I have made reservations for Chef Mickey's for my birthday in a couple months and I decided to read the reviews on Tripadvisor. I like reading the bad reviews to see why they were bad and usually it's not the restaurants fault but Chef Mickeys has a ton of bad reviews saying its dirty, horrible food and characters that don't care. I'm keeping an open mind since I haven't been there yet. There are plenty of good reviews because the overall rating is 4 out of 5 stars. What do you guys think?
Went for the grandkids sake, didn't like it at all. Went again with friends, didn't change my opinion. Never going back. Food wasn't kept fresh. It was messy.Never had a problem with the characters. Cape May Cafe is 100% better.
well I'm planning on getting photopass+ for my birthday and I want to go to a restaurant that participates on the photopass+ so I get my money worth's.
Not a fan. Bad buffet food. Terribly loud. No charm at all. But because of that, I haven't been there in about 8 years, so who knows? I know people who like it.
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I avoid Chef Mickey's at most costs, but it's not horrific.
The food is average buffet food, nothing special. The biggest problem with it is unsupervised kids at the buffet and in general running around teh restaurant. It's very loud, that's primarily due to design of the structure and not much can be done. The staff moves you in and out QUICKLY, I always feel rushed there. The characters also move through their rounds pretty fast, so if you miss someone, oh well. Aside from seeing the "Fab 5" characters - I don't have a reason to go there again. After our last trip my kids (ages 11 -16-18 at the time) told me that they didn't need to go back either. They all said they would rather do a different character breakfast with better food and where we weren't being rushed through.
Our favorite is Cape May Cafe'
Check out this article
http://www.wdwforgrownups.com/articles/character-breakfast-buffets-chef-mickeys-vs-cape-may-cafe
I am not a fan either. Like Kristen, I would not say it is horrible but I would rate it at the bottom of all of their character meals.
Count me in the ranks of "not a fan". I had a solo meal there a couple of years ago. The food was nothing special. The characters were great. My server was non-existent. I asked him to take a picture of Mickey and I. It came out horrible. He was in such a hurry to get to his other tables. I asked him again to take a picture of Minnie and I. He disappeared. One of the other servers was kind enough to take a picture for me. I really felt I didn't get the attention because I was a solo diner.
I have been solo to other character meals and was given the same respect and attention as the other parties around me. I'll put in a plug for Cape May Cafe breakfast. I was there solo for breakfast last year and Dorothy was awesome. Everytime a character was getting closer to my table there she was ready to take my picture.
We're still going to go and see for ourselves. Then decide how we like it. Like I said, I want to do photopass+ which includes some dining and Chef Mickeys is on it. We also want to do something new.
Count me in the ranks of "not a fan". I had a solo meal there a couple of years ago. The food was nothing special. The characters were great. My server was non-existent. I asked him to take a picture of Mickey and I. It came out horrible. He was in such a hurry to get to his other tables. I asked him again to take a picture of Minnie and I. He disappeared. One of the other servers was kind enough to take a picture for me. I really felt I didn't get the attention because I was a solo diner.I have been solo to other character meals and was given the same respect and attention as the other parties around me. I'll put in a plug for Cape May Cafe breakfast. I was there solo for breakfast last year and Dorothy was awesome. Everytime a character was getting closer to my table there she was ready to take my picture.
So glad to hear that you were treated well as a solo diner! I have had only one less than great experience in WDW solo, and that was with a server at the Brown Derby who did not seem to view me as a good moneymaker. (would have given him a good tip though if he had helped me out!) I need to try a character meal solo...I know I would have fun. Maybe in November...Cape May? 
I have nothing new to add because we think it is horrible too. I just wanted to be counted 
Oh Doc you will love Cape May its great! If you like sea food, there dinner buffet is awesome. I got to get back there scrappy!!!!
Maybe in November...Cape May?
Absolutely! 
We're still going to go and see for ourselves. Then decide how we like it. Like I said, I want to do photopass+ which includes some dining and Chef Mickeys is on it. We also want to do something new.
When I was last there in 2010 the photopass picture that you get taken was with the Chef Mickey statue, and there was no roving photopass photographer. I don't know if that has changed or not, but if you're going for the photopass, please do some more research! Find some folks that have used it there.
Disney Food Blog says that there is a photo op with a statue. No thanks.
Yes it is a statue, we just saw it when we stayed in the Contemporary in July.
The Tusker House has the photo op and it is with Donald. Breakfast there is pretty good. Still not as good as Cape May though. And it is usually filled with kids and it is loud at times.
I decided on 'Ohanas.
I think you'll like Ohana better 
IMHO it's more fun and a little less crazy.
I've read in reviews of the Contemporary that Chef Mickey's plays some annoying song every half hour or something like that. Apparently can be a problem for certain rooms on the resort.
