Negative CM experiences-anyone disagree?

[jngwright]

I have been reading alot of negative Chef Mickey reviews. Did you have a good experience recently? Like the food? Have good service?

We have a 7:30 am ADR..is it possible for us to make it to Epcot for RD??

TIA

 

[DSQUIRT]

We ate at Chef Mickey's for the first time two years ago for dinner. We enjoyed our experience. Our waitress was fantastic and we thought the characters came by in a very organized fashion. We were able to mingle and take pictures with each of the characters. The food was good - I wouldn't say "goumet" good but certainly more than acceptable. Obviously, part of the pricing is for the character interaction so I would say that another buffet, say Boma, has slightly better/quality food since it isn't a Character Dining buffet.

 

[grace&philipsmom]

We had two meals there last fall. Breakfast and dinner. I preferred the breakfast, but DH thought the dinner was better. The kids love the atmosphere and the characters. We have gone other times in the past as well and have never had a negative experience. The food is pretty standard buffet fare.

 

[TiggerFamily]

We've had breakfast there twice and have been happy. This trip we are going there for dinner. I do remember having to wait a few minutes before getting sat, I'm not sure what time RD is Epcot it may be tight to get there on time.

 

[wolf29]

CM is one of our must-do meals. We enjoy the character interaction, have never felt rushed nor have we ever missed any of the characters. Service has always been good, and the food is typical WDW buffet fare, which is just fine for us. Have seen reviews that state that the place is noisy, but honestly never went to a WDW restaurant looking for a quiet meal. We do usually have to wait a few minutes to be seated and it takes about an hour for all the characters to come by, some rope drop might be tight.

 

[HunnyJar]

We have never been to CM for breakfast but have enjoyed dinner on multiple occasions. We've never had bad food here like so many people have been mentioning. I love the parmesan mashed potatoes. So good! Also the character interaction has always been good. It is a little loud, but I figure it's to be expected here since they do say there is a party every 15 minutes.

 

[disnut8]

One of the main reasons you see negative reviews about any restaurant is that it's just not human nature to come back and post any good or average service. Very few people even post about above average or better than expected experiences. However, humans do tend to run right back here and complain. We do it all the time with everything. If you go to a store and get service that you expected from the clerks, do you tell anyone about it? Probably not. But if you get bad service, you let everyone know about it. And one negative view will sprout many more negative reactions from people. However, a positive review probably will get a few responses but not many.

This is why I don't take reviews very seriously.

 

[mkleinbe]

I think everyone should try Chef Mickey's at least once. The characters are great. We're not going this time because the food to us was so-so and we want to try something different so we're doing Tusker House for breakfast this time. Our waitress was great there too. My youngest was miserable the whole time from the characters and our waitress totally doted on her and brought us a banana from the buffet to take for a snack later since Addi didn't eat a bit the whole time we were there.

Give it a shot, like I said everyone with wee little ones should try it once.

 

[ksueboo]

We tried the breakfast buffet two years ago and loved it. It was our first time visiting the Contemporary which started the morning off with a new experience traveling via monorail to the resort. Kids got to ride up front with the pilot. We felt that the food was fresh and hot. Typical breakfast fare. Character interaction was great with my 4 kiddos.

That being said, we are going to do the 1900 Park Fare for our next trip's breakfast buffet. We just like to experience different places.

 

[dacky041208]

We've eaten there before and enjoyed it. The food wasn't super, but it was good. The character interaction was worth it for us.

 

[2Tiggies]

You need to remember that Disney is an experience. Everything is an experience from the parks and resorts down to the food and the places you eat at. Experiences, at least good or unique ones, cost money. Same goes for the meals. So what happens is people go and have a great time and accept that they are spending above average money for an above average vacation, but since eating is something everyone NEEDS to do a few times a day, I think criticism runs a little higher in this department. You are spending more than you would elsewhere. There are some good restaurants in Disney where the food is outstanding. But anything "average" by normal standards leads to people feeling "cheated" because they paid more and expect more. I am not doing Chef Mickey this year. BUT ONLY because I have done it before. It may not be silver service but it is certainly a memorable experience and the food was fine. I have enjoyed my meals there. It is a buffet. I didnt' have to pick anything I didn't like. If you book it I think you will enjoy it.

 

[jngwright]

One of the main reasons you see negative reviews about any restaurant is that it's just not human nature to come back and post any good or average service. Very few people even post about above average or better than expected experiences. However, humans do tend to run right back here and complain. We do it all the time with everything. If you go to a store and get service that you expected from the clerks, do you tell anyone about it? Probably not. But if you get bad service, you let everyone know about it. And one negative view will sprout many more negative reactions from people. However, a positive review probably will get a few responses but not many.

This is why I don't take reviews very seriously.

You need to remember that Disney is an experience. Everything is an experience from the parks and resorts down to the food and the places you eat at. Experiences, at least good or unique ones, cost money. Same goes for the meals. So what happens is people go and have a great time and accept that they are spending above average money for an above average vacation, but since eating is something everyone NEEDS to do a few times a day, I think criticism runs a little higher in this department. You are spending more than you would elsewhere. There are some good restaurants in Disney where the food is outstanding. But anything "average" by normal standards leads to people feeling "cheated" because they paid more and expect more. I am not doing Chef Mickey this year. BUT ONLY because I have done it before. It may not be silver service but it is certainly a memorable experience and the food was fine. I have enjoyed my meals there. It is a buffet. I didnt' have to pick anything I didn't like. If you book it I think you will enjoy it.

Yes-I understand all that and that is why I was asking for some positive thoughts on CM. We haven't been to CM for years (1980something) and have it booked for this trip, because we, too, like trying "new" things.

A good example of your point, disnut, are the "bottom of the barrell/top of the cookie jar" threads right now. Ask people what they don't like and you get a dozen pages, ask 'em what they do like and you get just a few.

Thanks to those of you who provided CM reviews

 

[Lidian]

We ate dinner at CM's last June. Overall, we had a blast, but our family didn't care much for the food and we had a horrible server (he was cranky and took forever taking care of our check). But we didn't let the food or him ruin our dinner (or day). While there wasn't anything wrong with the food, it just wasn't to "our" tastes.

To be honest, it was a wonderful environment and our kids adored the interaction with the characters. I've been checking multiple times a day for cancelations so we can return on our upcoming trip.

So .. while we had some negative experiences on our visit - it wasn't anything to prevent us from returning! And hopefully our server will have had a nap.

 

[PrincessBelle39]

We've done breakfast and dinner and definitely preferred the breakfast. Didn't really enjoy the dinner at all.

 

[howlongtillsummer?]

We have had two dinner there and loved them both. We always book the first dinner time and have found the restaurant to be relatively uncrowded and have seen characters more than once (July!!) We like the food and have had two very good servers. The only disadvantage is the bathrooms which are very out of the way. But I enjoyed it so much that I have booked two more reservations for our next trip.

 

[ROEDISNEY]

Love Chef Mickey's . The best feeling Disney resturant on property A must do every trip

 

[Swimalie]

One of the main reasons you see negative reviews about any restaurant is that it's just not human nature to come back and post any good or average service. Very few people even post about above average or better than expected experiences. However, humans do tend to run right back here and complain. We do it all the time with everything. If you go to a store and get service that you expected from the clerks, do you tell anyone about it? Probably not. But if you get bad service, you let everyone know about it. And one negative view will sprout many more negative reactions from people. However, a positive review probably will get a few responses but not many.

This is why I don't take reviews very seriously.

Not true. I have posted several great reviews about Akershus and Crystal Palace.

We did Chef Mickey's a few weeks ago. The character interaction was really nice but the breakfast was bad. I didn't even finish a plate of food and left there hungry. We were seated in an area that was cold and had a lower ceiling than the other parts and it made it a lot darker than the rest. It's not a place we would go back.