Oh, please help me with a character breakfast!

[bellelab]

We will be on the QSDP but want to eat one character breakfast which we will pay for OOP. My 4-year-old has never done a character meal and my 6-year-old was 3 last time so she really doesn't have any memory of them. I showed them all the different character meals and they both want Chef Mickey's. I just keep reading about how rushed the characters are, the food is awful, etc. I myself really want to try Crystal Palace but it's not about what I want! We have done Tusker House which we loved but I want to try something different. The kids love the Fab 5. Ohana is one I'm also considering for Mickey and Pluto (or is it Goofy?) but they don't care for Lilo or Stitch. Also thinking of Cape May but there is no Mickey there. They both really love Mickey. Oh, I just don't know. I could really use some advice/suggestions. Thanks!

 

[goofyintoronto]

Chef Mickeys has the worst breakfast food in all of disney. Quality of taste is awful, the food was lukewarm, i was not impressed at all. I would never ever go back. I hated the atmosphere, its like a school cafeteria. The characters seem to take forever to come around. we waited FOREVER for the characters and had to sit there for a while even thou we were done eating. Might i mention how loud it is in there? even my son complained of all the noise. I think this place is the armpits of all restaurants (Le Cellier is a close 2nd). But thats just MY honest opinion. My 2 fave places are Tusker House & Ohana. Its wonderful! I also heard great things about Cape May. Why not try there? Do you really think they'll notice if mickey doesnt come around??? Cant you just come up with an excuse such as "oh he's not feeling well" or something? haha. Good luck!

 

[CathieArms]

We will be on the QSDP but want to eat one character breakfast which we will pay for OOP. My 4-year-old has never done a character meal and my 6-year-old was 3 last time so she really doesn't have any memory of them. I showed them all the different character meals and they both want Chef Mickey's. I just keep reading about how rushed the characters are, the food is awful, etc. I myself really want to try Crystal Palace but it's not about what I want! We have done Tusker House which we loved but I want to try something different. The kids love the Fab 5. Ohana is one I'm also considering for Mickey and Pluto (or is it Goofy?) but they don't care for Lilo or Stitch. Also thinking of Cape May but there is no Mickey there. They both really love Mickey. Oh, I just don't know. I could really use some advice/suggestions. Thanks!

Honestly, if they want CM, that's what I'd do. They'll be disappointed with anything else if they have their hearts set on CM. You said it yourself; they love the Fab 5. I don't see how you could consider anything else, even if the character interaction is a bit rushed. Will they really know the difference? They'll come around to the table and "talk" to the kids, take a quick pic and sign an autograph.

Suggestion for a little bit "better" interaction: Bring something "special" with the character's image on it for them to sign. For instance, I bought canvas bags and, using a simple coloring page I found online, I painted a character on each canvas bag to use for autographs. The characters whose images were on the bags when NUTS! Absolutely NUTS! So, maybe you do CM and you do something similar. Maybe your dd's favorite character is Goofy, so you do Goofy on one and maybe Mickey on another...or whatever.

It won't guarantee you a better experience, but it will up your odds.

 

[MSLRAC]

I would either do Cape May, Tusker House or Ohana. It will be a long, long, LONG time before we ever consider Chef Mickey's again. The food was horrid and bordered on inedible, the place was a mess including the buffet area, the service was inattentive, the characters were rushed and we had to almost beg to see Mickey because he skipped our table. Also, DH had major issues with the birds flying overhead while we ate. So I would avoid it if at all possible!

 

[bryannem]

We have done a few character meals.

CM was good for breakfast. I did not have a problem with the food. The characters were good and the kids loved seeing them. We did this one to see the characters for my nephew (non princess characters)

1900 Parkfare was great for some different characters and the food was good too.

CP. I love CP. I have been for all meals and the food is great. I love all the Pooh characters.

I have also done Akerhaus and CRT, which are both good too.

I think that if your kids want to do CM, it is not that bad. I remember it being a very good experience and we had a 7:30 am reservation!

 

[HunnyJar]

We've gone to Chef Mickey's numerous times for dinner, but this year will be our first time for breakfast. Since we have always been happy with both the food and the character interaction - I'm not really worried at all. Never felt as though the characters were rushed at all.

If you are open to the idea of dinner there is a great character dinner at Epcot with Mickey. Garden Grill has farmer Mickey, Pluto and Chip and Dale. The food is wonderful and I really can't speak highly enough about the character interaction. Just wonderful. We've gone several times, the most recent was last year for our oldest daughter's first birthday. We'll be going in September for our newest little one's first birthday as well. The characters really spent quite a bit of time with us and we saw them more than once.

Just some food for thought..

 

[canopynut66]

We will be on the QSDP but want to eat one character breakfast which we will pay for OOP. My 4-year-old has never done a character meal and my 6-year-old was 3 last time so she really doesn't have any memory of them. I showed them all the different character meals and they both want Chef Mickey's. I just keep reading about how rushed the characters are, the food is awful, etc. I myself really want to try Crystal Palace but it's not about what I want! We have done Tusker House which we loved but I want to try something different. The kids love the Fab 5. Ohana is one I'm also considering for Mickey and Pluto (or is it Goofy?) but they don't care for Lilo or Stitch. Also thinking of Cape May but there is no Mickey there. They both really love Mickey. Oh, I just don't know. I could really use some advice/suggestions. Thanks!

We had to mark Chef Mickeys off our list as service and food terrible Mickey not at any other breakfast unless that has changed since last November. Tusker is good but is Donald and friends. Crystal Palace is Pooh and friends and is pricey but lot of interaction. Hollywood and Vine is Manny & friends and food good there. 1900 Park Fare is Princess and the scary stepsister as well. Cape May is Goofy & friends no Mickey but very good. O'Hana's is all Lilo and Stitch. good one is Whispering Canyons there are no characters but they have things for kids to get up and do and it is a great price and good food over there is at WL and can take the boat from MK to get over there and that is fun as well. not sure why Disney has taken Mickey out of all breakfast and we weote them about it have not heard back. we no onger have small kids but love character meals as well.

 

[HunnyJar]

We had to mark Chef Mickeys off our list as service and food terrible Mickey not at any other breakfast unless that has changed since last November. Tusker is good but is Donald and friends. Crystal Palace is Pooh and friends and is pricey but lot of interaction. Hollywood and Vine is Manny & friends and food good there. 1900 Park Fare is Princess and the scary stepsister as well. Cape May is Goofy & friends no Mickey but very good. O'Hana's is all Lilo and Stitch. good one is Whispering Canyons there are no characters but they have things for kids to get up and do and it is a great price and good food over there is at WL and can take the boat from MK to get over there and that is fun as well. not sure why Disney has taken Mickey out of all breakfast and we weote them about it have not heard back. we no onger have small kids but love character meals as well.

Actually.. Mickey is at a few. He is listed at Chef Mickey's, 'Ohana and Tusker House for breakfast. He must be so full. I know we've seen him every trip at 'Ohana with Pluto and now Lilo and Stitch. And he is normally seen at Tusker House.. Maybe he was sick when you went. And it wouldn't be Chef Mickey's without him!

 

[OhThePain]

Mickey not at any other breakfast unless that has changed since last November

Mickey is not only at CM's but also Donald's Breakfast Safari at TH and the 'Ohana breakfast.

As for the OP, we usually do CM's on our last morning. We find that for the most part, all the character breakfasts are about the same as far as food quality goes. We had a great waitress last time who, without asking, took pictures so my girlfriend and I could both be in the same picture. My girlfriend LOVES Chef Mickey's, my favorite character breakfast is 1900 PF. We both dislike all the meals at CP. If the kids love the Fab.5, I don't see a problem giving them what they want.

Also, remember, take all the reviews you read with a grain of salt. In many cases nothing was really as bad as it seemed. Plus, you don't know the factors that go into someones opinion. Maybe they were having a bad morning, maybe their expectations were too high, etc. etc. Their review may reflect reasons that have nothing to do with the restaurant or even Disney.

 

[tina.tina]

If it makes you feel better, a mom at my son's preschool said Chef Mickey's was wonderful when she was there in February. You just never know til you try it yourself.

 

[ChattaAlley]

I really liked Ohana. The breakfast was great and the atmosphere was perfect. We saw Micky, Goofy, Pluto, Lilo, and Stitch. They did a congo parade line with Maracas. It was so cute.

Here are a few at Ohana

 

[GrumpyBelle]

I would say if your kids both want CM than that's what I would do. I agree with whoever said they would probably be disappointed with something else.

I have eaten at CM for Dinner and thought it was good. The kids who were 14/14/8 (we took an extra along) at the time really enjoyed both the food and the character interaction here.

 

[HARVEYSGIRL]

Crystal Palace is our all time favorite! We also really enjoyed 1900 Park Fare. We saw Alice, the Mad Hatter, Mary Poppins, Pooh, and Tigger there. The food at Cape May was great and so was the Character interaction. They have alot of fresh fruit which I love.

Depending on your schedule I would recommend one of those 3.

 

[homedad]

we did CMC for breakfast our last trip because DS8 wanted a "big breakfast" it was pretty good from what I remember and we had good chacacter interaction

 

[Linda T.]

We have done Crystal Palace (our favorite), Chef Mickey's, and Akershus. Crystal Palace is our absolute favorite - we love the food and the character interaction. We went to Chef Mickey's in 2007 and we enjoyed the food and characters but it is really loud. Last year we did Akershus and the characters were great but we did not like the food at all. Good luck with your decision.

 

[*QueenB*]

We will be on the QSDP but want to eat one character breakfast which we will pay for OOP. My 4-year-old has never done a character meal and my 6-year-old was 3 last time so she really doesn't have any memory of them. I showed them all the different character meals and they both want Chef Mickey's. I just keep reading about how rushed the characters are, the food is awful, etc. I myself really want to try Crystal Palace but it's not about what I want! We have done Tusker House which we loved but I want to try something different. The kids love the Fab 5. Ohana is one I'm also considering for Mickey and Pluto (or is it Goofy?) but they don't care for Lilo or Stitch. Also thinking of Cape May but there is no Mickey there. They both really love Mickey. Oh, I just don't know. I could really use some advice/suggestions. Thanks!

While Chef Mickey's isnt the best food when we took our girls for the first time my oldest DD was 2.5 yr old and when she saw Mickey she was literally shaking with excitement. The table next to us had older girls and the mom told us she enjoyed watching our DD than her own teenage kids. It was amazing for our DD and that is all I remember. That is the point of character meals you know. She remembers it to this day.
Im sure you'll make the right decision for your family.

 

[TinkandGoofy'sMom]

Tusker House is our favourite character buffet breakfast but.... how many people are you travelling with? We did the Grand Gathering Breakfast at Tony's in January and it was fantastic. The character interaction was the best of anywhere we've been for character meals. The food is served to you at your table family style, so no getting up and down, which can be a pain with little ones. Maybe you can hook up with another family and do that one??

 

[dissybroad]

Have done CP, TH, and H&V. Will be trying for ADR's at CM, Akershus, and alternates Ohana, 1900 PF, or GG. I've also heard food is pretty much the same everywhere so I'm going for favorite characters or location, ie. the park we'll be in that day or convenience to the monorail.

 

[ajleone]

I just keep reading about how rushed the characters are, the food is awful, etc. I myself really want to try Crystal Palace but it's not about what I want!

Actually they're 6 and 4 so it is about what you want. They will follow suit and love wherever you bring them.

 

[MSLRAC]

Actually they're 6 and 4 so it is about what you want. They will follow suit and love wherever you bring them.

I agree...at 4 and 6, they are not going to care where they are after that first character makes his/her appearance. They are also probably not going to be eating a lot of the food so I most certainly would pick a place that had decent food especially if I were going OOP for the meal.