What better way to start your granddaughter’s first Disney World trip than to take her to a character meal. And since one of the most popular ones (as it’s the only one that features all of the Fab 5 Disney characters) was right there at our resort, this was pretty much a given.
Though this was supposed to be a dinner for all 7 of us, Don opted out when he found out that his college basketball team was playing in the NCAA tournament that evening. So we checked in for our 7:00 dinner reservation with just 6 people instead of 7 but had no problem. We did have to wait about 15 minutes before our table was ready though, which probably seemed like an eternity for an excited 3 year old.
When we had checked in we told them about Jake’s tree nut allergy so he was given this booklet…
This seemed like a very efficient way to cover all of the many foods offered at their buffet, especially with how busy this restaurant is.
Though the main focus (the reason people dine at Chef Mickey’s) is the characters, not the food, I will start with the food anyway. I’ll begin by showing you photos of some of our favorites.
The Barbecue Pork Ribs were one of our two most popular items, with 3 of us saying it was one of our favorites. I was quite surprised that I was one of the 3 since I’m generally not a big fan of ribs, but I was happy that I gave them a try. They were quite good!
The other item chosen as a favorite of 3 of our group was the Four-Cheese Focaccia bread…
Lucy and Becca were fans of the Potato Barrels (aka Tater Tots) from the Kids section of the buffet…
Also pictured from the Kid’s station are Mini Corn Dogs (center) and Honey-glazed Carrots (left).
Both Andrew and Jake said the House-made Mashed Potatoes and Gravy were among their favorites…
Another one of my favorites and Jake’s was the Meatballs with Marinara Sauce. Unfortunately I didn’t get photo of the meatballs on the buffet but here is a photo of my plate, which has the meatball in the 12:00 position…
Again this came as a surprise to me. Since I’m 1/2 Italian I’m pretty picky about my Italian food but I really enjoyed this meatball.
From the Asian section of the buffet, Allison and Andrew really enjoyed the Vegetable Stir-fry Noodles...
Another surprise favorite of mine was the Peel-n-Eat Shrimp…
Shrimp cocktail from a buffet can be hit or miss (more often a miss) but these were a hit for me.
Their Salad Bar was a hit with Becca…
This had both Mixed Greens and Romaine Salad along with many toppings. Pictured from top left to right are Marinaded Olives, Sliced Red Onion, Cucumber Slices, and Shredded Carrots. Pictured from bottom left to right are Diced Hard-boiled Eggs, Crumbled Feta Cheese, and Shredded Cheddar and Parmesan Cheeses. Blue Cheese, Italian, Ranch and Caesar Dressings were all available here along with Croutons (not pictured).
Becca was also a fan of their Shrimp and Penne Pasta Pesto…
Also pictured in the above photo was their Teriyaki Salmon, which I tried. It was pretty good but didn’t make my favorites list.
Rounding out our favorites were a couple of Lucy’s choices, starting with their Fresh Fruit Salad…
Also pictured from the Cold Station are Home-style Potato Salad and Caprese Salad. I don’t think any of us tried either of these.
Lucy also enjoyed their Macaroni & Cheese…
Also pictured here are Buttered Corn (to the right) and Green Beans & Carrots (to the left).
So those were the highlights for our group, but there were also a couple of lowlights. One of these was their Pepperoni Pizza…
Their pizza tasted like a low quality frozen pizza. The other two items pictured here from the Kids station, Cheese Ravioli in Tomato Sauce and Chicken Breast Nuggets would be a better choice in our opinion.
The other dud was from their Carving station…
While the Roasted Turkey on the left was fine, the Herb-crusted New York Strip Loin was unfortunately pretty gross. It was very fatty and a poor quality of meat.
For the food, that just leaves the desserts, of which there was a pretty big selection. Some of our favorites were the Cookies and Cream Cheesecake…
The Brownie Cookies…
And the Apple Buckle with a scoop of ice cream added…
And speaking of their Soft-serve Ice Cream, Lucy was a big fan…
Here is my plate of desserts…
Besides the Cookies and Cream Cheesecake and Mini Brownie Cookie that were my favorites, I also tried a Chocolate Chip Cookie, Banana and Crumble Mousse (cup on the left) and a Chocolate Peanut Butter Tart (center). All were good.
Because of his Tree Nut Allergy, Jake was given an Allergy-Friendly plate of desserts…
Unfortunately this was a “One fits All” Allergy plate so the cupcake, cookies and donut were not just tree nut free but also they were gluten-free and he did not care for them. Jake did enjoy the strawberries with chocolate sauce though.
And now let’s talk about the character interaction at Chef Mickey’s. As I said previously, this is the only character meal which has all of the Fab 5 characters present. All 5 visited our table, interacted with Lucy, signed her autograph book and took a photo with her.
First to come to our table was the host of this dinner, Chef Mickey…
Next was Donald Duck, who Lucy thought was he was hilarious…
Then it was Goofy…
Next came one of Lucy’s favorites, Minnie Mouse…
And last but not least, Pluto…
This was a great way to kickoff Lucy’s first trip to Disney World. While the food was fine, it was the characters that brought us here and made it worth the $69.00/per adult price for this dinner.
Taste of Disney 