just like it. Just don't go in there expecting gourmet California Grill/Boma-caliber food, and understand that it is a very busy restaurant and a very difficult one for characters to work.