ExcitedMama
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Aug 29, 2013
- Messages
- 679
I've written about some disappointment with our recent trip but it turned out Goofy's was one of the highlights. We did it on our last trip and wasn't impressed, the food was meh and our kids didn't care about characters. We went while DH was at a conference and he had a work dinner on a MHP night so I wanted to do something fun for the kids and knew DL closing early would mean crowd problems. DS was excited about Goofy's when I was giving him options because he was excited about the buffet and getting whatever he wanted, which he decided meant desserts only for dinner! As he is fond of saying he "isn't in to characters." I had seen that over the summer Chef Mickey was at Goofy's and the outfit looked cute so I was sorry we were going to miss him. They have renovated since we were last there in 2014 and now there is a really cute little kitchen for the photo op. My jaded 7 year old was even impressed with the kitchen and the steam coming out of the pot. Much to our surprise we were told that the special guest chef was Mickey and we got a photo with him in the kitchen. As we were waiting for our table my DD lamented that she wished the girl mouse was there. I told her she wouldn't be and tried to cheer her up. Then as we were going to our table we saw Minnie! She was one of the first characters to come over and DS was unwilling to pose with her but she went over and tickled him and got a great smile out him (she did the same at our meal at Minnie's too).
DS ended up enjoying the characters and having a big smile on his face. Those pictures are my favorite because you can just see the joy on his face and he looks like such a little boy instead of being my jaded grumpy eyeore who's always saying he's not into characters. At the end he even said he'd missed a couple of the characters when he was getting food, he didn't, because he wanted to see them again. We saw Chef Mickey, Pastry Chef Minnie, Chef Goofy, Pluto (who the kids really loved, call him a good dog), and Chip and Dale (they loved and they really seem happy if you know which is which). Pluto and Goofy came by twice. We saw less characters than at Minnie's but had longer and better character interaction, even comparing the same characters at both places (Chip and Dale). DS loved being independent and allowed to go and get his own food. The staff was great when I asked for advice about when characters would be coming back so I could go and get DD food and not worry about missing getting any photos of the kids with characters. I don't think my kids really knew the classic characters, again my DD calls Minnie the girl mouse, and as stated my son wasn't into characters but we had such an amazing time. I'm not sure if they'd ever seen the chipmunks in a cartoon before. I know there have been a lot of disappointed Goofy posts but we loved it.
Minnie used to get rave reviews which is why I made the reservation but I started to see negative posts before we left. The food was definitely meh and we didn't eat much. We saw more characters but as I said the interactions were rushed and not great. Maybe it's because I did a later reservation, 10, to maximize our early park time. Pictures with Minnie first of course. We saw Chip and Dale again but it was rushed. The same was true of Pooh, Tigger and Eyeore. The Fairy Godmother was sweet although brief. Everyone was happy to see Pinocchio but again it was quick. The best interaction by far was with Capt. Hook. DD did not want to see him so DH took her to get food. DS was excited to see him and I got photos and I was teasing DS not to shake his hand and smile at him because he's a bad guy so Hook was excited and hammed it up more with DS and pointed at DS and himself like DS was on his team. DS really enjoyed it. DS also loved pointing out Hook's antics after he left. We saw him walking with a lady who he then pushed out the door! DS also said he saw Hook try and push someone into the bushes. It was hard to get pictures because they didn't stay long and there wasn't much room with all the tables. It was very hard to get pictures without chairs in the way and to get both kids in the pictures by the time they came by. DD had fun and I loved DS having so much fun with Hook, again he's much harder to please than DD, but overall Goofy's was a better experience. If like us you don't get too go much you might enjoy both places but if I had to choose one it would be Goofy's and I doubt we'd go back to Minnie's.
DS ended up enjoying the characters and having a big smile on his face. Those pictures are my favorite because you can just see the joy on his face and he looks like such a little boy instead of being my jaded grumpy eyeore who's always saying he's not into characters. At the end he even said he'd missed a couple of the characters when he was getting food, he didn't, because he wanted to see them again. We saw Chef Mickey, Pastry Chef Minnie, Chef Goofy, Pluto (who the kids really loved, call him a good dog), and Chip and Dale (they loved and they really seem happy if you know which is which). Pluto and Goofy came by twice. We saw less characters than at Minnie's but had longer and better character interaction, even comparing the same characters at both places (Chip and Dale). DS loved being independent and allowed to go and get his own food. The staff was great when I asked for advice about when characters would be coming back so I could go and get DD food and not worry about missing getting any photos of the kids with characters. I don't think my kids really knew the classic characters, again my DD calls Minnie the girl mouse, and as stated my son wasn't into characters but we had such an amazing time. I'm not sure if they'd ever seen the chipmunks in a cartoon before. I know there have been a lot of disappointed Goofy posts but we loved it.
Minnie used to get rave reviews which is why I made the reservation but I started to see negative posts before we left. The food was definitely meh and we didn't eat much. We saw more characters but as I said the interactions were rushed and not great. Maybe it's because I did a later reservation, 10, to maximize our early park time. Pictures with Minnie first of course. We saw Chip and Dale again but it was rushed. The same was true of Pooh, Tigger and Eyeore. The Fairy Godmother was sweet although brief. Everyone was happy to see Pinocchio but again it was quick. The best interaction by far was with Capt. Hook. DD did not want to see him so DH took her to get food. DS was excited to see him and I got photos and I was teasing DS not to shake his hand and smile at him because he's a bad guy so Hook was excited and hammed it up more with DS and pointed at DS and himself like DS was on his team. DS really enjoyed it. DS also loved pointing out Hook's antics after he left. We saw him walking with a lady who he then pushed out the door! DS also said he saw Hook try and push someone into the bushes. It was hard to get pictures because they didn't stay long and there wasn't much room with all the tables. It was very hard to get pictures without chairs in the way and to get both kids in the pictures by the time they came by. DD had fun and I loved DS having so much fun with Hook, again he's much harder to please than DD, but overall Goofy's was a better experience. If like us you don't get too go much you might enjoy both places but if I had to choose one it would be Goofy's and I doubt we'd go back to Minnie's.
