Chef Mickeys in DECLINE

[OurDogCisco]

We ate at Chef Mickey's back in 2002 and we didn't love it. It was just okay to us. However, I think, it is one of those restaurants that you either love or hate. I know, a good DIS friend loves it. So, I really don't think you'll know until you try it. Now, I did feel this restaurant had the best character interaction I've ever seen at WDW. But, my favorite character interaction restaurant is Goofy's Kitchen in Los Angeles. JMHO....

Tina

 

[disneyfan67]

I've ate at Chef Mickey's at least three times since 2002 and while it's fun for the kids I have no desire to go back. The last time I was there was this past May because my sister who had never been there before, wanted to try it. It was ok but it was like an science experiment in chaos theory with all of the kids running around yelling. Don't get me wrong it's fun to do it the first time but loses it's appeal if you do it more than twice. I found other places to eat in WDW that makes me want to go back to them instead. The food at Chef Mickey's is ok but nothing to rave about, IMO.

Ohana's, Boma's, Cindy's castle in MK, etc are some excellent places to eat and Ohana's is my favorite. Boma is most interesting and I've never ate a place like that before.

 

[DeeCeeSW]

The food at CM is mediocre at best; we go mainly to please our ds and to get ourselves into a "Disney mood" by spending time with Mickey and friends. We usually eat at CM on our first night as most of the day is spent traveling and it makes little sense to go to the parks. This also limits where we can eat, and since 1900 Park Fare at GF no longer has a Pooh meal, we're basically left with CM. So if you go, do it for the atmosphere, and don't expect much regarding the food. I tend to stick to the peel and eat shrimp, seafood salad and the kids' chicken strips. Dessert is always good. Not worth $25, I know, but sometimes we have to make sacrifices for our little ones, LOL.

 

[lacy1101]

This has become a first-night tradition for my family as well. Granted, we just started the tradition on our last trip in 2002, but we enjoyed it so much, we decided to keep going. The atmosphere was wonderful, the food was very good IMO, the CMs and characters attentive - basically, it just got our trip off to a good start.

I, too, am sorry the OP had such a bad experience. Nothing can spoil the magic quite as fast as a gross dining experience. For the time being, I'm going to stick with our tradition. If its this bad when we go on 09/30/05, I guess I'll be looking for a new tradition! Pixie dust to all of us Chef Mickey's goers!!

 

[DreaminDisney]

We went to CM's once. Food wasn't that bad for breakfast but service wasn't good. We were really rushed and Characters missed our table. Kids at the time were 2 & 5 so we let a CM know we wanted characters to come over to table. It was also our last day at disney so we were already bummed about coming home
HOWEVER.... One thing I did like is the picture they take of your family upon arrival. That turned out cute and we bought it.
Too many other places we want to try before we return to Chef Mickey's.

 

[Jen D]

We went for dinner and February 2003 and thought the food was pretty mediocre. The kids stuff seemed-- not fresh and the adult stuff was cafeteria style bland. The waiter was friendly but kept forgetting about us.

On the upside, the restaurant was clean and pretty, loved the atmosphere and especially the monorail going through. Character interaction good. I liked this stuff well enough to consider trying it again for breakfast, but dinner... never again.

 

[DisFlan]

We were there last year for breakfast, and the buffet was a little underwhelming (I'm being charitable). BUT- we took our 3 yo niece for the characters, not the food. She was thrilled with it, and we were glad we went.


DisFlan

 

[missypie]

I, too, have read a lot of negative comments about CM's. We didn't eat there, which felt kind of weird, because we stayed at the CR, on the floor right above CM's. We'd look down on the characters as we were leaving each morning and coming back each evening. My kids sort of gazed at it longingly, but I had to stick to my guns and tell them we were eating where the food was better.

 

[Cannot_Wait_4Disney]

My older daughter and I both were repulsed by the FATTY ham and prime rib. She had to spit her bite into a handiwipe. I had to do a lot of fancy trimming around the fat in my slice of prime rib.

Though it can be gross to get a hunk of fat in your mouth and the carver should have trimmed it for you, at least you know you're not getting an artificially flavor enhanced, tenderized select piece of shoeleather.

Beef is graded by the fat content in the meat. 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

 

[Alicnwondrln]

i love chef mickeys
we go every visit and i have never had a problem

 

[lmhall2000]

Okay, you convinced me..we're cancelling Chef Mickey's if we can get another PS on our arrival in September...we're not buffet type folks anyway so I think it's a wise decision....any suggestions on where we should eat our first night there???

Thanks!
Tara

 

[Joe Mouse]

You cannot have high expectections when combining character interaction and meals. Something has to give and it is usually the food. From what I learned on these boards and reading the UG is that you stick with breakfast. That is a meal that is hard to mess up. 99% of our character meals have been breakfast and I have not been disappointed. We just had dinner at Crystal Palace and for a buffet it was OK. Nothing out of this world, but I didn't expect it either. Stick with the breakfast and you should get better results on the food.

Joe Mouse

 

[jarestel]

It does seem like as CM has raised prices, they've lowered quality. This is generally the kiss of death for a restaurant, but I guess as long as they have characters there, they'll still draw a crowd. But we won't be returning for a while either.

 

[alabamagirl]

This saddens me. I used to work in this restaurant quite a bit. I always tried to give my best, because I knew the patrons spent a lot of $$$ to eat there. Plus the kids faces are just magical. Has anyone sent an email to management about this? They might want to know that people are having a "less than average" time at CM.

Note: This is an extremely hard restaurant for the characters, especially in the main dining room because the tables are so close together. That could be the reason for the bad character interaction that some posters have had.

 

[auntie k]

We were there in 2002 for dinner - thought the food was good and character interaction was GREAT! Characters really hung out at our table and - let me take multiple photos of my DN.

Went back in June 2004 - food was not as good - and we tried to snap a picture as the charaters "passed by"....not at all the character interaction we had before. I think the food issue is - too many people running thru there in a short amount of time. Never seemed to be an ample supply of food for the number of people trying to eat.

Tried breakfast there in Sept 2004, again characters were swift - food was just ok. Hard to mess up bacon and fake scrambled eggs! LOL!

I think I will try another character meal the next time to replace it.

 

[J.C.&ALI'SMOM]

The breakfast we had there was okay and the dinner was less than great. Not the worst, but we haven't been back and that was in 2002. I prefer 1900 Park Fare.

 

[Laurajean1014]

Has anyone mentioned these things to the waitstaff?

 

[MNmom]

We have an ADR for this Sunday night!!!! We have eaten there before and my kids hardly ate a thing but still talk about going back on our first night. It has become a tradition. I guess since we know we are not expecting fine dining (and the free dining plan sure helps!!) we will be going and having a magical evening. Whatever they serve with the salad bar I don't really care...it is our first night at DISNEY!!!!!

 

[WDW1st-timers]

Well that is on our list of ADR for dinner in September. Actually it's our last meal before we check out. So for us it will be either the highlite of the week or the worst meal. I hope that we like it. I want to have a total stress free trip. Is that possible???

 

[nliedel]

Our last meal before we check out too in October. I am worried now and bummed out. I am not going to change it but hope the boys get good character interaction. The 8 year old is getting to the point that this may be his last "I believe they are real, despite myself" visit we have.