Goofy's Kitchen with kids over 9

[themerriemonarch]

I'm visiting Disneyland with 3 kids, ages 8, 10 and 12. We've eaten dinner at Goofy's Kitchen in the past, and would like to return for my youngest's b-day. But it seems like the price for kids over 9 jumps from about $16 (expensive but plausible) to $38 (ridiculous) once they turn 10. So, sadly, I think we'll probably skip this one and eat elsewhere. I assume there's no way to get the older kids into Goofy's Kitchen for a more reasonable price? Thanks.

 

[mechurchlady]

Minnie's at Plaza Inn has lots of interaction and tons of freshly made food that is more of a cafeteria than a buffet. I like the food better, very allergen friendly and last time with AP discount only $23. If you want the characters will leave you alone or smother you in attention.

 

[Huff]

We're pretty much forced to give up on Character breakfasts and buffets in general due to absurd costs for kids over 9. My 2 11yr old girls eat one small plate of food and they're done.

 

[Sherry E]

Dinner during peak season (which is summer and the holiday season) is always the most expensive. Breakfast is always cheaper than dinner by a few bucks - and with a AAA or AP discount it's even better - but if you can swing a breakfast during off-peak season, that is the cheapest Goofy's meal, and you can still apply a AAA or AP discount to that price.

 

[3Minnies1Mickey]

Yeah, Character breakfasts (like tickets) jump from kids to adult prices at age 10. Storytellers off the menu looks like the cheapest (and best food?) Character meal.

 

[victorandbellasmom]

Last year was the first year my son was considered a disney adult and it was a bit tough to readjust my thinking. Luckily we went to WDW for free dining so we never really had to think about the price of measl (kids vs. adults). We're heading back to DL this August and it will be my son's 1st time there as a disney adult. We've usually done anywhere from 2-4 character meals a trip in the past so we'll be scaling it down to probably on 2 character meals this trip.

We like doing Lilo & Stitch's for breakfast as they offer both an all you can eat buffet and an option to order off the menu. We'll probably have to suck it up and pay for Goofy's though as we love it there. But we will probably not be doing Ariel's Grotto now. If you have a aaa card, i believe Goofy's has a 10% discount. You can also buy discount characte emal vouchers through getawaytoday.

 

[themerriemonarch]

Yeah, Character breakfasts (like tickets) jump from kids to adult prices at age 10.

Yeah, but the jump in ticket prices is fairly minimal. This situation pretty much keeps most families with tweens out of the character dining restaurants. Hard to pay $38 per kid for dinner.

 

[slg]

I personally think Disney is losing business over this ridiculous policy. I don't mind paying adult costs for my 13 year old, but really, there should be a kid cost until age 13. With the huge jump in prices, plus my kids hitting the double digits (my middle son is now 10) we are going to be giving up Goofy's kitchen. Which is too bad because we love it, but the cost! Last year the prices was only round $24 an adult and I had 2 under 10's. Now its 4 adults (ha!) and the price is astronomical.

I read that Disneyland had dropped its profits this year even though attendance was still up. I can imagine that folks will still go to DL but skip some of the pricier meals.

Does anyone know what the low season time and cost for Goofy's Kitchen is? I can't find that information anywhere. We're going in mid-December.

 

[Sherry E]

Jenjersnap just posted a helpful chart with on and off season prices, but I cannot recall in which thread it was located. Hopefully she will catch this thread. Anyway, it is not an exact science because previous off-peak season times are now becoming busy, but the general 'off-peak' time seems to be mid-September on to roughly mid-late October. Then the prices go up for the holiday season to peak rates, and go down again in either late January or February-ish, and they seem to stay off-peak until May or June - they may rasie for Memorial Day and then drop back down for part of June. Then, for the remainder of summer until mid-September, they appear to hold at the peak rates.

As most folks know on this board, I am the biggest Goofy's fan and champion around, but I totally agree that the prices are alienating. GK does seem to be adding a few extra characters here and there, but there are times when there may only be 5 characters 'on duty,' and for those prices (even off-peak rates), that is outrageous. I love their food, so I can deal with great food and maybe 5 or 6 characters, but it is a lofty fee. I think it is too much - especially in this day and age. Plus, from what Disneyland Dining told me late last year when I made a PS for December, the PS bookings for Goofy's and character meals in general were down. So this means either people were skipping these costly meals or they were just not making PS's and showing up without them. I tend to think they were probably skipping the character meals in general. Still, as lofty a sum as Goofy's is, I can justify it more there than I could at the Celebration BBQ. I know you can get as much of the BBQ food as you want at Celebration, but it is a very limited selecton of items and fewer characters. So essentially you are paying almost the same to eat there as you would at Goofy's, but at Goofy's you have tons of food to choose from and definite character visits - whereas at Celebration, apparently it is not classified as an official character meal and so you may get there on a day when Woody does not come to your table.