H&V and fantasmic

[nkkilala]

Hey everyone.
I just made resies at Hollywood and Vine for the Fantasmic Dinner package. I am wondering a few things.
1) How is the food at H&V
2) It this package worth it (going May 11 and expecting crowds for 50th celebration)
3) Exactly how early can you arrive at the "special" entrance
4) Exactly how late you can arrive at the "special" entrance

Thank you everyone
(posting this in the attraction one as well since it is both attraction and dinning)

Nikki

 

[sunny04]

1 - We didn't like H&V when we went, but it has also been our only bad experience with a CM....so that kinda makes it less exciting too...the food wasn't as good as other buffets in our opinion, and the restaurant was less themed than any other WDW restaurant.

2 - Yes, the package is always worth it IMO if you have seen the show from the middle section already. The seats are to one side, so you don't get the same effect as waiting for 2 hours for a middle perfect view. Having seen the show numerous times, DH and I find the side view just fine and the package worth it.

3 - I don't remember how early you can get to the entrance, but I think it's like 45 min.??

4 - The seats fill up with other package people, so you don't want to wait too long, or your seats will be on the side and the back - not so great seats.

 

[Advance The Man]

I went a month ago and the food was below average. However, we have a toddler and an infant, so the atomosphere was fine for what we have. If we had older children or none, I would eat at the Brown Derby. Regarding the show, I would show up late as long as you don't have a ton of people in your party. I don't think there's a bad seat.

 

[jenjersnap]

Pretty much ditto what the previous posters have said. I thought the H&V buffet was just okay, my 4-year-old liked it - it was the kind of simple food that he really appreciated. It was crowded and loud but that was okay.

I think you can line up an hour ahead of time. Not sure how far ahead you should line up on a busy night. We went on a relatively busy night - though it was February, it was a Saturday and there was a huge dancing competition going on at the Indy Jones theatre - and got terrific seats in the middle by showing up 25 minutes ahead of time (we didn't know the Great Movie Ride was so long!). The theatre was pretty full by the time the show started.

 

[MichiganMommy]

We just returned and did the H&V Fantasmic Dinner Package and we really liked it. Our PS was for 5:10 and we arrived at about 5:05 and were seated about 5:25.

1) How is the food at H&V - We really enjoyed it. There were some of the usual buffet types of food, but also some more unusual things that we really liked. Nothing very exotic though. I'll try to list what I can remember....
Different types of Bread with flavored butters
Salads - tortellini salad, mushroom salad (marinated), marinated tomato salad with fresh mozzerlla cheese, fresh greens, cold shrimp, fruit (melons, grapes, pineapple)
Sirloin at the carving station
Salmon fillets with some sort of blackened seasoning
Lo Mein vegetables
Garlic mashed potatoes
Sweet potato "wheels" (baked with brown sugar)
corn pudding (spoon bread)
pork cutlets
baked chicken
Kids buffet had mac n cheese, bbq meatballs, chicken nuggets, and cooked broccoli with carrot shreds
Dessert - make your own sundaes, key lime tarts, snickers cheesecake, carrot cake, warm berry cobbler, warm apple crisp, several other little tarts and cakes...
2) It this package worth it (going May 11 and expecting crowds for 50th celebration) - We thought so. When we walked into the theatre at about 6:30, the non-reserved section was almost completely full with people rapidly filling up the very last section at the other end.
3) Exactly how early can you arrive at the "special" entrance - They told us to arrive at the gas station no later than 6:30 for a 7:00 show. We arrived around 6:20. It's about a 5 minute walk from there to the theatre.
4) Exactly how late you can arrive at the "special" entrance. The later you arrive, the closer to the edge of the seating you will be.

 

[Kaycee]

We did H&V for the FDP and loved it! We are all pretty picky in our own ways (two vegetarians and two just plain picky eaters) and we all found plenty of food on the buffet. Our server was wonderful. H&V is the cheapest of the FDP restaurants, so we definitely feel like we got our money's worth. We were never able to see Fantasmic before we did the FDP because we were not willing to wait in the long line to get in, so the package was definitely worth it for us. If we decide to see Fantasmic again, we'll definitely go back to H&V.

Sorry, I can't help you with the arrival times.

 

[scootch]

The food was pretty good, the prime rib was excellant. I went in November and our waitress told us to be there 45 min ahead of time. Since it says you really only had to be there 30 min ahead and I had 2 small kids, that is when I went.... but there were plenty of people arriving 15 min ahead and getting the same seat as I did.

 

[MommyBou]

1 - We didn't like H&V when we went, but it has also been our only bad experience with a CM....so that kinda makes it less exciting too...the food wasn't as good as other buffets in our opinion, and the restaurant was less themed than any other WDW restaurant.

sunny04, what type of bad experience did you have with the CM? Was it the waitress or someone at the restaurant? We just dined here as well with the FDP and I am now trying to resolve an issue myself with our waitress.

I just made resies at Hollywood and Vine for the Fantasmic Dinner package. I am wondering a few things.
1) How is the food at H&V
2) It this package worth it (going May 11 and expecting crowds for 50th celebration)
3) Exactly how early can you arrive at the "special" entrance
4) Exactly how late you can arrive at the "special" entrance

To answer your questions, nkkilala...
DITTO everything else the others have said about times and seating.

1 - Food? It was ok. Nothing spectacular, but nothing too bad. However, given the cost, I wouldn't eat there again. Also, the CM included an 18% tip in our bill, despite our small party size. (And she SO didn't deserve 18%!)

2 - Worth it? I suppose the package is worth it if you want to see Fantasmic. The cost of dinner is almost the exact same (maybe $1 more for a child) as it would be if you tried the restaurant anyway. To not have to wait forever for the show is certainly a plus. I didn't really enjoy the show, so the whole fiasco of getting out with ALL those people was certainly not enough for me to go see it again, pkg or not. (The package doesn't let you take the "shortcut" back out of the show.)

 

[bassoongirl]

We did the Fantasmic dinner package at H&V last Thursday evening. We thought the food was good for a buffet. We had to wait a while to be seated, and we were trying to make it to the 5:45 Indiana Jones show, so it was a good thing that it was a buffet! We were able to eat our fill of decent food in about a half hour and still make the Indiana Jones show.

According to our Fantasmic ticket, you could enter the special seating area as early as 5:00 pm but no later than 6:30 pm. We got there about 6:20 and were able to find good seats with no problem.

In my opinion, if you are going to see Fanstasmic anyway (which I highly recommend!), you may as well get the dinner package. It doesn't cost anything extra at H&V and you won't have to wait two hours in the stadium in order to get a good seat.

Gayl

 

[Mrs. Potts]

Count me in with a vote for H&V with the Fantasmic Package. This is our new favorite restaurant in MGM. We enjoyed the buffet. There were a lot of food options and the service was excellent. It was great not having to wait 2 hours in the stadium (been there, done that, never again!). I'd highly recommend it!

 

[Nee Nee and Biddy]

We loved H&V. I had to roll out of there! If you are going to see Fantasmic and are eating dinner in MGM anyway, this truly is the way to go. We got to the show about an hour early and had great seats. We also have done Momma Melroses for Fantasmic, but for the money, DH and I are going back to H&V. The vinagrette for the salad alone is worth the price! Good Luck!

 

[nkkilala]

Thank you to everyone. I now feel confident that I am going to enjoy this. I think it will work well. The peole I'm going with like to sleep in so this will be their one day and we'll just eat a late breakfast and be good for Hollywood and Vine.

THANK YOU!!

FYI my DBF is now FINALLY getting excited for disney!!! YEAH!

 

[luvabargain]

We went for the first time to WDW for our vacation this past summer and did the H&V fantasmic pkg. We really enjoyed the food and I would absolutely recommend doing the pkg if you want to see fantasmic. The restaurant is more basic but the type of food on the buffet is a little different than most and I really liked it, plus my kids are buffet fanatics and they liked it as well. They were 6 and 9. We also had good service and I think it was worth the $$ we spent.

I don't remember how far in advance they let you in, but I know there were a lot of people before us and after us.