I've never bashed a WDW restaurant, but...

[inkkognito]

Y'all might want to try Beach Blanket Buffet, which has a character breakfast with the characters in their swim wear. I haven't had breakfast there but have heard great things about it, and I LOVE LOVE LOVE their dinner (although it's non-character).

 

[Cinderella&Dopey]

We thought CM's was fine for breakfast although I don't think we would ever eat there for dinner. The only complaint we had was the noise level. It was so loud! But all the charaters were great and we got some of our fav pics there!

We will deff eat CM's for breatfast this trip! Mickey is so cute as a chef!

 

[*KeepMovingForward*]

Sorry you had a bad meal there. We never had an awful experience at CM's. Now I'm a bit leery because we are supposed to go there for a breakfast in October. I hope it was just an off day for them.

 

[divawife]

This was our first trip in many years, the first with kids age 5 and 8 and the first on-site and the first DPP.

Our first night dinner after a very tiring day was CM with a late ADR for 8:20 pm-ish I forget exactly but it was late.

It went very well, the characters came around with enthusiasm, it was loud but it was fun!

We never went to CM for breakfast but we really enjoyed the dinner! If we noticed something was almost gone or just not warm enough we mentioned it and they would bring out a brand new batch. This didn't happen very much at all though, maybe once or twice when the chicken was down to the last dregs or the pizza for the kids was cold. Instantly there was more!

I was worried about cleanliness of the buffet esp with so many kids going up by themselves but there was a CM stationed at each buffett (there are 2 lines of the same stuff) and was cleaning up.

The kids were all over the peel yourself shrimp, and they were already de-veined so I was happy. I thought the chicken and stuffing were really great. We loved the carving roast, I was able to get rare and the rest were able to get a piece well done with no hassles.

The waiter was always there with drinks.

I would go again and I would even try the breakfast.

 

[magik]

The first time I ate at Chef Mickey's it was in Downtown Disney and was one of my family's most fun and memorable meals of that trip. Years later when we went back, it had moved to its current location in the Contemporary, and it just wasn't the same at all. The food was bleh...the characters weren't as fun. It was definitely not a change for the better. I would be totally fine never eating there again.

 

[hauntedmansion0810]

Chef Mickey's has always been a favorite of ours. I wonder if it was an off day.

 

[Lavender_Blue]

Okay, the consensus about bad food at CM's is stressing me out! I finally got a dinner ADR for CMs for our upcoming trip -- the first time we'll eat at CMs because DS (4) has been asking to have a meal with Mickey. It is also the last buffet of our trip. I'm going to be so upset if we all end up disliking the food given how much we're paying. We go to Crystal P every year for dinner and enjoy the food and characters there. What should I do now? Keep or find another Mickey alternative? Since we don't do big breakfasts the only other Mickey character meal is the Garden Grill in Epcot, right? Isn't that character meal being discontinued?

What is this about Garden Grill being discontinued? Or is it just that there won't be any characters there anymore? (I wouldn't mind the latter so much, but that's because I don't have kids and I always get annoyed when I'm trying to eat with my fiancee and a character pops up every five minutes to 'play' with me =P)

Anyhow, doesn't Fulton's Crab House have a character breakfast? When I was younger I remember eating there for breakfast and Captain Mickey and Pluto, ect. were around. Plus the breakfast was awesome (I wanna go back). I loved the muffin assortment (they were mini, though =\).

 

[OneBadApple]

We had a late ADR for breakfast at CM last year and we thought the food was good. It wasn't spectacular by any means, but we would definitely go back again. In fact, my DS10 is bummed because we are not going there this year.

 

[kimis]

What characters are at Ohanas? thanks

 

[*KeepMovingForward*]

What characters are at Ohanas? thanks

Lilo, Stitch, Pluto & Mickey that I can recall. Only for breakfast. At night its just the hula/game lady.

 

[budbeerlady]

Yes, Garden Grill is being discontinued.

Really, what is the date for this to happen?

 

[budbeerlady]

Lilo, Stitch, Pluto & Mickey that I can recall. Only for breakfast. At night its just the hula/game lady.

Ohanas is still our favorite breakfast. We had the best time and good food here. We are trying Tusker house this year for something different.

 

[OneBadApple]

Yes, Garden Grill is being discontinued.

They will no longer be serving lunch, but GG will still have the characters for dinner.

 

[Tink3Bell]

We missed our CM reservation last year and made one for this year. I just hope to find something edible for us and the kids because they like the character interaction. Keeping my fingers crossed.

 

[esdras]

Okay, the consensus about bad food at CM's is stressing me out! I finally got a dinner ADR for CMs for our upcoming trip -- the first time we'll eat at CMs because DS (4) has been asking to have a meal with Mickey. It is also the last buffet of our trip. I'm going to be so upset if we all end up disliking the food given how much we're paying. We go to Crystal P every year for dinner and enjoy the food and characters there. What should I do now? Keep or find another Mickey alternative? Since we don't do big breakfasts the only other Mickey character meal is the Garden Grill in Epcot, right? Isn't that character meal being discontinued?

Okay, perhaps I should qualify my remarks. I don't know if anyone here has had truly inedible stuff at CM. That was certainly NOT the case at our dinner there 2 years ago. It's just that the food was not as good as most of our other dining experiences.

In terms of a buffet dinner - we thought that Crystal Palace food was much better than CM - but, to be fair - I would have stated that the food at CP was EXCELLENT - I would have given it an 8 or 9 out of 10. So, while I didn't like the dinner at CM, it was being compared to a lot of our other meals at that trip. CP - great. Le Cellier - amazing. Cindy's (lunch) - good. Coral Reef (lunch) - just okay. Chef Mickey's - fair.

Out of five TS meals, three were outstanding - so, when the food at CM's wasn't as good, we were kind of thinking to ourselves - "wow, compared to other Disney food, this really isn't that good".

If they had the identical food at a buffet in my own city (no characters or anything of the sort), at a reasonable price (maybe a $15 dinner buffet) - I probably wouldn't come down so hard on the quality.

I guess, to put it bluntly - I expect better at Disney.

 

[cymbaldiva]

I just think it's sad that Disney thinks it's okay to charge insane prices for poor quality buffet food and everyone is okay with it because there are characters there.

 

[exnortherner]

In all the years we have been going to WDW, we have never been to CM. I was hoping to try it on our next trip but after the comments I have been reading, I think we will stay with what we know. For dining inside a park, you can't beat CP. For those who want traditional characters in a quieter atmosphere, we like Cape May Cafe at the Beach Club. They have all the good buffet choices and the characters give you plenty of time.

 

[esdras]

In all the years we have been going to WDW, we have never been to CM. I was hoping to try it on our next trip but after the comments I have been reading, I think we will stay with what we know. For dining inside a park, you can't beat CP. For those who want traditional characters in a quieter atmosphere, we like Cape May Cafe at the Beach Club. They have all the good buffet choices and the characters give you plenty of time.

In terms of a buffet location - probably. It was great when we were there and seems to get consistently good reviews - there are some negative reviews - but far less than for CM.

I think that baffles me the most. CP and CM are effectively (in terms of the size of WDW) within spitting distance of each other. Both are buffets, both do breakfast and dinner (CP does lunch all the time, CM only occasionally), both have characters, both can get a little rowdy (although CM seems to be noisier). Why is the food quality so different?

Considering the characters are different, why not simply duplicate the menu from CP for CM? It seems as though CP is able to do their menu exceedingly well - I would turn over operations of CP to the head Sous Chef and take the Executive/Head Chef over to CM to implement CP's menu at that location.

Better yet, considering a lot of the issue is on food quality, maybe Chef Mickey's could be chosen for an episode of Gordon Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares!

(Okay, so the restuarant isn't at risk for closing - but I can only imagine his reactions to the food)

 

[DrDeb]

was going to try CM instead of our usual Ohana [love it]in Sept but after reading some of the reviews--we're going back to Ohana--and we still have no issues or problems with H&V in DHS or Le Cellier but there's lots of bad stuff shared on the DIS-- sorry your experience wasn't magical-- try Ohana

 

[emmabemmainc]

Too funny--I'm the opposite-I loved CM breakfast, but thought that 'Ohana was boring. I loved the character interaction at both, however.
I loved the variety at CM and nothing I had tasted bland or boring. I guess maybe it depends on the day you go??!!
BTW--when we go this Dec., we're doing CM for breakfast again and 'Ohana for dinner. To the person who thought they'd switch ressies--I would not be so quick to do that--you just never know what you might like or not like--and definitely don't go based on someone else's opinion!