I guess if using C32 then any code will have to be written in C as opposed the Arduino C++
Yes. It was C32 you asked about, and mplab. The existence of Chipkit and MPIDE in no way means that Microchip has decided to throw away their other development tools and make everything arduino C++ compatible! The chipkit boards are primarily being supported by chipkit.org, digilent, FUBAR Labs, and (lastly) Microchip's educational division. If you want to use C32 and MPLAB with the Chipkit boards, you're probably expected to populate the ICSP connector and treat the board as a general purpose generic PIC32 development board (which it is, in the same way that an Arduino can be used with AVRStudio as a general purpose AVR board.)