Review: Good Morning with Goofy & Pals Character Breakfast
Good Morning Breakfast with Goofy & His Pals is a character meal at Ravello. In this Walt Disney World dining review, we’ll share photos with Mickey Mouse and friends, a look at our food, and thoughts on how this breakfast at Four Seasons Orlando stacks up to the alternatives at other hotels.
Prior to Good Morning Breakfast with Goofy, we previously did the new Breakfast Á la Art with Mickey & Friends, and felt that character dining experience was a mixed bag. It was fun for us (as adults without kids), but unlike the normal version of that meal, not something we could recommend without significant caveats.
In addition to that, there’s also currently a “rare and secluded” character dining experience running at Walt Disney World–Good Morning Breakfast with Goofy & His Pals. Wanting to see if this might be a better option, we booked Advance Dining Reservations and headed over to check it out…
Those are air quotes around “rare and secluded” above, but it’s also an apt description for Good Morning Breakfast with Goofy & His Pals, which is a relative unknown among Walt Disney World fans. This is for a fairly simple reason: this character meal is only offered on Saturday mornings at Ravello (hence it being rare).
For those unfamiliar with the name Ravello, it’s a modern Italian restaurant at Four Seasons Orlando. For those unfamiliar with that resort, it’s tucked away on Walt Disney World property near Golden Oak and Fort Wilderness Campground (hence it being secluded). Even though many Walt Disney World fans have probably never seen or even heard of it, this is one of the closest resorts to Magic Kingdom–so it’s not exactly a long trudge off-site or even mildly inconvenient.
Four Seasons Orlando bills Ravello as being a “modern Italian restaurant” which features an open kitchen, elegant atmosphere, and chic interior design. It also features tall, arched windows and an outdoor terrace, the latter of which was our primary motivation for booking this breakfast.
When we called the Four Seasons to book this Advance Dining Reservation, we specifically requested a table outside. Unlike most Walt Disney World restaurants, this is a request you can make while booking.
Calling this terrace “outside” is actually a bit of a misnomer, as it’s more indoor/outdoor with giant archways and windows allowing in plenty of fresh air, but without exposure to the weather or heat. Best of both worlds.
As we’ve stressed ad nauseam, we’re eating exclusively at restaurants with open air seating to mitigate risk right now. (See our Best Outdoor Dining Options at Walt Disney World for recommendations on that front.)
Good Morning Breakfast with Goofy & His Pals at Ravello begins with a Disney PhotoPass photographer taking a few shots, including “magic” ones (ours had Mickey Mouse seated on the bench next to us–this same shot is always available in Magic Kingdom and probably elsewhere).
Below is a look at the menu for Good Morning Breakfast with Goofy & His Pals at Ravello. As you can see, it’s $48 per adult and $28 for children.
The menu includes a bakery basket, sliced fruit, your choice of entree, coffee, and orange or grapefruit juice.
Normally, this breakfast is a buffet. (Unlike other prix fixe character meals at Walt Disney World-owned locations, ordering two entrees per person is not offered here–unless you want to pay double.)
Here’s a look at the bakery basket, which included a variety of breads and muffins that were high quality and delicious. We loved the Sweets Paradise-branded chocolate muffins.
If we’re comparing this meal head to head against Topolino’s Terrace, which makes sense given the totality of circumstances, this is one point for Ravello with the superior bakery basket.
Next, a plate of sliced fruit.
This is something that Topolino’s Terrace does not bring out by default but it is one of the menu options and you can order multiples. Both offer a variety of fresh options.
We opted to order what we felt were the most interesting options on the menu, which was likewise our approach at Topolino’s Terrace.
Both have had their options scaled back, with the most interesting items removed (in the case of Topolino’s Terrace) or been converted from an expansive buffet to a prix fixe menu (in the case of Ravello).
Sarah opted for the Kickin’ Goat Three Egg Omelet with Harissa, Goat Cheese, Piquillo Pepper, Spinach, Mushroom, and Tomato.
This looks fairly unassuming, but it had a great earthy flavor with the harissa providing some punch. I personally would’ve opted for the Three Pigs Omelet as this one lacked meat, but it was still good.
I ordered the Huevos Rancheros: Eggs any Style, Corn Tortillas, Avocado, Pinto Beans, Queso Fresco, Ranchero Sauce.
One of my favorite items on Disneyland character buffets that I really wish Walt Disney World would port over is chilaquiles, and this is essentially the upscale cousin of that. The toppings provided a refreshing flavor and mild kick, but there were too many crisp tortillas and too little of everything else for my liking.
The cavalcade around Ravello was very similar to the one around Topolino’s Terrace. The main differences are that this has one fewer character and (in my opinion) costumes that aren’t nearly as good.
Once they realized that we were trying to get photos with them, each character dragged their toes and held for what we’d consider “moving choreography” near our table. Exact same idea as what we experienced at Topolino’s Terrace.
If you were trying to pose children for this–and we didn’t see any other tables try–it absolutely would not work. I had to be quick with the camera and phone, and even then, we had way more misses than hits.
Fortunately, there were 5-6 little cavalcades during the course of our meal, so we had plenty of chances to try. Even then, the above photo is the “best” selfie we captured, and it’s pretty horrible.
Part of this is poor luck. Even though we were on the terrace at Good Morning Breakfast with Goofy & His Pals, we were seated at a table against a dark wall–meaning all of our character photos were terribly backlit. Had we been seated at the table immediately behind Goofy in the photo above, our results would’ve been much better.
On a random and unrelated note, the Good Morning Breakfast with Goofy & His Pals music loop is composed entirely of Tokyo Disneyland songs. It’s a mix from retired and current shows, plus anniversaries–a lot of catchy music you won’t hear anywhere else at Walt Disney World.
Ultimately, we enjoyed our experience at Good Morning Breakfast with Goofy & His Pals and would’ve been perfectly satisfied with the meal if we totally ignored the price we paid. Which is probably exactly what most guests of the Four Seasons Orlando are doing. If viewed through the prism of being an amenity offered to affluent guests on a rite of passage trip who are not really into the whole Disney thing, it’s a convenient option that fills a role.
For the vast majority of people reading a Walt Disney World-centric planning blog, Good Morning Breakfast with Goofy & His Pals is not going to pass muster. It’s too expensive, the menu options are unambitious, and the character component of the meal is inferior to its counterparts in other resorts and parks at Walt Disney World. The modified Topolino’s Terrace is better, and even that is still not going to be sufficient for many fans right now.
On the plus side, Ravello’s character breakfast does provide an opportunity to check out Four Seasons Orlando, which as a whole is an exceptional resort–far better than even the Grand Floridian. However, unless you want to visit this hotel, most ardent Disney fans should look elsewhere. That is, unless your family is such hardcore Walt Disney World fans that you’re “character completionists.” Then you might as well give Good Morning Breakfast with Goofy & His Pals at Ravello a try!
Planning other aspects of a Walt Disney World trip? Learn about hotels on our Walt Disney World Hotels Reviews page. To save money on tickets or determine which type to buy, read our Tips for Saving Money on Walt Disney World Tickets post. Our What to Pack for Disney Trips post takes a unique look at clever items to take. For what to do and when to do it, our Walt Disney World Ride Guides will help. For comprehensive advice, the best place to start is our Walt Disney World Trip Planning Guide for everything you need to know!
YOUR THOUGHTS
Have you done Good Morning Breakfast with Goofy & His Pals at Ravello? How do you think it rates as compared to other Walt Disney World character meals? What about its food and ambiance, in general? Would you book an ADR here just to check out Four Seasons Orlando? Planning on dining here? Do you agree or disagree with our advice? Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing your feedback–even when you disagree with us–is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
Can you clarify what you mean by “Unlike other prix fixe character meals at Walt Disney World-owned locations, ordering two entrees per person is not offered here—unless you want to pay double.”
Could you imagine spending $48 on a character breakfast and ordering the granola parfait as your entree?
I called to make a breakfast reservation here for our October visit but they’re currently requiring you to stay at their resort in order to qualify for securing a spot at the character meal. 🙁
How do you get here if you’re staying on property? Looks interesting but ? Transportation?
Huh. I know the restaurant itself isn’t really the point of the review, but some of the photos made me think this was leading into a review of a Disney Springs hotel breakfast. I look forward to seeing your take of Ravello as a location (unless I missed a previous review, in which case I’m sorry!) that it some shots looks like a “not-Four Seasons level” hotel lobby restaurant.
Congrats on the music loop find! I still remember always using that Future World bathroom with the Disneyland loop of Epcot Center theme remakes.
The photos don’t do it justice, but it’s still not the most impressive venue Four Seasons has to offer.
I applaud your actions, Tom! So many people can’t wear a mask to save their life. We, like you, go out of our way for lease exposure ON BOTH ENDS. It’s nice to hear a little selflessness sprinkled in the muck of today’s attitudes.
Thank you for trying to take photos and telling us it wouldn’t work with kids! Super useful info I can’t get anywhere else.
However, another blogger reported that at MK, you can now walk up to Pooh and other characters and talk with them. Is that true?? Just no hugs, maybe? She also claimed there were no lines for this, but she only had one picture, of a character, so….
Maybe they’re talking about on the Crystal Palace terrace–pictured towards the end of this post: https://www.disneytouristblog.com/magic-kingdom-weekend-report-low-crowds-higher-waits/
A few people commented they love Boma what is Boma ?
Boma is one of the restaurant in Animal Kingdom Lodge.
Dear Tom Bricker,
Thats really awesome photography you have at Tokyo Disney!!
Just wondering if you can help us. We were planning to get some wedding pictures with the castles done at night, sunset and daytime. Would u know if there will be any restrictions in the photography? Like we have to pay extra for photography? Sorry I m not too sure who to ask so seeing you have so many awesome pics maybe you can help us out!
Thank you so much
Vera Limadinata
Thanks for keeping the dream alive Tom and Sarah. I agree with other posters that the cost is over the top. I am curious about the four seasons hotel however given Toms remark that it is better than any WDW hotel including the GF. Need to research. Any review by Tom?
We stayed there a few years back when they had a special. The resort is spectacular and the pool area has an amazing lazy river, 2 water slides and several pools. It’s like a water park without the crowds. We did the Ravello character meal when it was a buffet and at that point it was worth the high costs since it was all you can eat with very extensive selections, made to order omelettes etc. also has great views of the fireworks. It’s just very expensive but if there’s a decent special well worth it. We did not go to the parks while there, just enjoyed the resort. More luxurious than the Grand Floridian.
Do they at least refill the bread basket and fruit for 48 pp?
Oof, $48 for breakfast. Makes the buffet at Boma look like a bargain. Love breakfast a Boma…
Oh my goodness, me too! Love Boma for breakfast and dinner! Hope they can bring back buffets sometime in the future! If not, then maybe family style at Boma!
I’m curious to know why you are both wearing masks while seated at your table and posing for the photos? I hope that it’s not CYA prevention for photographic evidence of a “there’s Bricker without his mask on at WDW!!!” comment / accusation. Or that you both keep them on during the meal and shove food underneath! Or even that you rush to finish your meal ASAP so that you can mask up again! Hopefully for the money, your meals at WDW are as relaxing as they can be given the circumstances. I hope mine are.
We often wear our masks before/after eating while seated for the sake of the servers–when visiting the table they’re often coming within 6 feet of us.
I know we’re not required to do so, but we’d rather err on the side of caution as much as possible and it’s not really a big deal for us.
Thank you for putting together a list of outdoor dining and now even a Character Meal!!! I just booked this! We are excited for Disney but want to be as safe as possible! â¤ï¸
So, does Garden Grove at Swalphin have a character breakfast buffet on the weekend now? It is hard to understand without being actually there! It sure looks like it from the internet.
Love the picture of Minnie & Sarah. Have never seen Minnie prettier. Sarah, of course, always looks beautiful.
Sarah’s hair looks truly fabulous especially in the picture of her with Minnie.
It’s amazing how after a few weeks you don’t focus on masks anymore and instead refocus on outfits and hairstyles!
Character meals are a total rip off right now. $50-$65 for breakfast? Never worth that.
Be Our Guest $62 for lunch? Nope. Not doing it. Stick to quick serve or reasonable restaurants where you can order anything al-a-carte.
I wouldn’t consider Be Our Guest Restaurant a character meal. With that said, if you order the Filet Mignon, Be Our Guest isn’t that bad by WDW standards.
I otherwise agree with you. Reduced menus plus a reduced experience makes the traditional character meals very tough to justify.
Thank you for posting the review. I had never heard of this place before.
It looks like that would net out to about $180+ Schrute bucks for a family of four after tax and tip. I’d have a hard time signing that check unless they had been throwing mimosas at us for a couple hours.
Your photos made the place look very…not crowded.
“Your photos made the place look very…not crowded.”
The outdoor terrace was not, but there were definitely more people inside. That’s been pretty consistent with our experience at Walt Disney World restaurants this summer–few people seem interested in outdoor dining.
That family seems awfully close to you guys in one of the photos. Did you feel that they seated you to be as spread out as possible?
Bwahaha Schrute bucks! Love that comment!
Hi! We’ve been reading for a while now, and are a bit confused. When speaking about the set price character meals, do you mean prix fixe? You normally refer to it as a la carte, but that would mean that you would need to pay for each item you order (not one set price). So in the case of ordering a second entree, you would be paying double as you would mentioned here.
Great review!
Yeah, that should be prix fixe, not a la carte. Even though this would cost double for a second entree (or second full set), it’s still prix fixe since each item is not individually priced–there’s no cost difference among the entrees.
I’ve fixed it in the article.
Thanks for the review. We did the character lunch at Garden Grill with our 4-year old in July and were very pleased with it and how much we could talk and pose with the characters. We have been wondering what the Four Seasons character meal experience would be like for our family.