What makes the Goofy dining experience special at DL?

[daisy6]

I was going to book a princess breakfast at DL, but my girls are 9 and 13, and I think they have outgrown it. Someone said Goofy was there favorite. What makes it special?
Daisy

 

[CalGal]

OK, in truth I haven't been to the Princess Breakfast at the Plaza Inn, although I have been to several character and non-character meals at the Plaza Inn over the years. I go to GK every visit. I believe that GK is special because:
1. Great variety of characters
2. Characters there are always a hoot, and are entertaining to all ages (At 14, my DS still likes GK quite a bit). Goofy is always quite, well, goofy. My son still laughs about the time Goofy kept smuggling him dishes of jello whenever I turned my head. (It took me 3 or 4 jello cups before I figured out what was going on). My son also fondly recalls another time when Goofy made him a HUGE banana split after I made a comment about how everything was great, except that I would like to see my son go more for the veges than the desserts.
3. The restaurant is relatively small, and so the characters are able to make the rounds fairly quickly without sacrificing time with the guests. (I believe this can be a problem at the Princess Breakfast if you don't get a very early PS)
4. The food is pretty good and varied (better than Plaza Inn on both counts IMO)
5. You can go most anytime of day. I prefer not to sacrifice prime ride time (when line are relatively short) doing a character breakfast; I'd much rather go at lunchtime when I am ready for a break, or early evening before heading back to the park after my afternoon break.

Some of the best character experiences that I've ever had have been at Plaza Inn over 10 years ago before character meals became popular, and at GK at off times (late lunch or very early dinner). These have been the times when characters have had the most time to play with you.

 

[webprinter]

My daughter and I did Goofy's Kitchen in Dec. She was 13 at the time and we both loved it. The characters were great and spent quite a bit of time at our table. The food was decent for a buffet. They had a lot of variety. The service by our waitress was outstanding. The food was the correct temperature. We only waited about 10 minutes after checking in before we were seated. It was busy, but did not appear busy. They had a lot of characters (Chip n Dale, Minnie, Goofy, Aladdin, Jasmine, Pluto) and maybe more that I am unable to remember. We hightly recommend it. Debby

 

[spendleb]

Same reasons as everyone else, Goofy also got everyone up doing the macarena and then give all the kids pots and pans to form a (noisy) band, Tyler loved it and so did we, Goody even sat at our table helping Tyler attach an apple onto a fork to make it easier to eat!

 

[hookedup]

I am not a huge fan of GK but that's because I don't like buffets. I prefer Ariel's Grotto in DCA for character dining.

 

[got2travel]

I've done both and will stick with Goofy's. My reasons are:

Quality of service is better at Goofy's - when they tried to seat us at the Princess breakfast, the bus boy was still cleaning the table, we were told to get our food and it should be clean by the time we get back - the food staff was not very responsive when questions were asked about the food

Quality of food is better at Goofy's - had to wait 15 minutes for an omlete at Princess and there were only 2 people in front of me - food didn't get replaced as quickly at the Princess - hot food was hot and cold food was cold at Goofy's - seemed to be more choices at Goofy's

Variety of characters at Goofy's - ok, while I realize the Princess breakfast is to highlight the princesses, they could still have more of their princes there (we only saw Beast and Burt) - I prefer the characters at Goofy's, they are more playful

Availability of eating times - you are able to have breakfast, lunch or dinner at Goofy's and therefore not miss out on prime early morning ride time

 

[c&m]

Our DDs (ages 6 and 9) absolutely LOVE GK and insist we book it on each trip. Last time we went, we were with 2 other families, all with DDs ranging in ages from 1 to 13.

All had a great time dancing to the macarena with Goofy, and meeting a wide variety of Disney characters. I believe that most of the princesses were there, as well as Alice in Wonderland, Captain Hook, Mickey, Minnie, Pluto, Alladdin, Chip 'n Dale, etc. The food was also great for all the kids and adults. Such a fun dinner that every one of us have fond memories of during our trip.