Garden Grill dinner or Hollywood and Vine lunch?

[Isabelle12345]

I know Hollywood and Vine does not get good press around here, but I think the characters are more interesting than GG... we don’t love buffets since we are not truly big eaters, but we like to have diverse options (salads, pasta, meat, fish, ...) and I am not sure the menu at GG for dinner will offer enough diversity...
Any thoughts on the best option?
We have kids 2 and 5 (girl and boy), they do not care much about chip and dale but a sit down meal would definitely be easier to navigate than a buffet...
We will be on the dining plan so price doesn’t really matter.
We will be doing HS in the morning-early afternoon, go back to the Boardwalk Inn for a break, then hop to Epcot in the evening. We have a character breakfast at Topolino’s the day before.
(BTW I was also considering Coral Reef for dinner but reviews have not been good lately...)
Thanks for your advice!

 

[kaytieeldr]

Given that characters matter to you, but Chip & Dale don't, go for Hollywood and Vine.

 

[KayaWildfire]

Are your kids into Disney Junior? You might consider doing Hollywood and Vine for a late breakfast. Lots of diversity there. While we do love the garden grill, there is no competition with variety with Hollywood and Vine. We have been for breakfast and lunch and really enjoyed it.

 

[Orionreplay]

Big Garden Grill believers here. Every trip. Chip and Dale are there, but so isn't "Farmer" Mickey and Pluto. We find Garden Grill with the characters just to be much more personal. Plus, oh yah, the food is great too! The grilled beef with chimichurri was amazing.

We tried H&V this past trip for the Minnie's Seasonal Dining and for buffet food, we were impressed. My kids ate everything put on their plate. More importantly to this story: so did my wife. The character interactions were more impersonal because there are so many people in the restaurant. They have to keep moving to get everyone in. We also went back for a late week breakfast on the fly. We knew none of the Disney Jr. characters then except Goofy in a racing get-up.

Our days of Disney Junior began and ended with Jake, Smee, and My Friends Tigger and Pooh!

 

[Vickie1016]

Past several trips we have gone to GG for an early lunch, but have decided to skip it next summer. The character interaction has always been great, (they came around several times). Chip, Dale, Farmer Mickey & Pluto. The food, to us, has slipped & it was just OK this summer. (We are awaiting the opening of the Space Restaurant to take it's place!!)

This summer we tried H&V Minnie's lunch. Have to say, we were pleasantly surprised with the food selections. The character interaction was great as well. At lunch is was Minnie, Daisy, Mickey & Donald was at the door greeting guests. I cannot recall if Goofy or Pluto were there. (Breakfast has different characters.) DD13 requested to return next summer.

 

[Isabelle12345]

Thanks all for your comments
This makes me feel better about H&V
I keep second guessing my decisions... there is just so much to do in Disney world!!!