When it comes to the infamous Character Breakfast at Walt Disney World, one place comes immediately to mind, and is the great granddaddy of the event, because they do it the best, and they do it right. I'm talking about Chef Mickey's in Disney's Contemporary Resort. You all know the Contemporary, it's the giant A-frame hotel near the Magic Kingdom with a Monorail station right inside the hotel. The characters that come right to your table there are the big ones - Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofy, Pluto, and Chip and Dale, the A-team. And from what I can remember, the food was pretty good too.
As it was the nephew's first time at WDW, we just had to do the Character Breakfast at Chef Mickey's, no way around it. The way it works is you sit down and the characters (just the big five now, I guess having Chip and Dale was a little too much like having rats begging for scraps, I guess…) come to you. One at a time, Goofy, Mickey, and the whole gang come and visit you, with or without kids, and cavort. Cavorting includes dancing, pantomiming, posing for pictures, and even signing autographs. The nephew was thrilled, smiling like it was crazy town. He loved it. He even broke into dance himself spontaneously. Now that's some kind of happy.
The food was buffet style. Our waitress was Melinda, who handled drink orders, explained everything, kept the party going, and basically saw to our every need. If you could tear yourself away from the Mickster and friends, there was a generous selection of breakfasts, some Disney exclusive, at the buffet to choose from, and that also included some decadent desserts.
In the favorite fried food category there were more than a few choices, but before I get there, it should be noted that we had real bacon that morning as opposed to the shredded bacon pieces we were served at
Sunshine Seasons over at The Land in EPCOT. In the potato department they had those planks of processed potato that look similar to
McDonald's Hash Browns but are sooo not. The sign over them called them 'potato crisps,' which was kinda appropriate because they tasted like bland cardboard Pringles. I took one, had a bite, and didn't have any more,
that bad.
Luckily there were other types. I also tried the creamy breakfast potatoes which were shredded hash browns baked in a creamy cheesy butter sauce and had a crispy top. Not bad, not my cup of tea, and besides they also had the tradition Disney diced and cubed breakfast potatoes. Lightly seasoned to a golden brown, soft and potato-ey and hot, and mixed in with chopped onions and peppers and fried. Disney breakfast perfection. On the menu a 'cheesy bacon potatoes' was listed but could not be found.
Café Mickey's is still one of the best breakfasts in WDW. All this and a show too, what a deal. And of course, the nephew had a terrific time. That made it all worth it right there.
So gald your nephew enjoyed Chef Mickey's. That place is the most fun and entertaining of the character buffet restaurants in WDW.
ReplyDeleteNow as for those Disney hash browns (Like the McD kind), I have found them excellent when I have eaten them on the Disney Cruise Line. I was told they are the same product which is mass ordered by corporate. I like the ones on the DCL ships. So, when on a tour of the Magic's galley back in 2009, I happened to ask the Executive Chef about this. He believed it could be because on the ship everything has to be baked (not fired) at very specific temperatures. The HB patty at the theme park or resort is often deep fried and depending on what day the oil in the fryer is changed, the taste varies. I was also told, if you don't like something, even on a buffet line, let your server know. Disney does take customer comments and complaints very seriuosly. That also works for compliments too.
Good info as always, Dom, thank you!
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