Chef Mickeys? $$$$$$

[disneynarula]

I am working out whether or not I should buy the dining plan. When I was picking places to eat I was shocked to see how much it costs to eat at Chef Mickeys. We usually always buy the dining plan so I don't really pay attention to the prices.

DD loves Mickey and Minnie. We took her to DL this past summer and "Mimmie" was one of her first words.

Do you think it's worth the money for the Character Experience?

[DizneyRox]

Nope!

You're talking about the $36 pp meal?

[Strmchsr]

For the food? No way. Chef Mickey's is one of the more disappointing dining experiences for us in terms of food quality. But for the character experience for your daughter that's something only you can decide if it's worth it. There are certainly other places she can meet Mickey and Minnie. If you want a character meal, though, check out some of the other places.

[AgentC]

We did Chef Mickey's in Oct for breakfast and it really was not worth the price for me.

Does the meal need to have both Mickey and Minnie? If not Cape May is a nice choice, last time I was there, they had Minnie, Goofy and Donald. It is less expensive and I think a nicer buffet than Chef Mickey's.

I also like Tusker House at Animal Kingdom. In Dec that meal had Mickey, Goofy, and Daisy with Donald outside for a photo.

On our last few trips I have Mickey is pretty easy to see at Magic Kingdom. Minnie tends to be a little harder to get without waiting in line. Sometimes she is with him at MK, sometimes not. But she usually available at AK, DHS and Epcot.

[TinkerbellT421]

If you are a Disney chase card member it may be worth going to the Disney chase character meet and greet at the innovations building in Epcot. It is a great free experience and you get person ale one on one experience and gain a great free picture from it. You can also spend a little while longer with them instead of feeling like you have to hug a character and move on. Depending on how many people are in line which a lot of times isn't many you can spend more or less time with them. They are great in there with making you feel special so I am sure your daughter would get a kick out of it. But if you have to do a character meal chef mickeys is quite expensive for just the character experience. If you were to do garden grill it's only Mickey, no Minnie is there. I am completely drawing a blank as to how many other restaurants offer Mickey and Minnie. Even DBF is having trouble thinking of what other restaurants offer both. I have a dinning guide book if you would like me to check for you.

[Ian]

Let's get real for a minute ... none of the prices we pay for anything in WDW is really "worth" it. The food at Chef Mickey's is on par with what you get a your local Old Country Buffet with the exception that OCB charges $10 and Disney charges $36.

You're going for the experience. Our kids happen to love going to Chef Mickey's, so we make it a point to eat there at least once a trip.

That's one of the reasons we like the DDP so much ... it costs us $12 per day for the kids to eat. One meal at Chef Mickey's is $16 for breakfast for a child, so you eat there and you're already $4 ahead before you have your counter service and your snack.

[Butters]

It's great marketing... the higher the prices, the more people will sign up for the dining plan.... the more people on the dining plan, the more guests that are eating every meal on property their entire stay.

[Jillirose]

Our kids love it too! We also enjoy Cape May. I think the character interaction at Cape May is a little more personal and lasts longer, they have a smaller area to cover.

[AgentC]

Let's get real for a minute ... none of the prices we pay for anything in WDW is really "worth" it. The food at Chef Mickey's is on par with what you get a your local Old Country Buffet with the exception that OCB charges $10 and Disney charges $36.

You're going for the experience. Our kids happen to love going to Chef Mickey's, so we make it a point to eat there at least once a trip.

That's one of the reasons we like the DDP so much ... it costs us $12 per day for the kids to eat. One meal at Chef Mickey's is $16 for breakfast for a child, so you eat there and you're already $4 ahead before you have your counter service and your snack.

Oh, I do agree. None of the character meals are really "worth"it. Since we are local we do the TIW discount instead of DDP, so I do think about cost. :D

For us if the kids really want a certain meal, we do it because that makes it worth it. With Chef Mickey's I have found they are just as happy doing a different one which is why I personally would do a less expensive meal. Of course my kids go to Disney at least 4 times a year and have done lots of character meals so they don't tend to have a have to do meal anymore.

[brivers222]

if it wasn't for the DDP i don't think i would pay for any table service meals... We took 4 people out a top steahouse here in Michigan Capital Grill.... the cost was $10 cheaper for the 4 of us than it was for the two of us to eat at the California Grill on our DISNEYmoon.

With that said... I would never go to disney without the dining plan or some sort of dining discount. We are going to be getting DVC and hopefully then we can get that TIW discount.

But yeah, we love the DDP.

[BrerGnat]

I have to ask this: how much TIME does each character actually spend at your table during a meal at Chef Mickey's?

I have never done a character meal (maybe when I was a baby, but I don't count that), but I've never been "wanting" for more character time either. I think the meet and greet opportunities in the parks are more than adequate. We waited all of 5 minutes to see Mickey AND Minnie in Town Square a couple weeks ago. Since there weren't many people in the line, I'd say we got a good 3 min to spend doing hugs, greetings, and photos.

We did the same with Pinocchio, and the Pooh characters (all in Town Square, outside). I just can't wrap my brain around how anyone can justify the $$$ for a character meal, especially breakfast.

These characters don't talk...how much time do you need if you can't actually have a conversation??? :confused:

[brivers222]

I have to ask this: how much TIME does each character actually spend at your table during a meal at Chef Mickey's?

I have never done a character meal (maybe when I was a baby, but I don't count that), but I've never been "wanting" for more character time either. I think the meet and greet opportunities in the parks are more than adequate. We waited all of 5 minutes to see Mickey AND Minnie in Town Square a couple weeks ago. Since there weren't many people in the line, I'd say we got a good 3 min to spend doing hugs, greetings, and photos.

We did the same with Pinocchio, and the Pooh characters (all in Town Square, outside). I just can't wrap my brain around how anyone can justify the $$$ for a character meal, especially breakfast.

These characters don't talk...how much time do you need if you can't actually have a conversation??? :confused:

The characters actually took about 5mins each at the table with the both of us... Mainly checking out my DW's wedding ring and then posing for pictures. But they also came back around to us several times in the hour we were there.

One AWESOME character interaction was at Crystal palace... where Tigger married my wife and I in front of the entire restaurant. It was a special treat for our honeymoon. Not to mention all the characters kept coming back to us and demanding (in a non verbal way) that I take a photo shoot of them haha it was classic. Icing on the cake was that we were told to stay after restaurant closed and we got a personal picture with all 4 of the gang together :)

My wife and I love the character meals (no kids either) but like I said above, if it wasn't for the discounted meal prices we get on the Dining plan there is no way we do them over and over again each trip.

[AgentC]

I have to ask this: how much TIME does each character actually spend at your table during a meal at Chef Mickey's?

I have never done a character meal (maybe when I was a baby, but I don't count that), but I've never been "wanting" for more character time either. I think the meet and greet opportunities in the parks are more than adequate. We waited all of 5 minutes to see Mickey AND Minnie in Town Square a couple weeks ago. Since there weren't many people in the line, I'd say we got a good 3 min to spend doing hugs, greetings, and photos.

We did the same with Pinocchio, and the Pooh characters (all in Town Square, outside). I just can't wrap my brain around how anyone can justify the $$$ for a character meal, especially breakfast.

These characters don't talk...how much time do you need if you can't actually have a conversation??? :confused:

I am going to say it depends. How's that for vague?:funny:

Character time varies by location, by where you are seated, by when you are seated, and even by character.

Our last meal at Chef Mickey's was my son's birthday and the characters spent decent time with him. Goofy spent 3-4 minutes with him joking about his age. I have had other meals at CM where we waited an hour before the characters came and I barely had time to take two pictures before they moved on. This happened to me with Daisy at Tusker House, yet all the other characters were great.

We started character meals because it looked like fun and my son had to see Mickey and it was an easy way to guarantee a Mickey visit without a long wait. Ohana's and Tusker House both became great options for Mickey for us.

The last few time we visited (Oct & Dec), the character interaction at MK has been phenomenal, so I agree a meal isn't always necessary. We had a good 5 minutes with Mickey on our MVCMP night and no wait for him. The princesses spent so much time talking to my children I asked if they wanted me to move them along. :D

I can see myself doing less character meals as my children get older, but for now it is still fun for us.

[mom2morgan]

Yeah, talk about sticker shock! We went for Dinner at the Cali Grill to celebrate my daughter's 16th birthday. We were on the dining plan so "only" had to pay the tip - and that tip would have bought us our whole dinner back home!


if it wasn't for the DDP i don't think i would pay for any table service meals... We took 4 people out a top steahouse here in Michigan Capital Grill.... the cost was $10 cheaper for the 4 of us than it was for the two of us to eat at the California Grill on our DISNEYmoon.

With that said... I would never go to disney without the dining plan or some sort of dining discount. We are going to be getting DVC and hopefully then we can get that TIW discount.

But yeah, we love the DDP.

[DVC2004]

I don't think it's a good deal unless you are on dining plan. I have to say, even when the kids were little I never loved Character Meals. We did several and now we don't do them anymore. The kids enjoyed them when they were little. You are paying for the experience and not the food. I found Chef Mickey's to be our least favorite Character meal. It was crowded and loud. The kids did get some individual face time with the characters. Unfortunately even though the characters visited each and every table (often more than once), many people allowed their children to roam to other people's tables. Now I love kids, and I certainly can understand their excitement, but I found it a little rude that other parents allowed their children to get up and hang out elsewhere. We don't have one picture at our table with just our kids and the characters. There are at least 3-6 other children hanging out at our table.

If you are not sure, wait until she is a little older and will enjoy it more. I assumme your daughter is little (toddler?) because you mentioned her first word was Minnie last year. She will enjoy meeting the characters face to face at a park meet and greet more at this age.

[ElenitaB]

I have to ask this: how much TIME does each character actually spend at your table during a meal at Chef Mickey's?
The point you bring up is exactly why I don't like Chef Mickey's. Our experience the times we have gone is that the characters rushed through and barely signed an autograph and took a picture. However, our experience at 'Ohana and many, many times at Garden Grill was exactly the opposite. The characters have always spent lots of time at our table, engaging everyone (not just the kids) and drawing/playing, etc. with my son. And they came around more than once.

[WDWCrazyKaren]

DH and I actually had this conversation in the car the other day. First, let me say, we do NOT go to Disney for the food quality. If we get a great meal, it's a bonus, but not expected. We usually go during off-season, which means we generally have the free dining. It is the ONLY way we would eat these meals. The cost vs. the value is ridiculous, but they are fun. So, we'll go for the fun as long as the free dining is in place. When that goes away, we'll eat at Earl of Sandwich for the rest of the trip! :thumbsup:

[floridamom]

We had breakfast at CM's about three years ago, and were booked again for this Sunday, mainly because we are staying at CR. After seeing this thread, I re-checked the price, factored in our TIW discount, and then promptly canceled our reservation. (Booked Kona Cafe instead-yum.) No doubt I'll spend the difference at the Marathon Expo on Friday ;-).

I'm not sure if the cost has increased dramatically since our last time, or if we're just a little bit over the whole character meal thing. When our DDs were younger it was nice to have all the characters come to you while you sat and ate, but now that they have all the autographs and don't mind waiting in (short) lines to meet characters at the parks, I'd say that the convenience isn't worth the cost.

I am glad we did it once, and would still recommend it to those who can afford to splurge, but there are less costly character meals out there that will deliver a very similar experience.

[disneynarula]

What surprised me most of all was that the prices listed on the WDW website was the dinner prices ($36- $59.99)??? Let's face it that means $60 each for DH, MIL, and myself. That does not even include the $36 each for my DSs.
$252 for a mediocre meal? Starting to think this is not the best idea.

$60??? Is that right? For one person? Is that for some sort of special package?

Lunch seemed a little less expensive. Are the characters there at lunch?

I think we will skip this one and just get in line for one of the character meet and greets. We are Disney Visa cardholders.

We are thinking of stay off site this time. Our food budget for the two weeks would be what we would normally spend on the dining plan. We plan on buying annual passes and TIW.

When we had dinner at Goofy's Kitchen at DLR it was amazing. The food was great. The character interaction was amazing. When Minnie saw how much DD loved her she kept coming back to the table. We have so many cute pictures. She was only 11 months at the time. She kept saying "Mimmie" over and over the whole week.

[Mickey'sGirl]

We spent $40 per head ($20 for our youngest son) at Chef Mickey's in August. The food was great, the interaction was stupendous and my kids had a fabulous time. We used our TinW card, and declined the photograph. All in all it was money well spent, and a fantastic part of our holiday.

[brivers222]

Per our last trip:

12/9/2011 : Chef Mickey's Dinner: $35.99 + Tax per adult

12/14/2011 : Chef Mickey's Breakfast: $28.99 + Tax per adult