The problem with Chef Mickey's

[NY Disney fan]

I ate at WDW last week and one of the places we ate at was Chef Mickey's. Everyone says the dinner is bad here but I did not heed these reviewers because its all about the character interaction and the fun! But sadly, the dinner buffet IS bad. Cold, lifeless food. But here's the problem: I think people think because the CONTEMPOARY is such an expensive hotel compared to all the other properties, the restaurants contained within it should be better than most. Heck, even the food court at Pop is a little better (in my opinion). Can you imagine if you had 7-Eleven type food at the Grand Floridian? Wouldn't that make you a little mad?

Other places we ate last week:

The Castle (CRT lunch): Nice, nice, nice atmosphere!! The food was ok. The princesses were soooo nice & friendly!

Crystal Palace: Best breakfast at WDW! Atmosphere is wonderful. Characters barely came around though.

Sci-Fi Drive in: Love the atmoshphere, We had a "rude" waitress who told us to stop wasting her time. She made us laugh so we gave her a big tip!! She said she was tired of being nice and "yessing" WDW guests to death so she decided to stop. We kept bugging her to take a picture of our car, which she did. Then at the end we all took a picture with her!

 

[Tigger_Magic]

I agree about Chef Mickey's dinner -- JMO but "bad" is an understatement. I don't blame the location... our family also dislikes 1900 Park Fare for dinner and that's the GF. Both seem like fast-food quality dining at inflated prices. Yes, you are paying for the entertainment, too, but there are much better buffets available.

Sorry about your experience at CP. We had lunch there last trip and even though it seemed packed, the characters made it to our table twice. Glad you had a good time at Sci-Fi. It's fun when the wait staff add a little magic to the meal.

 

[Hello World!]

The mashed potatoes are worth the price alone!!!

 

[gigi1313]

we had one of our best meals at chef mickeys... i was glad i did not listen to the reviews...

 

[kimisabella]

We've been to Chef Mickey's several times both for breakfast and dinner. The atmosphere is fun and the character interaction is good, the food isn't the greatest. It's a really good place for the kids to have fun, but don't expect gourmet food for the adults.

 

[TeresaP]

I guess we caught Chef Mickey's on a good night - we ate there last week and really enjoyed it. We thought the food was good. Everything was fresh and hot. Maybe it depends on who is preparing the food for the night is why there are so many mixed reviews.

We ate at Sci-Fi and 50's Prime Time which were 2 of the worst meals during the 10 days that we were there. I loved the themes of both - food was not very good. The chicken at 50's PT was so dry & the green beans were the worst I had ever tasted. I would still probably go back to both - after reading the reviews on all of the boards - I guess every restaurant has a bad night.

Wish I was back . . . . . just back for 3 days and already miss the mouse. My legs and feet have finally recovered and now I want to go back.....

 

[PattnFmly]

I guess I caught Chef Mickey's on a good night too! While I wouldn't call the food "gourmet" everything we ate was absolutely delicious. My family has varying tastes and we tried just about everything. I even loved the chicken fingers. They were cooked just right and were juicy and yummy! I could have eaten the whole vat of parm mashed potatoes and the soup was even to die for! I'm very glad I didn't listen and tried it anyways!

 

[queenof2princesses]

they serve dinner, too? All I've ever noticed was the dessert bar !!! I did think it was a bit overpriced for a dessert only bar.

 

[NeverlandClub23]

they serve dinner, too? All I've ever noticed was the dessert bar !!! I did think it was a bit overpriced for a dessert only bar.

Me too!! I was always thought the other people were confused and didn't know where to go with their plates. Poor things, it's all about the dessert! And why is it when I do go to the dessert bar that I think it's any less fattening putting thirty different items on my plate than a huge mound of one thing on my plate?! Of course after the one plate with thirty different things I go back for the mounded one! Mmmmmm....

 

[henrylovespooh]

We have eaten at Chef Mickey's twice, once in 2004 and once last March. We liked it both times and thought the food was fresh and good.

All of these places must have good and bad nights, and everyone has different standards. I guess you just have to take a chance once in awhile.

 

[fizz13]

Yeah chef Mickeys is touch and go. The last time we went for dinner as a party of 7, I thought the food was awful and sorry potato lovers, but the mash tasted powdery, like instant mash potatoes. The desserts were flawless though. I am the only one that felt that way though and everybody else loved the food, especially the kids. We will definately be going back because we had such a good time, just maybe breakfast instead. In conclusion, maybe one girl's jello is another girl's creme brulee

Claire xx

 

[Cookie Princess]

We will only eat @ CM's for breakfast. The dinner was blah!

 

[Nancyg56]

they serve dinner, too? All I've ever noticed was the dessert bar !!! I did think it was a bit overpriced for a dessert only bar.

 

[blessedmama!!]

We had a pretty good meal at Chef Mickey's in October 2003 for our son's 5th birthday - the character interaction was GREAT and they treated DS so well.
We are going back again this trip (next week...yeah!) and have ADRs at Chef Mickey's on 9/28 at 5:30pm.

Do you think the time of the reservation makes a difference? In my experience, most buffets are "yuckier" at the later sittings, but fresher, hotter in the beginning.

I hope that's the case anyway!!

 

[ugadog99]

Chef Mickey's is the only restaurant that we MUST do each trip. Maybe our tastes are more simple, but we love the food. The salad bar is very good with lots of choices, and we could make an entire meal on the peel and eat shrimp. I always like the meats at the carving station and i can't even count how many bowls of mashed potatoes we eat! We also enjoy the various types of pasta and my girls even like whatever fish is being served. ( not me because I'm not a fish eater) Then, the dessert bar is a meal in itself. We have never had a bad experience at Chef Mickey's so I guess that's why we always defend it.

 

[Cinderella94]

I am surprised you didn't enjoy it. I loved Chef Mickey's for dinner when we went to it. It was great food, a TON of character-interaction, it was a beautiful hotel AND the restaurant itself. I loved it.

 

[Disneyof3]

I must agree, CM is the best character breakfast ever. We went there the first year because a bunch of people here at the dis said it is the best place and I loved it and the kids did too. Last FEb.05 we did Cinderella's breakfast and we all agreed even my daughter (and she's a princess fan all the way) that chef Mickey's is better and it will now be a repeat everytime for breakfast before heading to MK.

 

[yooperfan]

Does chef Mickeys serve a lunch buffet and how much is it?

 

[Eeyore2003]

Chef Mickey does not serve lunch. We are the opposite, we like Chef Mickey, but not CP. And the best buffets so far we feel are at 1900 Park Fair.