REVIEW: We’re Back at Chef Mickey’s in Disney World…And We Still Don’t LOVE It

Meeting characters in Disney World is all part of the experience. However, there’s really only one guaranteed way to meet specific characters without standing in lines: getting a reservation at a character dining experience.

Now, these dining experiences are pricey, but you get to have some quality one-on-one time with your favorite Disney characters, plus many are all-you-care-to-enjoy buffets. Well, we just revisited one of the most popular character dining restaurants in Disney World for breakfast, Chef Mickey’s. So we’re going to give you our honest thoughts.

Background

You’ll find Chef Mickey’s at Disney’s Contemporary Resort. Like we mentioned, this is one of the most popular character dining experiences in Disney World, so you’ll want to grab reservations right at that 60-day mark before the first day of your Disney World trip (if you’re staying at a Disney World hotel). Breakfast is $58 per adult and $37 per child (ages 3-9), not including gratuity.

The restaurant is a buffet open for breakfast and dinner. Here’s what you need to know about dining at this restaurant.

Atmosphere

Chef Mickey’s offers expansive views of Bay Lake PLUS the famous Mary Blair mural there overlooks the restaurant as the Monorail whizzes by (which does mean additional noise here).  The colors are vibrant, befitting Mickey and his friends.

You’ll find some fun design details, too.

There is plenty of seating available, including tables and chairs…

…as well as some booths.

But enough about that, what are we eating?!

Food & Drinks

As we mentioned, Chef Mickey’s is an all-you-care-to-enjoy buffet, and there is plenty of food to satisfy even the pickiest of eaters. There are sweet and savory breads, scrambled eggs, bacon, Mickey waffles, and more.

To start, we got the POG Juice to drink, because how could we NOT get the POG juice? It’s included with the price of your meal, as are other juices, coffees, and sodas. This isn’t available at every breakfast in Disney World, so we like we can get it here. It was delicious as always and had a lovely fruit flavor with a great balance of the passion fruit, orange, and guava juices. 

You can also order specialty beverages for an additional price. Now, we ordered something that wasn’t on the menu that was listed as Pomegranate Lemonade, but we could’ve sworn it was pink lemonade because that’s what it tasted like. It was light pink and had that tangy pink lemonade flavor. There was a hint of sourness, so maybe that was the pomegranate?

We grabbed the Warm Sticky Cinnamon Rolls from the dessert bar. These were so warm, soft, and gooey. In fact, we think this was our favorite thing we had for breakfast. They had a nice cream cheese flavor coming through, and they practically melted in our mouths. Anyway, we ate two!

We also got the Steak and Egg Scramble. This had some very small pieces of tough steak that was difficult to chew. It was well done to the point of being TOO done, and there was hardly any seasoning. The eggs were fluffy but were at least well-cooked. They were also bland, though.

Previously, we really liked the Croissant Beignets, so we got those again, too. They’re light and fluffy and just a really well-done pastry. You can also get different fruit sauces to dip them in.

There’s a lot of sweet stuff on the buffet, so you’ll want to make sure you have a sweet tooth when you eat here. We also grabbed the Turtle French Toast. Basically, they have French toast, and then you can add chocolate sauce, caramel sauce, and nuts. But the French toast was overdone and tough. We couldn’t even slice it with our fork. The flavor was good, but we just couldn’t get past the tough texture.

However, the Deviled Eggs were surprisingly good. The filling is whipped and very light. These eggs actually tasted homemade. They were also a nice contrast to all the sweet breakfast items we ate. Note that these are on the milder side, so pretty much anyone would enjoy them.

We also visited the kids’ section of the buffet to grab some Cheesy Potatoes. These are always a must when visiting Chef Mickey’s for breakfast. They’re basically hash browns with lots of cheese, but they’re creamy and full of cheesy flavor.

You usually can’t go wrong with cheesy potatoes.

Characters

Of course, the key draw of a character dining experience is the characters! Of course, the main mouse himself, Chef Mickey, will come by to say hello.

You’ll also see his best friend, Pluto!

Donald is on hand to assist Chef Mickey with making his breakfast goodies.

We also got to say hello to Goofy!

Minnie was also walking around tables and saying hello to diners.

You’ll also get a card autographed by all the characters!

A quick note, though: if the characters initially miss your table, they will come back around, but you might end up with a shorter interaction. We had that happen with Mickey and Minnie, but we did still get to see them!

Magic or Tragic?

This Disney World restaurant is a must-visit if…

• You’re staying at Disney’s Contemporary Resort. If you’re staying at this hotel and want a character dining experience, this is most certainly one of the most convenient.
• You’ve got kids. Kids love Chef Mickey’s, and if you’ve got kids, they’ll love this buffet.
• You want a big breakfast. If you’re hungry, this buffet is sure to please you and everyone else in your group.

You should skip this Disney World spot if…

• You want a better character dining experience. We much prefer character dining at Cape May Cafe at Disney’s Beach Club Resort and Tusker House in Disney’s Animal Kingdom. This experience felt too rushed to really enjoy it.
• You’re on a budget. This is a pricey breakfast, and what you’re really paying for is meeting characters, so if you’re on a strict budget, you might want to skip.
• You don’t like noisy meals. Character dining experiences can already be noisy, but this one is one of the noisiest, thanks to the Monorail running through the hotel.

Overall, this was one of the better experiences we’ve had at Chef Mickey’s, but it’s still not our favorite character dining experience. Now for the positive: things seemed a little more organized, both with seating and characters. However, it felt like we were being rushed through the meal. We tried to sit before going for food for to meet some characters first, but our server kept insisting we go to the buffet, and we missed Mickey and Minnie and only got a super short interaction later.

Character interactions also felt super rushed. There weren’t any real interactions happening. Plus the check came the minute after we had seen all five characters.

In the meantime, we’ll be on the lookout for more restaurant updates from Disney World and beyond. Make sure you stay tuned to AllEars for the latest Disney news and more!

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Have you eaten at this Disney World restaurant before? Tell us in the comments.

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