Is Goofy's Kitchen worth it for b-day dinner?

[kristie73]

I'm thinking of taking my soon to be 4 year old son for his birthday dinner at Goofy's Kitchen. There will be 4 adults and 2 children 4 and under. Is the buffet, characters, and cake celebration at Goofy's Kitchen worth the price? Or should I just give him a b-day bucket and take him to like the Rain Forest Cafe or something? How much can a 4 year old really eat at a buffet? He's not a big eater.

 

[wendypooh22]

I am interested to hear what people think too.... We have been taking my sons to disneyland since they were 2 yrs old, but this is the first time that we will be eating at Goofy's kitchen... I too was worried that they wouldn't eat enough for the $$$. They are 6 & 8 now and I am pretty sure that they will have their fill of mac & cheese

As for Rainforest Cafe. This is still a great place to take the kids. My boys love it and the food is really good too...

It helps to get a reservation so that you don't have to wait in line.

 

[dizzyami]

I have never done Goofy's, but from what I can tell from others about Goofy's, and our experience at all the other character meals the experience is definitely worth the price. We saw Goofy's last week on our way to Granville's and it looked like a great place, and from what I can tell a favorite for many for all of the character meals. I know at all the others the kids buffet is at a reduced price, still pricey, but worth every penny IMO.

 

[Alex2kMommy]

Kids under 3 eat free, in case any in your party. That helps shave some expense right there. And the price for a child is quite a bit less than for an adult, but I'm not remembering the exact figures. I figured I was paying not only for the food, but for the table service (which is hard to come by in the park, at least) and most importantly for the character interaction! Because of all the characters at the meal, we spent less of our valuable park time in line to see those characters!

We saw 6 characters at Goofy's Kitchen. They change the line-up, but the night we went it was Pluto, Goofy, Cinderella, Snow White, Chip and Belle. A few nights later I was passing by and saw that Aurora was there.

We had a belated celebration of our DS's 6th birthday at GK, and I almost ordered the birthday bucket, but then decided to just go with a $5 birthday bag. It had cute little party-favor type toys and came with a cone-shaped party hat. And when they brought DS a Mickey cupcake with a candle and Goofy came to help him blow it out, both boys just loved it!

I did the same thing when we went to the Lilo & Stitch breakfast later in the week, this time celebrating DS2's birthday. (Our trip was initially scheduled for his birthday, but we had to cancel at the last minute. This trip near DS6's birthday was the rescheduled time.) I got DS2 a birthday bag, which had different toys from the GK birthday bag, and he received a slice of chocolate cake. Stitch helped him celebrate that one, so each boy felt special for a day.

I thought it was well worth the money. I might have gone for the birthday bucket if the celebration had been ON a birthday, but with all the stuff we had to pack on the way home, I'm glad I went with the birthday bags this time.

 

[wendypooh22]

Thanks for the info... We are really looking forward to GK this trip! We will be celebrating the boys birthdays, so the party bags will make a special treat for them..

Has anyone been to the birthday party where you decorate your own cupcake??

 

[csolson2003]

I have only gone to GK once and I was worried about the price before I went but it was SOOOOO worth the money. The food was awesome the staff was friendly, the service was good and the character interaction was worth the the $ value alone! We saw Goofy, Pluto, Belle, Chip and Dale, Gheppeto, Alladin and a few others I am missing. My DD age 7 had a blast, she got to meet all the characters and they also get them up to dance. It was a full 2 hours of fun!

 

[Misskitty3]

Good question!!

We will be at GK on Nov 2nd celebrating a birthday during their brunch service.

We are also doing the birthday party in the park later that afternoon.

I will take lots of pictures and come back and post details.

 

[Amy&Dan]

We have celebrated several birthdays for my kids as well as my husband's 38th, all at Goofy's. So to us, yes it is worth it. The food is pricey but you get a huge selection and we have always had very good meals there. It has the largest variety of characters (based on my experience) and the interraction has always been good for us in our ten visits. I don't think the birthday buckets are worth the price but my daughter did love hers. It was some stickers, a pin and that was about it. They will bring out a small cake/cupcake regardless of whether you order the bucket, all you have to do is ask. The Pat E. Cake birthday party at the Plaza Inn is great for little kids and a good deal too (by Disneyland pricing standards). I think Goofy's is a great place for birthday's as long as you know ahead of time what the price is. They do give a AAA discount (very small, maybe 5%) as well as AP discounts and DVC discounts if any of those apply. Have fun!

 

[wendypooh22]

Thanks for your post! I didn't know about the AAA discount, I will definately bring my card with me

 

[got2travel]

Goofy's Kitchen is great. We love the food, although we prefer brunch over dinner. I agree with others, it's more about the character interaction than the food. That's what you are really paying for.

We've never done a birthday there, but have seen many. They try to get Goofy there to help with the celebration, but if he's not available, they'll get one of the others. Also, if anyone else is in the area, they'll stop over too.

As for the cake party in the park, I've heard mixed things about it. It is not a character party. Sometimes Mickey will stop by, but mostly it's just with a flamboyant chef. He leads you in some songs and you decorate your own little cake. Kids probably don't mind, but the adults I've heard from didn't care for the cake at all. In my opinion you don't need to do both. Having the celebration at Goofy's Kitchen is enough.

Oh and don't forget to stop at City Hall for your birthday button. They'll put your name on it and everyone wishes you happy birthday.

 

[TwingleMum]

Where can you get info on the birthday buckets~ how much? Whats inside? Where to order?.

Where can you get info on the Pat E Cake birthday party? Are there anyother birthday parties to chose from???

 

[wendypooh22]

I contacted the DL hotel today and asked if they did anything special for birthday trips... The agent asked for their names and said that when we check in the boys will get a button and balloon... We could have a basked delivered to the room, but decided that a special button was okay since we will be taking them to GK as a special surprise... I am assuming that the button from the hotel will be the same as from City Hall?

 

[mystic_path]

Excellent character interaction at Goofy's Kitchen. Lots of characters are always in the restaraunt and the food is fantastic.

 

[GoofyBaby]

I HIGHLY recommend Goofy's Kitchen for birthday celebrations! Being that Goofy is my favorite guy, I celebrated my 34th birthday there and Goofy came out with Pluto and about 5 waiters to sing me happy birthday! Goofy made it a point to spend some quality time with me and it was wonderful! We also had interaction with Captain Hook, Chip, Dale, Pluto, Peter Pan, Jasmine, and the Fairy Godmother. . .about every 30 minutes or so, Goofy and Pluto did the Macarena in the center of the restaurant with all the kids. There was so much food to choose from, I was almost overwhelmed. They really do have something for everyone and the food was delicious! I got 3 balloons and a birthday button as well as a chocolate cupcake with sprinkles and chocolate mickey for my desert. My best friend also bought me a Goofy's Kitchen birthday bag for $5.00, which included a foam puzzle, toy maraca, Goofy shaped pen and button. Defeinitely well worth the money. I will never forget my Goofy's kitchen experience!

By the way, if you go and you see Captain Hook, be sure to call him a codfish! I did that and he wouldn't leave me alone the rest of the night. He gave me that "I'm watching you Focker" look and pointed at his eyes and then at me. Later on, he tripped me up with his feet and pointed at his hook and then at me! It was fantastic!

 

[disneycutie84]

I would also reccomend Goofy's Kitchen. DBf and I just went last Saturday morning for brunch and we both celebrated our bdays. (they are within two weeks of each other.)
It was amazing! We had balloons at our table, and the waiter came by with two cupcakes and bday buttons. Then, he annouced to everyone that it was our bday and began singing with a few other waiters. Dale was there at the time and danced around while they sang.
I was sooo happy! We also saw Captain Hook, Mad Hatter, Alice, Goofy, and Chip. Captain Hook was my favorite. He really liked my Cruella DeVil shirt and we just had a great interaction.
I am working on my trip report right now, and will be posting it soon. I will include pictures of the bday cupcakes, balloons, and etc.