did I make a mistake??.... goofy's kitchen dinner

[tortugaverde]

I LOVE to research! I have read up on just about everything to prepare for our spring break trip (which I finally booked yesterday )

However, there was one thing I did little research on, a character meal. I just assumed they would all be a good time, and then I picked the most expensive one... thinking it had to be more expensive for some reason!
I have read several reviews on this meal and found them to be less than favorable. Is it crowded? bad food? no characters?

Tell me your experiences please

 

[Jennifer03]

I love Goofy's Kitchen. When I went (April 2003) the food was very yummy and there were plenty of characters who came to my table. I went during off-season though, so the park and restaurant was pretty much empty. I hope you have a great trip and a super fun time when eating at Goofy's Kitchen.

 

[victorandbellasmom]

We absolutely love Goofy's Kitchen for dinner. In fact, we generally try to do at least 2 character meals on each trip with the first being Lilo & Stitch for breakfast and the second being Goofy's kitchen for dinner. The food is good and varied but the characters can be hit or miss depending on where you are seated. We've never had a bad experience there. Have a great time.

 

[fairycat]

I have only been once but had a great time. I went about a year ago and the food was great the charecters were fantastic and it was a great place. I would go back in a second.

PS I hate buffets and still had a great time and enjoyed the food.

 

[tortugaverde]

thanks, thanks, thanks!!

I feel much better

 

[LisainCalifornia]

We have been to Goofy's kitchen several times for dinner with the kids. I will say that they LOVE it and rave over it. Husband and I don't really love the food, but the kids do that that is good enough for us. They have tons of kid friendly choices (mac and cheese, chicken tenders, pizza, pretty much anything you can imagine) but also have a carving bar with prime rib, chicken, and a fish dish. The salad area is often very good and fresh. It is all you can eat, with lots of desserts to choose from.

And the best part is that while you eat the characters come to your table (much easier than stalking them at the park!) and it makes for some great photo oppertunities. I have pictures of my kids from very little to more grown up with all kinds of characters from Goofy's kitchen. One of my favorite pictures is from when my daughter Sami was in her "Belle" phase (she loved her beyond all reason) and we didn't know it but Belle was at Goofy's kitchen that night. You never know which characters will be there on any given night, but there is usually at least one princess, Chip or Dale, Aladin, Alice, Mary Poppins, etc. Anyway, she wanted to wear her yellow Belle costume to dinner, and I said that was fine. We were seated, and out walks Belle in her yellow dress, and my daughter had this look on her face that was priceless. We have lots of pictures of Belle hugging her and them admiring each other's dresses.

Now the kids are older and don't get into the characters as much, but even my reserved 14 year old son still jumps up to take pictures with them. I think Goofy's kitchen offers a lot to the Disney experience, and you won't be disappointed.

Take care,
Lisa

 

[CindyH]

Have never had a bad experience - the food isn't really gourmet, but it's decent and the character interaction is lots of fun.

 

[ballarinamom]

WE LOVE GOOFY'S FOR DINNER!! It's a tradition for us every trip. DH loves the prime rib and the fact he can get a beer. DD loves the character interaction. They do a music time where the kids can hit pots and pans and dance with the characters. I love that it's somewhat dim and relaxing by parks standards and the food options are great. They do give a AAA discount, too

 

[nun69]

we went last year {1st time} and are definetely going back again this year!!! can't wait...the food was GREAT and the kids really enjoyed it...my mom will be going this time, so it will be her 1st experience!

 

[pixiewings71]

We did breakfast and it was not good, the food was OK, the characters pretty much ignored our table. We weren't in a corner or anything either, in fact we were next to the door where they would come in, they would walk right past us and not say anything. We sat there for over an hour and only got to see Snow White, Chip (or Dale, can't remember now), Goofy and Cinderella. And Cinderella was because we asked for her. We were not happy with our character interaction and thought the food was definitely not worth it. I booked it because so many people here raved but we felt robbed when we left. Oh wait, we also saw Baloo and Pluto, neither came by our table but when we left Baloo was doing pics and he waved the girls over. That was neat. Of course I was in the bathroom so I really didn't get to see it. lol

Maybe we should try again and do dinner.....I don't know, I just know that we won't do it for breakfast again.

 

[staley7580]

We love it for dinner!

 

[DevilDuckie]

I LOVE to research! I have read up on just about everything to prepare for our spring break trip (which I finally booked yesterday )

However, there was one thing I did little research on, a character meal. I just assumed they would all be a good time, and then I picked the most expensive one... thinking it had to be more expensive for some reason!
I have read several reviews on this meal and found them to be less than favorable. Is it crowded? bad food? no characters?

Tell me your experiences please

One of my single best Disney moments ever was a character interaction between my son and Dale at GK. That moment was better than our first time at Club 33. I would recommend it in a heartbeat. We had a wonderful time and enjoyed the food.

 

[PrincessSitka]

I have gone several time with my GD and love each and every time we went.

 

[silence]

I am one that had a negative experience.

We went with a party of 13 for dinner one December when the park closed early for cast parties.

I wouldn't say it was super crowded, we had made our reservations well in advance and the wait didn't seem that bad for those w/o PS. I had seen worse for breakfast.

We were seated in the first section when you walk in to the left. The characters never did come by. We saw Rafiki in the first HOUR we were there and complained as we could SEE the other characters walking around. Finally the family next to us left with their little girl in tears.

We got no apologies, only EXCUSES (paid birthday parties, CM Breaks, etc) and they brought 1 character over to us who acted like she didn't want to be there (Sleeping Beauty).

Now, our two prior visits to GF for breakfast were ok, which is why we had gone back. But this horrible experience and lack of any apology kind of did us in and we won't go back.

I hope you have a wonderful experience though.

 

[Amy&Dan]

I have been to Goofy's for dinner at least ten times in the past five years. We have always had very good food (sometimes great food) and great character interaction. Its a tradition for my family to have dinner there each trip. One trip we had dinner there twice! It is expensive, if you have AAA be sure and show them that, they give a discount. We just always have a ball, my most recent experience was last month. Food was great, the characters were not as plentiful but they spent a lot of time at each table, we got plenty of autographs, photo ops and they were all very nice. Goofy played tic tac toe with my son.

Each character meal has its fans and critics. I know that I have one particular meal I have tried three times and each time its been lousy. Others love that place. So I know some people have had bad expereinces at Goofy's. I have had the opposite! I hope you do too, have a wonderful trip!

 

[mindylovesmickey]

We just went Saturday night, and we had a fabulous time! I haven't gotten to this part in my trip report yet so I'll give you the highlights here. We got a picture with our whole party and Pluto in his kitchen attire. Goofy came over right away when we sat down and hammed with the kids for a little bit. We got our food and the food was fresh, hot, and great, the kids liked the pizza, chicken nuggets, mac n cheese, and fresh fruit. We sat down and Dale came over to play with the kids a little and took pictures. Goofy took the kids out to the middle of the place and did the Macarena with them! We also saw Mulan and dd8 got pictures with her. Goofy came over again and played with the kids (he was definitely full of energy), messed with dh who was trying to eat, lol, and finally stood still long enough to get a quick picture. While I was away from the table Chip came over and saw the kids. Then Jasmine came by and took a picture. And just as we were finishing up desert Peter Pan came in and asked the kids some questions about their day and posed for a picture. I was very happy with the character interaction as well as with the food itself. We didn't hang around much longer though, so I'm not sure if any other characters showed up or not. We had the first sitting at 5pm and I'm not sure if that made a difference on how things went or not, we were kind of off in a corner by one of the windows behind a wall and we got lots of interaction, I thought, it's one of the best character meals I've been to so far, and I would definitely do that one again. My kids loved it!

 

[Alex2kMommy]

I am one that had a negative experience.

We were seated in the first section when you walk in to the left. The characters never did come by. We saw Rafiki in the first HOUR we were there and complained as we could SEE the other characters walking around. Finally the family next to us left with their little girl in tears.

We got no apologies, only EXCUSES (paid birthday parties, CM Breaks, etc) and they brought 1 character over to us who acted like she didn't want to be there (Sleeping Beauty).

That is a terrible experience! Did you write a letter to Disney? I can't believe there was no little extra they threw your way, or something better than a cranky Sleeping Beauty!

If the meal was this last December and you have not contacted Disney about your experience, I urge you to do so now. If it was longer ago than that, then it's unfortunate that it left such a bad taste in your mouth.

We love to go there, and have been to dinner at GK twice, both excellent experiences. This is probably our family's favorite character meal, and we have now done them all.

 

[MMSS]

Hiya All .. I'm still debating between breakfast and dinner for a family of 5 who've never tried a character breakfast (let alone DW or youngest DS ever been to DL) What's the general preference/opine - please and thanks

 

[mindylovesmickey]

We enjoy dinners more, none of our family are very big breakfast eaters or morning people for that matter, and we don't seem to get as much out of the breakfast's as we have the dinners.

 

[MickeyEars]

We're doing Goofy's for dinner in June during our first ever trip to Disneyland!!! It sounds a lot like Chef Mickey's at WDW which is a must-do for us every trip. I can't wait to try it!!

Carla