Disappointed in Chef Mickey's

[tdk316]

It was way too much for my kids - anyone have a good experience? Both of my kids freaked out, it was too loud and neither one ate while we were there. Should I try it again next time when they're a little older? They were 2.5 and 5 months this time.

[Ruprect]

Hmm...I seem to remember Chef Mickey's not going well when my oldest were about those ages. IIRC it was also later than their normal dinner time too so we chalked it up to bad planning.

Our last time there was a blast when they were much older.

[W24toISMdirect]

Even 3.0 and 3.5 made a WORLD of diffrence for my son when it comes to characters, be it WDW, Weekend out with Thomas the Tank Engine... or the cow at Tuesday night Family night at Chik-Fil-A. When I say a WORLDiffrece I mean, going from screaming "Holy <cow> I'm about to be eaten alive!" to "Hug me I love you!"

So yeah, from my expirience with my own child (for all that's worth) let your kids get a bit older before trying out the character stuff.

[KylesMom]

We've been taking our DS to Chef Mickey's each year since our inaugural trip in 2000 - he was 27 months old at the time. Although it was a bit overwhelming for both DH and I, DS had a great time. But he certainly didn't eat much then, either! I think he was probably 5 before he ate much of anything - he was too hyped up to see the characters.

Chef Mickey's will always be loud and chaotic, but hopefully the next time you'll have a better experience. DS is almost 12 now, and it's still one of the ADRs he insists we make. :mickey:

[mom2morgan]

I'm guessing most character meals would be more stressful than fun for such little ones. Mind you, I saw the sweetest thing at the table next to us - Minnie dabbing at a baby's mouth to clean him up befoe a family snapshot. But usually the kids that seem to be really "into" it are somewhat older. Probably not much more eating happening, though!

[ibelieveindisneymagic]

It isn't one of our favourite meals at all. It might have been the hype, but we were really disappointed in it.

It was so loud, we could hardly hear oursevles think, the food was only OK and the characters seemed to pass quite quickly. All in all, there are far better character meals at Disney, at least for our family.

[faline]

It really depends on the kid(s). We had our very first Chef Mickey's experience a little over a week ago while on a trip to Disney with our 2 year old nephew. As a somewhat shy boy, I was expecting that he might not do well with the characters. However, he loved the whole experience! He got very excited when he spied the characters at a distance (he happened to be wearing a shirt with the same characters on the front of the shirt and kept checking out the matching character picture on his shirt - way too cute!)! I was still concerned what would happen when they got close to him but he loved them! He waved to them, gave them high fives, cuddled with them and smiled for pics! As he figured out what was happening, he even wanted to go for a "walk" which meant he wanted to leave our table and go find them instead of waiting for them to come to us!

It was one of my favorite memories of our trip with Sam!

[CaptSmee]

we love it there, but...no kids! all adults & we had lots of fun! :mickey:

[DVC2004]

Yeah we took our boys there several years ago for breakfast and it was just too loud and crazy for us. The food was pretty standard and the character interaction was good- but it was loud and there were people everywhere. The kids were small and I think it was too much for them. Then when the characters did come to our table, children from other tables ran over for autographs or whatever so all of the pictures have a bunch of other people's kids crowding around. We haven't been back.

[CanadianWDWFan]

What we have found is to get the first or last seatings. When we have those seatings it seems that the characters aren't as rushed. Also it is quieter at these times as well. I think our best seating was at 7:05am. Our boys were 9 and 3 at the time.

[kakn7294]

What we have found is to get the first or last seatings. When we have those seatings it seems that the characters aren't as rushed. Also it is quieter at these times as well. I think our best seating was at 7:05am. Our boys were 9 and 3 at the time.I was just going to say the same thing. The earlier or later seatings are less chaotic. We've also found that regardless of the venue and the characters involved, when our kids were younger, they didn't eat much at the character meals. Our 10 yo sometimes still doesn't eat much - she's too easily distracted and she's picky.

[CiaoBella312]

Very young children can be frightened of characters; I don't know if this is applicable to your children, but that could have been part of the problem. I remember attending a birthday party where a friend hired a "Mickey" to come and entertain the kids. We thought the kids would be thrilled (they ranged in age from about 6 months to about 5 years). Only the oldest children were happy to see the "Mickey"; the youngest ones ran screaming from him. After all, this is a bigger than life stranger when you are two years old.

I would try when they are old enough to be enchanted. :-)

[EPCOT84]

It seems to me Chef Mickey's can't be enjoyed fully until kids are pre-school age and up to enjoy the characters and the buffet food. Any between 2-5 years would have to be a judgement call of the parent. Below 2 years old is dicey as to whether they get anything out of the experience. I think its the parents that enjoy Chef Mickeys more !:secret:

[Gator]

My kids have never been freaked out by characters. They wouldn't eat when a character would come by, but they would eat between meals. Of course, I have a son who rarely eats on a normal schedule, so nothing suprises us at meal time.

[MinnieMommie]

When your children are a little older I would try CM again. It really is a fun place for families. When my kids were young we always tried to get the first seating. That seemed to work for us. :mickey:

[MongoMil]

My son is 4 and he had a pretty good time there. The character interaction was good, but for us it was at the end of our trip so he was warmed up to the characters. But Pluto still freaks him out. He just dont like dogs :secret:

[Belster]

In my opinion...character meals are very difficult to do with young children. I know...they are ment for young children but can be very stressful for the parents. My DH and I only do 1 character meal on our trips for the very same reason you just described. The worse one we had and will not be going back to is CP....CM is the best.

[jonahbear2006]

my kids enjoyed it, however, the last time we ate there it was just downright gross. the food was horrible. I think if you get wrapped up in the show of it all you forget about eating and dont realize how unappetizing the food is. It was not as good as the hometown buffet here in town. I recommend boma or ohana. they have much better breakfast.

[PinKy]

Just my $.02. We have always had really wonderful experiences with Chef Mickey's - and now we go every year. In comparison to many of the other character dining experiences, we find this one to be calm and organized. The characters spend plenty of time at each table and no one feels rushed. I find the food to be "Fine" - my DH LOVES it though. We find the service to be very good as well. We started brining our kids when my DS was 6 months old - he is now 3 years and my youngest is 18 months. I think a child's reaction to all of the "commotion" really has a lot to do with their temperament and personality. I mean it is "loud and boisterous" - even some adults don't like that. If it doesn't seem to be a good fit for your little ones - maybe wait 6 months - a year and try again? I am sure they will eventually ask to go to the character dining events!

[diz_girl]

I'm sorry that your experience wasn't as good as you had hoped it to be. At least they were both under 3 and you didn't have to pay for their meals.

I do the CP character meal and enjoy it very much. We had DS there last December at 17 months and he was fine. Granted, we mentioned to him almost every day that he was going to meet Pooh and that Pooh was really as big as Mommy and Daddy. Maybe that helped, but who knows. He's fine with Santa too, as well as a life size M&M. The only characters that he has had a problem with was a life size crayon character and anyone in a Guy Fawkes mask.

My niece is almost 4 and still doesn't like Santa and my nephew who is now 6 didn't go near any characters during last December's WDW trip, so each child is different. Try another character meal, maybe a low-key one like 'Ohana. But try preparing them for it before your next trip.

Good luck.