Chef Mickey's - Never Again !!

[Stitches12]

Just returned from a trip to the world. It was my DS8 birthday. We only did a couple of PS meals - one at WCC, which was totally awesome - the other at Chef Mickey's. I just felt like I should tell potential planners here that we'd never do it again.

I knew from the board that there were mixed reviews but since it was my son's birthday we decided on it anyway. We did dinner. Can I just say the food was awful, not very warm and not very tasty either. We didn't enjoy anything about this place. I know, it's a character meal and you go for the characters but we were seated in a side room that was like a sauna !! The sun was beating in the room and the difference in temp must have been 10 degrees. We were all so warm that we couldn't even enjoy the bad food. Plus, the characters really don't make it into this room much. We never saw Mickey !! The other characters make a quick run through but the main room is definitely their preference.

After about an hour of screaming kids (I know, we should have expected this) and bad food with no character interaction we decided to just leave. We'd had enough. The only okay thing about the place were the desserts, they were good.

Never again for us. There are plenty of people that like it here I'm sure but for the price you pay you get very little edible food. There was a sign on the buffet that said the food is served according to state regulations for temperature so this should be a warning right off that other people have complained about the coolness of the food.

Everyone has their own opinion - that's just ours. Yuck Yuck Yuck

 

[ugadog99]

I'm sorry you had such a bad experience at Chef Mickey's. In all of our trips, we have never had a bad time there. In fact, CM's is the only restaurant we do EVERY trip. Maybe you just had a really "off" night.

 

[Tiffany]

Wow!!! I am sorry you had such a negaive experiance at Chef Mickey's. My husband and I have dinner here on our last "night in the world" on every trip. The prime rib, parmashan mashed potoates, mickey shaped ravioli and the salad and beef barley soup we have always had luck with. We will be back there in less than a month and again in Jan. I would reconmend that you give it a second chance if you return to WDw. Maybe you caught them on a bad night.

 

[arizonacolbys]

Sorry to hear about your bad CM's experience. We really didn't enjoy this dinner at all many years ago & took a break from it for a couple years. For the last couple years we have been really enjoying the breakfast there instead. Maybe you'd enjoy the breakfast more, too?

 

[bdb7607]

Yep, we had a good breakfast there too, on 10/20. First time there, at first I thought the food wasn't the best, but then I realized it had probably been sitting there for awhile, told a CM about the pancakes, they tossed them and brought out a new batch for the buffet. Worked out great, very good variety of food - which is essential for my kids (way too picky ), all in all a spot we won't miss in the future - also had great interaction with the characters!

 

[maxaroni]

I'm sorry you didn't have a good experience.

We've only gone for breakfast and did go this past trip (8/05). However, DH and I don't think it's wonderful but ds likes to go, for tradition. Now, with that being said, ds is 12 and doesn't want the character interaction. We appeased him to go, out of tradition and while it was fun and we had free dining, dh and I don't think it's worth the amount of money charged. For younger kids, I think it may be fun but ds sits in an inside seat and dh and I would prefer a nice breakfast and for less money.

 

[mickeysgal]

Sorry that you had such a disappointing time. Quite honestly, it usually isn't that bad. We've gone many, many times and have only had one bad experience to date. I don't care for the "side" room either. To me, it feels "removed" from the Chef Mickey's experience/atmosphere. We had a late seating time and due to the time, the floors were dirty around the tables with crumbs and food. It wasn't just a little here and there...it was a lot for us to have noticed since we're pretty tolerant of that kind of stuff. We just attributed it to the late hour - perhaps the restaurant couldn't keep up by that time with general sweeping between guests. We much prefer an earlier seating in the main dining area. We feel the food was good - not superior - but pretty good for a buffet. It is the ultimate kids Disney dining experience so you have to expect a lot of kids and therefore a lot of noise.

Perhaps you were being seated just as the characters completed making the rounds of your area or you were at the buffet when they were in your section. This may explain why you didn't see any of them. If thats the case, don't hestitate in the future to tell your server. They'll certainly try to get them to come your way. Thats happened before to us too...at other character buffets.

 

[GEM]

That's been pretty much our experience every time, too. Cold, bland food. Messy tables and buffet. Chaotic atmosphere. Rushed character interation.

We've given it three or four tries for breakfast and several for dinner as well, and we have never been impressed. This last time, we decided to mark it off our list permanantly. There are lots of character meals with much better food, nicer atmosphere, and more interesting character interaction.

 

[misslissa]

Interesting! I've booked Chef Mickey's for our first time! Would you recommend breakfast or dinner anyone???

 

[annie1995]

The only thing we really liked about chef mickeys was the atmosphere and characters. The food was just so so, nothing to rave about. We definately liked Crystal Palace much better for Breakfast and dinner! We ate there 3 times in September. I'm with you, we won't be going back, at least not for dinner.

 

[ainmama2001]

So sorry to hear you didn't like Chef Mickey's. It's our favorite character meal. We only do breakfast though. Maybe dinner is a different story. I'll remember to always do breakfast.

 

[metivier]

We have only been there (to dinner) once and we would never go again, either. We stayed at the Contemporary last trip so it seemed a natural to go to Chef Mickey's. Well, the food was pretty bad, and DH was totally turned off with the photo thing at the beginning. After all the raves here, we were pretty disappointed.

The following day we had lunch at Crystal Palace and were absolutely thrilled with everything there! The food was MUCH better, and the characters spent lots of time at each table, and the "parade" was great fun. We will definitely return to the CP for lunch!

 

[Stepht5]

The only thing we really liked about chef mickeys was the atmosphere and characters. The food was just so so, nothing to rave about. We definately liked Crystal Palace much better for Breakfast and dinner! We ate there 3 times in September. I'm with you, we won't be going back, at least not for dinner.

LOL! We had a wonderful Chef Mickey experience on Oct 18 (main dining room 8pm) and a bad experience at Crystal Palace on the 17th (5pm, table on the outside aisle to the left when you enter). At CP we hung around for an hour just hoping that Eyore or Piglet would stop as they ran past us several times. There we 5 of us - dh, me, 14dd, 7ds & 4dd.

 

[conwaym98]

We did CHef Mickey's for breakfast on our last trip. I'd have to agree that it was rather chaotic and the charators spent little time in our section of the restuarant. The food was o.k., but I don't think we'd go there again.

 

[Tigger2252]

We had breakfast at CM's for my birthday last trip. I had seen it on the Travel Channel and thought it looked awesome. I have to admit I was disappointed myself. The food was average, not very warm, and the character interaction was minimal (we were in the side room too). It was one of those places that I've been there, done that, but won't go again. We had dinner at Crystal Palace for my dd's birthday and it was much better. The food was really fabulous and although we were to the far left of the room, the characters made it over to our table twice during the meal. We have ressie for there again this year.

 

[Got Quattro?]

I will say breakfast is much much better than dinner.

.

 

[iliketoby]

Most of my Chef Mickey's experiences are disappointing. Breakfast has a better average, though.

Crystal Palace for breakfast & Liberty Inn for dinner!

 

[marcyinPA]

Sorry you had a bad experience at CM's. We go there on our first night for dinner...every trip. We love it! The food is not gourmet, but it's a buffet and we go with "buffet food" expectations. For us, the best part is the character interaction and the atmosphere. In my opinion, no other restaurant gives you that 'Disney" feel like CM's does!

We've never been there for breakfast...can't comment on that one!

 

[lovetoscrap]

We have been for dinner twice. Our first time was very disappointing but we thought it was because we had the LAST seating time and the characters went "off duty" about 20 min. after we arrived. We were literaly the LAST people in the place. The manager beat us to the monorail when we left!

I decided to try it again last year and give it a chance. It was a bit better but "Goofy" was so incredibly rude to my 4yr old daughter that she was sobbing (he was in a hurry and made it VERY clear that she was going to slow--no hug, just signed, threw the book down at her and in his haste to get away he knocked her Mickey Ears off her head and into her plate). Minnie came right behind him and we explained to her that Goofy had hurt her feelings and she was wonderful and hugged and played with her until she calmed down. Normally I might not have done anything but I was so mad that I complained to the waiter and manager. They did apologize and offered to have Goofy come back and spend more time with us NO THANKS! I think dd would have freaked to see him come back by! I told them that if Goofy was having a bad day then he needed to be sent home and someone else brought in.

HOWEVER: We are giving it ONE MORE try--for breakfast this time. We are going with friends and they want a character meal and this one worked best in our plan and fit everyone's needs. I think dd has forgotten about "bad" Goofy and we will hope for a better time!

 

[roliepolieoliefan]

So sorry about your bad experience at Chef Mickeys. During our trip last month, we ate there twice. Our 1st night we were seated in the main dining room. We were done eating and seen 1 character, so it really doesn't matter where you sit, I guess.

The next time we went it was for DD's 2nd birthday. We were in the little room, out front. I was a little worried, but the characters were awesome. Spent tons of time with both kids and some of the characters we even seen twice. Guess you just never know.