Anyone tried the Hollywood & Vine seasonal buffet?

[mizlizstl]

I'm making my 2nd WDW solo trip at the end of October and since I love all things Halloween, have made an ADR for the seasonal buffet at Hollywood & Vine. Has anyone done one of these before and would be willing to share their thoughts? I'm trying to be budget-conscious this trip and am curious if it's worth the cost. I've never done character dining before and as a solo adult, would hate to be the only one in a room full of families.

 

[jpeterson]

We have an ADR in November, so that doesn't help you much. My daughter loves Minnie so I 'm sure we'll have a good time. We have done H&V before but it was with the Disney JR characters that my kids are now beginning to outgrow. I don't remember the food being anything spectacular, just normal buffet food. I do recall the desserts being disappointing.

 

[1GoldenSun]

I've never been for Halloween but we did it in December last year and had a blast! Our children are not young--they were almost 13 and almost 9 at the time--so the sweet spot for characters was in the past for them. But we all really enjoyed the characters in their festive attire. I'd love to see them in their Halloween costumes!

I think what we liked most was the atmosphere. It sounds corny but it just felt like everyone was in the Christmas spirit and having a good time. Like a party where you don't know anyone but you're still all having fun "together."

We really liked the food. For a buffet, there were some delicious options. I had heard that the meatballs were great. I am not a big meatball fan but I tried them and I have to say they were fantastic. The salmon veracruz was delicious too, as well as the pumpkin ravioli.

I would love to go at Halloween if there weren't so many restaurants we still haven't tried. We were very satisfied and thought it was money well spent.

As far as dining solo, I think you might likely be the only lone diner, but there will be other adults without children. i personally wouldn't feel weird eating there alone but that's not something that has ever bothered me.

I hope you have fun whatever you decide to do!

 

[DaisyDuck001]

I went to the Halloween one last year. IMHO the food was OK, not great. I would have really liked pumpkin ravioli as the previous poster mentioned was at the December one, but didn't find this in the Halloween version last year. It was worth it more to get pictures of the characters in their seasonal costumes, for example the picture in my current avatar. I think they added these characters and seasonal costume changes because they weren't getting enough business based just on the food. This was a smart marketing idea but it would be even better if they would also improve the food quality. Nothing was bad; I just didn't think it was great.

I didn't notice any solo diners at this one, but there might be some at other times, don't know. For what it's worth, the families are usually so focused on themselves that they won't even notice you're there by yourself. I've gone solo to other character meals but prefer company for these, as it's helpful to have someone there to take your picture, in case the server is too busy and the character handler is elsewhere, as sometimes happens.

 

[DWFamilyof6]

We had a dinner adr about 3 weeks ago. My kids loved it! My husband and I thought the food offerings were better than the last time we visited. Minnie and the crew in their Halloween costumes were adorable. They spends a great amount of time out or table. Donald even danced with my DD which she thought it was amazing. Desserts were super fun and spooky. Great experience!

 

[DaisyDuck001]

Good to hear, maybe the food actually has improved since my visit there last fall!

I'll be going back there in spring.