Here's my report from 2015 with photos!
Thanks so much to lurkyloo and everyone else for all the great advice on this thread! We loved our Goofy-themed cake - ordered from the Contemporary and served at Chef Mickey's. We worked with Brian and Donald via e-mail and then ordered via phone.
The details:
6" vanilla cake with vanilla frosting
blue fondant with mickey head balloons
hand-painted chocolate Goofy on top
The cost:
We paid $74, minus TIW discount but + tip. It would have been $68 if we went with buttercream frosting instead of fondant.
The serving size:
I'm so glad we went with the 6" cake - it easily served our party of seven and we had a couple pieces left over.
The taste:
The cake was fine - we're not huge cake fans in the first place. But the fondant was outstanding - my favorite part! And the white chocolate goofy on top was yummy and so big that it lasted a very long time.
Additional info and value:
I'm also really glad we went with fondant. It looked great and the photos don't do it justice. When we checked in for our Chef Mickey's ADR, the CM seating us was very excited - she said she picked up the cake and remembered it. In fact, she told us she took a photo of it and sent it to her parents. Loved the enthusiasm!
Because we're not huge cake fans, I didn't expect to feel like this was a good value. But the final product was so well done, and it brought so much joy to our birthday boy that it was completely worth the price. I'm already thinking about what we can celebrate next that requires a cake. Might go with a mini cake next time, but will definitely plan to order a custom cake again!