There is one Character Meal that the Diva family schedules every single trip to Disney without fail.
Chef Mickey’s!!
Chef Mickey’s is a character meal that allows the “Fab 5” characters (Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofy & Pluto) to get some face-time with your kids and let you get some autographs/photographs too.
They serve Breakfast and Dinner, but no lunch. Breakfast reservations from 7:00am to 11:30am and Dinner runs from 5:00pm-9:30pm. It is on the Disney Dining plan as well.
We always schedule for BREAKFAST near the beginning of our trip on the day we have planned to spend the morning at Magic Kingdoms as close to the 7:00am hour as we can get.
One day we had a 7:15am reservations and were going to Magic Kingdom right after breakfast. So my husband opted to go ahead and park the car in MK parking lot then we could just hop the monorail to the Contemporary. The reason? When you park your car at a resort you are not staying in you have to check in and then move your car within 2-3 hours after your reservation time. He felt this was a waste of time so we parked at MK.
When we pulled in the parking lot the parking lot attendants were not even there to take money yet and when we turned in we realized we were the ONLY car in the entire magic kingdom guest parking lot. It felt a lot like National Lampoon’s Vacation to Wally World. And it resulted in one of my all time favorite pictures at WDW.
If you’ve ever seen how full this parking lot gets you know how eerie this photograph actually is.
After going through the completely empty entrance to the transportation center and being the only people to get on the monorail we were all set and ready to be around some “real characters!”’
We got to Chef Mickey’s on the 2nd floor of the contemporary and “checked in” for our reservation 15-minutes ahead of time which is Disney protocol for dining reservations. We got our little “beeper” and then went to the gift shop to wander around until our table became available.
Once we were “beeped” we returned t o the reservation desk and were given our “photo ticket”. At many of the character meals they take your family picture and then try to sell it to you later. Of course, we’ve done this character meal before so we just told them we’d like to bypass the photo and they took us straight to our table.
Both breakfast and Dinner are served buffet style at Chef Mickeys and we have eaten both meals and MUCH PREFER the Breakfast to the Dinner. Whenever you have children it is a MUCH safer bet to eat the breakfast meal because its more likely to have things kids will go for. Can’t go wrong with Mickey waffles!
For Example: Premium Fruit Bar: Seasonal melon and fresh fruit display, assorted flavored yogurts and more. Cereal Selections: Almond granola, Frosted Flakes, Fruit Loops, Cocoa Krispies, hot oatmeal and grits. Breakfast Specialties: scrambled eggs, Pluto’s cheese blintz, 3 cheese omelet, Chef’s daily omelet, Corned Beef hash with cornbread, Goofy’s veggie lasagna, Mickey waffles, cheese potatoes with bacon, Breakfast potatoes, bacon & sausage links, Minnie’s breakfast pizza, Challah French toast, pancakes with a variety of toppings, and buttermilk biscuits with country gravy. Pastry Chef’s Creations: bagels, chocolate croissants, muffins, cinnamon rolls, Rice Krispie treats, peach cobbler, warm bread pudding, assorted danishes and more. Traditional breakfast beverages included. – $26.62 adults/ 13.99 children (WDW INFO)
You can read the Dinner menu at THIS LINK if you’re interested. Dinner for adults is $34.07 and children are $17.03. This is standard practice and breakfast is usually the cheapest meal of the day. The breakfast buffet is so full of yummy treats you can easily pack it in and make it to a late lunch (2pm) or use it as a brunch and let it take care of two meals. You’ll be full no doubt.
While the food is good at Chef Mickeys, the company is better. I highly recommend taking advantage of as many Character Meals as your budget/ meal plan allows because it minimizes the time you have to spend in autograph lines in the park. Time that could be MUCH better spent!! We just get the Fab 5’s autographs up front and wave at them as we keep walking by later on.
Character meals also help in easing your nervous child into character interactions. If your child gets a little jumpy when characters are around your server can easily tell them to stay back or that your little one is a little nervous and they will approach in a much more tentative manner (or not at all if they really are freaked out). It can help them adjust a bit before park interactions happen.
The most fun part of Chef Mickeys to me is the Dance Party that will happen at least one time while you’re eating, maybe twice depending on when you arrive. During this time characters, servers, and all of the guests grab their napkins and twirl them around their heads.
And just generally dance and act crazy. It is a really good time and a fun way for families to interact with each other and the characters.
Chef Mickeys BREAKFAST Character Meal is Diva Approved! I hope you’ll get dining reservations there as a part of your next Disney Trip!
Great info on Chef Mickey’s! When you go that early in the morning, do you have enough time to make it to the Magic Kingdom by rope drop? Or in time for the special opening show with the train? Planning a trip with my two little ones, so I am just curious. Thanks!
We are doing something similar… we have a 7:30 breakfast reservation at Chef Mickey’s and would like to get to MK as fast as possible afterwards. What time did you arrive in the MK parking lot? Would you do anything different if you had similar timing issues next time? It looks like riding the monorail from TTC to Contemporary and then Contemporary to MK is the least optimal route for both trips! Wondering if there’s a better way? Thanks!! 🙂