Help me feel better about Chef Mickey's!

[delgrec]

I just booked my ADR's and had trouble getting what I wanted for our first night because I wanted something around 5 and couldn't find anything that I was interested in available. I decided to book Chef Mickey's for 5:15. I really wanted something that said "Welcome to Disney" and my first choice was Garden Grill. Tried a few other places but nothing. Please tell me it won't be so bad! I am more concerned with atmosphere then the actual food for our first night because my kids won't know the difference (DD almost 3 and DS 4). Make me feel okay about this reservation please!

ETA: just want to add, these are the reservations we have already for other days...

Crystal Palace
Akershus
Tusker House
Sanaa
Coral Reef (I Know the reviews are not good but we have eaten there several times and never had any issues - this was not my first choice though, I was trying to get Biergarten but there is a problem with the reservations there so I will have to keep trying)

 

[under_the_sea]

Personally, I don't think Chef Mickey's is all that bad. It's a standard buffet. Your kids will love it! The character interactions are great and I think it's a great way to start the trip! Stop worrying and have a great time

 

[eelkmj01]

We love it as well. I've read negative reports and while I think the taste/choice of food is subjective, I've always disagreed with posts talking about lack of cleanliness at the restaurant. We've never missed CM on a trip and we will have dinner there on our arrival day in October.

 

[manooly]

Chef Mickey's is a must do for us. We have done it the past two years and love the atmosphere. The buffet is standard but good and the kids love the character interaction. We did it once to start off our vacation and once as the final dinner of the trip. We loved both of them and will do it again the next time we go (which may be this August/September if those darn airfares go down!).

 

[haley's mom]

My kids are 12 and 8 and this is still their favorite meal to do at WDW. When we were getting ready to make our annual dining plans I asked where should we eat and both said Chef Mickeys. You'll have a good time.

 

[delgrec]

Thanks everyone! That is what I needed to hear

 

[bradyloganmom]

We eat at Chef Mickey TWO TIMES per trip---dinner and breakfast been doing that for 8 consecutive years and will again this Oct.!!

 

[HotMama]

We often pick Chef Mickey's as our first night ADR. We think it just kicks off our Disney vacation. The kids get some character interaction right away. The atmosphere is so much fun. We love when they play the song that all the character parade & dance around and everyone swings their napkin up in the air. So much fun!!!! Our kiddos have even dressed in Mickey & Minnie costumes a few years in a row and everyone goes nuts! My kids especially love looking like Minnie & Mickey's twins!!! Rest your mind, you will have an awesome time!!!

 

[Kricketnp]

Chef Mickey's DEFINITELY says "Welcome to Disney." If you're looking for fine food, you're not going to find it, but the food is definitely decent and the atmosphere is a blast. I think it's ag reat choice for your kids and they will have a blast!

 

[tlaw66]

we went to cm for breakfast and it was the best time for my kids at the time 2 and 8 was first day and they still remember that part

 

[mousestruck]

Is it the best meal on property? Not even close. BUT... it is a perfect place to kick off a Disney trip! The atmosphere is pure fun and you can't help but get in the mood for a magical trip! (And the food isn't terrible, just not great.)

 

[hockey mom]

We love the party atmosphere of Chef Mickeys and to be honest I am surprised that you were able to get in because it is a favorite for many.

The napkin dance is one of the highlights of our trip.

 

[MickeyNicki]

I can tell you my similar story...we were taking our nieces for their first WDW trip, age 3 and 9. Our arrival day we booked CM dinner at 5:15

We arrived to DTD at 11 am and stayed there all day...they had the most fun there, love the pin trading, shops, etc Checked into POR, cleaned up and went to CM for dinner.

I think the kids were just so overwhelmed by the day so far and they fun that they had that they didnt have fun with the characters...the 3 year old was just terrified of them, really wish I tested her out at the park with characters first. The meal was not cheap, the food was horrible and we were all miserable.

If I had to redo our first day I would have just let them chill out and have a non character meal, maybe even a CS instead

We did do CP and Princess in Norway breakfasts a few days later and they were sooo much better there, and so wasnt the food!

 

[Okh]

I'll offer a counter opinion: They shuffle you in and take your picture around a plastic statue with an efficiency that would stun the Marines. They will later try and sell you this picture. The characters there can be found all over the park, for free, and the interactions a lot of the times are better than at CM. As far as the food - meh. The breakfast, it's really pedestrian and a lot of times poorly prepared. I've never seen bacon shatter. I'm not kidding. It was paper thin and burnt.

To my way of thinking, it's a must do like Le Cellier is - because it just is.

 

[rayangel]

i have been to so many disney restaurants but honestly when we went to cm we had the most fun ever. yes you can see the characters all over the park but at cm they play with you and take a few pics and spend a little while with you and don't make you feel rushed. my son was so scared. goofy took pics with my teenagers too. and the characters came by 2x . the food was good and some stuff was actually good enough to get seconds. my dh judges a restaurant by its desserts, he over the sundae bar. you cant go wrong with endless gummy bears.


anyway as i said we had so much fun we had a hard time leaving. we are even thinking of staying at blot just we can walk right into cm next time.
i never laughed so hard .

its all about opinions don't forget that, our worst experience was narcoosees which most people probably loved.

 

[kari B.]

I have to agree that it definitely says "Welcome to Disney"... Just don't eat the food

 

[grace&philipsmom]

We think Chef Mickey's is a great way to start a disney trip. We have eaten there several times and have never had a bad experience. It is my DS's must-do every trip!

 

[Amy&Dan]

We think Chef Mickey's on arrival night or the first night is the perfect kick off. We have been many times with never a bad meal. Is it overpriced and not gourmet? Most definitely! But so is everything else at WDW you eat. Its always been clean, fun and at times the food was excellent but its always been good at the very least.

There will be bad reviews with all restaurants and if you go with the "go someplace else" crowd's advice, then when you get reviews of your new choice, you'll have to change again.

 

[finn214]

We had a great time there, we had breakfest and it was very good. All the characters were very fun and interacted with my 6 year old as well as the adults. My 6 year old still talks about it and the napkin dance was fun. The only bad meal that we had was at la cellier, do yourself a favor and avoid that place!!! But CM is a great way to start your trip off. have a great time!!

 

[tina.tina]

Okay- here's a realistic review:

I didn't care that they took our picture with a Mickey statue & tried to sell it to us. We didn't buy it & didn't have one bit of trouble saying no- especially since we all looked tired & I looked awful. Maybe if I hadn't expected the sell, it might have annoyed me.

Food was okay- nothing was inedible. I had a salad with shrimp in it & the shrimp was really tough. The peel and eat shrip was mushy & I wondered if it was actually cooked very much at all. The lemon tart was VERY tart. The parmesean mashed potatoes were wonderful though.

Our server disappeared. We didn't see him until the end of the meal. We waited for him to come back for a long time just so we could get the check. DH said that our server watched him accidentally spill a drink right after it was brought to our table. He knew that the server saw him because they actually made eye contact. Maybe that's why he didn't come back! We didn't get refills until after he had brought us our check. DH shared DS's drink.

The characters were good & it was a party atmosphere. I felt that this was a great welcome to Disney meal. The kids weren't used to the characters yet. DD10 did fine & by the end of the meal, DS5 was following her lead. He didn't like it that Goofy took a drink from his cup. Maybe he thought Goofy drank it all when it was actually his dad who shared his drink- I didn't think about that! We had to protect his drink from the characters at the other character meals.

I think everything is what you make of it. We were at Disney and the only thing I was determined to do was have fun. We didn't have a totally great experience but we would probably go back. It's a fun atmosphere. I think it was cool to ride the monorail in from MK & then we rode it back.