Disney Food Blog specializes in a lot of different Disney news, but something we’ve been focused on for the longest time — about 15 years! — is in our name: Disney food!
We love Disney food!
We have a HUGE passion for all things Disney food here, and that means we’ve tried some amazing snacks and dining locations over the years and have also told you all about the ones we don’t recommend spending your time and money on. We’ll continue to do so for the years to come because things are pretty much always changing in the Disney parks. But we have to be honest with you — after all these years of reviewing Disney food, we have TWO wildly controversial opinions that you’ll either completely agree with or want to yell at your phone.
Chef Mickey’s is NOT The Place To Be
This one comes straight from the queen herself: AJ’s never been a fan of Chef Mickey’s and doesn’t think it’s worth your time or money.
Chef Mickey’s Card
Chef Mickey’s is a table service character meal located at Disney’s Contemporary Resort. It’s one of the most popular table service meals on property, with reservations selling out nearly every single day (when guests can book their reservations 60 days in advance of their trip). Finding a stray reservation for this restaurant is BEYOND rare, and it’ll be gone in seconds.
Chef Mickey’s
Here you’ll be able to meet Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Pluto, and Goofy at their all-you-care-to-enjoy buffets for breakfast or dinner. Breakfast will cost $54 for adults and $34 for kids 3-9, not including tax and gratuity, while Dinner will cost adults $66 for adults and $41 for kids plus tax and gratuity.
Chef Mickey’s
The problem is that for this price, the experience is NOT worth it in AJ’s eyes, and a lot of us on the team absolutely agree. Not every table here is created equal — everything is so there are clearly better and worse tables for viewing and unlike a lot of other characters dining experiences, your moments and meetings with the characters are SO quick because the restaurant is so crowded.
See what we mean?
And you know what all those people also mean? It’s LOUD. Like, so loud you’ll have trouble hearing the people at your table. Because this is an open air restaurant into the rest of the hotel — you’ll be able to hear ALLLL the other noise from the other areas of the lobby, Contempo Cafe right next door, the elevators, the Monorail whooshing through — it’s a lot.
Hi Pluto!
While we’re fans of buffets and characters meals, AJ strongly recommends going to Garden Grill in EPCOT instead for a better character dining, all-you-can-eat experience. For a lot of families, this is a one-and-done restaurant, so we totally get it if you want to do it for the nostalgia or the “it” factor, but just know you may be disappointed and frustrated at the experience you get for what you paid.
Classic Dole Whip is NOT The Best
Pineapple Dole Whip was the original Dole Whip flavor, and while we appreciate how long it’s been around, that nostalgia factor just isn’t enough to mean it’s the BEST, in our opinion.
Pineapple Float from Aloha Isle
Pineapple Dole Whip is wonderful, don’t get us wrong. However…there are SO many other unique, exciting flavors you can now find around Disney World. You can get it swirled with other flavors at multiple locations, turn it into a fun float, and if you’re in the right place at the right time of year, you can even experience new Dole Whip additions that arrive to the resort!
Dole Whip Sampler
We keep tabs on ALL the different Dole Whips you can grab around Disney World, and we can assure you that out of everyone on the team, not ONE of our favorite flavors is just regular pineapple unless we’re only eating it to remind ourselves of our childhoods and how Disney World used to be.
Just to name a few, some of our favorites are:
- Tropical Serenade at Aloha Isle (Pineapple-Orange-Guava Juice, Coconut Soft-serve, and an Upside-down Pineapple Cake Pop)
- Key Lime Dole Whip at Good’s Food To Go (Vanilla Soft Serve and Key Lime Dole Whip swirled together with graham cracker crumbs sprinkled on top)
- Pineapple Coconut Swirl at multiple locations (anytime you see this combination, we highly recommend grabbing it ASAP)
The Tropical Serenade Float
Don’t get us wrong: There is a time and place for a classic Pineapple Dole Whip, and if that’s your favorite, that’s fantastic! We definitely encourage you to branch out and try some other flavors if you come across them and are feeling adventurous. If you need a place to start, AJ’s favorites are Lemon Dole Whip and Lime Dole Whip!
Check Out Some of Our Recent Reviews!
- REVIEW: You’ve Probably Never Stopped At This Disney World Bar…But You’re Missing Out!
- Is the $95 Cake Bake Shop Afternoon Tea in Disney World Worth It? Let’s Find Out!
- REVIEW: Come for the Holiday Corn Dog and Stay for the Loaded Fries at the Disney Festival of Holidays
- IMPORTANT SNACK NEWS: You Won’t BELIEVE How Many New Snacks Just Dropped at Disney World
- “It Didn’t Need To Go This Hard” We Tried the NEW Treats at Disney’s Riviera Resort and Have THOUGHTS
Be sure to stay tuned to DFB for all the latest Disney parks food reviews!
These are the BEST snacks to carry in your Disney park bag (and what to avoid)!
Need Disney Restaurant Advice? We’ve Got EVERYTHING You Need to Know
The ONLY Disney Dining Planning Tool You’ll Need Is Here – Get the DFB Guide to Walt Disney World Dining!
See Our Complete Disney World Restaurants Guide
The Best Magic Kingdom Restaurants
The Best EPCOT Restaurant Restaurants
The Best Hollywood Studios Restaurants
The Best Animal Kingdom Restaurants
The Best Disney Springs Restaurants
Check Out Dozens of Disney Dining Tips and Tools
Learn All About Tipping at Disney Restaurants
How to Use Mobile Order in Disney World
Join the DFB Newsletter to get all the latest Disney food news right in your inbox! Click here to Subscribe!
Do you agree with these takes? Tell us in the comments!
Our handy (and portable!) ebook guides make sure you get the best deals and can plan a vacation of a lifetime.
I usually agree with you. But, most frequent visitors to WDW, love to do something different, especially when it comes to dinning and character meet and greets. I’ve been going to WDW and Disneyland, frequently, since 2000. Eventually, you’re forced to try something different, so you wind up making a reservation for Chef Mickey, for no other reason than to say, “Yes, I’ve eaten there, had breakfast, go my picture taken with Mickey et.al” I’d only go back, if someone in my party expressed a desire to dine there again.
Have to agree 100% with AJ on Chef Mickey’s. We’ve been to WDW 24 times in the last 13 years and dined at many restaurants. Out of all of our sit-down meals, Chef Mickey’s was the worst. It was a run of the mill dining experience at best and a more like a miserable endurance test at worst. Cannot recommend it.
My granddaughter loves Chef Mickeys! She’s 8 now and she loves the chaos I agree it’s loud and the food is just edible, but that’s where she wants to go, so we go. Her next favorite is Hollywood & Vine. She definitely prefers a buffet where she can choose her own food.
I agree! I have always thought that pretty much all the other character breakfasts have Chef Mickey’s beat, but I agree with Greg too, if you are a regular visitor, sooner or later you have to be able to say that you have done it. We go back every 5 years or so mostly for nostalgia’s sake, but I am pretty tired of it, especially the noise. But it’s good that it is considered a classic must-do. It draws so many people – more space for everyone else everywhere else!
It’s also easy for me to agree on the Dole Whip front as I have never been a huge fan of pineapple.
Chef Mickey’s was a one and done for me, though if I were traveling with someone who had never been there and really wanted to go, I’d go back for them. Though I might try nudging them toward other character buffets first.
Dont forget, after paying those prices. I can’t even get an actual cracked egg…