Please tell me this is not true Goofy's Kitchen

[allsaintsatx]

I saw this post on the Character Meals super thread:

"Warning about Goofy's Kitchen:

As of October 1 there are no more "guest stars" visiting. You will be seeing Goofy at the photo stop, Pluto, Minnie and Chip and Dale. Supposedly they will get new costumes when a small refurb is over and the photo stop will be re done too - the date we were given for that was Monday."

Has anyone else experienced this?

GK is our favorite spot and it's mostly because of the amazing array of characters. Each time we've been we've had the best character interactions of our entire trip: imaginary "tea time" with the Mad Hatter and Chip, Alice singing Disney songs off key while Baloo shook his head in disapproval, Baloo walking into a wall over and over again (my kid couldn't stop laughing!) and it's really the only time my DW gets to see princesses (our DS10 is not a fan!) she got to meet Jasmine, Aurora and Snow White on different trips.

If it's true I will be seriously bummed out.

 

[cmrolli68]

I was told by CM that they still have the character interaction just not with "face" characters, only those in full costume... no princesses, Alice in Wonderland, etc.

 

[2tinkerbell]

We were there October 2nd for breakfast. We saw Goofy (before seating), Chip, Dale, and Minnie. Missing from when we were there in January were, Jasmine, Alice, and the Mad Hatter. I was disappointed, but, thought it was due to the construction they have going on. Also our picture has the rod holding the temporary curtain and the ceiling is showing. They apparently are remodeling the front so things "flow better." Right now the flow is awkward.

I think for a "premium" character meal one should see more than 4 characters.

 

[kirstie101]

Interesting. Anyone know when this is supposed to happen?

 

[MonkeyDishwasher]

i think it's already started.

 

[2tinkerbell]

We didn't see Pluto when we were there on Oct 2nd. Goofy, Chip, Dale and Minnie is 4 characters.

 

[Swtonscrappn]

I would love to hear some more experiences about since this started. I have reservations there for someone's bday next week and if the interaction isn't there, I will move it to Storytellers or Mickey's Surfs up. (The guests to the party dont have disney tickets for the day.)

 

[Speechphi]

Interesting...what a bummer tho! Sounds like the two "premium " meals have the least character interaction

 

[Diszona]

I saw this post on the Character Meals super thread:

"Warning about Goofy's Kitchen:

As of October 1 there are no more "guest stars" visiting. You will be seeing Goofy at the photo stop, Pluto, Minnie and Chip and Dale. Supposedly they will get new costumes when a small refurb is over and the photo stop will be re done too - the date we were given for that was Monday."

Has anyone else experienced this?

Those were the only characters when we ate there on Oct 1st. They are also doing a refurb so they aren't doing the dancing with Goofy thing either, it is pretty much just pictures and autographs.

 

[2tinkerbell]

While the change is a bit of a disappointment in the amount of characters and the refurbishment, Goofy's Kitchen is still our favorite place to go. Heck, we went when the whole thing was in the conference center in a ballroom and it was fun. I know that things happen and things change. It is our last day tradition and I don't think that I am willing to give it up.

The characters did come by several times. We were celebrating my DD's birthday and it couldn't have been better. Several of the characters (Minnie and Chip, I believe - will have to look at the pictures) along with our waiter and several other wait staff came by to sing to her and they presented her with a cupcake.

I asked my DD. She said that she had a great time at Goofy's Kitchen and at Surf's Up. She said the next time we go she wants to do Goofy's Kitchen and Minnie and Friends at the Plaza Inn.

 

[allsaintsatx]

it is 100% true and it is a permanent change. I called and spoke to a DD CM, and they confirmed that the only characters at Goofys from now on will be Goofy, Pluto, Chip n' Dale and Minnie Mouse. The reason? To "enhance the diner's experience"!! Which, from listening to the DIS podcast and being an avid reader of the WDW and DLR DIS boards is ""Disney speak" for saving money.

I know the food won't change and the atmosphere won't change but it will change our experience. It was always exciting to see who the next surprise character would be, and every time we ate there the characters were different (besides goofy and such) so literally every single experience we had was different from the last.

I like the new (same) characters, but these are duplicates of some of the characters at Storytellers, Minnie's, Surf's Up - the variety (and the PBJ pizza!) are what made Goofy's our favorite character meal. Now, we know that every time we go there it will be Character X, Y and Z. If I wanted that kind of experience I'd go to Disney World.

 

[DisneyJamieCA]

Those were the only characters when we ate there on Oct 1st. They are also doing a refurb so they aren't doing the dancing with Goofy thing either, it is pretty much just pictures and autographs.

We've eaten there twice in the last year and neither time they did the dancing with Goofy, so I think that's been gone for awhile.

And I agree with others, a character meal designated as "premium" should have more than 4 characters!

 

[Speechphi]

it is 100% true and it is a permanent change. I called and spoke to a DD CM, and they confirmed that the only characters at Goofys from now on will be Goofy, Pluto, Chip n' Dale and Minnie Mouse. The reason? To "enhance the diner's experience"!! Which, from listening to the DIS podcast and being an avid reader of the WDW and DLR DIS boards is ""Disney speak" for saving money. I know the food won't change and the atmosphere won't change but it will change our experience. It was always exciting to see who the next surprise character would be, and every time we ate there the characters were different (besides goofy and such) so literally every single experience we had was different from the last. I like the new (same) characters, but these are duplicates of some of the characters at Storytellers, Minnie's, Surf's Up - the variety (and the PBJ pizza!) are what made Goofy's our favorite character meal. Now, we know that every time we go there it will be Character X, Y and Z. If I wanted that kind of experience I'd go to Disney World.

Bummer! We've been 3 times & never had the dancing Goofy thing, but at least we've seen quite a variety of characters. Dh loves the food there, so I'm sure we'll return, but I don't see the point when I can easily meet those same characters anywhere.

 

[Diszona]

We've eaten there twice in the last year and neither time they did the dancing with Goofy, so I think that's been gone for awhile.

And I agree with others, a character meal designated as "premium" should have more than 4 characters!

Oh, the CM told us it was due to the construction. That stinks if it is gone for good, our son had a lot of fun with it when he was younger and I was hoping our daughter would get to do it as well.

 

[petals]

I saw pictures on facebook they had Minnie, Chip and Dale, Pluto and Goofy all in chef/waiter related outfits.

 

[DizMe]

I would not find that experience worth the price. What a shame. It appears that once again, DL gets to pay for cost overruns elsewhere.

 

[kirstie101]

We've eaten there twice in the last year and neither time they did the dancing with Goofy, so I think that's been gone for awhile.

And I agree with others, a character meal designated as "premium" should have more than 4 characters!

Completely agree! There should be more than 4 characters for the cost. But at the same time I know we'll continue to go for dinner once a year. We actually really like the food there. Its a shame there won't be face characters there anymore. I guess they really want you to pay for Ariels Grotto as well if you want to see any princesses.

 

[allsaintsatx]

I saw pictures on facebook they had Minnie, Chip and Dale, Pluto and Goofy all in chef/waiter related outfits.

I think they should just grab Mickey from the hotel next door, put him in a chefs outfit and change the name to "Chef Mickeys, Minus the Monorail" or you could look out the window at the monorail slide, that's kinda the same right?

 

[JohnTodd]

Well, thanks to the info in this thread and the super-thread, I cancelled my GK reservations last night and made Minnie's reservations instead.

Thanks for the tip. Very disappointing.

 

[Vala]

I was the one who posted the original warning. Definitely true.

I went there on my arrival night September 26. Still stellar cast and characters as usual. Then went with my friends for their good bye breakfast on October 4 and surprise... four characters plus Goofy only.

We had our waitress get us a manager and she said that change was permanent as of October 1. Same reason as others were given "to enhance the dining experience" and also something about things being adjusted between the parks. I admit that didn't sit with me too well - kind of like the Chef Mickey's comment made a few posts above this. Actually my first reaction was something like "wait, does this mean I'll suddenly be getting customer service in Paris now?"

I cancelled my good bye breakfast there for the 6th on the spot too. We also marched to City Hall and filled in a complaint form. I know we were not the only ones, the CM I spoke to said there have been prior complaints.