Chef Mickey's - is the food much better than Crystal Palace?

[corgi_monster]

I am debating trying to get an ADR for Chef Mickey's simply because I hear so many great things about it on this board and the trip report board. Is the food so good that it's worth my 1 TS and a monorail ride out of the MK?

We are 2 adults who have been to Crystal Palace and thought the food was ok. It was food that didn't give us anything to complain about, but nothing that we would write home about. We also have a very "eh" attitude towards all characters. The only time I will take a pic with a character is if there is NO line.

So, what do you think - Chef Mickey's or no Chef Mickey's?

 

[G8RFAN]

If you are not into characters, you probably will get the same "eh" feeling at Chef Mickey's. I've always thought that Crystal Palace was a tick better than Chef Mickey's for breakfast and I've only been to Crystal Palace for dinner. I've never used a TS for a buffet.... but I guess the value of a character buffet is more in the character greets than the food or it would be a few bux cheaper.

 

[WDisnut]

Mickey's is fun, but I personally like the food and atmosphere better at crystal place. The eggs to order station at CP is also a big difference for me. ALSo try to get in CP before the park opens. .. .... The 19th of Sept WDW trip start!

 

[MissionMouse]

I am debating ...it's worth my 1 TS and a monorail ride out of the MK?

..Crystal Palace ..food was ok...didn't give us anything to complain about.. nothing that we would write home about....very "eh" attitude towards all characters.

Like the Soup Nazi on Seinfield says, "No Soup For You!"
translated to this posting...No Character Meals for You. You clearly want non buffet offerings. You should focus on restaurants serving food to order and maybe your half empty glass may become half full.

 

[goofy4tink]

Before this past August, I would have said, 'Sure, go ahead and try Chef Mickey's.' Not anymore. We traditionaly have our first meal there. Our dinner there last month was awful. And I never thought I would say that. Even dd agrees. Not sure what it was...the food choices have gotten fewer, they don't seem to be replenished as quickly, so you're literally scraping the bottom of the pan. The characters seemed really rushed this time around..barely enough time for a hello, signature and off they go.
We have had great experiences at Crystal Palace...never a bad one to date. In fact, I gave some friends of ours the places I thought they should book for meals when they were there in mid-August. They ate at Chef Mickey's as well as Crystal Palace. They all, at least the 5 adults, didn't care for CM's but loved Crystal Palace.

 

[momtoBrandon&Jacob]

We did both CM for dinner and CP for lunch on our last trip and definetely enjoyed CP more. The food was better and there was more of it. The character interaction at both places was fine though. I guess it depends on whether you want to see Mickey or Pooh. But both me and my husband thought the food at CP was just superb! I thought the atmosphere of CP was better as well since it's right in MK. I wasn't too thrilled with having to travel to the Contemporary. It didn't even feel like we were in Disney.

 

[helenabear]

I have not done breakfast at either so I am speaking only on the lunch/dinner menus. I found the food at CP to be so much better in many ways than the food at CM. I don't know why that is, but every time I have gone to CP I found the food to be good to excellent. CM's food was always just fair to okay to me. I find the selection of food at CP to be better and more styles to choose from as well.

 

[stitchon]

Chef Mickey's is loud, Very Very Loud. The food is ok, but this is one of two places where you can eat with mickey.

 

[Cool-Beans]

I think the food is better over at the Crystal Palace. It's also MUCH prettier than Chef Mickey's.

I see no reason to go to Chef Mickey's if it is food you care about, not characters. Go have breakfast at the Poly or GF.

I don't do dining plans and have no idea about credits and such.

 

[SharonLowe]

Chef Mickey's for dinner is horrible - food, atmosphere, and character interaction (used to be good but it has gone way downhill over the last coupel of years!!). CP for lunch is our favorite buffet (other than Boma at AKL). Many better places for you to choose than CM's.

 

[pta-mom]

We are 2 adults who have been to Crystal Palace and thought the food was ok. It was food that didn't give us anything to complain about, but nothing that we would write home about.

That's exactly how I would describe Chef Mickeys! I would not go out of my way to eat there again but it was OK.

 

[ljcraw555]

Is Minnie at CP also or just CM's?

 

[christinou]

We prefer Crystal Palace, Chef Mickey is very loud, and I know most people like it, but I think that the decor is awful. Last time we went there the food was just eh.....

 

[Tricia1972]

Is Minnie at CP also or just CM's?

She is not at CP

Mickey and Pals are at CM's and Pooh and Friends are at CP

 

[vicki845]

We went to Chef Mickey's for breakfast for the first and last time. The eggs tasted fake, the bacon was fatty. It's a good thing we had the free dining.plan. If I had to pay oop I would have been very upset

 

[DisneyBarlans]

I think the food is much better at Crystal Palace than at Chef Mickey's. The characters at Chef Mickey's are cool, but that's the only reason we would ever go back.

 

[GoofyTraci]

we have eaten at both and will not eat at cp again. the food was bad,character meeting was bad and the service was bad. i can't even start to say how bad this place was. chief mickeys in my opion was ok. not bad, not good but a lot better than cp. please dont flame me i was just answering the question.

 

[madenon]

I've done both for lunch. The difference? Well ehm, the desertbar has more candy and chocolate things at CM while the saladbar at CP has some more options. Other than that I didn't see real big differences. Both had exactly the same salmon (don't hear me complaining, it was good!), same salads and dressings, same chicken, same nuggets, pizza, well you catch my drift.

I liked CM more because of the great chocolate options for the dessertpart. I liked CP better when it comes to atmosphere. While both are hectic places, CM is louder and the reconstruction going on at the Contemporary doesn't help if you ask me. (neither does the monorail, but than again that might be something keeping kids occupied.)

 

[Tomader]

All of the food in Disney is okay. Once you are there the food starts to taste the same. Some places are worse than others. Chef Mickey is the one I have to say is horrible!! I can't stress that enough. Dirty also comes to mind. Crystal Palace is far better than Chef Mickey. If you have to choose one go with Crystal Palace hands down. I will say that Kona was my family's favorite. Good food and good service. Also Ohana's was not bad. The dessert was excellent. A small side note. We were so happy for the free dining. If you ate a bad meal it was easier to swallow because it was free. If I had to dish out a 130.00 for some of the food we ate phone calls would have been made.

 

[gigi1313]

if you don't care about the characters, and are concerned about the quality of the food, then i'd say skip 'em both and find a nice ala carte restaurant in the MK area that you will really enjoy... unless you want to do a TS meal in record time, then buffet is the way to go...

that being said, i'd recommend CP over CM... but really, for better food, i'd try concourse steakhouse, kona cafe, whispering canyon, or even trail's end buffet over at the campground