Where's the best meal with Mickey?

[saturday97]

Hey there DISers,

My DS5 can't wait to eat with Mickey when we visit WDW for the first time in May.

What's your favorite character meal with the Mouse himself? Chef Mickey's? Ohana? Garden Grill? Donald's Breakfastasaurus? Am I forgetting any?

It's more important that we get good character interaction with the Big Cheese, but of course we'd like good food, too.

Thanks, experts!!

 

[sha_lyn]

Donlads breakfastosaurus. Great food and fun atsmophere. Plenty of character time. This really seems ot a a favorite with the boys because of the dinosaur theming.

 

[zulaya]

Garden Grill has always been the best for us. Food that everyone will eat and the characters always give you a lot of attention.

 

[saturday97]

Thanks for the input, guys!

 

[iwannabeminnie]

We like having breakfast at Chef Mickey's before spending a day at the water parks. We gorge ourselves about 8:00 am before the water parks open at 10:00. Because the offerings at the water parks are somewhat limited, a big breakfast is a must. I think Minnie and DH must be having a fling because he always gets a LOT of attention from her everytime we go there (I'm sure it has nothing to do with the fact that his face turns BEET red the minute she approaches him and she can't resist teasing him a bit).
There is something for everyone on the buffet. Mickey, Minnie, Pluto, Chip, and Dale are all there. The photo op (though a bit pricey) are one of the best we have had taken at WDW.

 

[Tiffany]

Originally posted by saturday97
Hey there DISers,

My DS5 can't wait to eat with Mickey when we visit WDW for the first time in May.

What's your favorite character meal with the Mouse himself? Chef Mickey's? Ohana? Garden Grill? Donald's Breakfastasaurus? Am I forgetting any?

It's more important that we get good character interaction with the Big Cheese, but of course we'd like good food, too.

Thanks, experts!!

Chef Mickey's for dinner. This is a fun and lively place as there is music playing and you spin your napkins and sing a song every half hour or so. The Prime Rib and Parm Mashed Potatoes are also very good. This is must do meal for us every trip on our last full day.

 

[JulesMom]

I think he would enjoy Chef Mickey's. It's a very fun atmosphere!

 

[Muffy]

Chef Mickey's! Loud but fun!

 

[mommystieg]

Another vote for Chef Mickey's!!

 

[ttfn3]

Another vote for Chef Mickey's for dinner!! We really like the first seating and try to schedule it for our arrival day. It's a great way to start your trip. The characters are outstanding here and they visit your tables multiple times. We've tried a later seating here and the first seating is so much better - both in food quality and in character interaction.

We tried Donald's Breakfastaurus this trip. It was okay but we will probably not do it again. The food was good but I found it very hectic and the character interaction was just okay.

 

[meeko_33785]

I like the Garden Grill. The atmosphere, food, and character interaction was great. Try to get reservations for when lunch of dinner begins. You may just have the characters almost all to yourself.

 

[adams66]

I agree that Chef Mickey's is great fun and the other characters make a point of interacting with everyone. But keep in mind, unless they changed it from January, that Mickey stays out front for meet & greet and photo ops. He does not make the rounds to the tables.

 

[iwannabeminnie]

"But keep in mind, unless they changed it from January, that Mickey stays out front for meet & greet and photo ops. He does not make the rounds to the tables."--adams66


Not in my experience. I have a photo of myself with "Chef" Mickey visiting with me at my table during the meal sitting right here on my desk. This was at breakfast though, not at dinner.

 

[weloveminnie]

Keep in mind that you'll be eating Chef Mickey's because I'll be just eating there too.

 

[Lisa D]

Dinner there is a must-do for us every trip. Our boys keep asking to go back every year, and they are now 10 and 7 and still enjoy all the character interaction and the napkin-waving. We were there a month ago (Halloween), and Mickey was going from table to table with his chef outfit on. Lots of character interaction, even though it was crowded (I think we were all headed for Mickey's Halloween party at the MK). There is also a great variety of food, and they keep it comin'!

Lisa

 

[adams66]

It may be different now. I know that they informed us when we got there for dinner this past Jan. 02 that Mickey would not be making any rounds.

This is similar to what happened to us at Hollywood & Vine for breakfast. Although, it is not Mickey -- Minnie stands at the front door and greets and poses for pictures. Mickey isn't there at all though.

 

[Tiffany]

Originally posted by adams66
It may be different now. I know that they informed us when we got there for dinner this past Jan. 02 that Mickey would not be making any rounds.

This is similar to what happened to us at Hollywood & Vine for breakfast. Although, it is not Mickey -- Minnie stands at the front door and greets and poses for pictures. Mickey isn't there at all though.

Our experiance incl. this past Aug 02 is that Mickey does make the rounds. We have had either Donald or Goofy doing the meet and greet. But, Mickey, Minnie, Pluto, Chip and Dale make the rounds.

 

[Piglet203]

IMO, I think that the best meal with Mickey is at Chef Mickey's!!! I have eaten the breakfast buffet there two times I think that the food is awesome. Mickey and pals come around a lot too, so you'll be able to get lots of pictures and hugs

 

[travelitis]

My vote is Garden Grill over CM, but I'd do BOTH. At GG you don't have to watch your table to see if you need to run from the buffet to catch a character. Our server at CM told us to keep an eye out for characters and rush back if we saw one headed to our table because it takes an hour for them to make the rounds. I've been to GG 3 times, and every one we've had tons of great character interaction. It's relaxing having the food served family style. Mickey had plenty of time at our table and really played with the kids even though we were there at the peak of lunch. Every character was by multiple times and spent time with us. Dale came to join in singing Happy B-day. On a previous trip we had a late lunch, and we have video of Mickey and other characters dancing in the aisles with our kids. We had a constant characters at our table for 45 min. If you go off season and have late lunch you might have the characters almost to yourselves at GG, but I doubt there's ever a time you'll find that at CM.

Chef Mickey's was a great way to end our vacation because we'd already seen the characters at other meals. Had this been our 1st or only character meal, we would've been very disappointed with the interaction. We were there 2 days after Thanksgiving, and Mickey was making the rounds. Goofy was the one standing out front. We also went up to the 6th floor and looked down at CM on 11/22, and Mickey was making the rounds. I think Donald was out front. We forgot our camera when we went to CM, and half-way through our meal my dh ran out to get it. The characters gave our kids very quick hugs and pats on the heads when there were no autographs to sign or photos to be taken. When the camera arrived they stopped a little longer, but they were very rushed. We will go to CM next time because it's a fun atmosphere and the food was good, but we will make it late in the trip after we've had other character meals. Even the princesses at CRT were not as rushed at the characters at CM (except for Goofy out front).

 

[jeanmarie]

I would recommend breakfast at 'Ohana. It was relaxed, the food was good, and the character interaction was good. Try for a very early PS and the restaurant won't be at capacity yet.

We had dinner at Chef Mickey's and were VERY disappointed. The atmosphere is just too busy and loud, the characters were rushed, and we didn't like the food at all.

I guess the choice depends on which type of experience you prefer.