Chef Mickey's or not? 2 adults

[Aggiegrl]

I'm not exactly sure about this one, so help me out.

I have upgraded from POR to a CR MK-view tower room as a surprise for DH. This is our 5th anniversary trip. He will find out about the switch when we arrive. This is a special trip, as we will likely have a young child on our next trip.

We have never eaten at a character meal OR a WDW buffet before. The last time I took pictures with characters I was 10 years old. DH has never been within 10 feet of a character.

I've booked a Chef Mickey dinner for 7:40 pm on our arrival day.
I thought maybe Chef Mickey's might kick off the week with some magic and we could do the photo thing. Now I'm having second thoughts.

We love all things food. We eat sushi, stinky cheese, organic produce, and gourmet meats. We both grew up poor so we sometimes eat Kraft mac and cheese, frozen pizzas, and chicken nuggets too. We are very odd people!


Are we going to dislike Chef Mickey's? Should I switch?

 

[LoveKermit]

Can't say specifically about Chef Mickey's--not eaten there. But DH and I did Crystal Palace character breakfast pre-child. We were starving (long story) so we kind of shooed away the characters. You have the option of a table visit or not. If the food sounds good, go for it.

 

[brytorlyn]

I am not a huge character meal person. We do it for our 7 year old. But I didn't like Chef Mickey's much...I won't go there again. I found the food mediocre and the noise level was outrageous. There were alot of young children ie. babies and toddlers since the characters hold alot of appeal to the little ones. I tolerated it for DD but unless she asks I won't be returning. I would rather eat at many other places if I didn't have a child.

I do find the Norway Princess meal a little better. All those little princess would never make that much noise And the food is okay.

PS. I saw a kid ..maybe 10 or 12 sticking his finger in every salad dressing and then licking his finger!! GROSS! But I know that can happen anywhere. Just thought I would throw this little tidbit in for the fun of it!

 

[ryanmcin]

The food is OK. Not great, not bad, just OK. That being said if you are going to Chef Mickey's for the food then you really aren't going for the right reasons. If you have never been before then it is worth doing once, it is pretty fun even for just two adults.

 

[hockeygirl]

We love Chef Mickeys!!! It is our favorite character breakfast, and I didn't think the food was bad. We love buffets because we can eat as much as we want and there is a good selection of foods. When just my fiance and I go to WDW we always go to Chef Mickeys and love getting pics with the characters, it is so fun!

It really depends on what you are looking for, if you want a quiet romantic dinner it is definetely not the place, but if you want a fun atmosphere then go for it!

 

[PatsGirl]

Simply No. Even with kids I use it for leverage

 

[disneypolybride2008]

i'm going with just my fiance. we're trying there for both breakfast and dinner for the first time. we picked the earliest seating for dinner and breakfast so that hopefully it wont be packed and chaotic as much. that may be a good strategy for you. also if you're worried about not likeing the food, just do a breakfast.. you cant go wrong with that. we like to go to character buffets to get picks with the characters. we would never stand in line at the parks to get a picture with one, so for us it's pretty much see them at the buffets or nothing. Crystal Palace at MK is a good one if you like fancy food like salmon and couscous.. they have a pretty fancy buffet. they have pooh characters. enjoy your trip

 

[RachaelA]

Our IPO told us the later we go for dinner the less crazy it will be. Our reservation is for 7:50 so hopefully it won't be as crazy as 5:30.

DF and I are two adults without children.

 

[dburg30]

If you arent going to have fun with the characters and have your pictures taken, IMO there is NO reason to go. My wife and I went for dinner last year and we had a blast. It was our first time to WDW and we did a lot of the character stuff. CRT, CM and CP. We probably wont do them again unless we are going with a 'first timer' or a kid. ie: we're doing CM in just a couple of weeks when I take my 70+ year old mom for her first trip

 

[Poohbear5]

We booked it for our 25th anniversary trip next year because we've never been before! I'm keeping an open mind, we expect it to be noisy, and not 5 star food but thought it would be fun to have a few photos with Mickey for our momentos.

 

[Tiger926]

No - we don't like CM at all as it's so noisy, dirty, yucky food and terrible service each and every time we go (we have given it 3x tries now for our daughter). It honestly doesn't matter what time of day you go, it will be noisy and kids will always be unattended. Unattended kids is one of the biggest problems here - touching food, double dipping in food, hanging on countertops, chasing characters, etc.

Plus, despite having ADRs made 180 days in advance, you will always have to wait in a huge line, just to check in for your ADRs, and then another long line to be seated. All 3 times we have gone (breakfast x1 and dinner x2) we have waited at least 40 mins to be seated, so with small kids, this becomes a problem. We have eaten at all different times in order to work around this problem, but it doesn't matter as this is the most popular character meal on property.

Good luck, perhaps your trip to CM will be better. I hope you have a great anniversary trip! We love the Contemporary!

Tiger

 

[nspencer]

Wow...I can't believe so many people dislike CM...it's one of my family's favorite places to eat. I'd been with my immediate family several times and I made sure to take my DW when we went on our honeymoon. It was a fun evening. We had our pictures taken with the characters and we enjoyed watching the reactions little kids at other tables had when the characters came around. So, while the place is centered around kids, just the 2 of us adults had a good time too. And I really think the food is decent too.

 

[ga9497]

We love Chef Mickeys!!! It is our favorite character breakfast, and I didn't think the food was bad. We love buffets because we can eat as much as we want and there is a good selection of foods. When just my fiance and I go to WDW we always go to Chef Mickeys and love getting pics with the characters, it is so fun!

It really depends on what you are looking for, if you want a quiet romantic dinner it is definetely not the place, but if you want a fun atmosphere then go for it!

Aggiegirl - you may be interested in seeing the poll I had posted a couple of days ago

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2038059

Hockeygirl - breakfast is actually pretty good and I am not a breakfast person but dinner food is really not good at all. Also the parents let the kids go to the dessert area on their own and it is always a mess.

Personally we dislike buffets because you see too many people taking food off their plate while on line and eating it with their hands and then picking up the tongs after that. Talk about unsanitary and gross.

We do some buffets for the kids but not many any longer now that they have grown up a little

 

[Happy99]

We booked it for our 25th anniversary trip next year because we've never been before! I'm keeping an open mind, we expect it to be noisy, and not 5 star food but thought it would be fun to have a few photos with Mickey for our momentos.

Personally I would look elsewhere to get your photo taken with Mickey. There are many places. Given not with a chef's hat but plenty other options

I will admit that breakfast is better then dinner as far as food quality

Just my 2cents

 

[ROEDISNEY]

LOVE CHEF MICKEY'S Great way to start off or end your trip. This is a must do for me every trip

 

[Bella O]

Never (Though of course we eat there every trip as it is a "tradition" with the kids and they won't let us off the hook! This is the only thing my one dd requests as a must do!) But I would never do a dinner w/just dh there - very noisy and the food is terrible. I agree that breakfast is better imo, the food is eatable. I hate buffets - the food is never hot and I think too much about the germs....but the breakfast at least you can find something pretty decent. I would do a different character meal if you want characters - I like the Cinderella lunch and the LLT dinner (which is ending early January). For a buffet the one at the GF is the best.

 

[Happy99]

LOVE CHEF MICKEY'S Great way to start off or end your trip. This is a must do for me every trip

I would like to ask - do you love it for the whole atmosphere or if there were no characters would you go for just the food as it stands now. The reason I am asking is because in the past even though most people say Chef Mickey's is a must do they don't really get into the explaination that the characters are the big draw, not so much the food. Yes there are some that really enjoy the food too but I have read to many reviews where people that have never been come back disappointed after having dinner there, on the food quality. Breakfast gets better reviews on the food

 

[Tiger926]

I would like to ask - do you love it for the whole atmosphere or if there were no characters would you go for just the food as it stands now. The reason I am asking is because in the past even though most people say Chef Mickey's is a must do they don't really get into the explaination that the characters are the big draw, not so much the food. Yes there are some that really enjoy the food too but I have read to many reviews where people that have never been come back disappointed after having dinner there, on the food quality. Breakfast gets better reviews on the food

That is an interesting point. We find the character interaction to not be that great at Chef Mickey's either, so that is a problem for us as well as all of the other issues mentioned. I guess if the character interaction was better (and it's hard for them since they are being chased and grabbed at by so many guests), then the above reason would be applicable.

Tiger

 

[TDC Nala]

Personally? I'd never do it. Unless I really wanted to see the characters, I would eat somewhere with better food.

I did think the breakfast was not bad for a buffet breakfast. But my nephews were with me then, and I wouldn't go there without kids. I don't normally eat breakfast anyway. For dinner? No way. Too hectic, and the food doesn't make up for that.

 

[LoveKermit]

I also figure original poster is looking for something close by and not going to MK. Other ideas--Ohana (but maybe too much food for 2) or Kona at the Poly. Ohana is loud also--wow. But the food is good.

If you want to stay at the CR, isn't there the new "The Wave?" It would be dinner w/o characters (as would Kona). But those are easy to get to from where you will be.