What happened to Chef Mickey's food?

[DVC-LEROY]

I know Chef Mickey's was never considered as one of the better restaurants food-wise but I can't believe how lousy it was on our recent trip (10/2-10/8/02). We tried it both for dinner and breakfast. The character interaction was fine - but the food was definitely a step down from all our previous visits and it didn't seem as clean as it could be. Was it just us or have others noticed this?

 

[izzarelli]

I know I'm prob in the minority here, but Chef Mickey's is our least favorite place to eat for this exact reason. Last time we were there for dinner it didn't seem clean at all & the food was average at best.
I was mostly surprised because we had an early PS time & the dessert bar was already really messy, to the point I didn't want to eat anything from it.

 

[4kidsandadog]

We were at the World from 9/30-10/10 and ate at Chef Mickey's on the 7th for dinner. I wasn't thrilled with the food, but I wasn't extremely disappointed, either. None of the desserts appealed to me, but I was able to eat enough dinner that it didn't matter (and knowing I had Chef Dick's yummy chocolate chip cookies waiting for me back at the Poly lounge helped, too!).

But speaking of our food experience overall at Disney this time... I am glad that next time we go, we'll be in a 2BR villa and will be doing some of our own cooking and less eating out. I don't feel we got our money's worth this trip.

Karen

 

[disney queen]

ugh! we have PS for december to eat at CM for the first time. now i am a little nervous!! any other opinions?? thanks!

 

[A kid at heart]

I'm glad I'm not the only one with this opinion! The last 3 times we have eaten there it has gotten worse each time!

 

[jwfla422]

Hmm, I was there with 4 yr old dd in August and this was actually our first time at CM. We went for dinner. I have to also agree. The charcater interaction was really great, dd loved it. I made PS for the first night of our next visit, but I'm so leary about it. She wants so badly to see Mickey or Minnie the day we get there I don't know where else to make PS.

I was not impressed with the food eithere. I thought it was mediocre. The desserts were good, but now that it's a woping $23.99 for dinner I'm really trying to figure out something else. And, dd barely at anything. Spending almost $40 to see Minnie and Mickey seems a little steep when the meal isn't so great.

 

[Eileen226]

Five years ago, this was our FAVORITE restaurant by far, out doing it's California courterpart Goofy's Kitchen. We couldn't wait to take our in-laws there this past July for their Forty Fifth Anniversary. Although a fuss was made for them, the food was definitely substandard to the Cape May Buffet or the buffet at the Grand Floridian. If you have never been there though, you will have nothing to compare it to, the character interaction is GREAT (even for 12 and 15yrs olds at the time) and my in laws thought it was grand. It's not terrible, it's just not what it used to be. Four years ago we were there on "Good Friday". My son has food allergies so "the rules" don't apply. They had fish fingers instead of chicken fingers that night. He is allergic to fish. The chef came to our table, we told him our story, he fried up about 1 dozen huge chicken fingers just for my son. (We had enough for lunch the next day) Because of this, Chef Mickey's will always hold a special place in my heart!

 

[tjkatie]

We recently returned from our first trip to WDW and really enjoyed our visit to Chef Mickey's! The character's were great and my kids loved the singing and dancing! We also bought the cute picture they take when you arrive.

The kids buffet included pizza, mickey mac and cheese, chicken nuggets, etc. We enjoyed the prime rib, mashed potatoes, green beans, roasted turkey (the turkey and prime rib were served by a carver) and the rotis. chicken was really good. We also had salad, soup and lots of those peel and eat shrimp. It was one of the few times we actually got some veggies in our kids that week....not counting french fries!!

I would suggest give it a try disney queen....you might enjoy it too!

 

[Mom of 5]

We've only eaten at Chef Mickey's once, and it was for dinner. We thought the character interaction was great, but much preferred the food at 1900 Park Fare.

 

[BriarRabbit]

We went in May of 2001 for dinner and thought that it was dirty! The food was OK but not the smashed cake and potatoes squished on the floor under our table from previous diners. We asked them to please clean it up and about 10 minutes later they did. It was also too noisy for us. Haven't been back since. Sounds like it wasn't just one bad night for them.

 

[Tagrel]

We go each year, and love Chef Mickey's. The characters are wonderful, and the kids love the singing and napkin waving. (If you are looking for a nice quiet meal, this should NOT be your first choice!)

That being said, we have also seen a steady decline in the food quality over our last 3 visits. I think someone needs to wrap up this thread and send if off to Disney! I don't see anyone saying how the food has improved, so I don't think this is just a 'timing' issue.

At $23.99 an adult for a buffet, I think Disney needs to bump up the quality as well. But, since it is always full, I guess they figure they can raise prices and lessen quality until is starts to effect attendance. Sigh.

Now, as a few others have pointed out, the 1900 Park Fare Dinner buffet was WONDERFUL. We could not get over how good the food was - and the Pooh Characters were a lot of fun as well!

We're going back to Chef Mickey's in December for another try. (So it isn't so bad we won't go back - yet!) If you have a reservation, I think you will still have a good time!

 

[DVC-LEROY]

As an added note - We also tried 1900 Parkfare for dinner for our last night and it was the best by far - great characters (Pooh, Piglet, Tigger & Eyore) much quieter, nice variety, and fabulous service. As I look over my photos - the kids seemed to enjoy Chef Mickey's but all of us who were actually eating thought it was the worst... and we go there every year so we had something to compare it to.

 

[SnowWitch]

We have ate at CM's 4 times the last time was a couple of years ago. We found each time we went the food was of poorer quality. After the 4th time we gave up, the selection is smaller compared to other buffets. The service was okay but the last visit the character interaction was average at best. We haven't returned since. We prefer Crystal Palace for character buffet or Cape May/ Boma for a good buffet.

 

[disney queen]

okay i am really getting nervous now!! thinking we should cancel and start our vacation at another restaurant. thinking maybe le cellier or tony's. maybe portobello at DTD. we have an AP so that is not an issue. any suggestions?

 

[crazy4claspooh]

I wouldn't cancel your visit to Chef Mickey. We love Chef Mickey and go everytime we are there we usually go at least 2 times in our visit. It's not cheap but when you think about what you get my family absolutely thinks it's well worth the visit. I have 3 sons and they love the choices for both breakfast and dinner. We were just there in May of 02. We did like 1900 but the character fun was much better at Chef Mickey.

 

[cinmell]

We had breakfast at Chef Mickey's a few weeks ago and it was hot and tastey. The characters were great and I didn't think it was dirty or messy at all. We are going back to WDW in May and will be eating here again.

 

[sudiequ]

I am very disgusted with Disney since they raised all their rates for character meals! I have just cancelled my ressies for Chef Mickeys in Nov. We will still go to the Hoop-dee-doo and Royal Table, but i'm considering also cancelling Donalds Breakfastosaurous. I worked hard to schedule and pay for these extra little perks, and now they are trying to pull a fast one! Sorry for the vent, but based on this thread i feel cancelling Chef Mickeys was more appropriate than the others at this time. We were there 4 years ago and loved it, i don't want to be disappointed this time.