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Hello everyone,
Chef Mickey is a buffet service character dining restaurant located at Disney's Ambassador Hotel at Tokyo Disney Resort.
Reservations are always required, but sadly can only be made on the Japanese Tokyo Disney Resort website or by calling their reservation line, both of which are in Japanese language only. Fortunately we have some very good Japanese friends who are able to make the reservations for us.
If you are able to get someone to make reservations for you, or you can read Japanese (which if you're reading this report is unlikely), then you should ensure that you do it well in advance of the date and time you want. In our experience, reservations for table service and buffet dining at Tokyo Disney Resort sell out virtually instantly, unfortunately.
On the plus side, the respectful and thoughtful nature of the Japanese means that if they cannot make their reservation they usually call to cancel it, which means times can show up at any moment. We have actually gotten several reservations this way in the past, so it's definitely worth checking back everyday before your trip to see if the venue you want has any availability.
The Japanese are very particular about details, and so once you have your reservation there is no need to show up any more than a minute before your scheduled time. You won't be allowed in at least until your time, and in our experiences here, you'll nearly always have to wait ten minutes anyway for a table even once you check in.
The restaurant is located on the ground level of the Ambassador Hotel and can be reached by bus from the two theme parks, by walking from Tokyo Disneyland through Ikspiari, or via the bus station and across the street from Tokyo DisneySea.
The restaurant has some elements that I find reminiscent of Cafe Mickey at Disneyland Paris, as well as the Hollywood Hotel (and indeed its own Chef Mickey) at Hong Kong Disneyland.
Once you have checked in and eventually got to your table, you'll be served your drinks, which are refillable, and you can start on the buffet.
The variety of food here is actually pretty good. There's a wide variety to chose from, with the desserts selection being especially generous.
While you dine Mickey, Minnie, Pluto and Donald will make their way around the tables, dressed in their cute Chef Mickey outfits.
The restaurant closes at 10pm, but if you have a late reservation and are already inside, the food will not be taken off until 10.30pm and the characters also stay until this time.
The good thing about character dining in Tokyo is that the characters are very efficient at getting around the tables. Even when they go to take their quick break, they are only gone for a moment and return to the table they left and carry on with excellent time keeping. This past trip when we ate here, we had a late reservation and I was thinking that the characters would not get to us before 10.30pm, but the cast members were doing a great job at pacing the greetings and we were one of the last tables before the characters had finished everybody left in the dining room, minutes before their set ended at 10.30pm.
If you are vegetarian, there are a few options, such as vegetables, potatoes, rice etc, but unfortunately nearly every menu item in Japan has some sort meat, seafood or poultry in it. Chef Mickey was no exception to this, and so we asked a manager about what options were available to us, and what we could eat (as the signs aren't always clear, and even something that shouldn't normally contain meat, for some reason does in Japan!).
The restaurant cast were amazing to say the least. We were walked around the buffet by the manager and the chef, and they told us what was in every item, pointing out what we could and could not eat. They were very helpful and friendly, and to cap it all they offered to custom prepare a pasta bowl with vegetables for us, and a vegetable pizza each! We were there pretty late and it was about 25 minutes before closing, yet they still cooked for us a huge bowl of pasta and a vegetarian pizza each! I cannot thank them or commend them enough on their efforts to accommodate us!
One final note; you pay at the end of the meal at the cash register. At time of writing, it costs 4740 Yen per adult. Your server will bring the bill early in the meal usually, but they aren't trying to get rid of you! The servers don't accept payments, and nor should you leave them a tip as this is actually against custom in Japan. Simply take the bill to the desk at the end and pay what is owed.
Overall our experience this time at Chef Mickey was excellent. The food was very good, and we were exceptionally impressed with the service we got when asking about vegetarian options. The characters are always fun and we love their costumes here. If you can make a reservation then I'd definitely recommend it, just remember that to do so will require someone who reads or speaks Japanese.
Dan.
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