Best time for Goofy's Breakfast?

[Goofy Yno]

I am planning on going to a character Breakfast on a Saturday in july when we are not going to the park. DS7 loves Goofy, DS4 Mickey (who as I understand it, does not attend too many breakfasts, maybe they aught to have more cheese out? ). so I'm leaning towards Goofy's Breakfast.

If our goal is the least crowded time with the most character interaction, what would the best time be?

I would think early would be busy as people wanting to get to the park early would use these times, but some people like to sleep later, so???

 

[shoppingmom]

We have been to Goofy's Breakfast on two seperate occassions (a few years apart) and one the first trip we were there for 7:a.m. and wow, the characters were great and lots of them, the place was full but that didn't seem to matter. A year later we went again but this time we went around 10:30 a.m. and a huge difference in characters I honestly remember only seeing 4, not as many, restaurant was not as full. This year when we go we will go early in the morning again.

 

[got2travel]

We always go late, 11am or later, and always see 6-9 characters. And its usually less crowded at this time. Our strategy is to hit the parks at opening, do as much as we can in a few hours, then head to Goofy's for brunch. Many other folks want to have breakfast first, then head to the park. Since you're not doing the park, I think a 9am breakfast would be good. The morning crowd will be dying down and the brunch crowd won't have come in yet.

PS - in all my experiences at Goofy's I've never seen Mickey there. Not sure if you were counting on him being there or not.

 

[Amy&Dan]

I agree with got2travel. I like the later seatings at both Goofy's and the Lilo and Stitch meal (at the Paradise Pier Hotel). That way we can take advantage of low crowds first thing in the morning at DL then monorail over to the DLH for a late breakfast. We have always seen many characters at Goofy's at that time.

There is no Mickey Meal at Disneyland anymore. He had a brief appearance at Cap'n Mickey's in DCA (what is now Ariel's and was still basically Ariel's during this brief attempt at change) in 2004. Its too bad, I have no idea why he isn't featured at something in the way of a character meal.

 

[Goofy Yno]

thanks,
I gave up on the Micky idea.

I like the thought of going between the early breakfast and later lunch crowd.

But, I was wondering if there are more character there before the park opens (who get redistributed throughout the park?) Humm

 

[Amy&Dan]

I think the characters at the hotel character meals are separate. I have been in the park, seen a character and then seen that same character at Goofy's awhile later. They don't have duplicates inside the park, for example before the parades start, the characters leave their meet and greets. But over at DCA you will see the same characters that you just saw at DL (albeit in different costumes). Goofy is at Goofy's Kitchen all day and night and you can pretty much find him at DL and DCA all the time as well.

I have always seen lots of characters at Goofy's during breakfast and dinner. I would go with the time that works for your overall touring plan. There is no way to guarantee how many and who you will see during your meal but my experiences (over ten now at Goofy's) have been very good.

 

[CalGal]

GK is a great choice for a character meal. I also agree with got2travel that later is better and believe Amy&Dan is correct about the characters at the restaurants not being affected by the park happenings.

I like going to GK late morning or early afternoon after spending a few hours in the park. I usually go 11 or later, depending upon how late GK is open for brunch. Even if I wasn't going to enjoy to low crowds at DL first thing in the morning (I can't imagine passing that up though; it's the best time at DL), I would still choose to go to GK later in the morning. I have never had trouble seeing lots of characters and getting plenty of personal attention at that time. When the restaurant is less crowded, the characters do make the rounds a lot quicker and spend more time playing with you. My most memorable time ever at GK was for one of the last brunch seatings. As the restaurant emptied, Goofy spent a lot of time messing with me, smuggling food to my DS when I wasn't looking. DS was in stitches.

Another reason I prefer going late is that I feel like I get my money's worth since I am hungrier around lunch time. After a big "all-you-can-eat" lunch, I can get by with a very light dinner.

The characters all do need to take breaks, but they tend to stagger them a bit and return fairly quickly. Perhaps shoppingmom missed some characters who were taking a quick break.

 

[CalGal]

deleting the double post

 

[CalGal]

GK is a great choice for a character meal. I also agree with got2travel that later is better and believe Amy&Dan is correct about the characters at the restaurants not being affected by the park happenings.

I like going to GK late morning or early afternoon after spending a few hours in the park. I usually go 11 or later, depending upon how late GK is open for brunch. Even if I wasn't going to enjoy to low crowds at DL first thing in the morning (I can't imagine passing that up though; it's the best time at DL), I would still choose to go to GK later in the morning. I have never had trouble seeing lots of characters and getting plenty of personal attention at that time. When the restaurant is less crowded, the characters do make the rounds a lot quicker and spend more time playing with you. My most memorable time ever at GK was for one of the last brunch seatings. As the restaurant emptied, Goofy spent a lot of time messing with me, smuggling food to my DS when I wasn't looking. DS was in stitches.

Another reason I prefer going late is that I feel like I get my money's worth since I am hungrier around lunch time. After a big "all-you-can-eat" lunch, I can get by with a very light dinner.

The characters all do need to take breaks, but they tend to stagger them a bit and return fairly quickly. Perhaps shoppingmom missed some characters who were taking a quick break.

 

[pumpkin5156]

I am planning on going to a character Breakfast on a Saturday in july when we are not going to the park. DS7 loves Goofy, DS4 Mickey (who as I understand it, does not attend too many breakfasts, maybe they aught to have more cheese out? ). so I'm leaning towards Goofy's Breakfast.

If our goal is the least crowded time with the most character interaction, what would the best time be?

I would think early would be busy as people wanting to get to the park early would use these times, but some people like to sleep later, so???

I didn't read the other replies, so forgive if I repeat. We ate there the first weekend in Dec on a Sat morning when we didn't visit the parks, and it was very pleasant! Our seating was at 8:30am (the only time left since we booked the night before ). We had tons of interaction and virtually no people at all. It was awesome! My in laws came about an hour later because we couldn't all gets seats at the same time, and it was much more crowded. We left while they ate with the other kids and they said it wasn't fun.

Have fun!

 

[CalGal]

OK, so why did it repeat my earlier reply three times !?! I really don't think I pressed the submit button twice, much less than three times!

The time of year probably matters a lot. If DL opens late and you can make your PS well before opening, that may also work. I would think things start getting busy around an hour before park opening.

 

[Goofy Yno]

Looks like I'll be Ok no matter when I go. I'm between a 8:30 ish one - that way the early park people will be gone but the late sleeper will still be there, and a 10:30 -for the after breakfast but before lunch crowd.
I don't think we are going into the park either way.

 

[bennyb98]

Does the breakfast at Goofy's operate at the same times no matter what the park hours are? Or do they change based on a late opening?

 

[Goofy Yno]

benny, I believe it opens at the same time every day- 7:00

thanks all. I think I would have preferred later but was overruled by the Queen (DW ). We have a 8:30 ADR. we go next week.

we told DS7, He went crazy-

this is fun!

 

[Sherry E]

thanks,
I gave up on the Micky idea.

I like the thought of going between the early breakfast and later lunch crowd.

But, I was wondering if there are more character there before the park opens (who get redistributed throughout the park?) Humm

Actually, my group and I have been Goofy's Kitchen lovers for about 16 years (I think that is when we first discovered GK at the hotel), and one time I asked a server why Mickey never shows up, since, obviously, he is the 'star' of this whole adventure. They told me in their very sweet, non-technical Cast Member way that it "is for legal reasons." Something about how Mickey legally cannot appear outside the parks. I think it applies to Minnie, too, but could be wrong on that. Anyway, at Goofy's over the years, we have seen everyone from the standard Goofy, Chip & Dale and Pluto, who are pretty much there every day, to the whole Aladdin bunch - Jafar, too - Belle and The Beast, Alice & the Mad Hatter, Gadget, and some other rare sightings I cannot recall at the moment.

We have only gone there for dinner once and I definitely prefer the breakfast selections better. We have been there when it is jam packed with people and little children scurrying to and fro, and then we were there last September and there were not many people nor were there many characters. The characters that were out basically ignored all the tables! When we went back in December, the characters were very attentive to everybody. We usually try to hit the earlier meals because it seems fewer people are awake at 7:30 a.m. and the restaurant is less crowded. Dinner time is a zoo, and I think that the later brunch time would be pretty packed too, but maybe not if everyone is already in the parks. My guess is that probably right around 9:00 a.m. is the BUSIEST time of the morning and 7:00 p.m. is the busiest night time.

 

[Goofy Yno]

For all the doubters, we had an awesome time at Goofy's kitchen. I can't recomend it highly enough.
We got there at 8:30. waited to be called to get a picture with Pluto- he was so much fun, my DS4 would not stop talking to him. (he was even dancing and goofing off when there was nobody around him). The photographer offered to take a picture with our camera, which I though was exceptional being they were going to try and sell me the same picture in an hour.

after the tour,the star of the show Goofy was only a few tables over, so we waited. he played with the kids and took pictures for 6-7 minutes. then the mad hadder happened by. my DS4 was non-stop talking. and when he said goofy was his brothers' favorite, the hatter repeated it, and goofy popped his head over the wall.
every half hour they have an activity. the first was "music" by baning on pots/pans with goofy. both my boys ran over to play. DS4 got a little too excited and climbed on Goofy's back (he was sitting on the floor). normally characters get very up set if they can't see the kids, but he playfully scooped DS up placed him down by his side and the two of them banged on each others pans for the rest of the game.

then when we returned Pluto came over to our table to give DS4 a personal note.

then Blu, allddin, chip and dale. they did the macarana.

Ds7 had to have a note from Goofy, so after goofy was done at a table, ds7 asked for a note. Goofy sat down at an empty table and wrote a few sentences to him.

a wonderful time was had by all.

 

[pumpkin5156]

Glad to hear you had a good time. When we went 1 1/2 years ago, we went at 8:30am as well. We saw a lot of princesses, which I thought was weird, but the kids had an awesome time.

Hope the rest of your trip was just as good.