Rethinking Chef Mickey's???

[kitkat4622]

Have seen a lot of reviews for chef mickey and they seem to be more negative than positive. I was planning on doing a dinner the night of our pirates and pals cruise. I do have the dining plan what place would you suggest instead of chef mickeys that would be convenient to Pirates and Pals

 

[mkla2015]

I would keep Chef Mickey's since it's right there at the contemporary. We always enjoy it- it's typical buffet food- nothing amazing but not that bad. Yes, it's loud and chaotic but that's what I've come to expect at character meals. My kids LOVE meeting the characters in their chef gear. We've always had great character interaction there- never felt rushed.

 

[Alesia]

'Ohana

 

[minnie mum]

I think CMs dinner is one of the very worst on property. If you want something close by, there's the Wave at the CR. Or you could do Ohana at the Poly or GFC at the GF. Or if you still want a character meal, there's 1900 Park Fare. All of those are at monorail resorts.

 

[Capang]

We almost cancelled ours and we are so glad we kept it. We read the negative reviews and got very worried. We enjoyed the character interaction and the food was way better than we anticipated.

 

[Kimi313]

We love Chef Mickey's! Remember what I like may not be what you like and vice versa so I vote try to for yourself and see how your family likes it!

 

[disnut1149]

I would keep it. Some of the food is good. My DGD loved it!

 

[DWillowBay]

We did exactly what you are planning...Chef Mickey right before our Pirates & Pals Cruise. It was a great evening. Based on our experience, I would recommend that you keep the CM Reservation. It was great fun going from there to the events/ characters of the cruise.

 

[alliecat523]

We enjoy CM. it's not amazing but it's enjoyable. Definitely a highlight for my daughter.

 

[senadler]

I think the food is average, but we still go on some trips since it is a great experience for the kids. One of our issues, especially for dinner, is the cost compared to some other choices. With the DDP that would not be an issue for you. I think making it a night with the pirates and pals cruise is a great choice.

 

[goofy4prez]

I wish I would have listened to the horrible reviews of Chef Mickey. It turned out to be the worst dining experience I have ever had at WDW. Our server really only has to worry about clearing a few plates and replenish drinks and she couldn't even do that, the service was terrible. The food was not even average buffet food, it was abysmal. The buffet table was filthy and they did not do a good job keeping up with it either with the food. Never will I ever dine at this place again. If I had to choose between a Golden Corral or CM, it would be Golden Corral in a hearbeat (and they are terrible as well) I would dine at the Wave, Ohana, Grand Floridian Café and even at 1900 PF which is another character buffet, but at least it is close to being average in food quality.

 

[crzy4dsny]

You can't beat it for the characters and atmosphere, but the food......horrible! It has always been a must do for my family, but now that they teenagers and don't want anything to do with the characters we will not be returning. Go if you want the character interaction, if you want a good meal go somewhere else.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

We had dinner there on 8/29. I was nervous about it because of the negative reviews even though I had a good breakfast and dinner there in the past.

We had a 5:15 ADR. No wait.

The food was really really good!!! I was very pleased. The lobster mac and cheese was great. I would keep the ADR.

 

[chloelovesdisney]

We had a great experience there for my son's 3rd birthday dinner this past year, so happy I didn't cancel it (I was really on the fence).

 

[SouthJersey]

Have seen a lot of reviews for chef mickey and they seem to be more negative than positive. I was planning on doing a dinner the night of our pirates and pals cruise. I do have the dining plan what place would you suggest instead of chef mickeys that would be convenient to Pirates and Pals

If you want the character experience, then sure, do it. It is the worst of the buffet's on property and IMO, and many others, one of the worst overall TS' on property.
The atmosphere is nothing special, just a buffet layout without a theme besides the huge statue mickey and a hectic loud atmosphere worse than the others. It's tolerable for breakfast, while still being the least rated of the character meal locations. The food is comparable to Old Country Buffet or Golden Corral.

If you want Mickey, Minnie and Donald with a unique theme and better buffet offerings, with quicker food replenishment and a less hectic atmosphere, go to Tusker House. The nicest of the buffet character meals would be 1900 Park Fare.

 

[jacknsally19]

I actually think that that having a buffet meal before the pirate and pals meal is just way too much food. We actually arte very light meal before the cruise because there are so many snacks and desserts offered. Personally, I would suggest doing a table service for breakfast or lunch and then grab a light meal at the Contempo cafe.

 

[butterfly71076]

Have seen a lot of reviews for chef mickey and they seem to be more negative than positive. I was planning on doing a dinner the night of our pirates and pals cruise. I do have the dining plan what place would you suggest instead of chef mickeys that would be convenient to Pirates and Pals

We love Chef Mickey's! We go every trip and have always had a great experience. While the food is not gourmet, it is still good. Character interaction has always been wonderful! People always say how awful it is, but yet, it's nearly impossible to get a reservation less than 180 out. It is loud and chaotic, but most character meals are. It has never been dirty, or gross. It will always be on our list!

 

[KateP85]

I hate Chef Mickey's, I think it's the worst place to eat on all of Disney property. Last time we were there the buffet was disgusting, it was dirty with food all over the place and no one bothered to clean anything up. The service was terrible, it was insanely loud with kids running out of control everywhere, and the character interaction was pretty bad. There are other character buffets within the monorail hotels that are much better, but I do agree with another poster that a buffet might be too much food before your cruise if you want to take advantage of the snacks they offer.

 

[SM101]

I'm not typically a fan of buffet's and Chef Mickey's is no exception. We went there the first time we went to Disney on a friend's recommendation of it being a "must do".....it was atrocious. Loud, overcrowded, poor food, and the characters (the only reason to put up with any of that) stopped by for maybe a minute each, so very little interaction.

My DD still likes some character meals, so we'll do breakfast at Crystal Palace, 1900, or Tusker House. We've also done dinner at Garden Grill.

 

[ELSA711]

If you want the character experience, then sure, do it. It is the worst of the buffet's on property and IMO, and many others, one of the worst overall TS' on property.
The atmosphere is nothing special, just a buffet layout without a theme besides the huge statue mickey and a hectic loud atmosphere worse than the others. It's tolerable for breakfast, while still being the least rated of the character meal locations. The food is comparable to Old Country Buffet or Golden Corral.

If you want Mickey, Minnie and Donald with a unique theme and better buffet offerings, with quicker food replenishment and a less hectic atmosphere, go to Tusker House. The nicest of the buffet character meals would be 1900 Park Fare.

While I agree Chef Mickey's can't compare to Tusker House...just want to point out Minnie is not at Tusker House, neither is Pluto.
Daisy replaces Minnie there.

My kids love Chef Mickeys. DH and I go for the salad, soup and desserts
And to see how happy our kids are. We also love Tusker House and mom/dad actually eat there.