Hi! We have been going to DLR regularly for the past 8 years, and always taking advantage of the Goofy’s Kitchen character meals. About a year ago, I noticed that they completely changed the way the characters come out and there are fewer characters now, with no extras. There used to be 7-8 characters, with about 3-4 of them rotating. Now it is about 5 set characters and not all of them get around to all the tables. It used to be great, but they cheesy music, slow visits and the format makes it unpleasant. We have tried both breakfast and dinner and they are both the same. Breakfast was great, especially when we were early and the characters used to come to our table multiple times because there were fewer people. The last time we were there will probably be the last.
We went for breakfast 3 years ago and thought it was great. Random characters (7-8 of them) and the food was decent. We went again last November for dinner and saw the same changes you mentioned. We did like the characters, even though only the Fab 5, but the food was terrible. We won’t return again, there are many other better places to eat there for significantly less money.
We have only done dinner 2x (last time was 2014) and weren’t impressed either time with it.
But we love, love, love, love, love Goofy’s for breakfast. We have done many a time & the character interaction has always been top-notch, the parade they do is a huge hit with my kids (we miss this at Plaza bc they don’t do anything like it), and the food has always been decent, with the last year or so seeing a definite improvement on all things including presentation of classics, like PB&J Pizza.
We consist of me, DH, DS7 & DD5 who have been going since they were 3 & 1 and last, but certainly not least DS 16 months who’s first trip at 2 months old included bfast at Goofy’s & some of his first HUGE smiles were when Chip paid us a visit. The pictures I have of him & his big brother & sister & Chip all together with his huge smile are just darling.
I am looking to book a character breakfast at the end of October. Kids are 9 and 7. Was leaning towards Goofy’s but does the Plaza have characters too?
For Breakfast, yes. I have not done it, but I have heard good things. I have done the recently revised Storytellers Cafe and thought it was great! Good food and lots of fun, it does not have as many character as Plaza though.
We have done Goofy’s & Plaza several times each. Goofy’s is our favorite but Plaza is definitely super convenient being in the parks. We’ve also done the Storytellers Cafe a bunch (with the old set of characters) & that was just as convenient as Plaza with the best food option of any of the character meals. The only con for it was that the characters weren’t as well known, but from what I have read the new characters & their outfits are awesome & the food remains as awesome.
Plaza food includes to order omelette station & Mickey waffles along with standard bfast buffet items. At times it has felt a little more like cafeteria-ey but lately has seen decided improvement and even when it does seem cafeteria-ey, the made to order omelettes are always tasty. As for characters, if you just love meeting all kinds of characters & like a high volume of characters this is a great option. The fewest you will see are 7-8 and can see up to about 12 different characters. When we have gone characters have always included Minnie, Chip, Dale, Pluto, Hook, Tigger, Eeyore & Winnie the Pooh. We’ve also seen 2-3 out of: Rafiki, Max, Perla (one of Cinderella’s mice friends), Fairy Godmother, Peter Pan, Pinocchio, Gepetto. I’ve heard others report seeing the Pinocchio villains Gideon (the cat) & Foulfellow (the fox), Tweedles & the Mary Poppins Penguins. So it can be a very fun meet. If you go early on the characters can come quite fast, one after the other, leaving hardly time to take a bite. If your aim is to see & interact with a variety of characters, this definitely is the character dining to do. If your focus is more on the food, in terms of having more time to eat and better quality, then another character option will provide that as all the rest only have 5 characters max and all have more/better options on their buffets. One thing that we miss when we do Plaza is any kind of character parade/song/dance that all of the rest of the character dining meals do.
Goofy’s being at the Disneyland Hotel is pretty far from the parks, but the hotel has great atmosphere around it & is always a fun place to visit. A trip for Goofy’s Kitchen puts you right in the heart of it & makes it easy for you to go & enjoy the atmosphere/history that there is at the hotel. The characters & their outfits & interactions make it always SO great when we have gone. You meet Chef Goofy before getting seated (or are directed to come see him on your way out if you are seated while he is in the back checking on the kitchen operations), Pastry Chef Minnie, Sous Chef Pluto & serves Chip n’ Dale. Their interactions & the parade that they all do (similar to Chef Mickey’s at WDW if you’re familiar) is so much fun & a highlight of any trip where we include Goofy’s Kitchen. And then the food for breakfast also includes pretty standard breakfast buffet along with some brunch items, our favorite being the Peanut Butter & Jelly Pizza that Goofy’s is well-known for. The last time we were at Goofy’s we noticed a definite improvement on overall food quality so it was even more enjoyable than it already was for us.