There’s just something about the prospect of enjoying an all-you-can-eat buffet prepared by one of the cutest chefs we’ve ever seen that keeps drawing us back to this one particular restaurant. While admittedly we’ve not had the best experiences dining here lately, they just don’t seem to be enough to keep us completely away just yet. Was this latest visit to a divisive Disney World character meal enough to redeem its reputation? Let’s find out!

We recently stopped by Chef Mickey’s for breakfast at Disney’s Contemporary Resort to see what was cookin’, and now we’re bringing you our FULL review. Is it worth a stop on your next trip to the Most Magical Place on Earth? Find out here!

Atmosphere

This entire restaurant embodies the whimsical fantasy of a character-filled, all-you-care-to-enjoy breakfast buffet at one of Disney World’s closest hotels to the Magic Kingdom. Here you’ll be treated to a wide variety of buffet breakfast eats and sips enjoyed by all ages.

Once you make your way past the host stand, you’ll be escorted to your seat, where your server will come to greet you at either your table or booth.

Just be prepared to get up and dance with some of the most famous Disney characters here, as you’ll see Chef Mickey…

…Minnie…

…Pluto…

…Goofy…

…and Donald.

There’s even an included area for a quick photo op to remember your dining experience.

But enough about the restaurant — what’s on the menu here?!

Menu

There’s no sugar-coating it, meals here, no matter when you’re dining, are expensive. Breakfast for adults here will cost you $58, and children ages 3-9 will cost you $37. The menu will list an abbreviated version of buffet offerings like biscuits and gravy, carved meats, eggs both scrambled and omelet, waffles, French toast, cheese board and charcuterie, as well as kids’ favorites.

If you’re looking for creative drinks, you’re in luck here! There are several non-alcoholic specialty offerings to choose from…

…along with cocktails (and a few are even zero-proof)!

And now, onto the main event — the food!

Eats

First up, we were served the iconic POG Juice, which was included with our buffet price (as well as select teas and coffee). This drink is made of passionfruit, orange, and guava juice and has become a staple in recent years to snag at select restaurants for breakfast. It was fruity, delicious, and balanced between the three flavors, but it’s certainly one that you might find is sweet enough to tolerate only a few glasses at a sitting.

The cinnamon rolls were from the dessert bar area. They’re warm and gooey and probably were one of the best things we ate from the menu. They were also soft and covered in a sweet cream cheese icing mixed with a drizzle of caramel — honestly, it was the highlight of our meal here!

We also got the steak and egg scramble. The steak was cooked well, but it was very tough and hard to chew, and the eggs were fluffy but bland and didn’t have much flavor to help out the rest of the plate.

The Croissant Beignets were light and fluffy on the inside layers and had that dusting of cinnamon sugar on the outside of them, and we were very impressed with them. There are also several fruit sauces that are offered in accompaniment to them, and we would have loved to have had more time to try them!

We also picked up the Turtle French Toast, which is regular French toast with a few crushed nuts and chocolate sauce to throw on it to consider it “turtle” style. But that’s where the impression with this offering stopped. The French toast was very dense and hard to cut through, but the flavor from the cinnamon sugar and basic chocolate sauce was mild and fine. It wasn’t anything super impressive, and we probably wouldn’t get it again.

We also picked up a few Deviled Eggs, which admittedly were a bit on the mild side because it’s to be enjoyed by different taste palates. We really enjoyed these even with their muted flavor profile, and it was a nice contrast to all of the sweet things we’d enjoyed from the buffet so far.

The Cheesy Potatoes we picked up from the kids’ section of the buffet — and they were just as good and cheesy as you might be imagining right now. They’re essentially hashbrowns filled with cheese, but not enough to give that satisfying pull. If you enjoy a gravy, creamy, cheesy hashbrown casserole, this would be one offering you don’t want to miss here!

We also picked up a special drink here!

Drinks

To drink, we picked up the Pomegranate Lemonade for $6.25. This one is fairly self-explanatory in the name, but it tastes just like regular pink lemonade to us.

It had that tangy, strong pink lemonade flavor to it, and the pomegranate was very subtle but only lent to the sour notes in the drink. We enjoyed it, but we’re not sure if we’d get it again unless we were really in the mood for lemonade.

Nosh or Not

This Disney World restaurant is a must-visit if…

• If you’re totally into nostalgia! This place is oozing nostalgic vibes, and if you’re looking to feel like you’ve stepped back in time, you’d really enjoy dining here.
• You’re really into dining with the Fab 5 Disney characters! Here to see the Fab 5 characters in their chef outfits? Look no further.
• You’ve always wanted to dine here and haven’t ever had the chance before. If you’ve always wanted to dine here and just haven’t had the time before, we’re big supporters of following that dream to check it off your list.

You should skip this Disney World spot if…

• You’re looking for a worthwhile character dining experience. Our last few reviews seem to be an echo of the same experience over and over again, and we’d recommend other character dining meals over this one. Garden Grill is another place where you can meet Mickey, which really has great food! Topolino’s Terrace is an amazing option as well.
• You’re already shuddering at the cost. If you’re already having a hard time justifying the cost of the buffet meal to see characters you’ll likely meet in the parks, then I don’t think the buffet food alone will be enough to sway your vote. If you’re looking for rarer characters, maybe choose Artist’s Point instead.
• You’re not looking to be rushed out of your meal. Overall, it seems the Cast Members here are looking to keep this experience down to around an hour. If you’re a slow eater or have kids dining with you who might be slower, this could lead to a frustrating meal, setting the tone for the day ahead. They aren’t going to kick you out or anything, but this is such a high-traffic spot that they are moving fast.

Overall

We were really hoping this latest review of this restaurant would sway our ever-growing opinion of this place, but alas, it just worked to reaffirm our recent change of heart. Whether that be the rowdy tables that neighbored ours, or feeling as if we were rushed through our entire meal, it’s just not made for a gratifying, enjoyable experience.

This time, seating for the restaurant felt different than what we’d experienced in the past. It quickly became apparent that we were herded into sections to be seated based on placement around the dining room, and shortly after we were seated, the characters came over to the section. Unfortunately, we weren’t advised when we were seated how soon the characters would be coming around closer to our table, so we played a dangerous game of “will they, won’t they” while trying to field trips to the buffet for food in between table visits from Disney pals. This ultimately led to us missing a few characters on their first pass by our section, and it seemed a bit chaotic to have them brought back over to say hello. It made the experience feel stressful since seeing the characters is the main pull of dining here.

If seeing these characters here is a huge factor in deciding if this meal is worth it to you or not, it’s worth asking the Cast Members when you’re seated how soon you can expect to start seeing characters at your table, and using your best judgment. Our experience led us to a shortened visit from a few of the characters that initially missed us, and our check was brought out as soon as we had experiences with all 5 characters. Overall, we’ve had much better experiences with similar characters at other breakfasts around Disney World. Coupled with the hefty price tag, it’s just not one we’re looking forward to repeating again soon.

In the meantime, we’ll be on the lookout for more restaurant updates from Disney World and beyond. Make sure you stay tuned to the Disney Food Blog for the latest Disney news and more!

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Have you eaten at this Disney World restaurant before? Tell us in the comments!