Is Chef Mickey's really that bad?

amytaylor2

Mouseketeer
Joined
Jun 25, 2015
Messages
236
We are planning on going to Chef Mickey's for dinner one night of our trip. We've never been before. All the reviews though are less than stellar. Has anyone had a good meal here recently? I'm not expecting anything 5 star, but at least something more than barely edible.
 

We went for breakfast and wasn't that impressed. I surely won't discourage you from going. The monorail is cool to see when it comes through and the food was not bad. Just loud and a lot of kids running wild. So if you prepare yourself then all will be good. Just go and enjoy it, you may love it and you may also say 'hey I'm glad we did that but next time we will do...'.
 
is not that bad, it's expensive, for the money you pay you are not getting fine cuisine, is standard food you are being charge for the characters, for that reason Breakfast is better, for the price you get a lot of breakfast items and is hard to do wrong with that group of food. Most people compare CM with Golden Corral food quality.
 
Do a search for similar threads. There will be a bunch of them. Here's the one I started with essentially the same exact question:

https://www.disboards.com/threads/chef-mickeys-dinner-help.3557825/
https://www.disboards.com/threads/chef-mickeys-dinner-help.3557825/
My findings were that it was nowhere near as bad as I thought it would be. If you go with the correct mindset, you will be fine. There will be plenty of good food if you know how to navigate a buffet. When we went, the buffet tables were clean, though I'm sure during busier times for one reason or another, other ppl have had different experiences than mine.

Go for the characters, and the break. Try the foods that lend themselves to being on a buffet table. You'll be fine. It's a premium character interaction meal, first and foremost. If you have no interest in getting photos and other interactions with the characters, and you're only going for the food, you'll be making a less than ideal choice for a high price.
 
Agree with other posters, great character interaction , it is loud, food is ok to good. You shouldn't leave hungry. I did recently come across a picture of Minnie Mouse giving my oldest son a kiss when we were there, she practically swallowed his whole face, lol. Great memory my oldest son is 25 now (he was about 5 at the time). So I would absolutely do it again ;)
 
I'll have 4 boys with me ages 13, 11, 6, and 14 months. I think they'll enjoy the character interactions. And my 6 year olds "favorite ride" is the monorail so he'd love watching it go by repeatedly. Makes me feel a little better that some people have had decent meals here as well. Thanks for the replies!!
 
I'll put it this way, reviews have always said that the breakfast there is their best meal, and I've done the breakfast a couple of times there, and each time it was definitely the worst breakfast and worst buffet of my trip. That being said, it wasn't that bad, since you asked the question in that way, it's just that comparatively speaking, on my trips which are always 10-15 days and comprise 3 meals a day, it has always been the worst, overall, of my trips, however, not bad or inedible or anything like that. More like average or mediocre or uninspiring as well as messy, dirty, obnoxiously loud, haphazard, chaotic, rushed (in term of character interaction) and overall, rather disappointing for what you'd expect.

But in terms of checking off your Disney bucket list, sure go for it. It's a "classic". I wouldn't waste a lunch or dinner on it, because there are so many better dining options for those kind of meals, but if that's the only time that fits your schedule for a character dining like this that features all the Mickey characters, it's understandable you'd wanna go for it. I think 'Ohana and Tusker House and Cape May Cafe have most of the same Mickey characters, for the most part, though, and their food is much better as well.
 
We have been to Chef Mickey's a bunch of times- maybe 6 or 8- because we always take Disney first-timers there. Why? For the CHARACTERS!! That's what character meals are all about! The food is OK, it's fine, you don't have to leave hungry, although it's NOT the food you should get for the price. If it's busy, our experience is that it gets somewhat messy around the buffet station and floors. In terms of BANG for your buck, you get the Fab 5 (more or less) and more. Think of the hours of waiting in line at character M&Gs that you are skipping! Chef Mickey's is busy, loud, high-energy FUN- but it's not fine dining, not by a long shot. You should definitely GO; just don't expect too much in the way of dining or.. organization/tidiness.
 
I have eaten here at both breafast and dinner.

The food is fine for both meals but certainly nothing spectacular.

It is mostly for convenience that has brought us back here more than once. We usually stay at one of the hotels on 7 seas lagoon so for us CM is the best place to see the main characters and have a sit down bite to eat.

I do like breakfast better simply because it is less frenetic than dinner. (Perfect description). Both are loud but dinner is absolutely a zoo and thus completely unenjoyable.
 
When my kids were younger we tried it once for dinner. I'd put the food quality (and chaotic atmosphere) on par with a Golden Corral. For a character meal our top choice has always been Tusker House.
 
I think in part it depends how busy it is. When we were there for breakfast, it was busy, so fresh, hot food was being made and brought out regularly. If its less busy, some of the food will sit there, and I suspect that's where some of the negative reviews come in. That was our supper experience anyway.

Either way, I wouldn't describe the food as "amazing" at all. Its good, maybe even 'pretty good'. But honestly we booked it more for the characters.
 
The dinner buffet was pretty decent at one time. Last time we ate there in 2010, it was lunch, and the biggest disappointment was how downhill the dessert offerings had gone. At one time, they had fabulous pastries, baked goods, and a huge sundae bar with a dozen or more toppings for ice cream. In 2010, they had little rubber balls stuffed into the dispensers that used to be filled with candy.

However, they always served very tasty soups, the Parmesan mashed potatoes are awesome, and the freshly carved meat is always good. Their cornbread is great too. If you'll be happy with those items, you'll enjoy the food.
 
I'll have 4 boys with me ages 13, 11, 6, and 14 months. I think they'll enjoy the character interactions. And my 6 year olds "favorite ride" is the monorail so he'd love watching it go by repeatedly. Makes me feel a little better that some people have had decent meals here as well. Thanks for the replies!!

Based on the the criteria of character interaction & the monorail I think you'll be fine. It's been quite a while since we had dinner at CM (around 10 years.) As I recall there were a couple of food items that were pretty good--the fried chicken and maybe...I want to say mashed potatoes? Whether that has changed I couldn't say. We did a Cindy's lunch last summer with DGDs and the food was was about the quality you'd get at the prepared food section of the grocery store--only about 8 times the price. But with the interaction of the princesses and our DGDs it was well worth it. We won't be doing it again but it was a memorable one time deal. That may well be your thoughts on your CM experience. Have fun! :earsboy:
 





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