Goofy's Kitchen?

[mrs.ariel]

We will be arriving on a Friday afternoon, but not heading to the parks until Saturday. My MIL has offered to treat us to a character meal. I have a 6 year old and a 2 year old boy.
I really don't want to "waste" Disney time with a sit-down meal, so I was thinking of Friday eve.
Any thoughts/suggestions?
Thanks,

 

[3Minnies1Mickey]

We enjoy Goofy's a lot. Good variety of food and characters.

 

[bakerudall]

The good news is that GK is a buffet, so you don't have to "waste time" waiting for food. Also, last time I went to DL, we had longer waits at some of the counter service windows in the park than our wait to be seated at GK.

 

[longtimedisneylurker]

Goofy's Kitchen is a great way to get a Disney vacation started on an arrival day when you won't be going to the park. We used to do this for my kids when they were younger and we didn't have APs. My boys love buffets and had lots of fun meeting the characters.

 

[tinkslite]

GK can be a time saver, because you will meet several characters right at your table, which means you can bypass standing in line to meet them in park! Telling the kids, "oh! that line is for kids who weren't lucky enough to have breakfast with (insert character). We need to let them have their turn to meet (insert character), we had our turn at breakfast (or dinner)!"

We made it a traditional "1st night" thing when my boys were little. They still love doing it at 16 & 14, and they certainly make the big price tag worth it nowadays! Teen appetites are ok at "all you can eat."

 

[Geemo]

You'll have a nice time Friday evening at Goofy's Kitchen.
Out of all the character meal locations, GK is our favorite.
Have your camera and the kids autograph books ready.
Plan to spend a minimum of 1.5 hours. I plan about two hours.
It takes longer for the kids to eat because of the characters going from table to table meeting people.
I always amazed how many characters come out.

It is a perfect way to start your time at Disneyland.

 

[mrs.ariel]

Thanks for all the responses. Guess I better make some reservations

 

[Debbie24020]

I really should read which sections these threads are under more carefully. I decided to google Goofys Kitchen and think it looks brilliant, only problem is we are going to Florida, not California.

 

[mrs.ariel]

 

[mickeymomindesert]

If you like the look of Goofy's Kitchen, you have several fun options in WDW!! Some of our faves are:
1. Breakfast at Beach Club/Yacht Club has a lovely buffet with beachy costumed characters who visit tables.Minnie, chip & dale, pluto, goofy.
2. chef Mickeys (loud and boisterous, character fun)Mickey, Minnie, goofy, donald
3. Buffet @ Grand Floridian (we like dinners here more than breakast, but both are nice and it is less chaotic than chef mickeys)Mary poppins, Alice in Wonderland are frequently seen here
4. Pooh bear and freinds breakfast at Crystal Palace in Magic Kingdom
5. Chip & Dale greet guests at nightly campfire at Campground. This is free and you don't have to be a guest of the campground! Sing along songs and smores (buy the smores)...
6. Aloha Breakfast at the Polynesian (Lilo & Stitch)

there are others.......Check out Birnbaums guide for the best current listing. My favorite by far was the one at the Beach Club, as it was the least crowded and the characters were very playful.
Have fun!

 

[mrsmcnoggin]

I'm new to all this and a little confused... I thought character meals were only offered at breakfast? Are there other lunch and dinner options for character meals as well?? Are there characters all the time at Goofy's kitchen? If so how many characters are usually there at lunch and dinner time? Thanks for any info!

 

[longtimedisneylurker]

I'm new to all this and a little confused... I thought character meals were only offered at breakfast? Are there other lunch and dinner options for character meals as well?? Are there characters all the time at Goofy's kitchen? If so how many characters are usually there at lunch and dinner time? Thanks for any info!

Yes, there are characters at all the meals offered at Goofy's Kitchen. Goofy's is the one remaining character dinner. They also have a breakfast/brunch but not a lunch. Ariel's Grotto in DCA offers character meals for breakfast and lunch but not dinner. Minnie's breakfast is at Plaza Inn inside Disneyland and has lots of characters. Most of the rest of the day Plaza Inn is buffeteria style service with no characters. There is a special birthday party event there though during the afternoon that features Pat E. Cake and includes some cupcakes and celebrating and concludes with photo ops with Mickey and Minnie. There are also character breakfasts in each of the other resort hotels: Storyteller's in the Grand and Surf's Up with Mickey at Paradise Pier.