Disney Food Blog specializes in a lot of different Disney news, but something we’ve been focused on for the longest time — about 15 years! — is in our name: Disney food!

We love Disney food!

We have a HUGE passion for all things Disney food here, and that means we’ve tried some amazing snacks and dining locations over the years and have also told you all about the ones we don’t recommend spending your time and money on. We’ll continue to do so for the years to come because things are pretty much always changing in the Disney parks. But we have to be honest with you — after all these years of reviewing Disney food, we have TWO wildly controversial opinions that you’ll either completely agree with or want to yell at your phone. 

What do you do when there’s a nearly 3-month gap between the EPCOT Flower & Garden Festival and the EPCOT Food & Wine Festival? You throw yourself a big old DFB Mega Fest! We’ve got loads of giveaways, behind the scenes content, and untold crazy stories from AJ Wolfe and the DFB team. Come celebrate DFB Mega Fest with us!

Chef Mickey’s is NOT The Place To Be

This one comes straight from the queen herself: AJ’s never been a fan of Chef Mickey’s and doesn’t think it’s worth your time or money.

Chef Mickey’s Card

Chef Mickey’s is a table service character meal located at Disney’s Contemporary Resort. It’s one of the most popular table service meals on property, with reservations selling out nearly every single day (when guests can book their reservations 60 days in advance of their trip). Finding a stray reservation for this restaurant is BEYOND rare, and it’ll be gone in seconds.

Chef Mickey’s

Here you’ll be able to meet Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Pluto, and Goofy at their all-you-care-to-enjoy buffets for breakfast or dinner. Breakfast will cost $54 for adults and $34 for kids 3-9, not including tax and gratuity, while Dinner will cost adults $66 for adults and $41 for kids plus tax and gratuity.

Chef Mickey’s

The problem is that for this price, the experience is NOT worth it in AJ’s eyes, and a lot of us on the team absolutely agree. Not every table here is created equal — everything is so there are clearly better and worse tables for viewing and unlike a lot of other characters dining experiences, your moments and meetings with the characters are SO quick because the restaurant is so crowded.

See what we mean?

And you know what all those people also mean? It’s LOUD. Like, so loud you’ll have trouble hearing the people at your table. Because this is an open air restaurant into the rest of the hotel — you’ll be able to hear ALLLL the other noise from the other areas of the lobby, Contempo Cafe right next door, the elevators, the Monorail whooshing through — it’s a lot.

Hi Pluto!

While we’re fans of buffets and characters meals, AJ strongly recommends going to Garden Grill in EPCOT instead for a better character dining, all-you-can-eat experience. For a lot of families, this is a one-and-done restaurant, so we totally get it if you want to do it for the nostalgia or the “it” factor, but just know you may be disappointed and frustrated at the experience you get for what you paid.

Classic Dole Whip is NOT The Best

Pineapple Dole Whip was the original Dole Whip flavor, and while we appreciate how long it’s been around, that nostalgia factor just isn’t enough to mean it’s the BEST, in our opinion.

Pineapple Float from Aloha Isle

Pineapple Dole Whip is wonderful, don’t get us wrong. However…there are SO many other unique, exciting flavors you can now find around Disney World. You can get it swirled with other flavors at multiple locations, turn it into a fun float, and if you’re in the right place at the right time of year, you can even experience new Dole Whip additions that arrive to the resort!

Dole Whip Sampler

We keep tabs on ALL the different Dole Whips you can grab around Disney World, and we can assure you that out of everyone on the team, not ONE of our favorite flavors is just regular pineapple unless we’re only eating it to remind ourselves of our childhoods and how Disney World used to be.

Just to name a few, some of our favorites are:

• Tropical Serenade at Aloha Isle (Pineapple-Orange-Guava Juice, Coconut Soft-serve, and an Upside-down Pineapple Cake Pop)
• Key Lime Dole Whip at Good’s Food To Go (Vanilla Soft Serve and Key Lime Dole Whip swirled together with graham cracker crumbs sprinkled on top)
• Pineapple Coconut Swirl at multiple locations (anytime you see this combination, we highly recommend grabbing it ASAP)

The Tropical Serenade Float

Don’t get us wrong: There is a time and place for a classic Pineapple Dole Whip, and if that’s your favorite, that’s fantastic! We definitely encourage you to branch out and try some other flavors if you come across them and are feeling adventurous. If you need a place to start, AJ’s favorites are Lemon Dole Whip and Lime Dole Whip!

Be sure to stay tuned to DFB for all the latest Disney parks food reviews!

These are the BEST snacks to carry in your Disney park bag (and what to avoid)!

Do you agree with these takes? Tell us in the comments!

The post I’ve Been Eating Disney World Food Professionally Since 2009 and I Have Two HIGHLY Controversial Takes. first appeared on the disney food blog.