What's the deal with Chef Mickeys?

[MissionMouse]

We prefer breakfast and found the dinner to be exceptionally loud...its very busy...kids appear to be either having melt downs or going just going crazy as they have been up all day, if their not, then their parents are at their breaking point in one way of the other. Add in the character component and its just not all that enjoyable. Really no food stands out in the dinner but the breakfast setting is calmer, less hectic and provides breakfast basics.

 

[ChrisMouse]

Thanks for all of the great input.

We have an ADR for our first full day.


We'll give it a whirl!! It will be nice for my kids to have the character interacation, at least!

 

[tigercat]

We tried it for supper once. Not a place we are running back to. The food was okay. I have a problem with wheat and this place just didn't really help me out. Also, we didn't get to see all the characters. We were seated outside the main rooms right next to the buffet. The characters would do their thing in the main room and then rush by us to go on break. We never did the hankerchief thing as we were not a part of the "group". There are too many other places that we really love to go back to a place that didn't really thrill us. Now having said all that I know others have really loved it. I think it all depends on you and your own experience.
tigercat

 

[MickeyMomOfThree]

Chef Mickey's is our favorite. Part of it is sentimental for sure, we ate there on our first day of our first family trip almost 12 years ago. We LOVED it and made it a family tradition. We have gone to CM on every single one of our trips. We go twice, once for breakfast and once for dinner and have always enoyed the food very much. Now, I will say we prefer breakfast, but that isn't to say we don't enjoy dinner because we do.

I think will all places you get good and bad reviews. It's best to try it for yourself. I was so happy on our November trip to get LeCellier. I was talking about it to someone and another person overheard me and said how awful it was. Well, we went anyway and we LOVED it. Glad I didn't listen to them.

I hope you enjoy it, we sure do, but if you don't at least you will know and not always wonder...

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

My family and I have been there a few times for dinner and each time it was a good experience and I guess it depends on each person. Some people will like it and others will hate it, so call it different storkes for different folks.

 

[colinsdad]

There are so many variables which can affect how you feel about a restaurant.

I went to CM with my DS and DB a few years ago and had a blast. We sat in the main room, had lots of character interaction, and the food seemed decent. But I'll be honest, I went for my son. Also for comparison with other posters, I was not on the DDP so I paid OOP.

Last year, I went again with my DS and DB, but this time we were joined by my 2 other DB's and 2 DS's. As a party of 7 you would think it would have been better, but it wasn't. They put us in the back room in a corner. We could only see characters when they made it back to our room, so the table made the experience bad. Everything else was the same, but I felt it wasn't worth the $.

The fact that I had a previous experience to compare it to probably made it worse since we had such a good time before.

I'd say go, insist that you be seated in the main dining area (which is behind the entrance or in the main foyer). Do not go to the room behind the buffett which you have to step up one step to get into. Try a little bit of everything in the buffett, then hopefully you find something you like which you can go back to. If all else fails, just hit the dessert table.

 

[PrincessBelle39]

We've only been for breakfast but will do dinner this trip. We loved the breakfast. The food was good but the character interaction was fantastic. And thats what its about to us. We can always find something we like in a buffet. You always get different opinions and I'm a big believer in trying it for myself. Even if the food is not flash, we will get some good character times.

 

[ROEDISNEY]

I can't count the times I have been to CM for breakfast & dinner. Never had a bad time. I don't know why people don't like it. It's a lot of fun to.
It's not a gourmet resturant it's not suppose to be.

 

[robandkelly13]

We love Chef Mickey's! We had also read some bad press, but all of our experiences there have been great!

 

[mla2177]

I have never eaten breakfast at CM, just dinner. The food was just horrible. There was nothing I thought tasted good at the whole buffet! I am by no means a picky eater! There were 4 adults in our party, and they all thought the same thing. I hear Breakfast is better. I just didn't think it was worth the travel for bad food either!

 

[5Clark5]

We love Chef Mickey's - The character interaction is second only to Ohana Breakfast. The food is typically buffet style, but we always hit Chef Mickey's for dinner.

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

We were at Chef Mickey's on my son's 13th birthday on January 11th. It was great fun, the characters were wonderful, and the food was just fine (we all left stuffed). We LOVED the make-your-own sundae bar.

Take what you read on these boards with a grain of salt. Because someone else doesn't like it doesn't mean its bad for your family. Our trip earlier this month included several places that regularly get luke warm reviews (such as Chef Mickeys and Sci-Fi), and I can't say we had a bad meal in the bunch. Hubby has an extra 8 pounds on his waistline to prove it.

Enjoy your trip!!

 

[sambuster]

CM is one of our favorites. We eat there everytime we visit the world. I celebrated my 40 Birthday there.
Steve

 

[JerseyJanice]

We love Chef Mickey's for dinner. Been 5 times; only once was it just O.K. Every other visit, it was excellent.

As PP's have said, you can't go entirely by what you read on the boards. I stayed away from Biergarten and Sci-Fi for years because they didn't get such great reviews, and we totally loved both restaurants. The worst meal we ever had at WDW was at Boma's, and that's a board favorite.

From now on, I'll be going where the menu's sound best-suited to my family's tastes.

 

[ElizabethB]

Chef Mickey's for dinner is a loud, insane party. Having said that, it is a good way to see the main characters.

And, we did it in September and were pleasantly surprised by the food. We took my 4-year-old niece for the character interaction. We had a family group of 11. It wasn't the best meal of the trip but there was meals that were considerably worse foodwise -- Liberty Tree Tavern for dinner comes to mind immediately.

What did we like about dinner at Chef Mickey's? We went on rib night (whichever night that is) and the ribs were quite tasty and far better quality than the ribs at HDDR. While we're on meat, the prime rib was only passable, at best.

They also had an unlimited peel and eat shrimp bowl. I'm not a huge fan of peel and eat shrimp, generally, but this was fresh and tasty, with no discernable vein (can't stand eating the vein) and a zingy cocktail sauce.

Some of the cheese, olives, etc. were fine. We basically avoided casseroles, potatoes, chafing dishes, etc.

Salad bar was fine and the kids' items were as expected.

Finally, we enjoyed the desserts. They had some kind of key lime tart that was nothing short of delicious. And, everyone enjoyed the make your own sundaes.

Will we go back? No. Once was enough. But, was it a nice enough surprise we'd recommend it to others? Yes.

 

[freepixie]

What did we like about dinner at Chef Mickey's? We went on rib night (whichever night that is) and the ribs were quite tasty and far better quality than the ribs at HDDR. While we're on meat, the prime rib was only passable, at best.

Oooooh!! They gots ribs now??? Holy guacamole, I hope we get a ressie for rib night!!! Anyone know what night that is????

I'm such a rib junkie!!!!!

 

[DWFan4Life]

We tried having breakfast at Chef Mickey's and really had a great time with the characters, also the food. But we haven't try going on a dinner but planning on our next trip. As what I've read here, maybe I wont try it anymore but breakfast is okay.

Have a nice day everyone.

 

[jennipooh]

It is so nice having the characters come to you, spend time with your child, pose for pics, sign autographs...all this with no line. When paying for the meal, think about this wonderful service and how priceless that is!

Minnie is a big flirt with the boys and that is a real hoot!! As with CP and Stitch's breakfast, the characters were great fun.

We were just at Chef Mickey's in Dec. They dropped the prime rib and added some other cut of beef. DS (9) read this on the menu board while we were waiting. He asked the cm seating us about this. When she confirmed that the prime rib was gone..I swear my little carnivore almost stormed out of the place. He loves prime rib! Well, she promised that the new cut of beef was even better so he gave it a try. She was right. It was all very yummy!!! The food is definitely quality for a buffet.

After several visits to DW we finally purchased the photopass cd. Upon our return home, I read that if you are using the photopass service you can have them add the portrait shots (if purchased) onto your photopass. I wish I had known this when we were there, it would have been nice to have our Chef Mickey's portrait on the cd!!

 

[RACHELSMOM1]

A MUST DO for our family. I would much rather see characters at the restaurants than have to stand in line at the designated character spots (there have always been these character spots, at least since 2001 when we started going). The food and the interaction with the characters cannot be beat.

 

[Karamia]

Though I think every child should eat there once if they can (Mickey!!!) we found the buffet to be the least tasty. Love Crystal Palace and for a more exotic buffet Tusken House.