Tusker House and Chef Mickey’s...

[SpinDocMama]

Hi! We have almost identical dining reservations for our animal kingdom days… We have reserved Tasker House for lunch and Chef Mickey’s for dinner… I just read a terrible review of Chef Mickey’s based on not being among the first to arrive at the restaurant, so I would love feedback on that… I would like to go to each one of them while I am there, and I was wondering if you would recommend doing Chef Mickey’s on the first night or saving it for the end… Here are the times of our reservations.

Day 1, first full day, AK Fastpasses, Lunch TH at 12:50, dinner CM at 7:40.
Day 6, last day at parks, last night in Disney, AK Fastpasses, Lunch TH 1pm, dinner CM 8:15pm...

We honestly can’t do two buffets in one day, so I’m going to cancel two of those reservations, one on each day. What would your recommendation be? Is the food quality at Chef Mickey’s that bad if you go later on in the particular meal service? Thanks in advance for any feedback. Also feel free to suggest other restaurants and plans, keeping in mind that we have a family of four with two sons ages five and eight on the DDP.

 

[DisneyWishes14]

Personally, I would do CM on Day 1 and TH on Day 6. When my DS was that age, an 8:15 pm dinner would have not worked well, particularly after a full day in the parks.

IMHO, the food at CM is bad no matter when you go, but it is fun to see the Fab 5.

 

[skippytx]

Tusker is one of our favorites, but we prefer breakfast there. We did brunch once (timed it for the switch over to lunch) and it was pretty good. We stopped going to Chef Mickey, food quality wasn't great, and the atmosphere is just too much.

 

[mkla2015]

I don't think there will be much difference in a 740pm reservation and 815pm reservation to be honest with you. Chef Mickey's food is mediocre at best but it's busy enough that the food should be replaced on the buffet often. And, there are reservations much later than those so it's not like you'll be the last ones there with an empty buffet. I would just pick the reservation that works best with your schedule.

 

[lorenae]

CM is loud with bad food. If you go, just be prepared for that. The characters are great, the location is great, and I really wanted to like it. But it’s one and done for me.

 

[SaintsManiac]

Both are incredibly loud. Characters are fantastic at both. Food much better at Tusker.

I’d dump both and go to Garden Grill.

 

[scheddj]

I’d switch Chef Mickey for ‘Ohana or 1900 Park Fare.

 

[SpinDocMama]

I looked and I wasn’t able to get 1900 or Ohana… Why would you recommend Garden Grille over either one of those? I was under the impression that the characters weren’t the big five… We did the seafood buffet at the dolphin last year and we really enjoyed that as her last night at Disney… But some people say they like to do a character meal to set the mood right when they get there… I guess either way we will be doing a character meal, it’s just a question of which.

 

[lorenae]

I looked and I wasn’t able to get 1900 or Ohana… Why would you recommend Garden Grille over either one of those? I was under the impression that the characters weren’t the big five… We did the seafood buffet at the dolphin last year and we really enjoyed that as her last night at Disney… But some people say they like to do a character meal to set the mood right when they get there… I guess either way we will be doing a character meal, it’s just a question of which.

At Garden Grill, we had Mickey, Pluto, and Chip and Dale. It was really fun- Pluto even photobombed a phot of me and Mickey!

 

[3gr8boys]

Not the Fab Five.....but character interaction at Garden Grill is great!

 

[SaintsManiac]

Garden Grill is peaceful, amazing character interaction (they usually come around twice), very cool location, food always fresh and good and you don’t have to go up to a buffet for it.

 

[3gr8boys]

Garden Grill is peaceful, amazing character interaction (they usually come around twice), very cool location, food always fresh and good and you don’t have to go up to a buffet for it.

Yep!

Given the choice of CM, TH or GG- I would pick GG without a second thought.
Unless there are characters at CM or TH that are a deal breaker, you may want to consider it. (As PP mentioned, GG has Mickey, Pluto, Chip and Dale).

ETA figured it might be helpful to kind of answer your original question. I would opt to do TH and skip CM altogether. In terms of when to do character meals, I would personally consider timing that works for the kids AND not losing too much park time over trying to begin or end a trip with character meal. (FWIW, I really enjoy character meals )

 

[3gr8boys]

...... In terms of when to do character meals, I would personally consider timing that works for the kids AND not losing too much park time over trying to begin or end a trip with character meal. (FWIW, I really enjoy character meals )

@SpinDocMama I would like to amend the above advice a little! If TH is important, I would keep the reservation on day 1 of your trip....while you may still visit AK as planned on day 6, it may be wise to not save TH for the end just in case your kids/family decide they really want to spend the last day (or much of it) in a different park. I have found that building some flexibility into our plans makes my family much happier.....and my kids usually choose where to finish their WDW time rather last minute.

FWIW My choosing TH over Chef Mickey (or doing both) is primarily based on more interesting theming at TH and being able to interact with the characters in safari mode. I still smile when I think about Donald "telling" us about all of the animals he saw on his last safari.

 

[scrappinginontario]

We enjoy both but I will say when we're on the dining plan we get 'fooded out' by the end of our trip. We like a buffet towards the end as we can put just a little food on our plate and not feel guilty not eating a big meal.

I would agree with others that we prefer TH for breakfast, or better yet, around 10:30 where we can get a little brekkie and lunch as they switch over.

CM is a staple for our family and we often go towards the end of the trip and enjoy it! Trading it up this year and going to Topolino's Terrace instead of either CM or TH.

 

[scard192]

I would agree with others that we prefer TH for breakfast, or better yet, around 10:30 where we can get a little brekkie and lunch as they switch over.

we did the same last trip. Had TH for 10:40. a few picky eaters in the group who I knew would not eat much of anything on the lunch menu and they were very happy with the breakfast offerings while the others had some of both.

This trip we let the kids pick the one TS meal we will do and they chose Chef Mickey.

 

[Dug720]

I would agree with others that we prefer TH for breakfast, or better yet, around 10:30 where we can get a little brekkie and lunch as they switch over.

we did the same last trip. Had TH for 10:40. a few picky eaters in the group who I knew would not eat much of anything on the lunch menu and they were very happy with the breakfast offerings while the others had some of both.

The only problem with that is that while you will pay breakfast prices because of your ADR, if they are running very behind they may not have any of the breakfast foods remaining out and you may be stuck with lunch.

 

[JMommyof3]

I would do CM on the last day. And since it's a late reservation you may be able to see the fireworks from the restaurant. That's a nice way to end the trip/day. CM isn't the greatest food but it's fine for buffet and the characters are great.

 

[Lisa F]

The only problem with that is that while you will pay breakfast prices because of your ADR, if they are running very behind they may not have any of the breakfast foods remaining out and you may be stuck with lunch.

not even running behind - we just did a 10:50ADR for "brunch" - the last time I did an early lunch it took FOREVER for the lunch foods to come out, it was like 11:45 or something and we were sitting around looking at breakfast foods not wanting to pay lunch prices for eggs and waffles.

This time by shortly after 11 they pretty much were already switched over and had consolidated the few remaining breakfast foods on the dessert part of the buffet. I was seated right away so we did get a round of breakfast but I was not expecting it to be gone so quickly.

 

[rkstocke5609]

Garden Grille has never disappointed me. Tusker House is our favorite character breakfast in WDW.

 

[westie55]

Chef Mickey's, IMO, isn't as bad as some people say. Is it fantastic food? No. I much prefer the food at Tusker House. Still, it is a quintessential Disney character meal that is worth trying and deciding for yourself as long as you go in with reasonable expectations that it will be loud, not fancy or gourmet, etc.