I think you should definitely keep Goofy's on the agenda!
On my holiday trip to DLR last month I was reunited with some friends who had not been to
Disneyland in 10 years, and their little 4-year-old son had never been there at all. This was his very first trip.
My friend wanted to start her son's Disney experience off with a dinner at Goofy's Kitchen on their arrival night, just to see how he responded to characters, and to have a concentration of characters in one place so they wouldn't have to chase a bunch of characters down in the parks and wait in lines for them.
My friends arrived at DTD in the afternoon. I made the reservation for the Goofy's dinner - only because we had 8 people in our party - and we actually got seated ahead of the 6:30 p.m. time they gave us. We showed up before 6 p.m., I think, and we got seated right away.
Now, just to be clear, I am a veteran of Goofy's Kitchen dining (this year will be my 20th anniversary of being a loyal Goofy's customer!
), but I have mainly done the
breakfast 97% of the time. This was only my third
dinner at Goofy's since 1992.
And...I had never, ever been to Goofy's or any other character meal with a child in my group. This was my first time seeing first-hand how a child responds to characters at a meal. I am used to being there with adults only, believe it or not!
All I have to say is...it was
wonderful! It was a great way to start off the trip for my friends and to introduce their little boy to characters. Everyone's child will respond and react differently, of course, but my friends' 4-year-old son was delighted with the characters. His smile could not have been any bigger. It was just precious to watch. He had no hesitation in running up to Chip or Dale and throwing his arms around them. He told Pluto in mangled 4-year-old speak, "
I lub you." He blushed when Belle and Cinderella spoke to him. The character interaction was really wonderful.
Everyone seemed pleased with the food, too. I wasn't sure if I would like the dinner food because I am such a fan of the breakfast at Goofy's and I recalled not liking the dinner there when I had it in the distant past. But I was very satisfied. The portions of chicken, pot roast and roast pork I had were great (especially the chicken). The mashed potatoes were pretty good. The fruit salad was good. I would definitely have the dinner there again.