Parking/Transportation Situation: General Resort Parking or Valet Parking available. Monorail service from The Polynesian, The Grand Floridian, The Transportation and Ticket Center, and The Magic Kingdom. Walkable from The Magic Kingdom. Boat service from The Magic Kingdom, The Wilderness Lodge, and Fort Wilderness. Bus service from Downtown Disney, Animal Kingdom and The Studios. (If using Disney Bus Transportation, allow 1-1.5 hours transportation time. If using monorail or boat, allow 30-45 minutes.)
Meals Served: B, L, D
Characters/Entertainment: Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Pluto and Donald
Type of Cuisine: American fare
Type of Menu: Buffet only
Atmosphere: Sleek, modern, Disney-pop-art-style cafeteria
Dress Code: Theme park casual
Dress Code: Theme park casual
Guests Who Would Enjoy This The Most: Kids, kid and more kids
Level of Difficulty of Getting a Reservation: Hard
Fun Stuff for Kids: Aside from being a character meal and having the chance to meet some of your Disney favorites face to face, kids will also enjoy seeing the monorail glide above the restaurant, (depending on where you're seated). About once an hour, the Cast celebrates birthdays by dancing around to a birthday song, and encouraging Guests to wave napkins above their heads. Also, if you happen to be dining here at the very end of the night, and you're seated in one of the few tables that faces the Magic Kingdom, you may catch the fireworks, but this is a rare occurrence, since there are so few tables that afford this view. You'd be much better off finishing up before the fireworks start, and heading outside, onto the 4th floor balcony that faces the Magic Kingdom, in order to get a good view.
Rating of Appeal to Kid-Diners: What rides?????
Rating of Appeal to Kid-Diners: What rides?????
Stand out dishes: Mickey Waffles, Italian Frittata, Carved Ham, Peel and Eat Shrimp, Chocolate Mousse Opera Cake
Best Use of Dining Plan Point: Only one option here, the All-You-Care-To-Eat Buffet. However, as a general rule of thumb, buffets will give you the most "bang" for your Dining Plan buck! And being one of the most costly buffets, using a point here makes a lot of sense.
Best Use of Dining Plan Point: Only one option here, the All-You-Care-To-Eat Buffet. However, as a general rule of thumb, buffets will give you the most "bang" for your Dining Plan buck! And being one of the most costly buffets, using a point here makes a lot of sense.
Experience: Sorry, Chef Mickey's fans, but I was not looking forward to this one. I know, I know, you LOVE it! You love the mashed potatoes and the characters, and the soft serve ice cream! Yeah, I hear ya, but personally, I haven't had the best of experiences at Chef Mickey's in the past and since it's a "Must Do" for most families, I had been several times. I'd done a breakfast or two, and several dinners, (one with the kids), but none of the meals really "wowed" me. The food was just ok, and even the character experience was only fair. BUT, Brunch is new to Chef Mickey's. They only started serving brunch as of June, other than some rare holiday periods when they had tried it out, and since I enjoy breakfast, but the hubs likes dinner more, (and brunch comes in at about $10 less than dinner per person), I figured we'd give it a whirl. Plus, we were celebrating D having a rockin' final report card, so it'd at least be something fun for the kids to do.
I booked about a week out, and was able to get a 12:30pm seating, but I think that was only because brunch is still a new thing and most people aren't even aware that it's an option yet. Typically Chef Mickey's is a tough one to get, and if you want to dine there, you should book as close to 180 days out as you can manage.
We arrived right around noon, so we checked in a bit early and took a stroll through the gift shops while we waited. (As a little side story, I checked my Facebook while we waited, and saw that we had literally JUST missed Leigh Anne Tuohy, Michael Oher, and their family, who had been dining at Chef Mickey's right before us! You probably know them as the family who the movie 'The Blindside' was about. Man, I would I have loved to have met her, just to thank her for bringing light to transracial adoption in such a positive way. Anyway...) Our pager went off about fifteen minutes later, and we headed up to the podium. We were given the option, as all families are, to have a photo taken with a Chef Mickey statue, in front of a backdrop. You can then purchase the photos, if you choose to. We opted out of the picture, and went right to our table. I already get my picture taken SO much. You know, paparazzi and all...
Chef Mickey's is made up of three different rooms, branching off of the buffet area. We were sat in the one to the left, which I had never been in before. It was nice and bright, and K could see the monorail from his seat, so he was happy. Plus, within the first few minutes that we were seated, we got to say hi to Pluto, and Goofy came to our table to take pictures! Exciting way to kick off a meal! We were then greeted by our server, and offered drinks. Since the server did not mention K's egg allergy, I asked if we could see the chef. Within five minutes, a chef was at our table, and he took me up to the buffet to show me what K could have and what he needed to stay away from. Breakfast foods are always a littler trickier, so he said he'd make K egg free Mickey waffles, which
was perfect. There were plenty of other things he could have, so while I was up there, I grabbed K a plate of fruit, bacon, veggies, pizza and Mickey-roni and Cheese, to get him started. Then it was D's turn, so I took her up to fill a plate for her, and one for me. When we got back to the table, and sent Daddy up for his food, K's Mickey waffles came out, and he happily began dipping Mickey's ears into syrup and slurping on them.
Through out the next hour or so, we enjoyed the food and meeting the Fab Five. I will say, I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the food. The Italian Frittata had an egg
base, (obvs), with sausage, peppers, onions, and cheese, and it was delicious. The carved ham was juicy and lean. D dug into some bacon, as she always does, but she also enjoyed the salmon, the ham, and the scrambled eggs. K favored the orange slices and the syrup...and the ketchup. Yeah, he's in a phase where he's very in to eating condiments, by themselves, with his fingers. Nice, huh? You know who REALLY enjoyed it, Minnie Mouse when she came to get a hug from him and he was covered in sticky goo. Sorry, Minnie. She seemed ok with it once he giggled and signed "I love you" at her though.
Service was very slow, unfortunately. It took a long time to get our drinks filled and plates cleared. And, wow, was that place LOUD! The acoustics in there don't do it any favors, but also just the sheer number of excited kids made it feel like I was at a One Direction concert for toddlers. And despite the Cast Members' best efforts, it was kind of a mess. The buffet was maintained constantly, and spills and rips were wiped up as quickly as possible, but things had been dripped and dropped all over the floor in the dining room and there was also a pretty decent amount of napkins and silverware scattered about. Again, not blaming the cast for this, as keeping up with the number of small kids and messy adults was next to impossible.
As we were getting ready to head up for dessert, we saw something crazy happening... the table to our left had sent their kids up to Pluto while the pup still had his back turned to another table. The parents then encouraged the kids to pull his tail, tickle him, and even BITE his tail, all while they took pictures! Well, I was having NONE of this! (Yeah, I'm that Disney Guest that a lot of other Guests probably hate. I will tell you where the smoking areas are when you light up in a queue line. I will ask you to sit down when you stand on a trashcan to take a picture. I will tell you in a moderately pleasant manner that they aren't kidding about keeping your kids on this side of the fence, because they may very well be blown up by the fireworks canister over there. I take my Disney-ing seriously. For some reason, I am NOT convinced that the rules don't apply to certain people.) I got up, and found a nearby Greeter, and made her aware of the situation. She thanked me, and immediately went over to check on Pluto's well being. In the meantime, a server had stepped in and made the ill-behaved children sit down. Seriously? Seriously, parents???? No part of your brain thought, 'This may not be enjoyable for Pluto. My kid could get hurt. I'm acting like an idiot.'? Nope. Never mind.
Anyway, dessert. The dessert selection was wide and looked yummy. There were cakes, brownies, parfaits, Rice Krispie treats, and even soft serve ice cream. The awesome chef brought K out two egg-free cupcakes with Mickey sprinkles, which was awesome, because he very rarely gets to have cake. The Chocolate Mousse Opera Bars were deliciously decadent, and the little chocolate mousse-covered Mickey Oreos were great too. While I was up getting dessert, I noticed that on that back half of the ice cream bar, there were breakfast items we missed, like cereal, bananas, croissants, cinnamon rolls, cheese blintzes and more. No worries for us, since we were already stuffed, but good to know.
Once we had seen all the characters at least once, and some twice, we paid the bill, and headed out. We decided to wander through the Contemporary's gift shops a bit, and found ourselves outside, discovering something new to me. I always knew that if you stepped out of the doors that lead to the bridge that goes to Bay Lake Tower, you had a great view of The Magic Kingdom. What I didn't realize, was that they had put in benches, facing Cinderella Castle, which would be perfect for Wishes viewing. Plus, it's a fun place to sit and watch the monorail pass overhead. Note to self.... Next time we want to switch
So, overall, was I impressed with Chef Mickey's? I'd say pleasantly surprised by the food, but not so much by the atmosphere. I did discover something very important, as to why I may find this location to not be on my favorites list, though. It's because it's on EVERYONE else's! What I mean by that is, Chef Mickey's is very, very well known. Most people headed to Disney have heard of it, and add it to their list of "Must-Do's". That goes for first-time Guests, tour groups, teens, families with toddlers, international Guests, large parties and more. Because of it's popularity, AND being inside a popular resort, AND being on the monorail line, AND being one of the only places to see the Fab Five characters, it attracts all sorts of people, and that includes ill-behaved people, who may not have the best character etiquette, or who send their 4 year old up to the buffet by themselves, or who, (like the family behind us), allow their kids to take off their shoes, and sit on the floor to eat. No lie. Dead serious. On. The. Floor. Gross. It's rowdy. It's loud. It gets messy. The Cast tries hard, I'm not denying them that. But when you're doing the volume that this place does, and handling all sorts of different Guests, things get chaotic. I wouldn't discourage anyone from going there, if they were hoping to see Mickey and the gang and had their heart set on dining at Chef Mickey's, but I would make sure that they also know that you can meet Mickey and friends at some other character meals too, like Cape May for breakfast, The Garden Grill for dinner, or Tusker House for breakfast or lunch. Characters always attract some crazy Guest behavior. I get it. It's like meeting a Beatle in some ways, or a New Kid, or the Beibs, depending on what generation you are from. But if you prefer to, say, run into one of those celebrities in a local grocery store, as compared to waiting for them with other crazy fans at a mall CD signing event, (oh man, dating myself again), I'd steer you toward one of the other locations first. No matter what, though, the mall event is still less crazy than waiting for them at the stage door. That's my way of saying that ANY character dining is a calmer experience than meeting a character in the park. Did that analogy work? I hope so.
On our way out, while waiting for the elevator, D stopped to gaze longingly at the model of the Disney Cruise Line ship. (I believe it was the Dream.) K said, "I go dere." Yeah, K, I'd like to go back there again too. Someday soon. Just need to hit the lottery or something. No biggie.
I booked about a week out, and was able to get a 12:30pm seating, but I think that was only because brunch is still a new thing and most people aren't even aware that it's an option yet. Typically Chef Mickey's is a tough one to get, and if you want to dine there, you should book as close to 180 days out as you can manage.
We arrived right around noon, so we checked in a bit early and took a stroll through the gift shops while we waited. (As a little side story, I checked my Facebook while we waited, and saw that we had literally JUST missed Leigh Anne Tuohy, Michael Oher, and their family, who had been dining at Chef Mickey's right before us! You probably know them as the family who the movie 'The Blindside' was about. Man, I would I have loved to have met her, just to thank her for bringing light to transracial adoption in such a positive way. Anyway...) Our pager went off about fifteen minutes later, and we headed up to the podium. We were given the option, as all families are, to have a photo taken with a Chef Mickey statue, in front of a backdrop. You can then purchase the photos, if you choose to. We opted out of the picture, and went right to our table. I already get my picture taken SO much. You know, paparazzi and all...
Chef Mickey's is made up of three different rooms, branching off of the buffet area. We were sat in the one to the left, which I had never been in before. It was nice and bright, and K could see the monorail from his seat, so he was happy. Plus, within the first few minutes that we were seated, we got to say hi to Pluto, and Goofy came to our table to take pictures! Exciting way to kick off a meal! We were then greeted by our server, and offered drinks. Since the server did not mention K's egg allergy, I asked if we could see the chef. Within five minutes, a chef was at our table, and he took me up to the buffet to show me what K could have and what he needed to stay away from. Breakfast foods are always a littler trickier, so he said he'd make K egg free Mickey waffles, which
Through out the next hour or so, we enjoyed the food and meeting the Fab Five. I will say, I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the food. The Italian Frittata had an egg
Service was very slow, unfortunately. It took a long time to get our drinks filled and plates cleared. And, wow, was that place LOUD! The acoustics in there don't do it any favors, but also just the sheer number of excited kids made it feel like I was at a One Direction concert for toddlers. And despite the Cast Members' best efforts, it was kind of a mess. The buffet was maintained constantly, and spills and rips were wiped up as quickly as possible, but things had been dripped and dropped all over the floor in the dining room and there was also a pretty decent amount of napkins and silverware scattered about. Again, not blaming the cast for this, as keeping up with the number of small kids and messy adults was next to impossible.
As we were getting ready to head up for dessert, we saw something crazy happening... the table to our left had sent their kids up to Pluto while the pup still had his back turned to another table. The parents then encouraged the kids to pull his tail, tickle him, and even BITE his tail, all while they took pictures! Well, I was having NONE of this! (Yeah, I'm that Disney Guest that a lot of other Guests probably hate. I will tell you where the smoking areas are when you light up in a queue line. I will ask you to sit down when you stand on a trashcan to take a picture. I will tell you in a moderately pleasant manner that they aren't kidding about keeping your kids on this side of the fence, because they may very well be blown up by the fireworks canister over there. I take my Disney-ing seriously. For some reason, I am NOT convinced that the rules don't apply to certain people.) I got up, and found a nearby Greeter, and made her aware of the situation. She thanked me, and immediately went over to check on Pluto's well being. In the meantime, a server had stepped in and made the ill-behaved children sit down. Seriously? Seriously, parents???? No part of your brain thought, 'This may not be enjoyable for Pluto. My kid could get hurt. I'm acting like an idiot.'? Nope. Never mind.
Anyway, dessert. The dessert selection was wide and looked yummy. There were cakes, brownies, parfaits, Rice Krispie treats, and even soft serve ice cream. The awesome chef brought K out two egg-free cupcakes with Mickey sprinkles, which was awesome, because he very rarely gets to have cake. The Chocolate Mousse Opera Bars were deliciously decadent, and the little chocolate mousse-covered Mickey Oreos were great too. While I was up getting dessert, I noticed that on that back half of the ice cream bar, there were breakfast items we missed, like cereal, bananas, croissants, cinnamon rolls, cheese blintzes and more. No worries for us, since we were already stuffed, but good to know.
Once we had seen all the characters at least once, and some twice, we paid the bill, and headed out. We decided to wander through the Contemporary's gift shops a bit, and found ourselves outside, discovering something new to me. I always knew that if you stepped out of the doors that lead to the bridge that goes to Bay Lake Tower, you had a great view of The Magic Kingdom. What I didn't realize, was that they had put in benches, facing Cinderella Castle, which would be perfect for Wishes viewing. Plus, it's a fun place to sit and watch the monorail pass overhead. Note to self.... Next time we want to switch
up our out-of-park fireworks viewing, instead of the Polynesian beach, we are coming here!
So, overall, was I impressed with Chef Mickey's? I'd say pleasantly surprised by the food, but not so much by the atmosphere. I did discover something very important, as to why I may find this location to not be on my favorites list, though. It's because it's on EVERYONE else's! What I mean by that is, Chef Mickey's is very, very well known. Most people headed to Disney have heard of it, and add it to their list of "Must-Do's". That goes for first-time Guests, tour groups, teens, families with toddlers, international Guests, large parties and more. Because of it's popularity, AND being inside a popular resort, AND being on the monorail line, AND being one of the only places to see the Fab Five characters, it attracts all sorts of people, and that includes ill-behaved people, who may not have the best character etiquette, or who send their 4 year old up to the buffet by themselves, or who, (like the family behind us), allow their kids to take off their shoes, and sit on the floor to eat. No lie. Dead serious. On. The. Floor. Gross. It's rowdy. It's loud. It gets messy. The Cast tries hard, I'm not denying them that. But when you're doing the volume that this place does, and handling all sorts of different Guests, things get chaotic. I wouldn't discourage anyone from going there, if they were hoping to see Mickey and the gang and had their heart set on dining at Chef Mickey's, but I would make sure that they also know that you can meet Mickey and friends at some other character meals too, like Cape May for breakfast, The Garden Grill for dinner, or Tusker House for breakfast or lunch. Characters always attract some crazy Guest behavior. I get it. It's like meeting a Beatle in some ways, or a New Kid, or the Beibs, depending on what generation you are from. But if you prefer to, say, run into one of those celebrities in a local grocery store, as compared to waiting for them with other crazy fans at a mall CD signing event, (oh man, dating myself again), I'd steer you toward one of the other locations first. No matter what, though, the mall event is still less crazy than waiting for them at the stage door. That's my way of saying that ANY character dining is a calmer experience than meeting a character in the park. Did that analogy work? I hope so.
On our way out, while waiting for the elevator, D stopped to gaze longingly at the model of the Disney Cruise Line ship. (I believe it was the Dream.) K said, "I go dere." Yeah, K, I'd like to go back there again too. Someday soon. Just need to hit the lottery or something. No biggie.
Tink's Tots Try It Out: According to D (6 yo girl) So what was your favorite thing about Chef Mickey's, D? "Meeting the characters. And I liked the food that they had. The Mickey-roni and Cheese was awesome. And the fruit and orange." Did you like seeing the characters better in the restaurant than in the park? "Yeah, cuz it was nice inside and we didn't have to wait in line. And they fed us while we waited." That is SO on point. You don't even know. Smart kid. " I AM smart, because I read really good." We're getting there.
Tink's Tots Try It Out: According to K (2 yo boy) Hey K, what about you? Did you like going to Chef Mickey's? "Yeah, I yike Mickey." I know you like Mickey. I do too. You seemed very into your syrup while we were there. "Mmmm.... yum." Did you like getting to see the characters while we ate? "I go Mickey Mouse Club House. Hot dog!" (Starts to do the Hot Dog Dance, which I am certain ALL toddler parents are familiar with.) "Mamma, up. Mamma, dance!" (I made the mistake of doing this silly dance for him one time that the Hot Dog song was on, and now he physically pushes me to my feet and insists that I do it every time he commands it to be so.) No, I don't want to dance right now. I am working on the blog. Can I finish asking you questions? "Mamma, daaance!" (Giggling and jumping up and down.) Ok, ok. You're lucky you're cute. I just hope we don't ever hear this song out in public. (I dance, as I have been ordered to do so.)
Will we be back: Not until one of the kids actually asks to go there, but when we do go back, I would absolutely do brunch again.
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ReplyDeleteSpot on... wish I could own a restaurant that does that volume!
ReplyDelete