Where is the Official Kevin Fan Club - should have listened - will never stray again

[Whipperwhirl]

So we are here at the world. CBR Hotel - nice, Pool - nice, even the food court met expectations. I booked Chef Mickeys for our first big dinner out , I know the warnings - its about the characters, not the food so I was only expecting edible. In one word it was disgusting. I nearly told them I wouldn't pay. If it wasn't for the character interaction with my soon to be 9y/o - I would have been livid (Turns out my 4 y/o is terrified by charachters and he spent the entire dinner hiding under the table whenever a character came near - but we wont factor that into the experience - who knew ).

After $116.00 (After TIW discount) for 2 adults, 2 children, and 2 beers - I left feeling dirty - even victimized. Not even the croutons we edible (soft like they had been sitting in a humid room for three weeks). The cheese smelled spoiled, the milk for my kids was warm, deserts were nasty, shrimp - slimy - the only bright spot was the bud light - which I needed - after I realized I had been had. I left there hungry because I didnt want to eat anything they were serving.

I can't believe I didn't listen to Kevin. If it wasn't for fear of not having anywhere to eat this week - I would cancel all of the character meals I have booked. Is there a compelation of his reviews somewhere, a fan club maybe or dining guide. Perhaps a "spectacular" food meter of some sort. Perhaps he gives peas instead of stars. I need a summary so I can make better choices.

Thanks for listening - Whip

 

[wilde_oscar]

the breakfast is good though... after many years of research on the topic... character meals should only be done for breakfast. It is hard to screw up breakfast food.

 

[Launchpad11B]

the breakfast is good though... after many years of research on the topic... character meals should only be done for breakfast. It is hard to screw up breakfast food.

Ditto Rex. Breakfast is tough to mess up. The Crystal Palace character meal is a buffet and is pretty good. Not stellar, but pretty good.

 

[lttlmc3]

My breakfast experience at Chef Mickey's was good. I'm not eager to do it again, but it was a nice experience. Guess it IS hard to screw up breakfast.

 

[IWISHFORDISNEY]

Hmmm that is scary I booked that for my son. Eeekkk!!! Crystal Palace is good for dinner. I guess not all Character buffets are the same. I hope the rest improve for you.

 

[ragtopday]

Ditto Rex. Breakfast is tough to mess up. The Crystal Palace character meal is a buffet and is pretty good. Not stellar, but pretty good.

I would have to add that the Crystal Palace lunch we did last August was the best meal all week (which included Le Cellier and Narcoosees).

Sorry your Chef Mickey's experience was so bad!

 

[drakethib]

FWIW I was in Disneyland in Cali few weeks ago and the trip was probably one of the best Disney trips I have ever been on with one big exception:

Goofy's Kitchen (kind of the Chefs Mickey thing) The food was horrible and we had one character pass by us (not stop) over one hour.

We left to go see the manager and there was a line of people (probably at least 7 families) complaining. They ended giving all of the people including us a full refund.

I swear I think that sometimes Disney believes if they throw a few characters somewhere and serve crappy food people will pay and not say a word.

ON a side note, the princess breakfast there was probably some of the best food I ever ate.

 

[Madi100]

If it wasn't for the character interaction with my soon to be 9y/o - I would have been livid (Turns out my 4 y/o is terrified by charachters and he spent the entire dinner hiding under the table whenever a character came near - but we wont factor that into the experience - who knew ).

First let me say I'm really sorry your meal wasn't good. We've never been fans of Chef Mickey's. I'm sure with the crowds they are going for quantity on the food, not quality.

I have to comment on the fear your son has for the characters. I watched the video from Christmas morning. Maybe you scarred him from furry things with that smelly skunk That's too bad he is afraid of the character. I hope he decides they're not so bad before the end of your trip.

 

[simonkodousek]

Sorry to hear that you didn't have a good experience at Chef Mickeys. I would have complained. In general, I've found the character meals to have poor quality food and sub-par service, with the only exception being Crystal Palace, which has always been great.

~Simon

 

[mommyceratops]

Kevin's fan club! Yup I am there!! LOL

Did you ask if they had bacon butter to add? It would of been edible then! hahaha

 

[Minniemouse07]

This is an interesting thread because last December we did dinner at both Chef Mickey's and Crystal Palace and thought Chef Mickey's was excellent (came in second out of all our character meals to dinner at 1900 Park Fare).

Crystal Palace on the other hand came in dead last. The food was okay but nothing to write home about. The character interaction wasn't good at all and the service was the worst we received on property during our 9 day/8 night trip!

Our favorite meal of our trip though was lunch at Tusker House. We even thought it was better than Le Cellier!

But after three trips in the last 13 months...my favorite meal hands down has been dinner at Citricos. It was REALLY good and the service outstanding!!

 

[firsttimemom]

We strayed from Kevin's advice in January and went to ohanas for dinner. Live and learn...

 

[Whipperwhirl]

Park fare did a decent breakfast this morning (you are right - its hard to screw up breakfast) - we had crystal palace booked for a late lunch today and we cancelled it - I didnt feel like gambling another 100 dollars when we werent starving - plus the park was a mad house so we just wanted to get out of there. No dinner tonight - we have boma dinner and tusker lunch booked tommorrow - hope to have better luck (No Chracters).

Yeah - perhaps I traumatized him with the skunk thing - DD has not stopped telling people about it they just look at her very confused. She thinks it was great though. Now that I think about it my son didnt like the characters at Sesame Place either so Im not sure why Im so surprised.

I dont think we will ever go to Chef Mickeys again - unless Kevin gives his blessing.

Off to the pool now - sound so strange saying that since there is 14" of snow on the ground at home. Whip

 

[DVCsince02]

I have to agree with the previous posters. Character meals are best for breakfast.

Hope you have some better meals!

 

[Launchpad11B]

Off to the pool now - sound so strange saying that since there is 14" of snow on the ground at home. Whip

Not anymore. It's been raining and halfway warm for two days up here. A lot of the snow is gone. Still enough to be messy but definitely less.

 

[calypso*a*go-go]

My DS behaved the same way when he was that age. We went to DLR resort when he was younger and he did great...loved the characters and wasn't afraid of anything. When we went to WDW a year or two later he cried on just about every ride we went on and screamed in terror when any character came anywhere near him. So don't worry -- it is something he will probably outgrow and I doubt he'll need therapy because he thought he was getting a pet skunk for Christmas. (Just put that money towards your next vacation instead! )