Our Review of Goofy’s Kitchen in Disneyland
Last Updated on April 23, 2025 by Kelly
If you’re planning a trip to Disneyland in California, you’ll definitely want to add a character dining experience to your itinerary. Goofy’s Kitchen, located inside the Disneyland Hotel, features a full buffet and lots of character visits during your meal. We’ve dined at Goofy’s Kitchen multiple times, and we’re sharing our full review! We’ll share our favorite menu items, how to get reservations, which characters we saw, and more.
We have had multiple character dining experiences at Disneyland, Walt Disney World, and Disneyland Paris. Scroll to our summary to see how we think Goofy’s Kitchen ranks!
We also include a full photo gallery at the end of this post, so be sure to check that out if you’re curious about the food offerings!
Our #1 Tip: Be sure to make a dining reservation about 30 minutes earlier than you think you’ll eat. We made a reservation for 5:15pm, and we were told that upon check-in we would still need to wait 30 minutes for a table to be ready. (Even though we had a reservation!) We actually waited 35 minutes for our table. When we asked the hostess, she told us that even with reservations, there’s typically a wait time of 30 minutes for table availability. We had hangry children, so it was hard to wait another 30 minutes, which is why we’re sharing this tip with you upfront! Next time we will just make our reservations a little earlier.
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About Goofy’s Kitchen
Goofy’s Kitchen opened in 1992, and it’s been one of the most popular dining experiences at Disneyland. The restaurant is located inside the Disneyland Hotel, which you can easily access by walking through Downtown Disney (if you aren’t staying at the hotel). You do not need to be a guest of the Disneyland Hotel to make reservations at Goofy’s Kitchen!
Your reservation at Goofy’s Kitchen includes complimentary 3-hour self-parking at the Disneyland Hotel self-parking lot.
This table-service restaurant has a full buffet. Goofy’s Kitchen is open for either a breakfast buffet or a dinner buffet.
If you’re celebrating a special occasion, be sure to let the staff know when you check-in for your table.
While at Goofy’s Kitchen, you will see lots of characters! During our last visit in 2025, we saw Goofy (with professional photos), Minnie Mouse, Chip’n’Dale, and Clarabelle Cow.
Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I may earn commissions from qualifying purchases.
Tip: When you purchase Disneyland tickets through Undercover Tourist, an authorized ticket seller, you can save money on your park tickets! For example, you can save money on 4-Day Disneyland Resort Park Hopper tickets!
Tip: Because Goofy’s Kitchen is located outside the theme parks, you can make reservations without a theme park ticket. This makes Goofy’s Kitchen a great place to dine on the bookends of your trip. That way, you won’t have to take time out of your theme parks days to have the experience at Goofy’s Kitchen. We recommend visiting Goofy’s Kitchen after your last day at Disneyland. It’s one final opportunity to have a Disney experience before you head home!
Making Reservations
Importantly, you don’t need a park ticket to make a reservation at Goofy’s Kitchen!
Reservations can be made up to 60 days in advance of your visit. To make a reservation for Goofy’s Kitchen, sign into your Disneyland app. We recommend that you look for reservations as soon as they are made available, because tables do sell out!
If you’re not able to make a reservation for Goofy’s Kitchen, don’t give up yet! We recommend checking back daily the week before your trip. Sometimes there are last-minute cancelations to Goofy’s Kitchen, and you might just score a reservation! We were able to get a reservation to Goofy’s Kitchen fairly last-minute by using that method. (This is also how we were able to make last-minute reservations to the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique!)
Character Dining
One of the best parts about dining at Goofy’s Kitchen is the fact that there’s lots of characters. When we first checked-in at the front desk, they brought us to a short line to take a photo with Goofy cooking in his kitchen. There was professional photography and a cute backdrop!
Once we were seated at our table, several characters paraded through the restaurant intermittently. These included Minnie Mouse, Donald, Pluto, Chip and Dale, and more during our visit in 2023. During our visit in 2025, we saw Minnie Mouse, Clarabelle the Cow, and Chip’n’Dale. The characters made their way through several times during our visit, so we didn’t miss any of them. There was always a musical announcement to trigger the characters’ arrival, and the staff would ask us to swirl our napkins above our heads. The kids loved it!
The characters spent lots of time interacting with us. Instead of just walking by all the tables, they stopped at each individual table for photos. When Minnie Mouse visited our table, she even stopped to play with one of our stuffed animals. When Chip and Dale stopped by our table, they played peek-a-boo behind the booth. Our family had a really fun time!
If you’re about to leave and didn’t see a character you wanted to see, we were told by a castmember to just tell the hostess and they will send that character out specifically to your table.
The Menu
We visited Goofy’s Kitchen for the dinner buffet. We are serious foodies at Disney (check out our favorite snacks at Disneyland!), so for us, the menu selection is really important!
We were really impressed with the huge selection. There was a lot of variety in the menu, with lots of healthy options, kid-friendly options, and comfort food classics. There were many food stations at Goofy’s Kitchen, including a carving station, catch-of-the-day station, pizza station, and more.
We recommend that you save room for dessert! The dessert buffet was our favorite part about dining at Goofy’s Kitchen. There were more desserts than I could count! There were dessert pizzas, soft-serve ice cream with all the toppings, donuts, crème brulée, cakes, pastries, jello, and more. One menu item you definitely have to try is Goofy’s Famous Peanut Butter Pizza. The pizza has peanut butter and jelly on top of it, and it’s super delicious! (Kids will also get a kick out of it!)
If you’re planning to visit Goofy’s Kitchen for breakfast, you’ll find the Disney-famous Mickey Mouse Waffles, pancakes, sausages, eggs benedict, and more. (Note: Goofy’s Famous Peanut Butter Pizza is served at breakfast too!)
Tip: If you’re not staying on Disney property, we recommend staying at the Best Western Plus Park Place Inn & Mini Suites. We stayed there during our last visit to Disneyland, and we really appreciated that it was right across the street from the resort!
Cost
When we visited Goofy’s Kitchen, dinner prices ranged from $35 to $59.99 for an adult. For our family of 4 (which consisted of 2 adults, a child, and a toddler), we paid about $240. We didn’t purchase any “extras”, such as alcoholic drinks. But if you want to budget for alcohol, we saw that many of the drinks were about $25 and a rose flight was $42.
Character dining experiences are, in general, a bit more expensive. However, we found that overall it was a good value given the food selection and entertainment.
Those Disney memories are just priceless!
Tip: Be sure to bring a portable cell phone charger so that your phone doesn’t run out of battery. You’ll be using your phone a lot for the Disneyland app and photos, so make sure it’s fully charged.
Photos with Goofy
One of the best parts about this restaurant is that there is an area to take professional photos with Goofy. The photography area is located right outside the entrance, so you can take your photos while you’re waiting for your table. If you have a Magic Band, the photos will automatically load onto your account. If you don’t have a Magic Band, the photographer will hand you a card with a download code.
Each time we’ve been to this restaurant, we’ve only had to wait 5 minutes or less for a photo with Goofy. Sometimes there isn’t a line at all!
There’s technically no limit as to how many times you can go through and take pictures. During our last visit, our toddler was getting impatient waiting for a table and it was hard to keep her entertained while we waited within earshot of the front desk. We took her to visit Goofy a couple of times, and she had a blast!
Goofy’s Kitchen vs. Storyteller’s Cafe
We have dined at both Goofy’s Kitchen (located at the Disneyland Hotel) and Storyteller’s Cafe (located at the Grand Californian Hotel) multiple times! We’d recommend going to both if it’s possible for you! However, if you are trying to decide, here’s what we think:
- Goofy’s Kitchen offers a breakfast buffet and a dinner buffet. Storyteller’s Cafe only offers a breakfast buffet. If you’re looking for a dinner option, then Goofy’s Kitchen is the only choice!
- Goofy’s Kitchen also offers professional photos with Goofy. At Storyteller’s Cafe, there were no professional photographers.
- We slightly preferred the food at Storyteller’s Cafe. We especially liked their banana’s foster french toast, Mickey waffles, warm bread pudding with vanilla sauce, and their chilaquiles!
- Storyteller’s Cafe has a slightly better location, as it’s just steps away from both parks. Goofy’s Kitchen is about an 8-10 minute walk from the parks.
- If you want to see Mickey Mouse, we only saw him at Storyteller’s Cafe!
Photo Gallery of the Dishes
Because I visited recently, I wanted to take lots of photos of the food! I wanted to make this blog post as helpful as possible, so I thought it might help if readers could see more of the dishes offered. Granted, these are subject to change, but at least you can get a sense of the type of food offered. In addition to these photos, there were lots of kid-friendly options such as chicken tenders, pizza, etc.
Summary: Is Goofy’s Kitchen Worth It?
We’ve been to a LOT of different character dining experiences over the years at Disneyland, Walt Disney World, and even Disneyland Paris!
We can definitively say that Goofy’s Kitchen is worth it. Yes, it’s expensive. But it’s also been one of our daughters’ favorite experiences during our Disney trips. It’s a fun way to kick-start or wrap-up a trip since you don’t need a park ticket. We always save this for a travel day so that we can enjoy a little extra Disney magic.
That being said, we slightly prefer Storyteller’s Cafe over Goofy’s Kitchen. We preferred the menu and we saw more characters walking around the hotel lobby at the Grand Californian Hotel. (We saw at least 5 princesses walking to and from the princess buffet just around the corner!)
However, Goofy’s Kitchen is still an excellent experience and we would definitely go again and again! We make this part of every Disney trip. If you’re staying at the Disneyland Hotel, it’s an absolute must. And if you have a Goofy fan in your party, you definitely need to make a reservation!
We hope this review helps you to plan your own trip to Disneyland!
Pssst… check out our review of Disneyland Paris!
Disclaimer: We always strive for content accuracy. Since the time of publishing, travel-related information regarding pricing, schedules, and hours may have changed. Please look up such information directly from each vendor or institution for the most current information.
