13/04/2024
Chef Mickeys at the Contemporary Resort
So, a few weeks ago we managed to secure a booking for dinner at Chef Mickey’s at the Contemporary Hotel at Walt Disney World. I have to say, having read some of the reviews we wondered if we should cancel but we decided, as we only had a few special activities planned, we would go.
For those that don’t know, “we” is a couple of aged humans (56 & 85) and seventeen teddy bears. There are usually only three teddy bears (TourGuideTed, Frank and Theo) but, since the War in Ukraine, we have gained a blended family of 12 refugees. They originated in Odesa and have fled the War. We said that while the War continues they would come with us, to keep Ukraine in our thoughts. They are made by Philomena Kloss. The family is supported by Nanny Ursula, and on this trip, a friend – Wolfie – has joined us as he plans to go to Cologne with us in May.
Anyway…we walked from Magic Kingdom to the Contemporary Hotel – it takes ten to fifteen minutes, but you can also take the Monorail, which has a station inside the hotel. Chef Mickey’s can be found on the fourth floor, along with a couple of retail outlets and other eateries.
We checked in and waited about ten minutes for our wheelchair-accessible table and were shown to a table. It was a bit loud, with fairly basic tables and chairs and we were a bit concerned we’d made a mistake as it’s not as classy as some of the Disney dining options, but we perservered. We were offered soft drinks (included) or alcohol (for an additional charge. As we have a beer-drinking bear, Theo, he got a Kona Longboard, while the humans ordered some Coke and Lemonade. The buffet layout was explained but we were advised the characters were nearby so we should wait on getting our food until they had visited the table.
We were soon joined by each of the five characters. Our humans are not very out-going but we were able to persuade all of the characters that the stuffies were the ones who wanted to be photographed. That said Mickey and Donald both gave the humans a hug and Donald insisted on a selfie with Assistant Di (who is rubbish at selfies and got a good pic of Donald only! It might have been deliberate!)
We met Pluto, Minnie who crouched down to our level. Donald was really friendly and even hugged the Ancient Assistant. Goofy waggled his ears and Mickey came to pose with us all, he also gave the Ancient Assistant a kiss on her hand. Disney characters always surprise us how attentive they are to us bears even though there are no children with us. They were cool with getting us some pictures.
Then it was time for the food. Our humans don’t eat meat so we skipped the central carving station but there seemed to be a choice of meats available. Ours had a selection of salad, pasta and cheese quesedillas. There was plenty of choice even for them and apparently there was pizza they missed. The food, while not hot (it is a buffet) wasn’t cold either. It was better than expected and what they had they enjoyed. There was certainly plenty of choice.
For dessert there were maybe half a dozen alternatives – a Donald cupcake, a Minnie red velvet cupcake, a Mickey chocolate tart, a pink and yellow sponge, a cookies and cream cheesecake cup and more, including a soft-serve ice cream dispenser.
It cost $66 per human, plus tax and tip with extra for the beer. In total for 2 it came to $137.70. This was $132 for the dinner, plus $10.50 for the beer and a $13.50 discount for being an annual passholder (10% discount). Tax was an additional $8.40. A tip on top was about $25 (18%).
Although the Contemporary Hotel is looking a bit tired/dated, the food options at Chef Mickey were a pleasant surprise. Would we rather have table-service, yes, but as the characters came as soon as we arrived, we were able to meet them before focussing on the food. Sometimes the characters can come mid-meal, meaning your not very hot food gets colder or you forego collecting food to make sure you don’t miss the characters. It may have been good timing but we had none of those issues at Chef Mickey.
Was it good value? Well, we had a little personal time with each of the characters (they will hug, take photographs, do autographs) and they even came back around as the Cast Member assistants would check you’d seen all the characters you should have (which we appreciated). The food was adequate and there was a lot of choice. The environment was a little noisy but you didn’t feel crammed in at your table at all.
On the way out of the venue, there’s a final photo stop – standing in front of Chef Mickey’s plate. They were very accommodating and used a table to give our bears height to show up in the photo. You can choose to hold a Chef Mickey or Happy Birthday plaque (or both).
See photos of the food and our character interactions. We enjoyed it and were glad we’d made the effort to go.
