Just wondering how the food and atmosphere was, as my DH and I might try it in December. A prime rib buffet sounds good. Are there any antics that go on or other fun things, also will we feel out of place?
Here is a recent thread you may or may not have seen, which can give you some idea:
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2185003.
You are only interested in the dinner buffet and not breakfast? I really strongly prefer the breakfast buffet, but others like the dinner choices. In my almost 17 years of eating at Goofy's, I have only done the dinner twice (I initially thought it was once that I had eaten dinner there, but then I remembered another time we went there for dinner only and never went into DL at all). Either way, it is a big buffet with lots of choices, but I really like the breakfast food better. Several DIS-ers have just recently been there for dinner and come back with mixed reviews - some great and some not good at all! DizNee Luver is another huge Goofy's fan like I am, and she has been there for dinner fairly recently so maybe she can jump in and tell us what was happening for dinner. Her Trip Report has lots of recent photos. My Trip Report has photos from 2008 back to 1992.
So the general atmosphere is upbeat. Some say it is loud but I don't find it to be overly loud in the morning. I am not sure about evening noise levels. I mean there are lots of people milling about by the buffet stations, and there are characters roaming the restaurant. Goofy does this thing every so often where he comes out and 'bangs' pots and pans for two seconds, which then leads into the kids in the restaurant doing the Macarena with all the characters. There is also a little 'cooking with Goofy' thing he does with the kids. But that doesn't last too long. So if it does get noisy, it is temporary. My friends and I have no kids and we are 40+ years old, and we go there, enjoy ourselves and do not feel out of place at all! Just as long as you can deal with characters coming to your table, you will be fine!
Normally there are 5 - 8 characters running around, but on certain 'off' nights recently, DIS-ers have reported seeing only 3 characters. So there is no telling who will be there at the time you go, but usually it is Goofy, Chip, Dale, Baloo, Pluto and then anyone from Minnie, Aurora and Prince Phillip, Belle, Snow White, Jasmine and Aladdin, Alice and the Mad Hatter, Genie or Captain Hook could be there too.