We talk about Chef Mickey’s a lot around here.
It is one of those Disney dining experiences that divides people cleanly — you either love the chaotic character energy of a buffet breakfast with Mickey and friends, or you find the whole thing overwhelming before your first cup of coffee.
We are firmly in the pro column. But even we did not expect Chef Mickey’s to become a national news story on a Sunday morning during the sixth week of a partial government shutdown.
Yet here we are.
TMZ published photographs this weekend of Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina dining at Chef Mickey’s at Walt Disney World’s Contemporary Resort while TSA officers across the country work without pay and major airports post emergency arrival advisories. The photos spread fast. The reactions spread faster. And for anyone with a Disney trip coming up during spring break, the airport situation that is providing the backdrop to this whole story is very much something you need to know about before you leave for the terminal. We are covering both.
Senator Graham, Chef Mickey’s, and the Quote He Gave TMZ
TMZ published the photographs on Sunday. Senator Graham was at Chef Mickey’s at the Contemporary Resort, seated at a back corner table with an unidentified younger woman and a child. The restaurant reportedly tried to give him some privacy but the other diners noticed anyway. Welcome to Disney World, Senator.
PHOTOS: Lindsey Graham vacationing at Disney World amid shutdown 📸https://t.co/fwzuZSiNkR
— TMZ (@TMZ) March 29, 2026
Graham did not deny the visit. He told TMZ that he had stopped by to see friends after attending a meeting in South Florida with Steve Witkoff, President Trump’s international relations envoy, to discuss the possibility of normalization between Saudi Arabia and Israel. He confirmed he was already back in South Carolina and offered this: “I voted 7 times to fully fund the government. Call a Democrat.”
For context, TMZ had put out a call last week asking readers to send in photos of members of Congress living their best lives during the planned two-week recess while the shutdown drags on. They have since published images of Wyoming Senator John Barrasso and Texas Senator Ted Cruz traveling out of Washington. But none of those photos quite captured the moment the way the Disney World pictures did. There is something about a senator topping off his coffee while Disney characters clap around him — during the sixth week of a shutdown that has three-hour security lines forming in airport parking lots — that lands differently than a travel photo. The internet agreed.
The Actual Airport Situation, Because This Is Serious
Related: Donald Trump’s Incoming Travel Ban Will Block Millions From Visiting Disney
Now that we have covered the part everyone is talking about, let us talk about the part that actually affects your Disney trip.
The partial government shutdown affecting the Department of Homeland Security has been running for six weeks. TSA officers are essential employees — they cannot walk off the job — but they are reporting to checkpoints without a paycheck. The staffing pressures that creates have been building, and as of this weekend they are producing wait times at major airports that are genuinely alarming.
Houston’s William P. Hobby Airport reported average TSA wait times approaching three hours on Sunday and posted on social media telling travelers to arrive four to five hours before their flights. Four to five hours. That is not a standard recommendation. Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport reported 51-minute average waits. Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport and Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport both clocked approximately one-hour average waits. Charlotte Douglas International Airport came in at 47 minutes. At Atlanta, security delays stacked on top of weather cancellations representing about four percent of the day’s flight schedule.
The official Homeland Security X account posted about it directly: “3 HOUR WAIT TIMES. TSA officers are not the only ones paying the price for the Democrats’ DHS shutdown. Now, the American people are facing THREE hour wait times at airports. Democrats do not care about TSA officers going without pay, and they do not care about the millions of Americans missing flights and facing delays because of this reckless DHS shutdown.” A follow-up added: “HOURS long waits at airports across the country. Security lines all the way in the PARKING LOTS.”
Chris Sununu, CEO of Airlines for America, put it plainly: “As TSA officers are facing a $0 paycheck this week, we are seeing firsthand the significant strains that the current DHS shutdown is causing across the aviation system. The shutdown is having very real consequences, and hardworking federal aviation workers, the airline industry and our passengers are being used as a political football once again. This is simply unacceptable.”
What Is Still Working and What Is Not
Good news first: TSA PreCheck is still running. The Department of Homeland Security considered shutting the expedited lanes down in late February and then reversed that decision. If you have PreCheck — including through Global Entry membership — those faster lanes are currently available and are a real advantage right now.
Bad news: Global Entry itself is suspended. The expedited customs program has been shut down as part of the broader DHS funding situation. If you are flying back from an international trip, you cannot use the kiosks. Standard customs lanes only. For Disney guests arriving at Orlando International Airport from outside the country, that adds time to an arrival day that already involves baggage, resort transportation, and whatever you have scheduled for the evening.
What This Means If You Have a Disney Trip Coming Up
We are going to be direct with you because that is what you need right now.
The airport is the riskiest part of your Disney trip at the moment. Not the park planning. Not the Lightning Lane strategy. The airport. A two-hour security delay at departure does not just make you late — for a Disney guest flying in on the morning of their first park day, it can erase the entire afternoon. For someone with a dining reservation that evening, it turns a relaxed arrival into a full-on sprint. That is not how you want to start a vacation you have been planning for months.
The most effective thing you can do is fly in the day before your first park day. It is that simple. Remove the pressure entirely. If you cannot do that, arrive at the airport significantly earlier than you normally would and check your departure airport’s social media the morning of your flight for current wait time advisories.
If you have TSA PreCheck and have not activated the Touchless ID option through your airline, do it before you travel. If you do not have PreCheck, this shutdown is making a pretty convincing case for getting it sorted before your next trip.
Spring break is ongoing. The shutdown has no clear resolution timeline. That combination means this is not a problem that resolves itself before your trip. Plan around it now.
We will keep tracking the airport situation as it develops and will update the moment anything changes. In the meantime, our Walt Disney World travel guide has current advisory information and practical tips for getting through the airport and onto the resort without losing your mind or your first park day. Go read it before you pack. And for what it is worth — if you do end up at Chef Mickey’s, the breakfast is worth the chaos. Even on a news cycle week like this one.
Have you run into airport delays on your way to Disney recently? Tell us in the comments — and tell us if you made your dining reservation.
