Why not Chef Mickeys?

[Brooklynos]

We leave in 23 days and will be trying Chef Mickeys for the first time this trip. The reservation agent suggested it as an alternative to a second breakfast at Crystal Palace. Why is Chef mickeys not recommended on here?

This is an important trip as we are suprising our little brother (12) and sister (15) with this trip and want to make sure that it's the best it can be. 23 days to go! Whoo Hoo!!!:mickey:

[Jeff]

Although I have not been back to Chef Mickeys in several years, we used to love it and it was a "must do" every trip.

Daughter got older and we quit character breakfasts!

[magicofdisney]

I'm not a big fan of character meals anymore, but Chef Mickey's was one of our favorites. It's a typical breakfast buffet, but the food is still good and the character interactions was good. We never had any problems. :mickey:

[MinnieMommie]

We used to eat there each trip when our kids were younger too. Not sure how much a 12 and 15 yr old would like it. The food is not gourmet but plentiful and decent. It's a crazy kind of fun place.

One of my daughters is in the background saying "tell them not to go" but she never liked CM. I personally think it is just fine and a place where everyone should go at least once. Check out the menu and get an idea of what it offers compared to other character breakfasts.

[ryca1dreams]

I like it - the characters are fun. It can be kind of loud and crowded, but not too crazy. And, yeah, the food is kind of average, but good. Maybe that's why it's not "recommended".

I prefer Crystal Palace, but I think kids (I've been with kids from 3-13) may enjoy Chef Mickey's more. Just an opinion...

[Pete Olsen]

:thumbsup: It is a "must do" on every trip. We go for dinner, not breakfast. We have various ages - from babys to mid 50's - and we all love it. It is one of the highlights of every trip. Lots of fun, great variety of food, wonderful desserts. Just a magical experience every time. Highly recommend it.

[faline]

For someplace that's "not recommended", it's often very difficult to get a reservation at this venue! We had never eaten there but traveled to Disney Wold in December with my brother's family which includes a 2 year old. My sister-in-law picked this spot as a breakfast dining location. The timing of her breakfast would have eaten up most of a day. I got a better time (though not great the next day). It took me weeks of trying to get a good time on the desired day and that didn't happen until just a few days before we arrived.

We found it a very nice place to have breakfast. Food was good and character interaction was really fun!

[hubbyofadisneyholic]

It is the one character breakfast we still make a point of doing.

My daughter is in college and when I suggested not doing Chef Mickey's last year I got "the look":thedolls:

We will be doing it again in August...;)

[JPL]

I ate at Chef Mickey's for breakfast this past June and was extremely disappointed in the not only the quality but the variety of food. It was nothing special just run of the mill breakfast food that IMHO was no better the CS food at Pop Century. Overall The Character experience was great for my cousin's twins but the food was subpar compared to Donald's Safari Breakfast and even Hollywood & Vine.

[tinxmom]

We always opt for the character meals within the parks so as not to spend too much time traveling to a resort. Lunch at the Garden Grill is yummy (and Chip and Dale are adorable!), plus you are right by Soarin'!

[mom2morgan]

I think it has plenty of fans here. My own family has done it twice and probably won't again - not because it isn't good, but because we want to try other things. Food was better at breakfast than dinner, we thought - but my daughter really liked the sundae bar.

[gerald72]

I think chef mickeys is great. Good place to see Mickey, Minnie, Pluto, Donald and goofy.
I always thought it had the feel of being the top character meal.

[megustamex]

The food was really bad. But the characters were great. Maybe breakfast is better, but lunch was just bland, cold food. Your siblings are a little older, so I'm not sure how much they care about the character experience. I think that Donald's breakfast at Tusker House is a way better experience - great environment and really interesting food along with the character experience.

[javamama]

We've had breakfast there 07-09 and the characters have always been great, my kids adore them. The food started off great, and the service also, but last year it really stunk. We were even there during a not so crazy time, after Easter, and Spring Break, and still it wasn't so great. We did enjoy the Crystal Palace back in '07, and were changing it up a bit and skipping Chef Mickey's this year. We enjoy O'hana's for a character breakfast as well, great character interaction, and the food is very good also and it's not a buffet--my favorite part!!

[kakn7294]

My family likes Chef Mickey's. The food is just average breakfast food but I don't go in expecting anything more - I don't want a gourmet breakfast anyway. It's noisy and busy but that's part of the fun for us.

[KylesMom]

At the suggestion of INTERCOT members way back in '00, we've had an annual breakfast at Chef Mickey's every year - and dinners at least every other year. Our first year with DS in 2000 at 27 months, this was the ONLY PS (now called ADR) that we made. In fact, our kitchen is lined with memorable photos from this annual event for the past ten years. This year will be the eleventh. :D I need to make space for more photos. :mickey:

If we didn't enjoy it, there's no way we'd spend the cash to make it a re-re-re-etc. repeat, especially now that DS is charged as an adult & we have to pay the premium prices during the summertime. However, this is one location we simply do not miss.

Yes, it's loud. And yes, sometimes (just like every other Disney dining establishment) service can be lousy. But we'll be there for breakfast on July 28th, and dinner (at my DS 12's choice) for dinner on the 31st. :mickey:

Now, we do hit lunch at Crystal Palace every year. However, given the choice between the two, we'll choose Chef Mickey's every time.


but lunch was just bland, cold food. With the exception of holiday times, Chef Mickey's does not serve lunch - just breakfast and dinner.

[Tink#64]

We're having dinner at CM's this June! I've been waiting for this since our 1st trip in 2002 & couldn't get in at any time the whole week we were there! At that time DS' were 4 & 6! So we went with H & V & it was great! Then DS's weren't interested in character meals anymore so we haven't done any since then. So this experience probably more for me. I"m not looking for 5 star food, DS's don't do autographs anymore, this will be just for fun! DS's are now 12 & 14, they know we're going, they'll probably be embarrased, but truth be told, I'm betting they'll get a kick out of it & be glad that we did it! One more WDW experience! :blush:

So go for it! :thumbsup:

[beksy]

It is must-do every trip for us or my 21 year old sister would have a fit! We've done breakfast and dinner but prefer breakfast (they have her mickey mouse waffles so enough said!). It is noisy but we expect that and think it adds to the fun. Plus its a great way to meet the fab 5 without waiting in endless lines! We always have a great time. I preferred it to the CP except for the characters since I love Pooh and the gang but I've never had breakfast there to compare the food.

[Ian]

I wouldn't really say it's not recommended, but listen ... it's also nothing special. You can go meet Mickey and friends for breakfast at Ohana or Donald's Breakfastasaurus or wherever nowadays and it's exactly the same. The food is all mass-produced, cafeteria quality breakfast food and that's all there is. If you go expecting anything else, you'll be disappointed.

Quite honestly, based on our experiences on our last trip, the quality of Disney breakfast food is now somewhere between McDonald's and Denny's. It's just declined tremendously in terms of the quality and variety of foods you can get.

Also, it's outrageously expensive to eat at a character breakfast these days. For a family of four to dine on this questionable food will set you back in excess of $100 ... and that's if you opt out of buying the $30 picture they try and hawk to you.

So if you want to see Mickey and you either don't mind the expense or are on the DPP, then Chef Mickey's is no better and no worse than any other character buffet in WDW. Which isn't saying all that much nowadays.

[tnpoohbear]

We love both Chef Mickey's and CP. We are going next month and I waited too long to get the reservations and could not get CM for the week we are there, but I did get CP for lunch!

I love CP the most because the Winnie the Pooh characters are my personal favorite.

We thought the food was great at both, but DS loved the mickey shaped ravoli at CM!:mickey: