1 Child and 10 Adults--A GG to Celebrate DD's 4th Bday :) TR Link is Posted

[Charlefours]

I understand the busy- I've had very little time for the DIS lately.

I'm looking forward to reading all those posts!

Thanks Hope! I hope to get a post together this week.

 

[Charlefours]

I think I am driving myself a bit bonkers but I am firm believer in trusting my gut. I have to say, I really doubt the Hollywood and Vine F! package. I keep asking myself would I be willing to spend the money on this if I had to pay out-of-pocket and I keep coming back to the same answer as no. First, the menu does not look really all that appealing and two, we are not buffet people. We already have several on the schedule, so I think dropping the one that seems the least appealing would be a good idea.

So, I booked an ADR at Olivia’s Café in OKW as a backup. What do you all think? Would you give up guaranteed seats for F! and chance the lines or keep with an ADR you have no desire to eat at to have the guarantee seats? I think I would rather have a great meal and then chance F! than to have a horrible meal, in the middle of the day, with guarantee seats. Ugh!! I’m so confused.

Please give me all your thoughts—good, the bad and ugly!!

 

[KatMark]

I think I am driving myself a bit bonkers but I am firm believer in trusting my gut. I have to say, I really doubt the Hollywood and Vine F! package. I keep asking myself would I be willing to spend the money on this if I had to pay out-of-pocket and I keep coming back to the same answer as no. First, the menu does not look really all that appealing and two, we are not buffet people. We already have several on the schedule, so I think dropping the one that seems the least appealing would be a good idea.

So, I booked an ADR at Olivia’s Café in OKW as a backup. What do you all think? Would you give up guaranteed seats for F! and chance the lines or keep with an ADR you have no desire to eat at to have the guarantee seats? I think I would rather have a great meal and then chance F! than to have a horrible meal, in the middle of the day, with guarantee seats. Ugh!! I’m so confused.

Please give me all your thoughts—good, the bad and ugly!!

I think you made a VERY WISE decision. I would rather stand in line three hours for Fantasmic than ever eat at the Hollywood & Vine again. Mark and I usually like to give each restaurant two tries in case it was an "off" day the first time. Well, we did that with H&V and if at all possible the second time was WORSE than the first time. The restaurant was filthy (sticky tables, floors, etc.), very poor service (waited 20 minutes to get our drinks), food mediocre at best and lukewarm (and that is when there was food...there were constantly empty slots and you'd wait forever for them to be refilled. H&V joined WCC as the only two restaurants at Disney that we will never step foot in again.

Now, we've not done Olivia's, but I still think it is a good choice.

Are they showing Fantasmic once or twice during your stay? And what are your dates again (sorry...I should have looked before I responded)? If I remember, you are there when we are there. I don't think you'll have a problem with getting a seat. You may have to stand in line for awhile just so that you can get in, but even if you have to sit off to one of the sides (which you would have to do with the package), you can still see everything.

 

[leamom2princesses]

At the time of year you are going Stephanie, I would skip the F! package. The crowds are going to be very little that week and even at a very crowded Memorial Day show we were able to secure decent seats 45 minutes before. I'd go with my gut!

 

[Charlefours]

You are going to laugh but I have booked a Cape May Café Clam Bake ADR for Wednesday evening now as well. I need to talk with DH to see what his thoughts are but I think there will be plenty of CS options at DHS for us to choose from instead of trying to push a TS that evening. Any thoughts on Cape May Café dinner?

 

[wlwilliams9]

I hope you are feeling better! Emily has said several times today, "I miss Lilian!" I haven't had the heart to tell her you'll be gone next week!! Hopefully, you'll be home early so we can get together on Friday!

I would cancel H&V for F! Honestly, I don't think you will have to wait any longer without the pkg than you do with the pkg since you have to be at the pkg entrance 45 min earlier anyway!

I've never eaten at Olivia's, but I've read good reviews here on the DIS. I think Olivia's is too out of the way if you are not staying at OKW. Well, I guess if you have a car, that's different.

We have eaten at Cape May for dinner when we stayed at the BCV. The food was good and they had plenty of variety because I'm not a seafood person. It wasn't the best meal we've had at WDW, but I would eat there again. Have you concidered the Captain's Grill? We did have one of our best meals there!!

We like to eat dinner at BW/BC/YC on our DHS days! It's a nice boat ride over and I love that area of WDW!

 

[DrMomof3]

I canceled a H&V F! package, too. Ironically, I then scheduled the Play & Dine for lunch on a different day.
I just don't see my kids lasting thru F! in the 1st place and it's too much $$$ to eat mediocre food.

Amanda

 

[KatMark]

You are going to laugh but I have booked a Cape May Café Clam Bake ADR for Wednesday evening now as well. I need to talk with DH to see what his thoughts are but I think there will be plenty of CS options at DHS for us to choose from instead of trying to push a TS that evening. Any thoughts on Cape May Café dinner?

We've done Cape May Cafe dinner twice. Loved it the first time; liked it the second time. I would probably love it now because they have crab legs which are a favorite food of mine.

 

[Charlefours]

I think you made a VERY WISE decision. I would rather stand in line three hours for Fantasmic than ever eat at the Hollywood & Vine again. Mark and I usually like to give each restaurant two tries in case it was an "off" day the first time. Well, we did that with H&V and if at all possible the second time was WORSE than the first time. The restaurant was filthy (sticky tables, floors, etc.), very poor service (waited 20 minutes to get our drinks), food mediocre at best and lukewarm (and that is when there was food...there were constantly empty slots and you'd wait forever for them to be refilled. H&V joined WCC as the only two restaurants at Disney that we will never step foot in again.

Now, we've not done Olivia's, but I still think it is a good choice.

Are they showing Fantasmic once or twice during your stay? And what are your dates again (sorry...I should have looked before I responded)? If I remember, you are there when we are there. I don't think you'll have a problem with getting a seat. You may have to stand in line for awhile just so that you can get in, but even if you have to sit off to one of the sides (which you would have to do with the package), you can still see everything.

Thanks Kathy! While I am sorry you had two bad experiences, you really do confirm what I have read/heard/been thinking about since I re-read the menu. I know it gets decent reviews here and there or especially for breakfast it seems but my gut is saying skip it.

Have you done Cape May before? That is the one I just posted about making an ADR at as well. I think DH would love it along with a few others traveling with us as they love seafood.

Our dates are 11-18th so F! is showing Sunday and Thursday. I am working on rearranging our schedule so to speak at the moment so I may be switching it to Thursday evening but that is not a definite. I think our evenings sound like they are going to be more go with the flow type nights.

 

[Charlefours]

At the time of year you are going Stephanie, I would skip the F! package. The crowds are going to be very little that week and even at a very crowded Memorial Day show we were able to secure decent seats 45 minutes before. I'd go with my gut!

Thanks Leanne! I did end up going with my gut. : I read what you and Kathy wrote and I just knew this would make me happier. DH, now, he just rolled his eyes and said whatever

 

[KatMark]

We've done Cape May Cafe dinner twice. Loved it the first time; liked it the second time. I would probably love it now because they have crab legs which are a favorite food of mine.

Thanks Kathy! While I am sorry you had two bad experiences, you really do confirm what I have read/heard/been thinking about since I re-read the menu. I know it gets decent reviews here and there or especially for breakfast it seems but my gut is saying skip it.

Have you done Cape May before? That is the one I just posted about making an ADR at as well. I think DH would love it along with a few others traveling with us as they love seafood.

Our dates are 11-18th so F! is showing Sunday and Thursday. I am working on rearranging our schedule so to speak at the moment so I may be switching it to Thursday evening but that is not a definite. I think our evenings sound like they are going to be more go with the flow type nights.

Yes, I've done Cape May (I posted about it...you missed it).

 

[longing2Batdisney]

Hey Stephanie,
late to the party (as usual)
but I think you made the right decision. I have not eaten at any of the places you listed but I agree with Leanne the crowds should not be that bad...good seats are usually always doable with an hour to spare. I always arrive 1.5 before and wait it out and have always had great seats...
Connie

 

[Charlefours]

I hope you are feeling better! Emily has said several times today, "I miss Lilian!" I haven't had the heart to tell her you'll be gone next week!! Hopefully, you'll be home early so we can get together on Friday!

I would cancel H&V for F! Honestly, I don't think you will have to wait any longer without the pkg than you do with the pkg since you have to be at the pkg entrance 45 min earlier anyway!

I've never eaten at Olivia's, but I've read good reviews here on the DIS. I think Olivia's is too out of the way if you are not staying at OKW. Well, I guess if you have a car, that's different.

We have eaten at Cape May for dinner when we stayed at the BCV. The food was good and they had plenty of variety because I'm not a seafood person. It wasn't the best meal we've had at WDW, but I would eat there again. Have you concidered the Captain's Grill? We did have one of our best meals there!!

We like to eat dinner at BW/BC/YC on our DHS days! It's a nice boat ride over and I love that area of WDW!

Lilian is missing Emily too. The girls are so funny but it is cute how fast they have become buddies.

I am going to cancel H&V definitely. I made an ADR for Cape May for now and I have one for Olivia's too. I may keep both and then we can cancel one when we get down there. Would that be horrible to do? I want to save Captain's Grille for our next trip but I did consider it! Thanks for the suggestion.

 

[ladybugmom]

Catching up!! Glad you decided to go with your gut! H&V was definitely not one of our favorites. I'm glad we did it once bit we probably won't be back. However, we LOVED Mama Melrose for the Fantasmic! package!! The food was wonderful and we walked right into the show before it started and got 4th row seats--no wait! Just something to think about for future trips!!

 

[Charlefours]

I canceled a H&V F! package, too. Ironically, I then scheduled the Play & Dine for lunch on a different day.
I just don't see my kids lasting thru F! in the 1st place and it's too much $$$ to eat mediocre food.

Amanda

I forgot that you canceled it too. I just asked myself would I be willing to pay the price for this meal and I kept coming back and saying no. I am not sure if Lilian is going to make it to F! either with being past/right at her bedtime most nights.

 

[Charlefours]

We've done Cape May Cafe dinner twice. Loved it the first time; liked it the second time. I would probably love it now because they have crab legs which are a favorite food of mine.

DH loves crab legs and key lime pie so I think this place will be a great fit for him!

 

[Charlefours]

Hey Stephanie,
late to the party (as usual)
but I think you made the right decision. I have not eaten at any of the places you listed but I agree with Leanne the crowds should not be that bad...good seats are usually always doable with an hour to spare. I always arrive 1.5 before and wait it out and have always had great seats...
Connie

Good to know Connie! While you are waiting in line, does Ashton wait with you or is he off doing other things? I am wondering if we decide to go, if I can wait in line and DH can take Lilian to the playground to play. I imagine this is fine as long as you don't have 20 people join you in line at the last minute.

 

[Charlefours]

Catching up!! Glad you decided to go with your gut! H&V was definitely not one of our favorites. I'm glad we did it once bit we probably won't be back. However, we LOVED Mama Melrose for the Fantasmic! package!! The food was wonderful and we walked right into the show before it started and got 4th row seats--no wait! Just something to think about for future trips!!

Thanks Becky! I am a big believer in going with my gut, even if DH just rolls his eyes at me. We wanted MM but it was booked so A could not get it for us. I would be willing to do the package at MM but no where else.

 

[DrMomof3]

I forgot that you canceled it too. I just asked myself would I be willing to pay the price for this meal and I kept coming back and saying no. I am not sure if Lilian is going to make it to F! either with being past/right at her bedtime most nights.

That was my issue - bedtime! I know better than to expect my kids to be reasonable when I keep them up too late.

Amanda

 

[Sleepingbooty]

Hmmm, I think I would cancel it and go with Olivias. I have heard many good things about it, but not many good things about Hollywood and Vine. It doesn't look that good to me, either. And honestly, as many times as we've gone in September, we've never had a problem getting seats at Fantasmic (and no, we don't get there way in advance - maybe 20 minutes tops)