Chef Mickey's Dining: Characters, Food, and Review

Chef Mickey’s is probably the most famous of all the character restaurants except maybe Cinderella’s Royal Table. The Chef Mickey Characters are the original Fab Five: Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Goofy, Pluto, and Donald Duck. There’s no Daisy…to my toddler’s consternation.

Housed inside the Contemporary Resort, it’s a short walk from Magic Kingdom, making it an easy meal choice for a day Magic Kingdom (or EPCOT, accessible by monorail). You can meet the characters any time of day for a buffet of breakfast, lunch, or dinner. The location, the characters, and the famous hotel make it perhaps the most iconic character dining experience at Walt Disney World. 

We’ve been to Chef Mickey’s several times for breakfast and for dinner, and I’ll break down everything you can expect and our experience.

Chef Mickey Characters

As I mentioned above, the Chef Mickey characters are the Disney original Fab Five. That’s Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofy, and Pluto. Each of them is dressed in a chef outfit with some wild colored accents. It reminds me of the Max from Saved by the Bell with the 80s/early 90s contemporary aesthetic.

Our little guy likes Mickey a lot. He also likes capes.

You can expect each character to visit your table at least once for interactions, character signatures, and photo opportunities during your meal. Since it’s a buffet, make sure you check to see if characters are interacting with nearby tables before you go to get more food, or you might miss an opportunity.

My wife and son having fun with Pluto.

In our experience, if the crowd is low, you’ll get extra interactions with the characters. Move on to my review if you want to know how our three year old was able to get the characters all to himself.

This restaurant might not have the absolute best food, but the characters know that you’re there for them, and they are extra magical with each and every guest.

Also, if you’re into character autographs, check out my guide to the best Disney character signature ideas.

Chef Mickey's on Disney Dining Plan

One thing that makes Chef Mickey's appealing is that, despite its cost, it only costs one table service credit on the Disney Dining Plan for breakfast, brunch, or dinner. Therefore, it's a great use of a credit if cost per person is important to you.

It’s hard to get this kind of attention from characters at Disney World.

Chef Mickey Atmosphere

As part of the Walt Disney World Contemporary Resort, Chef Mickey’s fits the vibe with Contemporary art, including Andy Warhol paintings of Disney characters and other similar artwork.

An Andy Warhol painting I found near the bathroom.

The restaurant is also in the main area of the Contemporary (the Grand Canyon Concourse) with high ceilings and views of the monorail and the resort. The aesthetic fits the brightly colored contemporary 80s/early 90s vibe that the rest of the resort has (though the colors are more intense here than elsewhere).

My picture doesn’t do justice to the concourse rising 6 stories above the restaurant.

Warning: the track of the monorail creates open air parts of the walls, which means sometimes birds get in. Don’t let that freak you out. There’s a lot of birds at the outside restaurants, too, and I’ve heard no reports of the birds messing with guests, unlike at Flametree Barbecue.

Chef Mickey Food

The food at Chef Mickey’s is very different if you choose breakfast versus dinner. I’ll cover each option below. If you’re more adventurous, you may enjoy the dinner, but if you’re looking for your typical (but good) American breakfast buffet, head for breakfast.

A shot of a very small portion of the buffet at Chef Mickey’s. A lot of people are fans of the peel and eat shrimp.

To be honest, this was not even the best meal in this hotel (Steakhouse 71 and California Grill are better) or in the surrounding area. Polynesian, Grand Floridian, Magic Kingdom’s Skipper Canteen, and even Wilderness Lodge all have better food options, but keep reading, because this restaurant is all about the characters.

Chef Mickey Breakfast

The Chef Mickey breakfast buffet has everything you’d expect from a breakfast buffet: eggs, bacon, sausage, omelets, cereal, pastries, and yogurt. It’s a great way to start your day at the park, which is exactly what we did when we went a few years ago with our girls. It also has a carving station with ham and beef brisket that elevates the meal. Most importantly, the Chef Mickey breakfast has the Mickey waffles! A new feature on the breakfast menu that everyone is raving about are the croissant beignets.

You can see the remains of our breakfast and the all-coffee carafe. You can’t tell from the picture, but the girl on the left is terrified.

Chef Mickey Dinner

Dinner at Chef Mickey’s is a different story. There are several normal options that kids enjoy, like pizza and chicken fingers. However, the rest of the selections are interesting Asian food like stir fry, as well as Italian food like shrimp scampi, and add to that some fresh NY Strip Loin. 

The New York strip loin was a highlight for me.

I loved the selection at the dinner buffet, but it was adventurous. There was also plenty to eat for my toddler.

Dessert was also great with lots of interesting Disney character cupcakes, mousses, and soft serve ice cream, courtesy of the pastry chef. This is truly a kids’ place.

A sample of the highly themed pastries we enjoyed at the Contemporary.

Chef Mickey Review

I’ll be honest—my review is skewed because most people won’t experience what we experienced. We had the absolute best time of any character meal at our recent dinner. The food was great: interesting offerings, good dessert, plenty to eat. But, that’s not what I’m here to talk about.

The character interactions were the best that we’ve ever had anywhere on Disney property or even on a Disney Cruise. It might have been the time of day (we went right before close because our flight was delayed). It might have been because we have one of the cutest kids ever (we got a bunch of free coloring books, snacks, and even a free drink on the plane down here because of how much people liked my kid).

Minnie Mouse wandered off with our kid.

All bragging aside, the characters created a magical experience for our toddler, including posing with him, dancing with him, and the pinnacle, he was able to interact with all the characters at once.

This is possibly the wildest and most unique experience we’ve ever had a Disney World.

The character handlers were clear with us that this was unusual, but they created perhaps the most magical experience any of us had ever experienced at Walt Disney World, hiding us in a random, empty area and taking a group photo with him (and no, they had no idea that I was a blogger or wannabe influencer).

So, if I had to make a recommendation for maximum character interaction, do a Chef Mickey's dinner close to closing. It's a good time because there are less other guests to take up the characters' time.

Conclusion and Further Reading

The bottom line is this, if you want a lot of food and amazing character interactions, Chef Mickey’s at Disney's Contemporary Resort is a great choice. There are better quality character meals (Toppolino’s and Storybook Dining at Artist’s Point are far better in my opinion).  However, the convenience of being near Magic Kingdom and the professionality of the characters creating a great experience at Chef Mickey’s cannot be topped. The quality of the food is decent, but not amazing, but it's one of the best ways to have fond memories with younger kids. The characters do such a great job entertaining guests and making them feel special.

To get a Chef Mickey's reservation, use the Disney App or call (not recommended), or have an awesome travel agent get it for you.

There are two other restaurants where you can meet Mickey Mouse for a character breakfast or a character dinner, Tusker House (at Animal Kingdom) and Topolino's Terrace (in the Riviera Resort), if you want to meet Mickey somewhere else in a different outfit. The cast members at all of these restaurants are phenomenal, as I can attest from our recent visit where we did all three.

If you’re traveling with a toddler or have a mesmerized character kid, check out Chef Mickey’s. It’s even one credit, currently, on the dining plan, so it's a great option for small kids. For more information on traveling with the littlest Mouseketeers, check out my article on taking a toddler to Disney World or the best parks for toddlers at Disney World, or browse the site for other Walt Disney World tips. Finally, put your thoughts on Chef Mickey's in the comments, even if you hate it.