Chef Mickeys worth the trip?

Dis Dragon

Rawwwwr
Joined
May 19, 2019
Hey all,

I've heard some bad reviews about the food and experience around Chef Mickey's but at the same time it seems like it's one of the character experiences to check off within the resort. The more I read about it the more I stay away but I wanted to see what opinions the community had about Chef Mickey's because I still kind of want to check it off but at the same time I'm really reluctant. We'd be hitting it for Lunch/Dinner... thoughts?

Thanks.
 
If you’re on the dining plan then go for it. I think everyone should try it at least once.

It was one and done for us and the bill almost made me weep.
 
It was mediocre. The food is typical buffet so nothing fantastic. It's big and loud but the character interaction is great. Probably a check off the list and only come back if you somehow loved it. We don't have young kids so it was just my wife and I trying it (and we were on the dining plan). I don't expect we'd come back. We preferred Cape May for breakfast and Tusker House for dinner/lunch.
 
It's loud and crazy in there, but we love it. We've done breakfast 3 or 4 times and dinner once. Breakfast was definitely the better meal. The breakfast food is standard breakfast buffet fare and the characters are a lot of fun.
 


Go for the Characters, NOT the food.
However, if you know how to navigate a cheap buffet, you will eat just fine. Stay away from the foods that don't hold well on a steam tray unless you know they've just been put out. Things like the carving station or braised/stewy things are gonna be a good bet. Please remember though - Character Buffets are for for the character interaction first and foremost. Understand that you're only gonna eat about 10 dollars worth of that 50 dollar price tag, but be ready to take pictures with the characters and enjoy the silly little interactions happening all around you to get the rest of your money's worth. If you are going for the food alone, you are making a grave mistake. I was happily surprised at the amount of decent food we found on the buffet at CM's. There were a few things that were pretty bad, but the roast turkey, roast beef, short rib, and mashed taters were easily "good."

I even had spicy tuna rolls, which were pretty bad, but not like "throw away" bad. I recall that the soup that day was declared "totally inedible" by the fam, (it looked horrible, too.)

If you've never been, and you WANT to have the character interactions, then you should go with low expectations for the food. You'll be just fine. The price is what it is, but it's not JUST for the food.
 
We've gone for breakfast twice. Was the food amazing? No. Was it perfectly fine? Yes. And my kids loved it so it was a win for us!
 
We took our kids YEARS ago when they were young! It was fun, the food was bleh... but we’re not buffet people. In the four times we’ve taken our DGS to WDW I’ve canceled the ADR ahead of time because I just couldn’t bare it! We’ve got an ADR for our upcoming trip and I told my husband not to let me cancel it! I think he will love the characters and we do at least one character meal each day of the week while we’re there.
 


Without small kids I'd give it a hard pass. Even an adult party that likes characters can do better than Chef Mickey's. With children who love characters you should try it, it will likely be one & done.:earsboy:
 
Go for the Characters, NOT the food.
This is 100% spot on. It's not about the food or the quality of the food, that said my kids had a blast and I'm glad we did it when they were younger. But not way would you catch my wife and I going now.
 
We went for brunch when my daughter turned 16. She had so much fun and the brunch food was actually pretty decent. The character interaction was amazing though and that's what we went for. I didn't regret it but we probably won't go again.
 
We went when my son was younger. He loved it so it was worth going. The food is ok but the character experience is great. It is loud but very kid friendly.
 
We found the food to be good on our last trip, nothing amazing, but nothing awful either. Character interaction was good. Was a little loud, but not awful. A lot of the noise is the music that Disney plays. However, there does seem to be a large proportion of unruly kids at the restaurant, more so than other character meals. On our last trip, the kids at the table next to us ran in circles around the table their entire meal and the parents said nothing. Then a character would come to our table and the parents would shove their kids into our character interaction at our table. After dd24 rather loudly told them off for being at our table(theirs was the next one in the rotation so they weren't waiting forever or anything), a manager came and stood in our section to keep the peace. He actually escorted them out in a fairly quick fashion when they paid. It was wild.
 
We've been twice. Once for breakfast and once for dinner. The breakfast food is much better. The dinner was absolutely awful. The character interaction was fun, but very loud and a bit chaotic. The buffet and dining area weren't kept quite as clean as other buffets we've experienced either. I felt like it was the Disney thing to do by going there, and when I discovered these boards I learned there were much better options out there. We far prefer the character experience and food at Garden Grill. Huge difference between the two! If you're on the fence, I encourage you to stay away because I think you'll be disappointed. There are just too many other options that have better character experiences and food.
 
When we have kids in tow CM is our first dinner on property. We find it a great way to kick off a Disney vacation. Is the food awesome? Of course not, it is a buffet. You can find decent choices though, as was suggested upthread. You cannot beat the atmosphere though. There is something pretty sweet when you sail into the CR on the monorail, hop off and dine with the Main Mouse and friends.

If you do not have kids but still want a dining experience with Mickey and Minnie, Donald and Daisy, and of course Goofy, I would suggest Minnie's Seasonal Dine in DHS. The food, while a buffet is good, and the character interaction is really nice as well. It seems less chaotic to me because it is not amplified in a giant CR canyon. You get the characters, a meal and can stay in the park.
 
We have never liked it, even with small kids. Medicore food, LOUD, and the swinging napkins in the air with food on them is just gross. I'd rather go to Golden Corral, and that's not saying much.
 
We already have Bon Voyage breakfast and Crystal Palace, maybe we'll look at the Topolino's for breakfast for a Mickey fix. I've been looking for an excuse to get back to Homecomin' so I'm scratching Chef Mickeys for that!
 
The food is okay, we have done both breakfast and dinner. I would probably choose breakfast over dinner and there are def better food options elsewhere, but my 4 year loves it there!
 

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