Chef Mickey's is really that bad?

[Thiago Acquaviva]

Hello guys!

We're going this October to our 4th WDW trip, and we've never been to Chef Mickey's before.
We're 3 adults, big eaters, and I'm Mickey Mouse fan #1.
We always wanted to eat at Chefs Mickey because of the food buffet (never been to a Disney buffet before) and specially because of the Characters with Chef Costumes.

We have a brunch reservation for a Tuesday in October, but I've been reading constantly a lot of negative reviews and feedback about the quality of the service and specially the food.

Do you guys think it's a bad idea to have brunch there or since is our first time at a Characther/Buffet restaurant we gonna be fine?

I'm asking this because we're from Brazil and US Dollar costs a LOT OF our money so it's all gona be very expensive (like 3.7x more expensive than US dollar). I'm afraid to have a bad experience since y'all are giving a lot of negative feedbacks...

thanks in advance, and sorry for my english.

 

[KenHutch]

Its not great but its not as bad as some people say. I compare the food to Golden Corral Buffets. If you can eat there you will be fine and if you schedule an earlier time the food will be fresher and the place a lot cleaner (kids tend to really mess up some of the stations).

 

[dachsie]

It will be fine. There are a lot of food snobs on these boards. If you have reasonable expectations of buffet food, then you will be fine

 

[scard192]

Its not great but its not as bad as some people say. I compare the food to Golden Corral Buffets. If you can eat there you will be fine and if you schedule an earlier time the food will be fresher and the place a lot cleaner (kids tend to really mess up some of the stations).

to me that mess made by kids that are IMO way too young to go up to the buffet by themselves is the biggest issue.

we have done CM several times and were happy with the character interaction and thought the food was not too bad; there were some pretty good dishes.

Next trip we will only do 1TS meal and I am letting my grand daughters choose which character buffet and they have narrowed it down to CM of 1900PF.

 

[marcyleecorgan]

Oh the food isn't terrible... it's your standard, sloppy American buffet food. Cheese and grease are comfort foods here.

People struggle with enjoying it because it's 1) $$$$$$, 2) shadowy lighting because of the high ceilings and it's LOUD from the other diners and the monorail running overhead, 3) many people don't have good table manners! 4) BUSY like a madhouse most of the time. no relaxing way to collect morning thoughts in this cafeteria The goal at this place is to shovel as much food as you can comfortably eat into your face, get shiny-cheeked greasy pictures with the Chef characters and get out of there. You can enjoy the art in the building and the architecture from a million different points of view inside the Contemporary that are NOT inside Chef Mickey's .

 

[Thiago Acquaviva]

Thank you guys for all the comments!
I feel way much better now! I was afraid to be making a bad decision, but now I'm good with it.
I don't have HUGE expectations since we always stick with the Quick Service dining plan in all our trips. We're doing this more by the magic and the character experience than the food itself.

The goal at this place is to shovel as much food as you can comfortably eat into your face, get shiny-cheeked greasy pictures with the Chef characters and get out of there.

That's exactly our goal! lol
big thanks!

 

[Pmlocke]

I always advise people to take the dare and check things out for themselves. If I had listened to everyone around me and their opinions, I - 1. would not go back to WDW every year, 2. would not have married my beautiful wife (44+ years so far) 3. would not have experianced all the great meals that I have, like Chef Mickeys. Go and try it. If you don't like it then don't go back. My wife and I have gone to CM every year now for the last 7 years. No the food is not 4 star. Didn't expect it to be. We go mainly for the character experiance. I will say the food has always been good and I walk out in a stupor, meaning, I needed a nap bacause I ate too much. Good luck and have fun. That's why you are there after all, isn't it?

 

[marcyleecorgan]

I would definitely go back! I love breakfast buffets

 

[Helvetica]

The food isn't terrible, but it wasn't anything to write home about. It's definitely comfort food and the character interactions are great! Just keep in mind that it's going to take a while if you want to see all 5 characters.

In my opinion, The Garden Grill in Epcot is the better character meal in terms of food and the quality of character interaction.

However, if your goal is to see the characters in cute chef outfits, then Chef Mickey's is good.

 

[TiggerTrigger]

While I think dinner is vile, we always found breakfast to be decent. It's not as exciting as some, but never disappointed with breakfast. The brunch menu has enough breakfast items that you should be good. Ultimately, it's also subjective, so you'll only really know from a first hand experience.

 

[vicb]

Sorry, it ranked right up there with our top worst meals ever at Disney, (just behind Tony's Town Square)... we have never gone back. Too many other places to eat. FWIW, met and chatted with a large family on the boat to Epcot last weekend who had just dined at Cape May character breakfast and loved it.

 

[VillainFavs]

It's just bad. Really bad. Barely edible food (and I'm far from a food snob) and just dirty. Food everywhere, kids spilling things all over the floor and it's not cleaned up. Loud, chaotic. Can you tell it wasn't my family's favorite?

If you're looking for a better buffet and still want to meet Mickey, try Tusker House in Animal Kingdom. Food is much better and more of an interesting variety. You get to meet Donald, Daisy, Goofy, and Mickey, all in their safari outfits.

While still loud and crowded, it just seemed to be at a lower level than Chef Mickey's.

 

[Mom2Stitch]

Chef Mickey's is always on our list-it's our traditional first day meal. My DS is now 23 and still ask that we go there. It's a great way to start off a trip for us. The food is not gourmet by any means, but I've always found things that I enjoy. The characters, like at most character meals, is the draw here.

 

[Thiago Acquaviva]

@Pmlocke 1001% agree with you! thank you very much for your words!

Just keep in mind that it's going to take a while if you want to see all 5 characters.

When you say 'a while' you mean like an hour?

 

[MrWonderful]

If you're looking for a better buffet and still want to meet Mickey, try Tusker House in Animal Kingdom. Food is much better and more of an interesting variety. You get to meet Donald, Daisy, Goofy, and Mickey, all in their safari outfits.

While still loud and crowded, it just seemed to be at a lower level than Chef Mickey's.

This!

TH was our best breakfast/brunch last trip!

 

[BigAlsGal]

I think the worst part of Chef Mickeys is the price tag. We love it there but every time we get that $250 bill for my family to eat chicken nuggets and Mac n cheese I wanna hurl.

 

[Helvetica]

When you say 'a while' you mean like an hour?

I don't recall the exact time, but I think you should plan a minimum of an hour to see all the characters. Maybe an hour and a half? It's a pretty big hall and they have one more character than most.

 

[Pmlocke]

We are usually there for an hour when we have our dinner and get to experiance all of the characters. I got a wonderful kiss from Minnie this year. It was our anniversary and my wife told Minnie I had always wanted a kiss from her. She put her lips on my cheek and the "person behind the mask" made a kissing sound. I was very suprised and especially happy. That was a real kiss as far as I was concerned.

 

[Thiago Acquaviva]

@Pmlocke this is amazing! I'm so excited!

@Helvetica thanks for the info. gotta plan to stay at least 1 hours there.

 

[PlutoTheDog89]

We heard horror stories, but were going with first timers and two little ones and knew we had to bring them to the buffet. We did breakfast and were surprised by how good it was. Mind you, I'm a food snob from NYC.

I think it gets a negative connotation for two reasons:
1) It's very kid friendly from a food and activity standpoint, so it feels like a child's party at a Fun Zone
2) It's buffet food. There are far-more inspired buffets around Disney property and much better food...

but I don't think you'll leave there like "BLEH.. WHAT DID I JUST EAT!?!?"