They make you listen to a few hours or so a day of video and audio recordings of Goenka. He is quite a charismatic speaker, and tends to get a few laughs every time. I don’t really like the interpretation of the suttas he gives. The idea that pains in your body are the “psychic” remnants of past bad deeds / negative karma is actually more Jain than anything, and I think can lead to negative ideation about yourself which is not a very good way to grow in Dhamma. In the Goenka tradition it’s either his way or the highway, seriously, you can get exiled/banished from the retreat centers if it’s found out that you have practiced other meditation techniques — verrry cultic. 
If you don’t let these points bother you too much, they are some of the nicest retreat centers and the fact that they enforce silence (what they mistakenly call “noble silence”) makes for some very peaceful surroundings and a very serious meditation schedule.