Our review of Chef Mickey's (now with characters!)

Few character meals are as iconic as Chef Mickey’s at Disney’s Contemporary Resort. The funky and fun atrium inside one of the two original Disney World resorts paired with the monorail whizzing above has been the perfect backdrop to make memories for multitudes of families for many years.

But, when the restaurant originally reopened, something was missing: the characters.

Thankfully, however, Mickey and friends are back. So we headed there to check it out.

Here’s what you need to know:

Dining at Chef Mickey’s

Location: Disney’s Contemporary Resort
Meals available: breakfast and dinner
Breakfast Price: Adults (ages 10 and up) $42 / Child (ages 3-9) $27.00
Dinner Price: Adults (ages 10 and up) $55 / Child (ages 3-9) $36.00
Characters: Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofy, and Pluto (dressed as chefs)
Link to Menu

Chef Mickey’s isn’t one of those restaurants that have historically been known for their food.

In fact, you can easily find reviews across the internet that note that, for the price, the food wasn’t that great.

And, to be perfectly fair, we used to feel that way, too. But we never viewed Chef Mickey’s as a must-do for the food. Rather, it was a must-do for the experience.

Call us overly-nostalgic, but there is something that is quite magical to dine at Disney’s Contemporary Resort. You can’t mistake the building. When you see it, you know exactly what it is and where it is. And the fact that Magic Kingdom is the closest neighbor is pretty darn cool.

In the past, Chef Mickey’s offered both a buffet breakfast/brunch option and a buffet dinner option.

When it first reopened, Chef Mickey’s was breakfast only, however dinner will kick off here once again beginning May 16.

And, although Chef Mickey’s originally opened without characters (and with a slightly different menu), the characters are back now.

Reservations

Before the closure, snagging a reservation at Chef Mickey’s could be tricky, and now that it has added back their characters, snagging one of the limited reservations remains so.

The good news is that since the restaurant is in a resort rather than a park, you don’t need a ticket (or Park Pass Reservation) to get inside.

The bad news is that current health and safety measures mean fewer tables are available for guests to dine. That, paired with the fact that currently only breakfast is being offered, means that there aren’t as many available spots to snag.

If this is on your must-do list, you’ll want to be prepared to snag a reservation as soon as your booking window opens.

For help with that we recommend you check out our tips on How to Snag Hard-t0-Get Reservations.

Family-Style Dining

At the time of this writing, buffet service remains on hold across the entire Walt Disney World Resort.

That means that instead of your meal here being a buffet, it is served family-style with platters and bowls of food provided for the table to share.

For some people, the loss of the buffet is a big deal. Of course, you have a bigger selection at a buffet, and it can be fun to pick out your stuff.

But, for other people (especially those with multiple children), a buffet could make it very difficult for the adults to sit and enjoy their food.

Family-style dining means that instead of hopping up and down to re-fill plates, everyone gets to sit and enjoy their food (while it is still hot!).

But, even though it is no longer a buffet, you still get a huge selection of goodies. And, it is all-you-can-eat, so if you want refills, you can do that.

Here’s what is included (and yes, you’ll get all of this!):

Chef Mickey’s Breakfast Menu

Fresh fruit bowl
Mini yogurt parfaits
Harvest sweet rolls (served with honey butter, sea salt and cream cheese icing that they pour over the basket of bread)
Fresh fried sweet fritter

Scrambled eggs
A meat platter with beef brisket, pork sausage, smoked bacon, and chicken sausage

Loaded potato-cheese casserole

Mickey-head pancake

Banana Bread French Toast

There are also a couple of plant-based items available upon request: Mickey waffles and a tofu scramble.

For drinks, you have all the regular options (coffee, tea, water, fountain drinks, milk), plus there is a selection of premium drinks – like smoothies and cocktails – available, too.

What we liked

We loved the family-style service. And, the food at our meal was definitely far better than previous buffet-style meals we’ve had there.

In the past, we visited Chef Mickey’s for the characters. But unfortunately, the food was always heavily in the “meh” category for us.

But, for us, having our meal served at the table was a definite win.

Specifically, we thought that the Mickey pancake was a fun addition, and it was tasty too.

The potatoes were a hit, and the tiny yogurt parfaits (while nothing fancy) are a great option for people wanting something less heavy.

What we didn’t like

We thought the chicken sausage was a bit dry and the beef a bit tough.

And, the price. This meal (like all character meals) carries a high price tag.

Chef Mickey’s Dinner Menu

Just like breakfast, you’ll receive family-style portions of the following. Think something is especially tasty? You can request refills of any of the items, too!

Bread & Salad

Seasonal Composed Plant-based Salad
Citrus-poached Baby Shrimp
Chef Mickey’s Caesar
Pastry Chef’s Bread Selection

Signature Items & Accompaniments

Potao Gnocchi
Plant-based Farrow Wheat Fried Rice
Roasted Garlic Gratin Potatoes
Baby Carrots
Asparagus with Gremolata

Proteins

Prime Rib
Roasted Salmon
Roasted Breast of Turkey
Tofu Bowl

Dessert

Mickey Mouse Dome
Strawberry Cream Cake
Apple Crumble Tart
Chocolate-Raspberry Tart (plant-based)

Characters

Hands down, the thing that draws most families to this restaurant is the characters!

Like all character meals at Disney World right now, this is a “modified” experience. Here’s what we mean.

How it works

For guests familiar with how character meals used to work, they will notice a difference.

In the past, characters would visit each table individually. You would be able to take pictures and ask for autographs and even hug them.

Now, instead of the characters coming right up to your table, they follow physical distancing guidelines, which means they are at least 6 feet away.

And, guests aren’t allowed to get up and go to them, either…

…no matter HOW cute they are.

But even though they don’t come right up to your table, they still did a great job of focusing on one table at a time. Because of that, you’ll have lots of opportunities for individualized attention and character selfies.

Other things you might notice

In addition to the characters not roaming about, if you are a repeat visitor, you may also notice the installation of plexiglass barriers in some areas (which you can see behind the characters in the images above) as well as increased table spacing.

Autographs

Unfortunately, as we mentioned above, the characters aren’t currently allowed to give autographs.

However, you won’t leave empty-handed.

Like the other character restaurants on property, you’ll be provided a cute card with all the character signatures on the back.

It isn’t the same as having Mickey sign your treasured autograph book, but it is a nice addition.

Final thoughts

We have continued to be pleasantly surprised by Disney’s adaptations to character meals since their reopening.

There’s a lot of things to like about the meal, like the quality of the food and the ability to be served family-style.

And, overall the character interaction is decent (considering the circumstances). The price remains our biggest hesitation – but that is definitely something we have with all character meals.

But if you’re looking to add a meal that doubles as an experience, we’d definitely recommend Chef Mickey’s as an option.

Other character meal options

Trying to decide which character meal to pick?

Check out our reviews from the other meals on property:

Our review of Chef Mickey’s (now with characters!)