Goofys Kitchen or Ariel Grotto?

[neonderlyn]

If you had to choose only one to do during the trip, which would you choose and why?

I am currently debating which one to do or if i should just do both? Are there any major negatives to either one that would help me make a decision. I have two toddlers (2&3) so would probably enjoy doing both so im having a hard time decided what to do.

 

[keltiesmom]

We are going in September and are planning to do both. If we were to do just 1 we would do goofy's kitchen. The menu at Ariel'a doesn't apeal much to me but we are going for the princesses.

 

[mom2rtk]

The character selection is so different. I'd choose the one with the characters you most want to meet.

The other consideration is location. AG is in a park, so would take up park time. We sometimes choose GK just because we want some character fun on arrival day or a non-park rest day.

 

[Canadian Harmony]

As both my kids are celebrating their birthdays when we go, we're doing both: AG for an early dinner/late lunch one day and Mickey's for a breakfast for another day (could change to Minnie - she hasn't made up her mind yet). I can't really afford two premium meals, and seeing as how DD10 really wants to meet Mickey, it'll probably be that one we go to.

 

[dugthetalkingdog]

My daughter (20) and I made lunch reservations at Ariel Grotto not realizing it was a Disney Princess character meal. The food was yummy but it is not a buffet. We
enjoyed the food and the characters more at Goofy's Kitchen.

 

[ktlm]

It really depends on what characters are most important to your kids. If they are Princess fanatics, then I would say Ariel's. If they like the other characters, then I would say Goofy's. I know that recently the characters at Goofy's have been standardized (a set group of 5) and there are less characters than there used to be which is a bummer, but that probably puts it in line with Ariel's in terms of the number of characters you see. I think the current Goofy's Kitchen characters are Goofy, Chip, Dale, Minnie and Pluto. As far as food, to us the character meals are about the characters not the food. Goofy's being a buffet is much easier with small kids as they can see the food and there are lots of options. Ariel's changed the menu last summer. We were not impressed with the new lunch menu at all and did not think the food was good at all. but was all about the Princesses and the photos with them and I'm sure DD will probably talk me into eating there again. I think if she does, unless the menu changes again, we will try to do it before breakfast is over as lunch was really not good at all. Of course, it was a new menu when we were there, so maybe they have gotten more used to cooking it and have improved the food since then.

 

[Briarrose1306]

I'm not a huge fan of either anymore. I used to be a huge fan of GK because I really liked the food and loved the variety of characters you got to meet, not to mention it's the only character dinner and I'm not a fan of breakfast food, but now that they've dropped so many characters and I really can't eat the amount of food to be worth it, I know it'll be a long time before I return. The change in characters was very upsetting to me, especially for the cost. I actually used to enjoy AG breakfast but that's been changed too. It really comes down to what characters you're wanting to meet. My personal opinion is to go to Minnie's and meet a ton of characters, it's also the cheapest!

 

[mystic_path]

Its all about who you want to see the most. Personally you can visit with the princesses for free once in Disneyland park. At AG you are basically just paying for characters to come to you rather than having to wait in line. I like Goofy's Kitchen simply because of the variety of food options, the hotel you can explore has such an incredible Disney feel to it, and you can go on any day that you arn't in the park.