Walt Disney World Character Dining at Chef Mickey’s
Location: In the Contemporary Hotel. You can get there by taking the Monorail from the Magic Kingdom (or elsewhere).
Meals offered:
Breakfast from 7 AMÂ – 11:30 PM
Brunch from 11:35 AM – 2:30 PM
Dinner from 5:00 PM – 9:30 PM
Characters:
Chef Mickey, Chef Goofy, Chef Donald, Chef Minnie, Chef Pluto
Special Event:
Characters will twirl napkins with guests at designated times
My recommended reservation times:
Breakfast – I would go with 7-7:30 am so you have time to head to the Magic Kingdom before it opens.
Brunch – 11:35 or 2:00 – 2:30 would be good.
Dinner: 5:30 pm and then head to the Magic Kingdom afterwards, or 7:00 PM and then watch Wishes from the observation deck on the 4th floor of the Contemporary.
My experiences:
We ate at Chef Mickey’s in May 2009 and it was the very first character meal that we did. It was the first time my kids got to meet the Fab Five and I will always remember how crazy my son went when he saw Pluto for the first time. I thought the meal was delicious, service was excellent and it was worth every penny. We were on the dining plan for this trip and used 1 table service credit for the meal.
We also ate at Chef Mickeys in May 2010. It was on the last day of the trip and we were not impressed. The characters didn’t spend much time at the table (we got more one on one time in the parks) and it seemed very unorganized and stressful. We paid almost $100 for the meal since we were not on the dining plan and do not feel like it was worth the money.
Would I do it again:
No. Not unless I was on the dining plan. I would never pay out of pocket for this meal again. I enjoy the breakfast at Tusker House and ‘Ohanas a lot more and they cost less.
Your opinion:
If you have dined at Chef Mickey’s, please leave your opinion in the comments section!
Learn more about Walt Disney World Dining and get suggestions for where to eat, how to use the Disney Dining Plan and more.
Monica Winders says
We dined for brunch at Chef Mickey’s during our 2016 trip. We enjoyed the experience a lot. It was my youngest daughter’s birthday and they had a birthday card signed by all the characters waiting for her at our table. It turned out to be Goofy’s birthday, too! They had a huge cake set up near the entrance of the restaraunt. It was very fun and we enjoyed the variety on the buffet. We paid out of pocket, a little high but if I remember right, we got a discount with the Disney Visa. My family all agrees, we would go back!
Linda says
We love Chef Mickey’s and try to get it each time we come. The granddaughters love the characters and we have always had fun times with them
Ali says
I honestly love Chef Mickeys! The open atmosphere is so fun, although it can be somewhat chaotic at times. The characters are always great, posing for pleantly of pictures with us, even though the youngest in our party was 16. It was a little pricey out of pocket, but I feel like this meal is more for the experience, and it was well worth it to us. Seeing the 24 year old getting so into the napkin twirling dance was well worth it :) Would definitely do it again!!
Rebecca Medrano-Guerrero says
Can’t wait to see the Fab 5 but I’m with you! Only with the Free Dining Plan. So we’ll be there late Sept. 2012
Jaclyn says
We like this one (we’ve only done breakfast), but we could do without, its not a must do. Its good b/c you get to meet the Fab 5 and there’s a big selection of food. BUT the food is just mediocre and it always seems to be noisy, and sometimes first thing in the morning too much noise is just not a good thing. I enjoyed eating at the Caribbean Beach food court out by the quiet fountain much more. We haven’t tried their dinner menu, not sure if we will anytime soon as we really enjoy the dinner cuisine at epcot :)
Stephanie K says
We went for breakfast in August and loved it. My husband and I and our daughters (4 and 2) thought the food was great. This was one meal that our 2 year old ate the most at. We had a great seat in the corner by the windows which was great for our youngest. It was nice to see the characters without having to stand in a long line and would recommend this meal to anyone.
Kaitlyn Powell says
i went to chef mickey’s on my birthday and i was a little upset that mickey took a picture with everyone at the table but myself. i did get a birthday mini celebration but minnie came over. i would of rather a special moment like that would have been celebrated with chef mickey. it was a lot hectic in the restaurant.
Sherry says
We ate here was one of out 9 character meals the first week of September. Disappointing. Had reservations and still waited about 15 minutes to be seated when we could see a ton of open tables. Food was good but a very same selection for a buffet. The carved beef was the best. The guys carving the meat were very funny and nice. The waitstaff was poor and slow. Could never get a drink refill. I didn’t care for dessert — just fair. Cookies and ice cream mostly. Dry brownies. Characters here were very slow to come around, rushed when they finally got to our table — seemed bothered to sigh books. Minnie was the best and actually interacted with our two girls — both 3 — for a couple of minutes. People in our section kept complaining about the lack of characters and so left without seeing them all. Overall wouldn’t eat here again. Sad because we were really excited to eat here.
Brooke I. says
My daughter wanted to do this one. So we saved up. The meal was lack-luster at best. My husband, the all you can eat officianado, didn’t love it. We were done eating and still were waiting to see the Fab 5. LOUD! Don’t come if you don’t love LOUD!
Charity says
We did the quick service plan while at Disney in June 2010. We decided to splurge and have dinner at Chef Mickey’s our first night there. We had just arrived at our resort a few hours earlier and made the trip over to Chef Mickey’s. It was the first trip for our 5 and 8 year old and it was a very nice way to start off our trip before we even went to any of the parks. The food wasn’t anything spectacular, but it was nice to be able to see the 5 main characters, get pictures and then not have to spend precious time during the remainder of our trip in the parks in lines to see these characters again.
Janice says
Best character interaction on property in my opinion. We do dinner and breakfast each trip here and my kids love it!! The food is better for breakfast, but I really don’t think you go for the food. The dinner food is only ok in my opinion. Love seeing the fab 5 all in 1 place…it’s priceless!
pannm says
I have mixed reviews on this place. We went when we were on the dinning plan, so it was ok for that reason. There is a lot of food, some of it was good, some of it was not. They were carving prime rib (I think it was, if I’m remembering correctly???) and that was very good. The sides were nothing great. My girls liked the mickey/minnie shaped pasta that was there. They had a good kids buffet set up with all the stuff a normal kid likes, my girls are more adventurous, so they tried more of the adult buffet items.
The food was all hot, it was a clean place and everything was fresh and looked fine. The characters all came around and spent plenty of time with each table, so that was a positive.
The dessert bar/station was good. That was the best part of the meal, besides the prime rib.
Jennifer B says
I ate here twice as a child, once for breakfast and once for dinner. I don’t remember either experience very clearly, so I’m speaking to my experiences there as an adult.
For my first adultish trip (my 21st birthday gift from my parents) I took a friend who had never been to Disney World. I wanted her to experience the Fab 5 and thought this would be a good way to go about doing so. We had a great time and great interactions. I have incorporated it as a tradition into every trip since that on our arrival day I make dinner reservations at Chef Mickey’s.
I’ve always had good character interaction when I’ve been there. My last trip in 2010 was definitely the best that I’ve ever had. It was just me and my boyfriend, but all of the characters came over and spent time with us. Mickey pulled me up for a picture, then took the camera from my boyfriend and handed it to me and pulled him up for a picture, then pulled me back up took the camera and handed it to a cast member and took a picture with the three of us. Goofy pulled me up, swooned, got down on one knee and kissed my hand and made sure that he waited there while my boyfriend grabbed for the camera. He then took a picture just standing next to me. He also pulled my boyfriend up and posed with him for one of my favorite pictures of the whole trip (in fact it’s still sitting on my desk a year later).
I enjoy the food at Chef Mickey’s, too. It’s not spectacular, but it is, in my opinion, very good. And I dream about their parmesean mashed potatoes!
Elizabeth says
We had a great experience here Nov 2010! Me, husband & 6 kids. We had to make sure the characters didn’t skip our table, but that seems to be typical anywhere. The buffet was great, and the chef was super-attentive toward my autistic son who’s on a special diet & couldn’t eat from the buffet. The photographer, too, was surprisingly aware of how to work with an autistic child, so we got a good family photo! We’d definitely go back.
Jess says
This was one of my least favorite character meals, while it’s true it’s one of the few places you can meet the whole Mickey gang, the food was a big let down. The buffet was limited in choice especially if you don’t eat a lot of sugary items such as pastries (which weren’t good at all) like me. Even with a reservation we waited about 45 minutes for a table, we were ready to walk any second. And on top of all that, I’m a bit on the OCD side, so seeing birds flying around the Contemporary Resort by the restaurant because of the opening for the monorail almost sent me running. I mean isn’t that a health hazard? Did not enjoy at all, the only highlight was Donald Duck who we almost missed but was so in character when we tracked him down that my husband and I left with a smile.
Barbara says
LOVE Chef Mickeys!!! This a must do every time we come to Disney World. We have only had breakfast here and it has always been good! The buffet has a ton of food and the service was great!
Kelli C says
it’s been about 5 years since we’ve been to Chef Mickeys but I remember the food being very good and good Character interaction as well. When we were there it was for dinner (very crowded) and the Characters made extra effort to visit all the tables. My dd especially loved the cupcake decorating party for the kid’s dessert
Emily says
We ate at Chef Mickeys on our first trip to WDW. We were so hopeful that is would be as amazing as our meal at Goofy’s Kitchen at Disneland was, but we were disappointed. We had reservations for our dinner meal. The food was okay. We were most disappointed with how little interaction there was between the characters and our kids. It also seemed spendy.
Tara Gauthier says
My kids adore this place!!! It is a must do every time we visit. Food is not that great but we have always enjoyed the experience!!
Chelsea says
I really did not at all care for the food at Chef Mickey’s, however with the exception of the annoying kids sitting next to me (well, sitting, jumping, running, their parents certainly didn’t mind), I had a WONDERFUL time. My mom got a last minute reservation as a surprise for my nineteenth birthday. Despite being only a kid at heart, the characters all came over and seemed to make a fuss over it, and me and my mom. The waiters were really good too! Pluto actually fell and one of the waiters made sure to come tell me he/she/it was all right. The family sitting next to us made Chef Mickey’s an annual thing to visit one certain waiter and helped us take pictures. I loved it!
Jennifer says
We have eaten here twice for breakfast. The food was great with alot of selection. The characters may take a while to get to your table, but that’s ok because you can enjoy your meal while waiting. Mickey waffles, eggs, breakfast casserole, cereal, fruit – you name it. It was all good!
Leigh Ann says
We’ve eaten dinner at Chef Mickey’s the last two years, and I have to say the kids like it more than we do. The Contemporary is not our style, and the dining area is very open and loud (sound seems to echo.) The food has only been okay; I’m a picky eater and never had enough choices at their buffets. My kids, however, love the ice cream bar and dessert station where they have a really good assortment of cakes and tarts, really delicious brownies and chocolate mousse oreos that look like Mickey heads. The highlight, of course, is being able to meet Mickey Mouse and all the main characters (Minnie, Donald, Goofy, Pluto) in one sitting. However, if we didn’t use the dining plan we probably would pay to go there.
nicole deitrick says
I have only dined at Chef Mickey’s a few times during our trips to WDW but each time it’s a different experience. I must say it’s not one of my favorite places to eat but it does the trick when your traveling with a larger group of people who all want to see Mickey Mouse.
Sarah says
We did this as a breakfast. It is a buffet and the food is standard breakfast fare – nothing special. However, if your kids NEED to see Mickey and his friends, this is a MUST DO! It is so much easier than waiting in line for hours. The characters were great and were basically constantly rotating. We would do it again for that reason.
mairhiggs says
Not a great experience here either. It was nice to see the fab five at all once but that was about it. Very loud, food was lousy and everything seemed rushed. I would not do this meal again.
Sharla says
We eat at Chef Mickey’s every time we visit WDW…it is mama’s favorite, so the kids get to come along!
Lisa Chesnut says
We have always had a great experience when we eat here. We have got some of the best photos with us and Mickey here. All the characters always take there time to visit with the kids and sign autographs. The food is buffet style, but we enjoy it. I am a big salad eater, and there are so many to choose from. My husband is more of a meat eater and is always happy since it has some of everything. My boys love the dessert bar. We have never had a bad experience at Chef Mickey’s.
Inge says
We had a great experience here. The characters spent enough time with the kids and the food was good. We didn’t wait at all for our table. The only bad thing for us about Chef Mickey’s is that my 4 year old didn’t eat ANYTHING!! he was way to distracted by the monorail Lol! We will definitly go back
Jannel says
I love the idea of giving everyone the opportunity to give their opinion of the restaurants at Disney! We at here on every visit for dinner, which we though was just OK. When we went Dec. 2010 we ate at Chef Mickey’s for breakfast and was not impressed at all. The food was way better at Crysal Palace and agree that the characters seemed rushed. I thinkt that was our last time dining at Chef Mckey’s!
Jess O says
My husband and I wanted to go to Chef Mickeys on our honeymoon but it was all booked up so this time I was thrilled when we got in. We went in September and they had Lunch available, it must have been the end of the lunch because there was only 8 or so other families there. It was perfect, some of the characters even came by multiple times. The food wasn’t the best but we had the dining plan so no complaints really.
dutch says
We ate at Chef Mickey’s on our last trip (also our first) and we had a blast!!! We ate at 8:50 and got lots of time with the characters after requesting our seat to be changed as we were in the corner. They moved us to the center of the.action, and it was great! To each his own I guess :) ! Note: We’ve never ate at any other character dining experiences, but think its the way to go if you want to meet characters!
Angela says
We had done all of the character breakfasts except Chef Mickeys so I made reservations far aheard of time of my son’s birthday last September. I had heard great things and i figured that because of how hard it was to get reservations that it would be great. Not so much…it was a long wait to even get into the restaurant, the food was good but not over the top, and the characters did not spend much time at all with my son even though he was decked out in birthday gear. Just wasn’t a favorite of mine. We love the Cape May’s character breakfast and Crystal Palace’s (especially the blueberry pancakes, yummy). For a ton of character time, I would choose the character breakfast at Hollywood and Vine. We went for one of the last breakfast times and they stayed by our table and practically performed comedy acts for us. They loved the fact that we were carrying around a Little Einstein’s backpack. I guess you have to try them all once, but we are going again for ESPN weekend in March and I made reservations at Cape May again (our 4th time).
JennS says
I agree. We go there because we do the dining plan and my 3 and 5 year old love it. We went in Dec. and the characters didn’t spend much time at the table at all and they were not packed. Meaning there were empty tables in our section. We were disappointed because the kids were so excited.
Shelley natal says
Julie isbell- I agree with Tiffany the 50’s prime time is great! The atmosphere is really fun. The food was good. And the smores are awesome! We stayed 9 nights and had the deluxe dining plan so we ate a lot of food at a lot of restaurants and the smores at 50’s were probably my favorite thing I had the whole trip.
Debbie says
We ate there in March last year, and said we would never go back. The charactures rushed through. Mickey went on a break right before our table, and somehow we got skipped. Very over priced for a stressful experience. Save your money.
Deirdre says
I have eaten there and paid out of pocket and felt like it was a big waste of money. No one ever gets to eat their food because you are dealing with cameras and autographs. The characters did not spend hardly anytime at our table and actually got skipped by a few because of where we were seated. We had to get them tracked down to come back. I did not think the food was worth the money either. If I am going to spend $100 on a meal, it will be at Ruth Chris!! ha ha
Audra says
We ate there in Dec. of 2008, during the week between Christmas and New Year’s, the busiest of the year. But I did not feel it was overly rushed. It was the only place we saw Minnie Mouse, if I recall, and that alone made it worth it for me and our 2 little girls. We were on the dining plan.
A tip I have heard is that if you do not plan to go to the parks on your last day, but you don’t have to leave until midday, to plan a character breakfast for the morning of your last day. This gives you a good “send off”! Also, it frees up other time during your stay to spend at the park.
My favorite part of our trip was the character meals. We were on the dining plan so we had 4 total character meals. You didn’t have to wait in lines to see the characters, and it was mostly really good food. With our kids, the best part was seeing MIckey, Minnie, etc., even more than getting on the rides, so it was well worth it for us. We will be doing the dining plan again on our next trip and trying some different meals!
Audra says
I meant to specify above that you have to schedule your “last day” character breakfast at a hotel, not a park, unless you have park tickets for your last day, because you have to have park tickets to go to a character meal inside the park.
Amanda Bosque says
We went on a family trip with 9 of us last March. It was my in-laws, my husband, me, our son (who was turning 2 on this trip), my BIL and SIL, nephew and niece. This was the first trip for everyone except me and SIL, but everybody’s first time with character dining. We did Chef Mickey’s for breakfast on my son’s actual birthday and I made reservations for first thing in the morning. It was early, but completely worth it. We didn’t have to wait in line very long and were seated immediately. The food was yummy and the characters were great! Several of them came by more than once! Mickey even came over and spent special time and sang Happy Birthday to my son – he loved it! We did not have the dining plan, but my in-laws paid for the meal, so I don’t know the prices. My son got a cupcake and a special birthday card signed by all the characters. We had a fantastic experience with it.
We are going this March with friends of ours and their little girl and we are doing Chef Mickey’s again for breakfast. We will be celebrating both my son’s and my friend’s little girl’s birthday this time and got an early morning reservation again. Hopefully it will be the same experience as last time!
Julie Isbell says
just an afterthought to my earlier post. we all talk about how we wouldn’t pay out of pocket to eat here or how we would, but, one thing we all need to remember is that even if we ate there on the dining plan, we still payed out of pocket for it! true, it is included in the package you choose for your trip, but, you still payed for it. our first trip we did the dining plan with sit down meals, and we were really disappointed. the kids meal choices were the same at every restaurant, my hubby ordered steak at a few of the restaurants, and no place had steak sauce. we were just really expecting better food choices for the price of the meals. i felt like there should have been more perks for the price paid. and i agree with the comment about the castle. we got lucky and ate there christmas day for breakfast after my daughter did bbb. she was cinderella. we waite over an hour to ge seated, then we were very rushed at our breakfast because they were preparring for the next meal change. we didn’t even get to see all the princesses. we are going to try ohana’s and tusker house for breakfast on our next trip, but would like to see what the menus are for food choices. we think it would be cheaper and wiser for our family to just pay for meals out of pocket. some say this is expensve, but, my kids aren’t big eaters, and can share a meal. plus, we want the freedom to eat when we want wherever we want. anyone got good idead for eating on the “fly”?? how is the 50’s diner? hubby wants to eat there. is there a site that i can go to to see menus for all the restaurants?? thanks for any help!!
Audra says
AllEars.net has menus for all the restaurants! THey are an awesome resource. They have reviews on everything. I used it to plan our last trip.
Tiffany says
50’s Primetime is AWESOME. Whispering Canyon at the Wilderness Lodge is one of our favorites too. I think Tusker House is a fantastic charater breakfast. If your husband likes steak, try LeCellier is a great restaurant. They have changed it to a signature service for dinner, so you may want to try it for lunch.
JennS says
We love Whispering Canyon at the Wilderness Lodge Resort.
We go for dinner and we love the all u can eat skillet for $26.99 you get mashed potatoes, chicken, ribs, pulled pork, green beans, and salad. It is delicious. When you are on the dining plan you can get bottomless milkshakes for your drink which the kids love. They get chocolate and cotton candy! It is a western themed dining experience and you stand up at the table and do the hokey pokey, the kids get to ride wooden ponies around the restaurant and yell Ketchup when your meal comes and you get 20 bottles of ketchup at your table. Then when someone else yells it, the kids love running all of the bottles over to their table. We ate there twice in Dec. because we all love it so much!!!!
Julie Isbell says
we ate at chef mickeys the first time we went to disney. we were on the dining plan. the food was a buffet style, and we weren’t very impressed. we went for dinner, and the food seemed to have been there awhile. we did get to see the characters, but only briefly. the girls got their pictures taken with them, and the only reason they stopped at our table was we were celebrating the girls birthdays and had bought a cake from chef mickeys. the room we ate in was very crowded, and not alot of move around space – meaning that if you wanted up from your seat, you had to ask someone at another table to move also. we were not really impressed with the dining plan at all. we have decided that next time we go, we will just pay for our meals out of pocket.
CP says
Totally agree! Just ate there — totally chaotic and stressful! Too rushed…characters were all over the place…..wish they would have let us eat and then have characters come over….it was just crazy esp. with 2 little ones- we were in a group of 8! We made the best of it though but crazy how much it costs! Food was just so-so too! We had breakfast there!
Elizabeth says
For our family Chef Mickeys is the start of our trip. We go there for dinner the night we arrive and then we take the momrail around to look at the parks and hotels. We have gone the past 2 times at Christmas time and it is always decorated so pretty.
The Characters are always exciting to see and very kind to take pictures with. The food is very good even for my picky one. We are using the dining plan so the cost is one we do not see. Everyone is ready to start the day in the morning but getting everyone quieted down after meeting with the Characters is always fun :)
Shelley natal says
We have dined at chef Mickey’s at least 5 times. It is my 13 y/o sons favorite. I love how the characters are dressed as chefs. That is really cool. Maybe it is the time of year or the time we schedule our reservations but I have never had any trouble with the amount of time the characters spent with us. We were most recently there on Christmas morning and it was an awesome experience. The characters were fabulous. We also went there in September for my sons birthday and Mickey hinder brought him a cupcake. Minnie gave him a birthday kiss. All the characters and servers made it a special day for him. I also have 2 younger girls ages 4 & 3 and they also love chef mickeys. As a family however, our favorite character meals are probably ohana and play and dine at Hollywood and vine. My daughters love the princesses and the princess meals but I feel they rush you way more in the castle which is double the price than they do at chef mickeys.
Lynne says
We had breakfast at Chef Mickey’s in early Oct. 2009. It was a wonderful experience! We were on the dining plan. We love the picture taken before being seated. It’s my favorite picture from our trip (and somehow we all ended up w/ coordinating outfits and that was unplanned!). We had a table close to the doors so characters spent lots of time w/ my kids. Our son was not yet 1 and he LOVED Pluto’s nose! There are lots of foods toddlers will love and some yummy options for mom & dad. We did not feel rushed at all and really enjoyed our time there. We have another trip coming up and I would love to go back to Chef Mickey’s!
Sarah says
I agree with you 100%! We just ate there in October for my son’s birthday and we felt VERY rushed, the characters barely stopped and the food was awful! My poor 5 year old daughter said afterwards, “Mommy, I never want to go back there again!” We felt very ripped off. :( O’Hana’s is 1000 times better!!!!
Amy says
We ate there earlier this month, and while my girls (3 and 1) loved it, I thought it was not worth the money! The prices above are not accurate. We paid 28.99 for adults and 16.99 for kids 3-9 for breakfast. If we were on the dining plan, I might do it again but not if we paid OOP. The food was okay, but the atmosphere was fun and exciting. It was my girls’ first character experience ever so that made it special for us.
Amy says
Forgot to add that we had 11am ressies, and it was perfect! We hit MK at opening, spend 1.5 hrs there, and took the monorail over. We filled up at Chef Mickey’s as our lunch, headed to Epcot and had a light dinner there. So if you plan it right, it can be your big meal of the day.
Chrissy says
We ate ate Chef Mickey’s in February 2010. It was our first trip, and we thought that it would be a good idea to do a character meal for the kids. We too felt that it was very rushed. The characters came, let us snap a pic and then vanished. No interaction at all. We went to the breakfast session, and there weren’t a lot of families there (we were there at 730). Afterwards, we realized it was a waste, because, as you stated, the kids got more interaction at the park. We were hugly disappointed in this meal and we would not recommend it to anyone. We were not on the dining plan, so this was an out of pocket expense. The only upside was that we were all so full, we ate only one other time that day, so it gave us a ton of time to do other things.
Amy says
We have been to Chef Mickey’s twice, once in 2005 and most recently in Dec 2009. Both times we had a wonderful experience, it is my kids favorite breakfast with the Fab 5. (Tusker House is a close 2nd, we alternate the two going to one every other trip.) We have been there at crowded times and light times and have always had great service and great character interaction. We always get extra kisses from Minnie and teased by Donald for having Mickey t-shirts on!
DeAnna says
Our family ate at Chef Mickey’s in Dec of 2008 and Dec 2009 on the dining plan both times (for the dinner meal). It was wonderful! I didn’t expect the characters to spend a huge amount of time with my son, but the first time each character came to our table, each character greeted him, they kidded with him, signed his autograph book and posed for pictures. Each subsequent time they passed by our table, they stopped to give him a high five, dance with him or put the napkin on is head etc. He LOVED it! The food was very good– not sure I would pay for it out of pocket– BUT IT IS THE ONE PLACE MY SON SAYS IS A MUST DO FOR HIM! My son is 10 and I thought he may not want to go back, but he says it is his favorite!
amanda says
We were there in July of last year and stayed at Bay Lake Towers. We ate breakfast one morning a Chef Mickeys character breakfast. I will not do that again. The food was bad, it was too loud and too crowded for pics with characters. Ohana was a much better experience. A buffet is too difficult with small children even with a spouse to help. Thats why we loved Ohana, they bring the food to the tables! But we do like Crystal Palace……
Amber W. says
We ate at Chef Mickeys in October 2010 as a family of 8 and we all had a fantastic time! We were not on the dining plan and my family felt the experience was worth every penny! I loved that we were able to purchase a picture with statue mickey that had all 8 of us in it-it’s one of my favorite photos from our trip! We loved the food and the environment as well. Most of all we loved seeing the characters and visiting with them alot! It was pretty busy (had a 7:30 breakfast time) and the characters came around atleast 4 times in the hour we were there. I was even able to get all 3 of the kids in one picture with each charachter as well as 3 individual pictures with each character for my kids photo books! The characters, especially pluto really took their time with my kids, my youngest tried eating pluto’s nose several times and they were really invloved with my niece and her autograph book I had bought her as it was really unique and had all the characters pictures in them with their bios-super cute! My kids still talk about that breakfast and of course the Mickey waffles!
kelly says
We ate there in September 2009. We had a blast. I tried forever to get in and finally two days before we left for our trip I got reservations. They were at 8:45 at night which is late for us but so worth it. We saw a little of the light parade at the entrance of the park and then took the shuttle over. Because it was later at night and it was not too busy, the characters were around our table a lot. We thought the food was great and we did have the dining plan. It was also my husbands birthday and the waitress brought a cupcake to him with a candle in it. She was a really good waitress. We will go back there for sure.
Tina says
We have dined at chef Mickey’s around 10+ times during different times of the year, most recently Oct 2010. We have found that you get more character interaction if the restuarant is less crowded. We usually hit the park at opening ride our major attractions and grab the monorail over for a late breafast early lunch 1045/1100 reservations. Alot of people with small kids are just getting to the parks or starting to think about lunch. We do only usually dine here when we are on the disney dining ( usually getting it free:)! Try the character dining in Norway at Epcot. Its fantastic!!!
brenda says
We dined at chef mickeys in sept 2010…now let me preface this by saying that we were on the dining plan (my husband and i did comment on how we would NEVER spend out of pocket here) and also that the parks in general were DEAD at this time of year. So we had a 10:00 time (we made reservations late and this was all we could get) but it was a BLAST. My son loved the mickey waffles (we have since purchased a mickey waffle maker) and the characters spent a TON of time at our tables..but the place was super empty. My son was thrilled. We did not meet many characters at the park so this was a great time to meet them and not have to wait in long lines. We just booked our second trip in september and will get reservations for chef mickeys again.
Mary says
We ate here on our last day in October of 2010. We were on the dining plan and I agree with you. I would not do it again unless I was on the dining plan. I felt like we were rushed from place to place by the servers.Pictures, then to check in, then to the buffet…. The characters did not spend much time with us at all and they weren’t good with my daughter who was afraid of the characters. The food was good, but it’s the same that you get other places. My favorite character meal was Tusker House at Animal Kingdom! They have a TON to choose from and it’s not the run of the mill type foods. There are some exotic foods to try! The juice is delish and we spent lots of time with characters!
Crystal says
We did Chef Mickey’s on the dining plan and I thought it was ok but not my favorite character meal by any means. I agree that the characters don’t spend a lot of time with you here. We also had to wait a long time for a table, despite having a reservation (I know you usually have to wait awhile, but this was a really, really long wait). We were celebrating my son’s birthday and Minnie did come over and give him a kiss when they did the twirling napkin thing.
I preferred Tusker House and Hollywood & Vine. Haven’t tried Ohana’s yet.
Cindy says
I agree with you 100%. We have rarely had great character experiences here. Even when we went for my son’s actual birthday. He had on a birthday shirt and birthday ears and the characters didn’t make a big deal of it at all. And we were there not during a free dining time and it was a late breakfast. There was one time also that we booked a really late breakfast because I had read how great the characters were since there were so few people. We didn’t get great experiences then either.
So you might ask why do we keep going back. It’s all for my son. We have only paid out of our pockets one time, on his birthday. And get this it was his 3rd bday, so that meant they charged me for his food. I just have a hard time paying that much money for a kid that might eat one Mickey waffle and a banana. But my son loves Mickey and even though we go to Ohana’s where Mickey is and Cape May where Minnie is, he still wants Chef Mickey’s again. Don’t plan on every paying out of pocket for it again though.
But with all that said. Two cool things are the fact that you get to see the monorail, which my son loves. And if you time your dinner right, you can stay and watch the MK fireworks from an outside viewing area on I think the 4th floor. We did it once. It was nice, not as nice as being in the park. But it was cool since it was the Christmas Wishes, which we hadn’t seen because we didn’t go to the Christmas party.
Sidenote: The food there has gone down over the years. Even the desserts. I use to live for the Mickey oreo dome thingys and this last trip I ate one and it wasn’t good at all.