Goofys kitchen prices?

[FourM's]

So I was online comparing prices for goofys kitchen, storytellers, PCH grill ect.
Why is Goofys so much more $ than the others? Is it that cool? I did notice tax and tip are included there and not at the other places, that brings the price a little closer. My DD's are 10 and 12 and not that into characters anymore. We normally do Storytellers but thought we might be missing out on something by not going to Goofys.

 

[Sherry E]

So I was online comparing prices for goofys kitchen, storytellers, PCH grill ect.
Why is Goofys so much more $ than the others? Is it that cool? I did notice tax and tip are included there and not at the other places, that brings the price a little closer. My DD's are 10 and 12 and not that into characters anymore. We normally do Storytellers but thought we might be missing out on something by not going to Goofys.

What you saw online may not be accurate and up to date, though it is still expensive. They are an all-you-can-eat character buffet all the time (and it is a bountiful, plentiful buffet of all sorts of choices), whereas the other character meals (with the exception of Ariel's) are held in restaurants that function as non-character meals the rest of the day, and some are not all you can eat, necessarily. Goofy's has character dining in the morning, until noon, then they shut down for a few hours to prepare dinner, and then at 5:00 p.m. (maybe earlier) they re-open for a character dinner buffet.

Goofy's changes their prices with the peak seasons and with the off-peak seasons. Breakfast is always cheaper than dinner (and in my opinion, the breakfast selections are better than dinner, but some disagree). So in the off-peak season, which is right now and for the next few months, the breakfast/brunch price for adults is $32.21 per person, including the tax and tip. I just called Disney Dining last week and got that figure. Don't know about the kids' prices. Dinner would be about $5 or $6 more than that during off-peak season. Now, when the peak season rolls around - which is summer and the holidays - the Goofy's breakfast prices raise by about five bucks, so are usually just about $37 - $38. The dinner also raises in price to become about $44.

Because of the economy, they are not sure what they will do about raising the prices at Goofy's this year. The CM in Dining that I spoke to said they don't know how to handle that. They may refrain from raising the prices during summer and the holidays. It just depends on how the year goes with the economy.

Goofy's is my favorite restaurant in all of DLR, and has been since 1992. I would never skip it on a DLR trip, but I would eventually also like to try Minnie's and Lilo and Stitch. (I already did Storytellers.) I really love the quality of food and the variety of food that Goofy's has, but, by all means, if yous kids don't care about characters these days then don't spend the money to eat at Goofy's if you are unsure of whether they will enjoy themselves! There are no off-the-menu choices at Goofy's, so everyone has to get the buffet, and sometimes people can't eat that much to warrant spending that money!

 

[pixiewings71]

I wouldn't in any way say you are missing anything. We did not like GK at all, in fact we disliked it so much that we do not plan to ever go back. Of course, I'm in the minority so.....

 

[DizMe]

I wouldn't in any way say you are missing anything. We did not like GK at all, in fact we disliked it so much that we do not plan to ever go back. Of course, I'm in the minority so.....

We had the same experience. We haven't gone back since our EXTREMELY disappointing 2 visits. We do love Ariel's and since I have all girls, we have stuck with it and not tried the others. I've heard really good things lately about Minnie & Friends, which didn't used to rank very high.

 

[c&m]

We've been to GK many times. We've had some really amazingly fun dinners there (food better than usual, our table location was in the centre of action, great character interaction, and good friends for dinner companions). And then there were some really disappointing dinners as well (food was mediocre, lack of characters, BAD table location at the back near an exit where we were ignored).

I just think it depends on the evening. Is it worth the money??? Probably not. It is probably a place you'd want to experience once in your lifetime, just to see what it's like. The food is OK. However, for what you pay, you'd think you'd get something more. But it is Disney. We have been once on each of our trips because our DDs do like it and beg us to take them there, and because we are optimistic that it would be a fun time.

Personally, I enjoy Storytellers more. The food is OK, but the ambiance is so much nicer and more pleasant to me.

 

[pixiewings71]

We had the same experience. We haven't gone back since our EXTREMELY disappointing 2 visits. We do love Ariel's and since I have all girls, we have stuck with it and not tried the others. I've heard really good things lately about Minnie & Friends, which didn't used to rank very high.

We love Ariel's and Minnie and Friends breakfast. We like to do them both when we go with the girls.

 

[firefly87]

We did Goofy's Kitchen in 2006 for the first time. We had breakfast and the food was good. The character interaction was why we went and we had a good time. We went on our last day there (the day we were going home) and went for a late breakfast around 9 or 10 am. It was nice because the people that were going to the park that day had already left and we almost had the place to ourselves, so we had alot of character time! After breakfast, we loaded up and headed home.

On getawaytoday.com, you can buy tickets for GK at a discounted rate. Click on Disneyland Resort and then navigate your way into the Dining section. It says that brunch is $29.99 for adults and $35.99 for dinner. It is $15.99 for kids for both brunch & dinner. Tax & tip is NOT included in that price.

You can also buy tickets for other character dining such as Ariel's Grotto, PCH Grill, and Storyteller's Cafe.

 

[Sherry E]

We did Goofy's Kitchen in 2006 for the first time. We had breakfast and the food was good. The character interaction was why we went and we had a good time. We went on our last day there (the day we were going home) and went for a late breakfast around 9 or 10 am. It was nice because the people that were going to the park that day had already left and we almost had the place to ourselves, so we had alot of character time! After breakfast, we loaded up and headed home.

On getawaytoday.com, you can buy tickets for GK at a discounted rate. Click on Disneyland Resort and then navigate your way into the Dining section. It says that brunch is $29.99 for adults and $35.99 for dinner. It is $15.99 for kids for both brunch & dinner. Tax & tip is NOT included in that price.

You can also buy tickets for other character dining such as Ariel's Grotto, PCH Grill, and Storyteller's Cafe.

In my earlier post I was saying that I just called Disney Dining last week and the current (off-peak season) breakfast/brunch price at Goofy's for adults is $32.21, and that includes the tax and tip. It will likely change when the peak season hits, as it usually does. I am not sure Getwaway Today prices would be any cheaper because they charge fees, and then tax and tip have to be added on to that. But if the OP has AAA or an AP, a good discount can be had (15% discount with Premium APs and 10% with AAA or with lower-level AP's).

 

[lugnut33]

I got to the check-in at Goofy's and when he rang up the price I told him no way! It was going to cost like $153 for me, wife, DD11 and DD 8. He told me he could give me a discount, which brought it down, but still way more than I wanted to pay. We left and ate at the Jazz Kitchen for a lot less.

 

[Sherry E]

I got to the check-in at Goofy's and when he rang up the price I told him no way! It was going to cost like $153 for me, wife, DD11 and DD 8. He told me he could give me a discount, which brought it down, but still way more than I wanted to pay. We left and ate at the Jazz Kitchen for a lot less.

Yep! There is no getting around the fact that is IS costly - and shocking, if you are not expecting it. For me, it's definitely worth it. But it wouldn't be worth it for anyone who had a bad time there previously to go back again and risk wasting good money on an experience that may not be satisfying to them (such as with Pixiewings71 and DizMe's experiences), nor is it worth it for someone whose kids are kind of outgrowing the whole character thing to eat at Goofy's and spend that kind of money unless they are SURE everyone will enjoy it. It is just too much money to spend for people unless they are sure they will like it or unless money is of no concern.