Hi Natasha,
Welcome to planDisney! I understand the decision not to add a
celebration cake to your reservation. The buffet has a large selection of food items, both savory and sweet, so adding a cake might not be necessary for your family. I know the last time we dined at
Chef Mickey’s, my kids found mini muffins with Mickey-shaped sprinkles, and I think they each ate a few!
At Chef Mickey’s, Mickey and his friends are in their chef gear, helping out in the kitchen to prepare the food. Of course, they’ll take breaks to come out and dance along to songs and visit your table. The characters make time to each table, so they’ll stop by one by one, not all at once. You can ask your server or the Cast Member escorting the characters if they can spend a little more time at your table to sing “Happy Birthday,” but since the characters have to visit other tables, maybe it is best to focus on getting some great photos of the birthday kid with the characters.
As a fellow parent, I’ve run into the dilemma of whether I should take my child out of the high chair for photos or leave them seated. In my experience, because the characters are visiting individually, it is a lot of in and out of the high chair. Over time, I’ve decided that it works best for our family if we leave our little one in the high chair and keep the high chair near where the characters approach the table. That way, we can quickly move the food out of the way, and the character can get down at my child’s level for a great picture! Although I do have a few photos of my kids being unhappy with a character for interrupting their Mickey waffle!
I hope you have a wonderful birthday visit with your family, Natasha. I definitely recommend letting your server at the restaurant know that you’re celebrating a birthday. And don’t forget to stop by
Guest Relations for a birthday pin that you can personalize for the birthday kid! If you have any more questions, come back to see us again soon at
planDisney!
Kaitlin