Hollywood and Vine,Twice in one trip?

[TARAMEOW]

I have never eaten at Hollywood and Vine. On our upcoming trip I was planning to go to the Disney Jr lunch as DD (2) is a huge fan and it's her first trip. Now I decided as its during the Xmas season I want to go to the Minnie's Dinner with F!. I don't want to do both in the same day but I don't have park hoppers so that would mean two days at Hollywood Studios. I thought about breakfast but we really are not morning people and probably won't make it. What should I do?

 

[baler31]

Hollywood and Vine is one of the worst meals I have had anywhere ever. I understand the situation with the characters but I would never put myself through two meals there ever.

 

[TARAMEOW]

Hollywood and Vine is one of the worst meals I have had anywhere ever. I understand the situation with the characters but I would never put myself through two meals there ever.

So I guess I would skip the dinner then. How does it compare to Crystal Palace?

 

[baler31]

Although not a huge CP fan it is miles above H&V. I gave it another change for the holiday characters but it was truly awful. All the hot food was cold and the cold foods were hot and the place was a mess. Only positive was we had good service and okay character interaction.

 

[senadler]

I was going to bite the bullet and go for lunch with my DS5 on our trip next week, but the reviews are seriously so horrible I changed our plans to HBD.

 

[rwdavis2]

I've never seend a good review of the food at H&V.

 

[wdw4rfam]

I have never eaten at Hollywood and Vine. On our upcoming trip I was planning to go to the Disney Jr lunch as DD (2) is a huge fan and it's her first trip. Now I decided as its during the Xmas season I want to go to the Minnie's Dinner with F!. I don't want to do both in the same day but I don't have park hoppers so that would mean two days at Hollywood Studios. I thought about breakfast but we really are not morning people and probably won't make it. What should I do?

Don't base your plan on others opinions. We have been going to H&V every year, and have NEVER had a bad meal. We do the breakfast and the dinner every trip. You can book breakfast up until 10:45, which is what we do because we aren't morning people. The kids love the playhouse Disney characters, getting up and dancing with them.The holiday dinner was great, we did it on thanksgiving last year. The characters in their holiday gear are something you can't see anywhere else. Yes, Santa goofy was in the park, but had a good hour wait.

 

[wdw4rfam]

I've never seend a good review of the food at H&V.

Been there probably 15 times, and never had a bad experience. Was it the greatest food, no. But to me it wasn't any worse then other character buffets.

 

[disneyfav4ever]

I've never had a bad meal at Hollywood and Vine. Sure I like other buffets better, but to me Hollywood and Vine is comparable to Chef Mickey's. Though it's not a must do for us, we will sometimes book it with the Fantasmic package. Since they added characters and the "seasonal" menu we booked dinner there this trip. We have no interest in Disney Jr. so haven't been for breakfast or lunch.

 

[brockash]

The only way we waste a meal at H&V is for the Fantasmic! package. We do think it's enough to justify it then and we do it every year, but I'd have to seriously try to talk myself into spending more than 1 meal there. I get the character aspect of it, so if it's a must, then it's a must, just know the food is really not good (we had a very similar experience with hot food being cold, cold food being luke-warm etc.) I will say we went once for breakfast and that was more on par with regular character breakfast meals we've had at Disney, so I'd def. do a breakfast and then the Fantasmic! package if you're dead-set on eating there twice.

 

[Candycane83]

OP, I had the same problem as you! Taking my DS2 in December. I decided that we could do the dinner F! Package instead of breakfast. For Disney JR characters, you could line up to see most of them somewhere. If you are not breakfast people, this would be a great solution. for dinner, f! Package is usually early (around 4ish) and I think the food should still be ok? (Fingers crossed) I read not so bad reviews for the holiday dinner so I'm willing to try that. I think seeing the characters in their holiday attire without having to line up is a great plus too

 

[ateam79828592]

We have gone 6 of the last 7 years, have had one or two toddlers each trip, and have eaten at h&v numerous times. The food is ok - not bad - just not great in our opinion. Having done nearly all the character meals several times, h&v is our least favorite for the food.

as far as character meals, we like them on free dining and it saved waiting in line for characters later. Without free dining, we have found it easier on our family to do qs meals and meet characters with Fp+. Buffets with small kids, characters, cameras, autograph books = high stress meal with adults shoveling in bites between buffet runs for the kids and characters. Also, our toddler last trip really wanted to get down and do hugs and interaction with the characters that was much harder to do in a crowded restaurant with a high chair. Plus pictures are so much better in an open space, better lighting, and without messy tables in the shot.

That has been our experience with character meals and h&v.

 

[carmelhp]

We've eaten there maybe 5 times. Only once was kinda bad with lots of unbussed tables around. That was also the only time we ever booked in the middle of a serving time. I've found that H&V and the other buffets like CP, are best if you book at the beginning of the serving period. So, we book, at the time they open for lunch, or for dinner and have a decent meal. Buffets don't age well at WDW, after service has gone on a while, the servers get tired, the food dies on the buffet, and dishes accumulate.

 

[Acrosthec]

I've eaten at H&V several times and never had a bad meal. The food is not gourmet, but not worse than other character buffets I've been to. We had a late breakfast, skipped lunch, then had the holiday dinner last year, and it was a lot of fun at both meals. DD2 loved the characters, and we all enjoyed the food enough to get us through the day, which is what mattered to us.

 

[EllieBride]

We were in this same situation last year. I had already booked the H&V breakfast, then they announced the Minnie's Holiday Dine and we really wanted to try that, too. As it turned out, the days that worked out for our schedule were back-to-back, which wouldn't have been my first choice, but it turned out fine. Minnie's Holiday Dine was a lot of FUN!!!!! In general, I'm not really a fan of buffets (especially when you have to fix plates for little kids!), but the food variety and quality at dinner were surprisingly good, IMO. And the character interactions were fantastic! Each of them came around at least 3 times. Breakfast was just OK. It wasn't terrible, but nothing great, either. For kids that like Doc, Sofia, and Jake, this is a great way to see them, but it's not on my list of places to go back to. We are thinking about going back to Minnie's Holiday Dine this year just because we loved seeing them in their Christmas outfits.

 

[emnems34]

My thing with dining at Disney is this- if your daughter is two she isn't really going to care about the food, she's going to care about the characters. So if you think she'd really enjoy both meals with the characters, then do it. I prefer Crystal Palace and I've rarely heard good things about H&V, however we did the breakfast there once and honestly I saw nothing wrong with it. Was it one of my favorites? Absolutely not but I enjoyed the characters a lot! It's a good way to get all of the Disney Junior characters in and kids are only into them for a very limited time so I say do at least that one. As far as Minnie's that is one I might advise you to skip, but if you really think your daughter will love Minnie and the holiday setting then do it. The food might not be great but she'll have a blast! : D Have fun!

 

[RachaelA]

We are doing it twice next trip for the same reason. We eat there every trip and it's been fine. As long as the food is edible, we are ok. I don't go to Disney expecting amazing food at any buffet.

 

[BuffaloJim]

I've been to three or four dozen TS restaurants at WDW. Something has to be my least favorite. H&V it is. There's nothing that sticks out as being absolutely terrible. It's just a general lack of quality.

Once should be more than enough.