Hollywood & Vine??

[entirelysplendid]

So we have a breakfast reservation at H&V at 8:15 --- I thought this would be a good idea because we could get into the park early and we have kids that love Jake (Jake and the Neverland Pirates), but I have been reading that lots of folks really hate Hollywood & Vine - food is awful and place is dirty? So I am thinking about canceling our res. What are your thoughts about the advantages of getting into the park early and meeting Jake vs the (possible) poor quality of the restaurant --- maybe we should cancel and use that money for something else? Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated - thanks!

 

[Lavitz]

Can't speak for lunch or dinner, but H&V breakfast is amazing. Personally we like it more than Tusker House, the food is the same Disney breakfast buffet food you find anywhere else. Disney Jr show is amazing too, it shouldn't be missed especially if they love the characters.

Despite what people said, I've booked a H&V lunch in Nov for the characters and to put the food to the test. I asked around, many say it is the same buffet food you find elsewhere, which is what I'm expecting.

 

[UnderTheRialto]

Had a great experience at a pre-park breakfast there. I'd keep it. Also the day after my DS turned 4, he delcared that he no longer liked Jake, after LOVING him for over a year. So I am really glad we went to the breakfast when we did. Kids change so quickly!
I also thought the meet and greet at the breakfast was much better than the meet and greet in the courtyard area.

 

[tndisney5]

We visited HV for lunch. Maybe it was an off day, but we had a reservation time for 11:25 and didn't get seated until 1.5 hours later. That has NEVER happened to us on any other reservation. We found the lunch offerings to be really good. It was a good 1.5 hour lunch. The characters were the draw for us, but in hind sight since it took us SO long to be seated I wish we just met Jake and Sophia out in the park for their meet n greet. Meeting Doc was a big deal for my kids, so that took off some of the sting of the late seating.

If Jake is your main reason for dining here, I would just skip the meal and meet him in the park. You can use your TS credit elsewhere, or if paying OOP, you can use your $$ for something else--snacks, souvenirs, etc.

 

[lucybalue]

Honestly, we had a great breakfast experience at H+V last fall and have an ADR for our next visit. The food was fresh/good and the character interaction can't be beat. It is not gourmet. Basic buffet breakfast but one thing that I did appreciate was the huge container of PLAIN greek yogurt with lots of fresh toppings, berries, fruit, nuts etc. We were able to eat a little healthier here than at other restaurants

 

[alicat8]

It was definitely clean when we went. Mid august for lunch. We waited a while past our res..maybe 45 min? I was actually impressed with the food. Thought it was really good for a buffet-lots of options and creative flavors.
The dis Jr characters were great-my daughter loved it. (I found the dance parties to be a little loud..but the kids loved them!)

 

[heath92681]

We had a really good lunch last November, and we made reservations again for this year!

 

[kastoney]

We've done breakfast twice there before and while the food is nothing special, the character interactions are good. But if you're going just for Jake and not the other characters I would skip it and just do the regular meet and greet with him.

 

[entirelysplendid]

Thank you all for sharing your experiences! Your comments have been very helpful --- with all these ADRs there is so much to think about. Thanks again!

 

[jlsmith376]

We went last September for a pre park opening breakfast and thought it was wonderful! If you have a Disney Jr fan in your party I would rate it as a must do. The food was very good and it was very clean. We were trying to make Jedi academy sign ups and we were in and out in 45 minutes and it didn't feel rushed.

 

[quakechicago]

We're foodies and found the food so so (which actually, is pretty good for Disney haha). Breakfast we liked better than lunch, but the character interaction is awesome especially for fans of the shows. It's a must do for our kiddo. There's singing/dancing with the characters and lots of fun. There's a zillion youtube videos of the experience. We also have ours under quaketoys on instagram from last november.

 

[CerysG]

We had dinner there 2 years ago and thought it was good. I was a bit worried as there was so much negative about it but it seemed to be clean and the food was fine....nothing outstanding but about what I would expect for a buffet. I wouldn't go out of my way to go back but if it worked best for our plans I would be ok eating there.

 

[Disney Mom 7272]

We at an early lunch there last year at 11:00am and I did not experience any of this. I thought the food was good and it was not dirty at all. Actually we are going back there again this year in September. My youngest child really enjoys the Disney Junior characters and they have great interaction with the kids. I try to not read too much into reviews and experience the restaurants myself to form my own opinion. Good luck!!

 

[WhoDat09]

I was pleasantly surprised with the food at lunch and found the restaurant nice and clean. The reviews are generally not so great - glad we decided to try for ourselves. Meeting the characters and dancing with Sofia were some of the best moments of the trip for our 2 year old daughter.

 

[Squishypig]

We loved our breakfast there! I booked it because my daughter loved Disney Jr characters but we were happy with the buffet. It wasn't gourmet by any means but the food was tasty, fresh and the entertainment was fun. We were the first family at the restaurant that day and we didn't know that we would get our our private meet and greet with all the characters and a picture with everyone. We were the first to go to the buffet and we were probably the only ones in there for a good 10-15 minutes. That was a nice surprise!

 

[Momma2PrinceNPrinces]

We went last Oct and had a great experience! And I'm super picky!!! The food was just standard buffet. But the character interaction was worth every penny! They came around at least 3 times and never seemed in a hurry. My kids loved it!

 

[broncobill]

I can't speak on the food, but I can't imagine anything dirty at Disney.

 

[BuzzyBelle]

We ate here for breakfast last Aug for the first time and everything was very good. Like others have said it's pretty standard Disney breakfast fare, but there is quite a bit of variety and there wasn't anything that we tried that wasn't fresh and good. The characters and Disney Junior interactions are a lot of fun here if you have a DJr fan. We also liked it better than Tusker house which we found to be just okay- nothing special contrary to what I read in most people's reviews of it. Both of our DDs requested H&V for this year's trip. DD5 for the characters, DD12 for the food and self-serve ice cream machine (on waffles it's an acceptable breakfast, right?)

 

[JenB1104]

We did an 8:00 ADR there this past June and loved it. It was clean and my daughter loved the character interaction. We asked for the check right away, walked out in time to beat many of the rope droppers to Toy Story and walked right on with minimal wait. I would go there again in a heartbeat.

 

[disneyfanlincoln]

We've been for breakfast and lunch, breakfast was better than lunch but no issues at lunch just a personal preference thing. I seem to remember desserts good though. Seemed clean to me and we enjoyed it. It was our first ever character meal and we went back the next year which speaks for itself I think.