Disappointing Chef Mickey at Contemporary

[cocodog]

My thoughts on Chef mickey entirely.

 

[Alice Sr.]

This is how I have felt about dinner when I went back in 2001. I was shocked at how much it had gone downhill since my trips back in the late 90s. My biggest disappointment was the food. I expected a lot of kids running around but I hated the buffet.

It was disgusting in the 90's too, you are just out from under the spell now

 

[tline35]

OMG!! Chef Mickeys is my family's favorite place to eat in all of the "world"! We always eat there on our arrival day, since it is just a day to get settled, go to the grocery and Chef Mickeys day! Then we always try to go at least one other time. Always for dinner,but we have eaten breakfast once a few years back. The family doesn't do well upon early rising so breakfast in the room serves us well.
The good thing about the DP is that it has given us the opportunity to eat at other places than CM. We love lots of them, but it is still our favorite by far. Even the grandparents were with us last year and said that they liked it the best as well!
So, to each their own...we'll take the mouse!!

We had a 6:20 reservation, showed up 20 minutes early . . . and hungry. 6:20 came and went. 6:30 came and went. 6:40 came and went. And yes 6:50 came and went.

There is loud, fun, and festive. Then there is just loud and chaotic. This was the latter. Every 1/2 hour they do break into song and dance which is the only break you get from the chaos of the atmosphere.

There are good attentive waite staff, and then there are hurried hectic waite staff who need another career choice. Guess which one we got.

Food choices were minimal and not properly prepared. Hand-carved prime rib was either bloody rare or over-cooked well. Pork was somehow turned into cow-hide tough leather. Raviloli was room temperature. Wendy's makes better salads. Deserts were mass-produced and nothing special.

If this were a $6.95 Buffet . . . .sure that's one thing. We weren't on a meal plan, so the the $116 bill for a family of 4 wasn't "hidden."

From the master of entertainment and hospitality . . . . . Disney, what a disappointment. It's not like it ruined the whole trip, but it was the lowest point of the week.

Two days earlier we had Donald's character breakfast at Animal Kingdom before it opened. They were organized and on time. The food wasn't 4-star either, but it was properly prepared and hot. The waite staff was cheerful, helpful, and attentive.

 

[daisyduck123]

We love Chef Mickey's...eat dinner there twice every trip.

We've never had a bad experience there....always get seated within 5 minutes of checking in, attentive wait staff, good food, lots of character interaction, the kids love it!!!

Can't wait to go back in May!!

 

[McKelly]

We have been disappointed both times we have went also. We did breakfast and dinner and was not overly impressed with the food. BUT, we are thinking of trying it again for a last meal breakfast on the day of departure because it has all of the popular characters that my kids enjoy. That or 1900 Park Fair, because we haven't tried that yet.....tough to decide.

 

[roliepolieoliefan]

We've eaten at Chef Mickeys for dinner every trip at least once and love it more each time.

The singing and napkin twirling just get us more in the Disney mood. We always make our ADR's for 5-5:30 so we don't have to wait long.

 

[lark]

Loud, chaotic atmosphere.
Rushed, hectic waite stafff.
Poor food quality.

I don't think I can dispute any of these three points. It's loud, and, while chaotic is a little more than what I'd say, it's close. The wait staff is often rushed. And, the food's not great. It's a buffet, of course, so I don't think anyone's expecting a made-to-order meal, but I agree that even for a buffet it could be better.

All that said, we love it. At all but a few restaurants, I've long given up the idea that there will be anything resembling a good value for my dining dollar in WDW, and certainly, it's a tough gig for the wait staff and service can suffer. Chef Mickey's, though, to us is all about the characters, the shtick, and the setting. With those criteria, IMHO at least, it's pretty tough to beat.

 

[Cannot_Wait_4Disney]

We love Chef Mickey's too, we always go on our arrival day........ but, I do have to say that the food wasn't as good on our last trip. (jan/feb) it was just so/so. We really love the character interaction though, my DS LOVES it........ the one thing that really irks me though....... when some parents let thier kids "intrude" on other kids time with the characters........... I mean look around, it's very easy to see what's going on and that the characters DO come to each table and spend time with each kid.......... we had a woman from the next table come over to Mickey while he was with DS, take him by the arm and try to pull him over to her and take a photo.............., I politely said, he will come to your table, and she said " yes, I know"......DUH!!!!!!!!!! Anyway, Mickey shook his head no and pointed to my DS.......... also our waiter told her Mickey would be right over........... but come on.......... how rude!!!! OK rant over, but that really just makes me crazy!!!!!

That really stinks. I hope you didn't let that ruin your good time. We had something similar, happen at Crystal Palace. This woman literally dragged Tigger away from our table. We just told Tigger to go ahead and see them and then come back to our table for Tigger's safety more than anything. We weren't going to get in a tug-o-war with Tigger as the rope.

 

[tline35]

We have been disappointed both times we have went also. We did breakfast and dinner and was not overly impressed with the food. BUT, we are thinking of trying it again for a last meal breakfast on the day of departure because it has all of the popular characters that my kids enjoy. That or 1900 Park Fair, because we haven't tried that yet.....tough to decide.

Well, if I just happened to get the one day out of the whole year where everything goes wrong, let me know, we'll try again . . . . . OK I'm lying, I'd rather spend the 2 hours standing in line at the park to see Mickey and Goofey. That way I can still enjoy that georgous Florida springtime weather.

 

[Christine]

We had a 6:20 reservation, showed up 20 minutes early . . . and hungry. 6:20 came and went. 6:30 came and went. 6:40 came and went. And yes 6:50 came and went.

There is loud, fun, and festive. Then there is just loud and chaotic. This was the latter. Every 1/2 hour they do break into song and dance which is the only break you get from the chaos of the atmosphere.

There are good attentive waite staff, and then there are hurried hectic waite staff who need another career choice. Guess which one we got.

Food choices were minimal and not properly prepared. Hand-carved prime rib was either bloody rare or over-cooked well. Pork was somehow turned into cow-hide tough leather. Raviloli was room temperature. Wendy's makes better salads. Deserts were mass-produced and nothing special.

If this were a $6.95 Buffet . . . .sure that's one thing. We weren't on a meal plan, so the the $116 bill for a family of 4 wasn't "hidden."

From the master of entertainment and hospitality . . . . . Disney, what a disappointment. It's not like it ruined the whole trip, but it was the lowest point of the week.

Two days earlier we had Donald's character breakfast at Animal Kingdom before it opened. They were organized and on time. The food wasn't 4-star either, but it was properly prepared and hot. The waite staff was cheerful, helpful, and attentive.

tline,

This is EXACTLY what we experience each and every time. Over the years, as Chef Mickey's has gotten more popular, it definitely has gotten more chaotic. I have to say that obnoxious kids/parents are more the norm here than at any other buffet. This was the *only* buffet where it seemed that the kids would NOT stay in their seats. We waited a LONG time to have the characters come to our table, only to be interupted two or three times so someone else could tap Mickey on the shoulder to get a picture. I was like "HEY, we waited for this, get away from my table." I've done LOTS of other character buffets and have never noticed this to this degree.

I've also noticed that there are many very young kids that go up to the buffet unsupervised and do yucky thinks while up there. The staff doesn't seem to be on hand enough at the buffet line to clean things up.

It's really a shame that the food has to be so consistently bad because we do have very fond memories of our time there about 8 years ago. It really would only take a little bit more effort out of Disney to get things under control a bit better.

Edited to add: one thing we always do is to get a 5:00 p.m. ADR everywhere we go. If you are doing buffets, especially with characters, I cannot say enough about doing this. You will be LEAVING the buffet dinner at the crescendo of the "rioting." I know early dining is a distasteful thought for some people, but it really makes things a lot better.

 

[DisneyMim]

I have to agree with many of you. We are huge Chef Mickey fans, in fact we loved the old one at DD. First I will add that my kids are older now, but up until a couple of years ago we all loved going to Chef Mickey's, the atmosphere, etc. We noticed that the food has absolutely gone downhill. Also the chaotic atmpsphere of the room is awful. Yes there is a difference in kids having fun and kids being obnoxious. My kids are too old for character intervention now, but we love watching little ones. I have noticed very rude kids and parents. Kids at the buffet alone picking up food and putting it back with their hands, parents pushing their kids in front of other people for pictures with the characters. It's terrible. When my kids were young it wasn't like that at all. I think the restaurant has become much more popular lately and the sad truth is that Disney hasn't been able to keep up IMHO. We won't go back, the food was that bad compared to what we have come to expect from Chef Mickey's. I think most people go for the characters which is understandable. The characters are wonderful and the kids all love them. You are paying for that and if my kids were young I probably would go, but for us now it's more about the food and IMHO the food is not worth the money.

 

[wendypooh]

That really stinks. I hope you didn't let that ruin your good time. We had something similar, happen at Crystal Palace. This woman literally dragged Tigger away from our table. We just told Tigger to go ahead and see them and then come back to our table for Tigger's safety more than anything. We weren't going to get in a tug-o-war with Tigger as the rope.

Thanks!!! We have gone to CM for the last 4/5 years, it is (was) a MUST do on our arrival day. Our DS LOVES the characters. We were just really disappointed with the food quality this last trip and are debating on going back. It is chaotic, loud, fun, that's why we liked it, however and it's sad to say, but some parents are so aggressive and obnoxious, it's no wonder the kids are!!! My son waits his turn, because that's what I teach him, and yes it really makes my blood boil when the PARENTS are the ones who act like complete jerks!!! I'm sorry you had that experience, but it seems like that is the norm lately........ it's too bad, it makes the "experience" really unpleasant. We do love Disney though, LOL, we've got 2 trips planned within the next 5 months.............

We may try another character meal........... we love CP too, but think we may skip it, as DS is getting too old for Pooh........... we are thinking of trying LTT or maybe Donalds.............

I do hope CM shapes up......... it was a great time and got us all in the "mood"!!!

 

[Luigi's Girl]

I also believe it has definitely gone downhill and this is coming from someone who really NEVER has a bad thing to say about Disney. I always advise friends and family with younger children to try it at least once (at breakfast only) for the atmosphere. I tell them in advance not to expect the food to be great and to just let the kids have fun twirling their napkins and meeting the characters. It can be a fun experience if the adults expectations are not too high going in.

 

[carone0318]

Reading this thread reminded me how disappointed I was in all of the character meals that we attented last year. We ate at CM, CP, Donald's Breakfastosaurus and 1900 Park Faire. It wasn't the food that was the problem, but I felt sort of like cattle. Pretty rushed and didn't feel that the character interaction at any place was that great. That being said, when we go this year, we will be eating at LTT, O'Hana's and Cape May Breakfast. Regardless, we still go. The kids enjoy it, but I guess since I am flipping the bill my expectations are a little higher.

 

[kizmac]

It was disgusting in the 90's too, you are just out from under the spell now

Too funny...but probably true!

We enjoyed it last time...it was our 1st CM dinner...I would say the food was probably the lowest rated out of all the other places we ate that week, but we did have a good time. We are going back for our first night this trip....I'm anxious to see if the spell is still working on me!

 

[marcyinPA]

We found the food to be adequate buffet food. It's not GREAT, but it's not AWFUL either. We go in with the expectations that it's a BUFFET and not a gourmet meal.

I've noticed a theme of these threads though, saying "rude kids, rude parents". That's not a Chef Mickey's or Disney issue. That's a parenting/breakdown of society issue. I've noticed a lack of respect everywhere these days, including my kids' school where I've started subbing. There's not much Chef Mickey's or Disney can do about kids running around rampant if their own parents don't enforce it.

I wouldn't let the behavior of others sway your decision of eating in a particular restaurant.

 

[Christine]

We found the food to be adequate buffet food. It's not GREAT, but it's not AWFUL either. We go in with the expectations that it's a BUFFET and not a gourmet meal.

I've noticed a theme of these threads though, saying "rude kids, rude parents". That's not a Chef Mickey's or Disney issue. That's a parenting/breakdown of society issue. I've noticed a lack of respect everywhere these days, including my kids' school where I've started subbing. There's not much Chef Mickey's or Disney can do about kids running around rampant if their own parents don't enforce it.

I wouldn't let the behavior of others sway your decision of eating in a particular restaurant.

Well, we eat a many character buffets and, honestly, the rudeness and pushiness seems to ABOUND at Chef Mickey's. Don't know why as I have always had very pleasant experiences at Cape May. I think they just need a bit more staff at Chef Mickey since it is more "bustling."

Also, I am normally not a big fan of buffets, period. Wouldn't even eat at one here at home. But, I do find that Disney generally does a very nice job on their buffets, with the exception of Chef Mickey's. It rates right up there with the Old Country Buffet that we have around here. Well--okay--it's probably not THAT bad, but pretty close. The other buffets (at least the one's I've been to) seem a notch above in the food arena.

 

[TiggerFamily]

we can't seem to get in to CM I've tried making ressie for 3 differant days of our trip in May and we can't get in. I can get like 8:30 for dinner but not with a 4 and 6 yr olds. We do have CP and Donald's breakfast at AK booked. Nancy

 

[mammapapa]

I don't think I can dispute any of these three points. It's loud, and, while chaotic is a little more than what I'd say, it's close. The wait staff is often rushed. And, the food's not great. It's a buffet, of course, so I don't think anyone's expecting a made-to-order meal, but I agree that even for a buffet it could be better.

All that said, we love it. At all but a few restaurants, I've long given up the idea that there will be anything resembling a good value for my dining dollar in WDW, and certainly, it's a tough gig for the wait staff and service can suffer. Chef Mickey's, though, to us is all about the characters, the shtick, and the setting. With those criteria, IMHO at least, it's pretty tough to beat.

I agree. Character meals are more for the enjoyment. I took my dd5 to celebrate her birthday there last March and she really enjoyed it! especially the music and the whole restaurant swirling their napkins.
THe food could be improved, but it wasn't such an important factor in our case.
I wasn't really expecting a 5 star dinner. but, it was good enough to satisfy me and we would like to try the breakfast buffet next time. If you want a quiet atmosphere with good quality food , then -Chef Mickey's is not your choice. This is a place to have fun with the characters and party !

 

[Cannot_Wait_4Disney]

Thanks!!! We have gone to CM for the last 4/5 years, it is (was) a MUST do on our arrival day. Our DS LOVES the characters. We were just really disappointed with the food quality this last trip and are debating on going back. It is chaotic, loud, fun, that's why we liked it, however and it's sad to say, but some parents are so aggressive and obnoxious, it's no wonder the kids are!!! My son waits his turn, because that's what I teach him, and yes it really makes my blood boil when the PARENTS are the ones who act like complete jerks!!! I'm sorry you had that experience, but it seems like that is the norm lately........ it's too bad, it makes the "experience" really unpleasant. We do love Disney though, LOL, we've got 2 trips planned within the next 5 months.............

We may try another character meal........... we love CP too, but think we may skip it, as DS is getting too old for Pooh........... we are thinking of trying LTT or maybe Donalds.............

I do hope CM shapes up......... it was a great time and got us all in the "mood"!!!

See, I've never seen that much, if any bad behavior from the kids either at Chef Mickey's or any other buffet character meal I've been to. I've never seen kids just run all over the restaurant. Any time we've seen somene out of line, and it wasn't all that often, iit's been a parent.

You might try Donald's. My in-laws love it. We don't go because we like Boma over that direction and two big meals in a day would really be too many.

we can't seem to get in to CM I've tried making ressie for 3 differant days of our trip in May and we can't get in. I can get like 8:30 for dinner but not with a 4 and 6 yr olds. We do have CP and Donald's breakfast at AK booked. Nancy

CM's is a tough get. There are tougher ones, but not many. I don't have a handle on how soon you have to get it under the 180 day policy. But back under the old 90 day policy, you had to get it within the first week or so or 5:30-7:30 pm was very slim pickings. I think you'll have fun at those also.