Desperate for Chef Mickeys - walk up?

[Matty_Disfan]

Ok Ok, before you dig into me as a starry eyed newb, I know I should have gotten an ADR 180 days out, but we're planning on the fly here. We just decided last week to hit up WDW in 2 months from now.

Chef Mickeys almost completely eludes us for and ADR unless we want to eat bfast at 7am or dinner at 9 pm.

I am wondering if anyone has been able to snag a walk-up at this restaurant? I figure some people must be no-shows or cancel that day. Do they leave any room for walk-ups?

Variables:

Trip is May 3-10.
We are a group of 4.
We would likely try this at breakfast or dinner.

Thanks for the help!!

 

[vicki_c]

They hold no tables for walk-ups. If you had any chance of it working, it would most likely be before they open for the meal (so at 7 AM or a few minutes before which you don't want to do as you said) or before the dinner meal times. But I would definitely have a back-up plan, and I wouldn't go out of my way to get there to check.

 

[DreamLiveLoveDisney]

I would watch the cancellation thread. I was able to grab LC a week or two before my december trip because of that thread.

 

[disneybliss2]

If something happens and you're unable to score a reservation before your trip, be sure to take the dining reservation phone # w/ you (or a cast member could help you). You can try calling while on property. You might just luck into something. We changed plans (once) while on a trip & switched restaurants, which would have opened up a reservation for someone else at our first reservation. Also, we were sick a couple of days on a different trip which affected our showing up for our reservations--opened slots for someone. It's always worth checking into.

 

[Pink Mouse Ears]

People are always cancelling ADRs...so I'd just keep trying, even the day-of.

What's your reasoning for CM's being a "must-do" on the trip? Is it to see the fab 5? Maybe there are some other options that you might go with...Garden Grill (D), Cape May (B), Tusker House (B), and 'Ohana (B)

If you aren't on the dining plan, Garden Grove at the Swan has characters (Sat/Sun for breakfast and nightly for dinner, I think)...it is usually easier to get a reservation and they have certificates on restaurant.com so you can get a discount.

We enjoyed the characters at CMs but not so much the food. It will probably be a "once in a while" thing for us. If it doesn't work out, I wouldn't be too devastated, just try again next time.

 

[buffettgirl]

yep, just keep trying every day - even that week, especially the day before.

 

[Matty_Disfan]

You guys are so good!

CMs is a must do because of Mickey and Minnie together. Any other suggestions?? I have also bought into the general hype around it here on the DIS, particularly for first day fun.

We have booked the princesses, HDD and some nice epcot meals, but my two dds (3 and 5) love themselves some Mickey.

ALSO: I have been checking online; anyone found discrepancy between online wdw site and actually calling wdw-dine?

 

[mickeynut1]

Chef Mickey's is very popular and books up very quick. Your chances of getting in as a walk up are very, very slim, although if you aren't able to get an ADR prior to going, it doesn't hurt to try the walk up method once you're there. But I would keep checking every day multiple times a day because people cancel all the time and you just might get lucky and find an opening .

 

[katla33]

We have reservations for breakfast at CM's in April for 7:20 AM. I really would like it to be a little later so I have been checking obsessively, multiple times a day. I haven't given up hope yet! I hope that you are able to get the time that you want!! Good Luck!

 

[hmdavid]

Is it absolutely a must to have Mickey and Minnie at the character meal? They don't actually come around to the tables together, so you won't get a photo of the adorable couple together, unfortunately. My suggestion if you can't get Chef Mickey's is to try for a breakfast ADR at Tusker House in Animal Kingdom (our fave character meal with Mickey, Donald, Daisy and Goofy). It is a lot of fun and IMO the food is much better. We also like Cape May Cafe for breakfast where Minnie is present. Just something to keep in mind if you can't get the ADR at CM.

As others have said, check the dining site frequently. People cancel all the time. here is a link to the May cancelled ADR's thread. You can watch it to get a heads up when people are cancelling ADR's. http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2587104

Good luck and have a great trip!!!

 

[MistressMerryweather]

We have walked up to Chef Mickey's at least once on every trip we've taken. That's about 10 or so, I'd say. We've only been turned down once. You *must* go about 30 minutes before they open for dinner and put ask to have your name in at the desk. We've never had to wait longer than 20-30 minutes, even during peak and free dining hours. The one time we were turned away, we arrived at 8:30pm. Some people have been turned down every time, but if you are desperate, I just wanted to say that it is a high possibility...sometimes. LOL

 

[GeneralTso]

Keep trying! Don't give up--seriously. Something will probably open up.

We had a reservation there and I cancelled it because I wanted to do Park Fare instead. I didn't like the vibe I saw at Chef Mickey's. It was kind of lackluster and not very fun.

I have found that getting into places you really want works if you check back. I have gotten in everywhere at decent times. Not sure if I'm ridiculously lucky or what but it works out. I bet you get in.

 

[disneybliss2]

With your trip being two months out, I bet you'll end up lucking into a reservation if you are persistent. I would try the dining website multiple times a day. if you just check it once every now and then, you probably won't have a lot of luck. Persistence will pay off. Check multiple times a day and I bet you'll luck into a reservation that someone else will ditch because they change their mind. Oh, and I know what you mean about it being important about being at Chef Mickey's. While it's not my fav food (though not bad either), it's my girls' favorite restaurant at WDW and for them it truly does bring out that WDW magic. It's happiness at it's best while we're at WDW. Good luck to you!

 

[pixarmom]

As others have said, you can absolutely keep trying and with on-line reservations, it's so easy to keep trying!

If you are looking for alternatives, I can share our experience. After several meals at Chef Mickey's, we decided to take it out of our dining rotation because we enjoy other character meals so much more! For dinner, our three boys love Garden Grill (Mickey, Pluto, Chip and Dale.) And for breakfast, we love Ohana (Mickey, Pluto, Lilo and Stitch) and Tusker House (Mickey, Donald, Goofy and Daisy.) The atmosphere, food and character interaction at those character meals are so far superior to Chef Mickey's (at least in our opinions!)

As for Minnie, I'm a huge Minnie fan. I either try to meet her in the parks (early morning at DHS by the hat, for example) or you could book a Cape May breakfast.

Hope that helps!

 

[Pooh&OurHunny]

One May trip, our son wanted to eat at Chef Mickey for dinner so we hop on the monorail and went as they were openning up and asked if they can take 3 people and how long the wait (I figure my son loves the arcade at CR and we always go ever Disney trip to this arcade and if they did not have an openning we can just get room service). The CM said no problem and they can sit us in 5 mins. It never hurts to walk in and try but make sure you have a back up plan just in case. We have walk in to Chef Mickey 2x (I'm not too thrilled b/c I really don't like the food but our son loves eating here b/c of the characters).

 

[Ciciwoowoo]

we did walk up with Chef Mickey on our last vacation (Thanksgiving time)

It was dinner time, and not really that late. We waited about 1 1/2 hours. But... it was during a big rain storm. I think that might have made a difference.

So maybe watch the weather, and if things look like they may be getting yucky outside, venture over to the Contemporary!

 

[Matty_Disfan]

**UPDATE**

I kept at it. Using the online reservation service I got a Chef Mickey's ADR for our first night at 7:45pm.

This is extra good because our plan all along had been to hit CMs for the first night to give the DDs a shot of disney magic.

Thanks for your help and advice. Just plugging away seems to have done the trick....

Now to snag a Cindy's ADR.....