Chef Mickeys or Garden Grill?

[cwnhokie]

We usually go to Chef Mickeys on our first night, but I was thinking about trying Garden Grill this time since we will be staying at Beach Club and it's closer. Any thoughts? Thanks.

 

[lblume91]

Our family really enjoyed GG. It is served family style & that makes it so much more peaceful. The characters seemed to move at an easier pace, enjoying time at each table. And you don't have to worry about missing any of them while you're up getting your food. We have gone to Chef Mickey's twice & were not impressed with it last summer.

 

[cwnhokie]

Thanks, that is exactly why I'm leaning to Garden Grill. We are taking the grandparents and I think Chef Mickeys wrecks them. Granddaddy is overwhelmed by all the action and Grandma is so excited and nervous that she is going to miss something. Does anyone know how they would seat 7 of us?

 

[Tam1067]

We have done Chef Mickey's several times and find it decent. We did Garden Grill once and did not like it at all. I won't go back there again.

 

[AJKMOM]

Sorry to say: DS and I liked GG, better, DH did not. DS and I hated Chef Mickeys, DH loved it. Doubt we will go to either place again with a split decision.

 

[JerseyMouse]

We did Chef Mickey's last trip and it was fun to see all the characters but the food was not very good in my opinion. (But, I am NOT a buffet person) We are trying Garden Grill this time around. If I were you, I would try the Garden Grill since you are staying so close to Epcot....

 

[magicaldisney]

We have done both. We prefer the food at Chef Mickey's, but we prefer the atmosphere at Garden Grill. As a pp said...with it not being clear cut for us, we will most likely not return to either.

 

[ROEDISNEY]

Both are good Chef Mickey's is definately better.

 

[jdisnut]

I think Garden Grill is perhaps the most overlooked character meal, along with Donald's Safari Breakfast at Tusker House. The food is better than most family style places, the setting is unique, and because it's a bit smaller, the character interaction is wonderful.

I don't like Chef Mickey's too much, anyway. It's too loud, too crowded, too crazy. And the food borders on inedible for dinner.

 

[Cindyrellablue]

I've been to both and prefer the food and more relaxed atmosphere of Garden Grill. While Chef Mickeys has a larger selection as it is a buffet, there seems to be a lot of chaos and my niece and nephew never finish their plates because they are watching all the other kids run around.

 

[loveysbydesign]

Thanks, that is exactly why I'm leaning to Garden Grill. We are taking the grandparents and I think Chef Mickeys wrecks them. Granddaddy is overwhelmed by all the action and Grandma is so excited and nervous that she is going to miss something. Does anyone know how they would seat 7 of us?

We just made ressies there for 7 of us for Nov. It says on the ressie(we reserved it online) that we could be seated at separate tables but from what I've read here on the disboards they would be right next to each other! Can't wait to try it!

 

[AirGoofy]

Thanks, that is exactly why I'm leaning to Garden Grill. We are taking the grandparents and I think Chef Mickeys wrecks them. Granddaddy is overwhelmed by all the action and Grandma is so excited and nervous that she is going to miss something. Does anyone know how they would seat 7 of us?

We liked Garden Grill much better than CM. I don't remember if there was seating for all 7, and they have upper and lower seating. If not, they could probably get you 2 tables next to each other.

 

[Indio]

There was 8 in our party for Garden Grill. We were seated at 1 long table on the top level. Food was OK - character interaction was pretty good. We probably won't go again but then, we don't usually do character meals anyway!

 

[tinkerbell313]

We were a party of eight and we sat on the lower level...which was great. Since the restaurant slowly rotates, you can see parts of the Land ride from your table (one the lower level) which DS (just turned 3) thought was great. It kept his attention as he kept looking for the farm house.

The lower level is sectioned off in booths. We had two tables in one booth (very private...you do not see your neighbors since its a circular restaurant)...the tables are horizontal next to each other (picture two dashes). Since it was two tables...it made it easy for the kids to get up from either end of the table to see the characters. I apologize if I did not explain it so you can visualize it

Its not a large restuarant...and the characters came around 4 or 5 times (we were their the 2nd week of June 2009).

I cannot compare it to Chef Mickeys as I have never been (and based on the pictures and reviews I have seen lately...I am not planning on going in my next trip)

 

[RadioFanatic]

We have really not liked Chef Mickey the past couple of trips - so much so we are not going this year. On the other hand, we tried GG for the first time last year at my husband's insistence, I was not interested; and we REALLY loved it. We enjoyed the food and the character interaction was the best we had ever had. Two times with each character - they spent a long time with us and even sat down at our table with us, holding our son! Needless to say, we are going again this year.

 

[aceys_h0ney]

I would have to say I prefer the food at GG over CM. I also like being served. My kids probably prefered the food at CM. For large parties they just pulled two tables together. We sat next to a party that had to be at least 8-10 people. I will say I feel silly for this but I got a little motion sick if I watched the movement. If I kept my vision focused on my table I was fine. Never thought I would have a problem moving so slow but it was ok.

 

[susanab]

I know Mickey is at GG, but are other characters there for dinner?

 

[pixarmom]

We have been to both Garden Grill and Chef Mickey's multiple times, and absolutely prefer Garden Grill. It's Mickey, Pluto, Chip and Dale for dinner. It's our arrival night tradition every trip, and it's been our boys' favorite restaurant since each was little (our oldest's first trip was when he was 18 months old.) Our boys are now ages pre-school to pre-teen and it's still at the top of their lists. As others have said, it's some of the best character interaction at Disney. The characters always spend lots of time with us - we never felt rushed by them - and we usually see them each at least twice per meal. Last time, our oldest forgot his autograph book in our youngest's stroller outside the Land, and Chip came back an extra time at the end of the meal looking for our son and gesturing about his autograph book (which he had retrieved and got the signature!)

Garden Grill is way more relaxing to us than Chef Mickey's because: 1) the booths on the lower level keep you from seeing all the other activity in the restaurant so it seems like just our family, the characters, and whatever scene from The Land ride that is passing by at the moment; 2) family style service instead of buffet means we don't have to juggle plates with the kids, take turns going to the buffet or possibly missing a character when he/she comes by the table.

We think the food is much better at Garden Grill, although it's not the best food ever, it's good. It includes healthy options and lots of kids' items - so it's a good amount of food and a nice variety.

That said, we still go to Chef Mickey's once in a while. It's classic Disney, it includes Minnie (GG does not,) and it's fun to have dinner at CR with the monorail. In my opinion, the food is OK - I've never had the really horrible experiences that others post about. But if I had to pick just one, it's definitely Garden Grill.