That is a great point. Characters dressed up for Christmas would be adorable.
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Hollywood Brown Derby! Don’t send people to H&V for high class dining 
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point well taken
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We are definitely in the minority here, but we actually quite like Chef Mickey’s. We always go for brunch and enjoy the food. Of course, the best part is the Mickey waffles with all the accompaniments that you don’t get elsewhere - my personal favorites are the caramel sauce, whipped cream and cherry compote! DD5 fills up on the smoked salmon and eggs, followed by waffles and ice cream topped with gummy bears. 
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That was the very first thing we did on our trip in 2016. It was a last minute reservation and turned out to be my girls favorite meal. They loved it, as did both my wife and I.
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With kids that little, I’d be inclined to tell you to go once for the experience. But now you know going into the experience that you truly are there for the characters. It is - by a long shot - my least favorite Disney buffet.
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DD2 has recently started watching Mickey’s Clubhouse so I think she might really really like it.
My wife and I do not enjoy Chef Mickey’s, but we are going back this fall. When I asked DD4 which 3 things she most wants to do on our next Disney trip, Chef Mickey’s was on her list of 3. If your kids love character meals, then I think it’s worth doing as the character interactions are great. My wife and I do not like the food at Chef Mickey’s, but we are not buffet food people so someone who enjoys buffets may like it better than us.
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How long is your trip?
It took us 2 trips to learn that a character meal per day was too much for all of us - kiddo included (so by age 5). After she’d seen the same characters a few times she was not impressed - at all. Same applies to princesses. We now keep our character meals limited to 2-3 carefully selected ones for a 7 day trip.
That said, I noticed you don’t have Cape May planned. We really enjoyed the breakfast there last time. Character interaction was great and so was the food. Very easy quick walk from Epcot International Gateway.
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10 days.
I didn’t look too much into it…once I read seafood I was out!!
There is no seafood segment at breakfast, and I don’t believe they are open for lunch. They have an excellent omelet station.
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We are staying at BWI for the second part of our trip…I will see where it might fit in. Thanks!
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I agree. My DS9 and DS6 love CM. They ask for it over and over again. For me the food is okay, but nothing to write home about. I would much rather have the food at CM than H&V, but I think the character interaction is great at both.
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As someone with no kids, 8 (or worse, 9) CMs in one trip would put me over the edge. I ate at CM a number of years ago (I was with friends who had kids) and it was some of the worst food I’ve had at WDW. I think it’s the meal that finally pushed me over the edge saying that I would NOT do another CM, ever. I’ve modified this a bit for TH; the food there is actually good, and you still get some fun from the characters. I haven’t eaten at H&V, but I walked through one time and one look at the buffet pretty much sealed the deal for me ever wanting to eat there. And WAY too many little kids…
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I’m sure if I didn’t have kids I wouldn’t even be considering this meal, but I do have
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Does anyone know what a Buffet is? That’s right it is a big assortment of food where you pick what you want and eat it or not. Now other places may not give you enough food, (which is rare a WDW), or you eat way too much. So here’s the thing. You start out with a big salad bar then move on to the main coarse of many selections. If you not too stuffed you head for the desert bar and get your sugar high. Now the kids are picky eaters but most love Mac & Cheese and Yes they have it. On top of all that you get picture perfect moments of or with your kids and their favorite cartoon characters. To me Buffets are great because it let’s me choose what I want to eat and how much of it. Just Say’in. 
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Agreed. I never went to a character meal during any of my many adult WDW trips. BUT, the kids love character meals so now we go.
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Are you looking to do breakfast or one of the other meals? (sorry if it was stated, I must’ve missed it)
The energy of the place is second to none from all the restaurants I’ve eaten at so far. And when I think “Disney Fun”, I have a hard time coming up something else on property that better encompasses the phrase.
I’ve only eaten there for breakfast and I think it’s a fine meal. The food can be a bit hit or miss in terms of quality, but nothing terrible. The worst “offense” I can think of was the bacon was a bit overly greasy, but that’s a common thing with buffets.
The character interactions are fantastic, no surprise there and eating while the monorail zips over head (if you get the right seat) I find endearing and fun. So much so that while I find it expensive, it’s one of the few eats that I feel are worth the money asked. Many will disagree with me on that, obviously, but I’d never complain about “having to go” there.
All that said though, I wouldn’t say you’re “obligated” or even expected to go. It is hard to get the reservation and truthfully, your kiddos might not even remember it down the line(like I forgot when we went when I was a kid. it was our only character meal and I completely forgot it). If you go, I think it’s gotta be more for you seeing their reactions than them getting to interact.
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We went at 7 am and thought that the food was just fine and actually good in some cases (kids were too distracted to eat, but I enjoyed the smoked salmon, bagels and at least one of the baked sides and meat choices; coffee was mediocre). Getting there at 7 before a 9 am MK opening meant we had time to eat, some characters made it around twice, and we were ready for rope drop at MK (not for any major rides like SDMT, of course). We were staying at CR so it made sense. I wouldn’t and didn’t travel to another resort for a character meal, but we also really enjoyed Garden Grill (PPO breakfast) and Tusker House (early lunch/brunch). Three character meals over 8 days were enough for us, but we have no princess lovers, lol. Our boys 3 and 6 LOVED Chef Mickey’s and I thought it was an awesome way to kick off our trip (mad Mom dash back to the far-flung Garden Wing room to retrieve forgotten autograph books notwithstanding, ha). I would do it again for an early breakfast. The only high end meal we did was Hollywood Brown Derby, which we also enjoyed immensely. Good luck!
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Yes, breakfast. I did not mention it, maybe should have.
This doesn’t concern me. I’m sure my then DS3 will never remember Captain Jack Sparrow telling him that he was “the most adorable pirate he’d ever seen.” But my husband and I will cherish that memory forever. And here are a couple of pictures to prove the Captain was telling the truth 
This would be my main motivation.
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