Chef Mickey's - How long does it take?

[Gabriela]

Hi!

I'll go to Disney World for first time in May with my mother. My first park is Magic Kingdom, so I thought would be interesting have breakfast at Chef Mickey's. My reservation is at 07:30 am, I'm thinking about park the car in TTC at 7am and go ahead to Chef Mickey's. Since me and my mother are Brazilians, we doesn't appreciate very much the kind of food that Americans eat at breakfast, so we are going more for meet the characters and have a light meal, with some juice and waffle. Do you think that's possible to arrive in time to watch opening show at MK at 08:45 am, since we are not going to eat that much? I really don't know how much long time the characters take to walk around the tables and monorail takes from Contemporary to MK. Thanks in advance!

My trip to Orlando  

 

[Disneydreamer23]

We'll from my experience I have always waited at least 20 minutes even if I had a reservation at 7 30 and arrived at720 I didn't get seated until 745 and for the characters to make there rounds I would allow at least an hour I don't think you will make it

 

[Tuvalu]

If you are not big breakfast eaters, you will be paying A LOT of money for character interaction. Grab a waffle at your resort (or a waffle at Sleepy Hollow in the MK) and meet the Fab 5 in Town Square and Storybook Circus.

 

[slappy magoo]

I agree that it's not the best use of money to go to a buffet character meal if you don't plan on eating much at the meal, but it is YOUR money. If your reservations are at 7:30, I think your biggest concern should be getting to Chef Mickey's on time. You will park at the TTC, and then either take the resort monorail which will go to Polynesian, Grand Floridian, the Magic Kingdom and then the Contemporary, or the park monorail, which will go to straight to the Magic Kingdom and then walk from there to the Contemporary. You will probably make it, but it will be close. I'd suggest to be on the safe side try to get to the TTC a little earlier, even 5 or 10 minutes.

 

[Gabriela]

Thank you all, I already know that the value wouldn't be good since I don't eat sausage, eggs or bacon in the morning, I have read some reviews about the food in Tripadvisor and Foursquare. I got, by miracle, the last table at Chef Mickey's in the date I'll go to Animal Kingdom at 7 o'clock, so I park at Contemporary, have breakfast and drive to AK after meal. I think in this way I won't be under so much pressure about time and will have time even to try to bite a bacon in the morning, because the most interesting thing to travel is give a try in something new, isn't it? Thank you again, this forum is helping me a lot.

 

[LucyK]

Thank you all, I already know that the value wouldn't be good since I don't eat sausage, eggs or bacon in the morning, I have read some reviews about the food in Tripadvisor and Foursquare. I got, by miracle, the last table at Chef Mickey's in the date I'll go to Animal Kingdom at 7 o'clock, so I park at Contemporary, have breakfast and drive to AK after meal. I think in this way I won't be under so much pressure about time and will have time even to try to bite a bacon in the morning, because the most interesting thing to travel is give a try in something new, isn't it? Thank you again, this forum is helping me a lot.

Hello fellow Brazilian! Nice to meet you. Is breakfast at Chef Mickey's a must do? If you're looking for good character interaction while having a nice meal and you're going to Animal Kingdom anyway, why not try Tusker House? It has a lot more options that will appeal to you and your mom and if you're able to snag a pre-park opening reservation you'll be already inside the park by the time it opens, which will give you an advantage over other park goes.

If you need any help, you can message and I'd be glad to discuss other details with you.

 

[HouCuseChickie]

We usually push for the 7am ADR slot and have never waited to be seated. After that...it's usually about an hour. Same for dinner...little to no wait and about an hour.

 

[Susan Savia]

It's at least an hour long for the meal, but the character interaction is a lot of fun. We did it a couple weeks ago and it is pricey.

 

[rob0519]

The character interaction at Chef Mickey's, to us, is worth the price of admission. It is way overpriced for the type and variety of food served, but it is by far the abolute best way to spend get your picture taken with Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofy and Pluto. It's a must do on all our trips.

 

[BuddyThomas]

This sounds like a waste of money if you're not going to eat anything. Just go to the Magic Kingdom and eat something there. Or, if you have money to burn, maybe keep the original plans.

 

[Tiggerish]

I'm taking my mom to WDW in April for her 80th birthday. My brother and I wanted to take her on a trip to Ireland, where she was born and her brothers and sisters still are, but she said, no, she wanted a "trip to Disney".

Mom doesn't do "fine dining", so table service dinners are wasted on her, the only reservations I've made are for character breakfasts, and we will be trying out Chef Mickey's during our trip. Between that, Crystal Palace and Cape May Cafe, it's a ridiculous amount of money on dining when she eats like a bird, but she loves the characters and breakfast is the only meal she's interested in dining out for. <shrug> All she eats are a few waffles, but her happiness in meeting the characters is worth the cost.

 

[Gabriela]

Thank you all for all the answers, you were so lovely. I'll try to explain more my feeling in going to WDW. I don't how it is for you, but I live very far from Florida and this is a very expensive experience for us, since we are paid in Reais not in Dollars . When I was a child I used to watch all the movies and dream with going to WDW and it was a dream almost impossible to perform, because, at that time, there was no money for such thing. Now I have a good job, earn my money and can afford this trip (still doesn't have money to burn ), but isn't a very affordable trip yet, so I don't know when I can go again. Because of all this, I want to have the most magical trip ever. It isn't for the food, understand? It's about magic and dreams. I know that there is restaurants with better and cheaper food, but none of them Mickey is the chef .

 

[slappy magoo]

Again, I'm not judging how you spend your money. I'm sure I've spent money on things important to me that would make other people go "Really? You spend that much on that?"

But if I might make one more suggestion...do you have to go to Chef Mickey's for breakfast? Would there be more food for you to choose from if you went to Chef Mickey's one night for dinner? I'm thinking perhaps it would a better use of your money AND time, if there were a night you were planning on going to the MK, you can take a dinner break by walking over to Chef Mickey's, and then even go back to the MK after you eat for more fun (especially if you're staying in a WDW hotel and it's a night where there are extra magic hours for the Magic Kingdom. Especially as opposed to a day when you're going to AK so there's a lot of driving around. This way you can have a simple breakfast in your hotel or at AK that morning.

Just "food for thought."

 

[Gabriela]

Oh, that's idea is wonderful! I almost forgot that there is dinner at Chef Mickeys, because I only read reviews of breakfast LOL. I'll have two days at MK, the first one I have reservation to BOG already, but in the other day I'll try to get a reservation. There's no table available yet, but I'll search it everyday . Thank you a lot.

 

[slappy magoo]

Oh, that's idea is wonderful! I almost forgot that there is dinner at Chef Mickeys, because I only read reviews of breakfast LOL. I'll have two days at MK, the first one I have reservation to BOG already, but in the other day I'll try to get a reservation. There's no table available yet, but I'll search it everyday . Thank you a lot.

No problem. Here's another suggestion, though chances are it will not work out in your favor:
The day you want reservations for Chef Mickey's? See if there's a table for dinner at Be Our Guest THAT day as well, and book it if there is, right away. This way, you have two different days you can try to find reservations for Chef Mickey's for dinner. If a time opens up for Chef Mickey's for either day, you can then cancel the Be Our Guest reservation for that day while still having the other day booked.