We recently dined at Chef Mickey’s inside the Contemporary Resort at Walt Disney World. This was our first time back since the restaurant resumed it’s buffet style dining. Are you looking for a great buffet, allergy accommodations and a chance to interact with FIVE of the best Disney Characters? If so, read below for the Chef Mickey’s Review: Gluten Free Character Dining. 

Chef Mickey’s Review: Gluten Free Character Dining. 

Atmosphere

Chef Mickey’s restaurant is located inside the Contemporary Resort Hotel. This Character dining experience does not require you to have a park ticket. It works great for days that you are taking a break from the park but still want to have Character interactions.

The Contemporary Resort Hotel is one of the properties that is accessed by the monorail. The monorail drives through the hotel and there are great views of it from the restaurant. During this trip, we parked at the Contemporary and used the monorail to access Magic Kingdom for a few hours before it was time for our reservation.

Chef Mickey’s currently opens at 5pm for dinner and we had a 5:05pm reservation. This worked out great as we were one of the first tables to be seated. I will note that with all the Characters and families at Chef Mickeys, it can get pretty loud. If noise could be a problem for you or your family, I suggest asking for one of the tables in the back or in the side dining rooms.

Food

Chef Mickey’s recently returned to their buffet style dining. This was a change from the previous three years where they had served their menu “family style” due to the pandemic.

I would highly recommend that you make a dining reservation for this experience. It can book up very quickly. If you can’t get a reservation when they open 60 days out…keep checking! Continue to look for openings as many people will cancel or swap out times just a fews days before their reservation. I was able to get this reservation just three days prior.

Allergy

I have both a gluten and dairy allergy. As soon as we were seated, I was provided with an allergen guide that highlighted all of the items offered on the buffet and indicated which of the top 9 allergens (if any) that they contained. Our waitress asked if I would prefer to speak with a chef or if I was comfortable using the allergen guide. I have dined at Chef Mickey’s before and other Disney restaurants and feel pretty comfortable utilizing the allergen guides. I also felt more comfortable since we were dining early and I was one of the first people through the buffet line.

However, if you have multiple allergies or are concerned with cross-contamination, you can always ask to speak with the Chef. In my experience, they have always been very accommodating and are happy to make you any of the items you would like. I have also found that they may even be able to modify some dishes to accommodate your specific allergies. Every time I have chosen this option, they have brought out more than enough food so you still feel like you are getting the “buffet” experience. They will also make you more of anything that you request.

 

Dinner

The food quality at Chef Mickey’s was pretty good. There is a very wide variety of food (especially if you don’t have any allergies) which in my opinion, lowers the quality. However, if you have any picky eaters, there is sure to be something for everyone!

I began with the salad bar section of the buffet which had a wide variety of gluten free options. Everything tasted very fresh and our waitress brought out some allergy friendly rolls to pair with it.

If you’re anything like me at a buffet, you have to try a little bit of everything. There were a lot of options that were gluten and dairy free, including one of my favorites, the “potato barrels” (tater tots), 

Gluten Free Dessert

Just as I thought I couldn’t eat any more our waitress brought out my allergy friendly dessert plate. This was definitely the highlight of my meal. There were multiple types of allergy friendly cookies, a Mickey shaped cupcake, fruit, chocolate sauce and sprinkles. Of course, it arrived with the “allergy stick” indicating that it was safe to eat.  As if one dessert plate wasn’t enough, I was told I could request more if I would like.

Character Dining

One of the best parts about Chef Mickey’s (and the reason it has a high price tag) is the character dining. During dinner you will get to interact and take pictures with Chef Mickey and his sous chef’s. During our meal, this included Mickey, Donald, Goofy and Pluto. After our dinner, we were able to take our stamped receipt to a “meet and greet” photo opportunity with Minnie.

Each character will stop by your table to spend some time interacting and taking pictures with everyone. This is a super special experience. The characters all have cast members available to help take a full family photo and to ensure that every character has stopped by your table.

There is also time during the character interactions where they play music throughout the restaurant and invite everyone to sing, dance and clap along with Mickey and his friends. You can bring items for the Characters to sign and every table is given a special signature post card to remember the experience.

Overall Experience

The price of the meal is very high and is not worth it, in my opinion, based on food quality alone. However, they were very accommodating when it came to my gluten and dairy allergy. Combine that with the character dining interactions, I believe it is worth the premium price.

Overall, I had a good experience at Chef Mickey’s and would definitely recommend for anyone looking to accommodate allergies at a Character Dining experience.

This post was all about my Chef Mickey’s Review: Gluten Free Character Dining.

Be sure to check out my other Disney Dining Reviews for restaurants like 50s Prime Time Cafe and Rosie’s All American Cafe.