We are driving from Portland OR and arriving at our Hotel in the afternoon (early April). I don't want to use the arrival day as a 'Park Day' but would like to do something fun. I was thinking of trying Goofy's for dinner, any thoughts? We've been there for breakfast once and loved it. Is the character interaction as good in the evening?

We really, really had a good time at Goofy's for dinner. The first time we went to Goofy's because we couldn't get into it for breakfast. We loved dinner! Tons of food, and at that time lot's of character interaction. I was never big on Alice, but after that trip, amazing! We have a boy and girl, and we had great character that both loved. I'd make reservation there again.

We are right across the river from you!:cool:

We are driving from Portland OR and arriving at our Hotel in the afternoon (early April). I don't want to use the arrival day as a 'Park Day' but would like to do something fun. I was thinking of trying Goofy's for dinner, any thoughts? We've been there for breakfast once and loved it. Is the character interaction as good in the evening?I thought it was better in the evening. When we took my nephew and niece in October, they all got special time with the various characters. We had princesses, Minnie, Goofy, Pluto, Max, and I don't remember who else. And they have prime rib........

*Waving momton/o*!
Thanks for the input! I'll have three girls with me, 14, 11, and 4. I'm sure the older two will enjoy any and all characters, and my lil one will hide regardless, heehee;) But of course she still talks about how much she loved seeing -insert any character name here- last time!!

Do they do the pots n' pans music thing during dinner?

*Waving momton/o*!
Thanks for the input! I'll have three girls with me, 14, 11, and 4. I'm sure the older two will enjoy any and all characters, and my lil one will hide regardless, heehee;) But of course she still talks about how much she loved seeing -insert any character name here- last time!!

Do they do the pots n' pans music thing during dinner?Yep, and the Macerena (however you spell it...)

We've done dinner at Goofy's too... and feel we get our money's worth more at dinner time :) Great selection of food... and we had tons of characters come to our table.. not to mention the classic moment outside where Pluto crawled around the floor w/my son!

nvmom

Yes, it was the Macarena and the PB&j Pizza!:D We had tons of character interaction. But we aren't really big morning eaters, so dinner made more sense to us. If I remember correctly, we did the first seating. It was really great!

We've done dinner at Goofy's too... and feel we get our money's worth more at dinner time :) Great selection of food... and we had tons of characters come to our table.. not to mention the classic moment outside where Pluto crawled around the floor w/my son!

nvmomOh, do we have great pics from there....

A great one with Pluto. (http://i135.photobucket.com/albums/q133/Malcon10t/PismoPluto.jpg)

And one with Snow White. (http://i135.photobucket.com/albums/q133/Malcon10t/PismoSnow.jpg)

Yes, it was the Macarena and the PB&j Pizza!:D We had tons of character interaction. But we aren't really big morning eaters, so dinner made more sense to us. If I remember correctly, we did the first seating. It was really great!

^^This is what I was thinking too. We aren't breakfast eaters either and when we did Goofy's for breakfast, the food was great and the characters were great, but we didn't really eat enough to make it worthwhile.
I was trying to decide if I wanted to do the dinner on our arrival day or breakfast on our departure day. I think we'll do dinner and save the departure day as our final park day!!:D

My kids are cereal kids! So we are breakfast late, had a light lunch and then early dinner at Goofy's. Afterwards we walked around the pretty grounds. But my favorite memory at dinner was Alice. I swear she really, really WAS Alice. My DH and I told her that and she responded 'well that fall was a bit startling" Loved her!

Definitely! Goofy's Kitchen is a great way to get into the magic the first day after travelling all day without going into the Parks! We always book dinner there for our first night of arrival.

We stay at the Disneyland Hotel, so it is very convenient as well. It is just my DH and I and we are Disney GEEKS:fez: for the characters and the Disney ambience! It is a very good time and the food is good. There are so many selections for adults and little ones that finding something the kidlets will like should not be a problem. And then there is the BEST part!!!!!!:fez: The characters come up to your table one by one and give autographs and pose for pics! FUN! Go for it and enjoy the experience!:)
ssm

We've done dinner at Goofy's too... and feel we get our money's worth more at dinner time :) Great selection of food... and we had tons of characters come to our table.. not to mention the classic moment outside where Pluto crawled around the floor w/my son!

nvmom


LOL! THAT must have been soooooooo.......cute! Priceless moment. Even though DH and I never had kids, I LOVE to watch the little ones with the characters! I get a vicarious warm and fuzzy feeling by watching the little ones at Disney. It is so much fun! I can just picture the image of Pluto crawling around on the floor with a little boy!:fez: How cute!

Malcon, I love the pic of the pooch with Snow White! Oh, how cute!!!! :)
ssm

Ohhhh, you guys all sharing your experiences is getting me so excited!!! I am definitely going to book Goofy's for dinner! That way, we can enjoy our fifth and final day inside DL:fez:
I have two video clips from our trip last year that are priceless! We had breakfast with Lilo & Stitch and Goofy came to our table right after we were seated. He approached my 3 y/o daugther and she climbed under the table to hide. Big ole Goofy went all the way under to 'play' with her! It was so funny to see him under there, LOL!
Then later, Stitch came by and picked a booger and wiped it on 3 y/o's head!! I told her to give him a booger back and Stitch stood straight up, put his hands on his hips, and shook his head NO!
I adore the character interactions at these, it's so much better than the quick 'pose & pic & run' at the parks. Especially since it takes my little one so long to warm up to them.

I hate to be the naysayer here, but I have had two disappointing experiences at Goofys (out of two attempts). Of course, to put it with a grain of salt - both were on Christmas Eve, so I think some of it was because it was busy.

Both occassions, we *saw* plenty of characters, but only ONE stopped at our table, and this last time, only because we practically begged the character to come over. We have a 4 year old and a 2 year old, so they were very disappointed.

The food is alright, but it is very expensive for one character visit and a lackluster waiter. We also were not told that some drinks cost additional - and my husband ordered some sort of coffee thing that was apparently not on the approved menu. The waiter then tracked me down in the lobby after we left and told me, rather loudly, that I had not paid my bill. When I got back to the counter to pay - that coffee drink cost $13!!!! That is on top of the $85 I paid for two adults and a four year old (the 2 year old was free). I paid it because he drank it, but, seriously, the waiter should have mentioned that it would cost extra. I could understand if he ordered something alcoholic, but it was a coffee drink!

So, our alright food, lackluster service, and ONE character visit cost nearly $100.

Wasn't worth it to me.

That is horrible, and disappointing for the kids. A $13 coffee, and I complain about Starbucks;) I've heard others mention on these post about a "handler" or basically a coordinator of characters at these functions. Does this person really exist? We are going in May and would hate to have this happen.

We had a similar experience at Storytellers, which I've heard other say good things about. But we went for breakfast and our kids barely ate. We only saw Chip and Dale and they freaked my son out. I think they too closely resembled some rodents we were having a problem with at home.

We have had several dinners at Goofy's with very positive results. We went with just my kids (16-21 then) and the boys had pictures with every princess that came by and all characters stopped by and "said" hi. (They sign the table so they know if they have been there...)

When we went with a party of 17 last summer, we had a 2yo that got enough attention from every character to cover all the adults there.

In Oct we did it with my niece and nephew. For the first time ever, we got our money's worth in food! (Those kids EAT!) My nephew enjoyed saying hi to the characters, but was more interested in the food, til he was full. My niece had a picture with every character, and they all took their time at our table with the kids. Minnie and Goofy came by twice.

In Dec, we went with all my adult kids and my future DIL and other son's GF. When I reserved, I noted we were celebrating an engagement. Each had pics with all the characters, plenty of interaction. Goofy even came and took a look at my future DIL's ring.

Generally, our meals are between 5 and 7pm.

I have gone twice for dinner and countless times for breakfast and much prefer dinner for the reasons others have mentioned- I can eat a lot more for dinner than breakfast and I LOVE the prime rib and garlic mashed potatoes! We have eaten on the early side 5- 5:30 and it was not busy until later, so we got some long one on one time with the characters. Hope you have fun!

One of the main issues that guests seem to have at Goofy's is that if they don't see any characters, they don't mention it to their server or anyone who works there. So if you don't see any characters, or they're taking a little while getting to your table at least mention it to your server so that they can let the character lead (the person in charge of coordinating who goes where, etc.) know they have some guests waiting for them in a section. Don't wait until you're walking out the door to complain, otherwise there's nothing that can be done to fix your situation.

If it's been 30 minutes or more with no characters, speak up, or else you can wait until you get home to whine about it on the internet.

One of the main issues that guests seem to have at Goofy's is that if they don't see any characters, they don't mention it to their server or anyone who works there. So if you don't see any characters, or they're taking a little while getting to your table at least mention it to your server so that they can let the character lead (the person in charge of coordinating who goes where, etc.) know they have some guests waiting for them in a section. Don't wait until you're walking out the door to complain, otherwise there's nothing that can be done to fix your situation.

If it's been 30 minutes or more with no characters, speak up, or else you can wait until you get home to whine about it on the internet.

Now that's not really fair. I wasn't whining. (If you were referring to my post). I was responding to a post about the restaurant with my experiences. I never complained to Disney because, well, frankly, I just didn't care that much. Its just not an experience I will do again.

The first time, I chalked it up to it just being crowded. I didn't say anything, and decided I would try it again. The food was good. Everyone has a bad night.

The second visit, I never had an opportunity to complain to anyone. Our waiter came by our table exactly twice - once to take our drink orders when we just got there and the next to drop them off. By that time, we had only been there about 5 minutes.

The characters kept walking by our table - they would stop at every table in the section but ours - we were in a row/line, and they had to know they weren't stopping at our table. I don't know if they were pushed for time, or what, but every single one walked right past our table, with their handlers, even though we were waiving and saying, "HI!"

At first, I thought, well, maybe this isn't their time to stop here and they will come back. Nope. Finally, I called out to Goofy, who was, once again, walking by, and said, "Hey, can you come for a picture?" Goofy stood for the picture for exactly ten seconds, and then walked off -like the minute the flash went off.

At that point, it being Christmas Eve and me being tired, I just decided that it wasn't worth getting upset over. We made an excuse to my kids - saying that the characters had to get back to Disneyland to shut it down so Santa could come and that's why they were in a hurry - and we chalked it up to just being a restaurant we did not enjoy all that much.

When I went out in the lobby, I thought about saying something, but the place was crazy and it wasn't really worth it. I had enjoyed the food. After the waiter chased me down yelling that I hadn't paid my bill, I was embarassed and wanted to leave. So, I just won't be back. The expense is not worth it to me to have to either beg to get what I paid for, chase someone down during my dinner to complain about not getting what I paid for, or leaving dissatisfied because I'm not getting what I paid for.

Frankly, I can understand the concept of being proactive when service is not up to par. However, when I am paying for a character meal, should I really have to find someone and tell them I'd like to see a character? Especially when they are walking past my table with their handler and ignoring me. I am the customer and I should get what I am paying for. There are some things that are basic and an establishment that offers those things should make sure their customers are getting them - like a gas station should really make sure they are putting gas in tanks and not water. That's a minimal level of competence, I think.

None of it matters, really. If you have had a great experience, I'm glad. I had a wonderful vacation and the lack of characters during our meal was a minor blip. I just know, next time, to try something different - like a corn dog on Main Street and watching for characters walking by. Same experience, a LOT less expensive.

Frankly, I can understand the concept of being proactive when service is not up to par. However, when I am paying for a character meal, should I really have to find someone and tell them I'd like to see a character? Especially when they are walking past my table with their handler and ignoring me. I am the customer and I should get what I am paying for. There are some things that are basic and an establishment that offers those things should make sure their customers are getting them - like a gas station should really make sure they are putting gas in tanks and not water. That's a minimal level of competence, I think.


But if you're not getting what you've paid for, then you need to speak up. If they were skipping your table alone, then you could go to them (the character themselves) when they're a table or two over and ask them if they could come back to your table since they seemed to miss you. If they seem a bit irritated, then too bad for them, you've paid the establishment for them to visit you. Again, as you yourself pointed out, you were paying for something that you did not recieve. Even if you have to speak up to get what you've paid for, then you do need to speak up, or else the situation cannot be fixed since no one else has noticed that it isn't working.

For the record, i wasn't pinpointing your post when i made my reply, becasue frankly, I've seen a lot of posts (on this board and others) that complain when they've gone to a meal and not seen many characters. First question is "Did you speak up?" If not, then I'm sorry, but really, what can be done three weeks later via the 'net?

Again, I'm truly sorry that was your experience. If you had spoken with a manager or lead they could have at least tried to help you (or speak with that server), but again if they don't know something's wrong, how are they supposed to fix it?

But if you're not getting what you've paid for, then you need to speak up.
Our last trip, we were in a small room on Christmas Day. I think they put us there because we said we were celebrating the engagement and it gave us a little privacy. Our waiter was quick with the drinks and the food was good. But I noticed we weren't getting any characters after about 15 minutes. So, when our waiter came back around, I commented we hadn't had any characters, and we almost immediately got Goofy. He came over and "asked" to see the ring, then played around a bit acting like he was heart broken my FDIL was taken, etc And the characters kept coming, about 1 every 5 minutes or so.