Hollywood & Vine - has to be the worst!

[Kristina]

Sorry to hear about your experience!

We ate there last August (Fantasmic package) and we all got food poisoning. Ugh!

The people at the next table were having issues too. They spent more time in the bathroom then at their table!

It would take A LOT to get me to ever go there again.

Ugh this just may change things for me. We are booked to eat here mid december with a fantastic package and besides the fact that we have to eat at I believe 3:45 I have another restaurant that I really want to eat at and I don't have any other day for it. I'm just worried about Fantasmic but even with the package you still have to get there about 40 minutes early..so I'm thinking whats another 20? Maybe it wouldn't be so bad? Although then we have to eat dinner at ..maybe 8.30pm at the other place? If Fantasmic is at 7pm and the other place is the Grand Floridian Cafe (oooh now my secret is out!...looks yummy!). If I can even get an ADR..Ugh. What to do? I don't want to ruin my vacation !

 

[Constant]

We have eaten here on our last two trips when our DD was 18 months and 2 1/2 years. She is a big fan of the Little Einstiens and JoJo so it was a must. The menu hasn't changed in years and has a distinctly canteen feel. It was ok on both our trips but normally show me a buffet in the States (the UK just doesn't have a clue) and I react like Homer with 'all you can eat' as a challenge! This has always been enough to fill me up until dinner (we usually go for Lunch) and no more.

We usually do between 2-3 character meals per trip and this has been a favourite because every 15 mins or so a Playhouse Pal comes out and sings a song and get the kids dancing and high fiving etc. with the characters. Last time we were last in there for lunch, Goliath and JoJo spent about 20 mins playing with my daughter which was gold we ended up having to leave before the characters Goliath had some skills with break-dancing and got my DD spinning on the floor.

I couldn't see us ever going there for dinner (no characters?) as the food really wouldn't stand up on it's own. I would almost prefer a quick service instead.

Steve

 

[~Fisharefriends~]

I have seen quite a few negative reviews for H&V and it is starting to make me a little worried about my reservation on my upcoming trip.However i think i am going to stick with it, i work for the NHS and nothing can be worse than hospital food right........

 

[slapwhitey]

Well, we just returned from a very HOT quick weekend to WDW. We took advantage of the free dining and actually upgraded to deluxe dining. Great plan but entirely too much food.

Anywho, we kept our ADR for Hollywood & Vine for Sunday night as we wanted to see how the Fantasmic package works. After reading this thread I was hesitant to say the least about this meal but figured what the heck, how bad can it be. I am no Kevin so I won't go into a lot of detail with this quick review but if I'm being honest....it wasn't terrible. We've done most of the buffet style meals at WDW and I would put this one somewhere in the middle. It was no Cape May but still better than some. I believe that Disney just does not do a fantastic buffet dinner by any stretch but I also don't expect it either. I could understand if this meal was well below my expectations but I gotta say that I don't have very high expectations for Disney buffet's. It is just another notch on my list to eat at every Disney restaurant.

The selection was decent. Salad bar had both traditional and non-traditional salads which was great for some variety. They had a corn chowder soup that I must admit I would have ordered as an appetizer out of pocket if need be. The entrees had everything from a couple different chicken dishes, pork tenderloin, fish, vegetarian pasta and turkey and prime rib at the carving station. There were a couple of different veggie dishes and a really good parmesan mashed potatoes. The kids buffet had the ever popular mac and cheese but also had barbecue meatballs which was a nice addition to the common chicken nugget. Desserts were nothing spectacular but again no worse than any other WDW buffet.

We had a bit of an issue with getting our table cleared from time to time but I don't fault our server for this one bit. It seems to be a staffing issue. Our server (Bev) did her best to be attentive but she was also clearing tables, setting tables, waiting on new guests and still trying to keep the drinks coming while hauling our dirty dishes. She was very sweet and even apologized at one point if I remember correctly. It just seemed to be too much work for one person to do efficiently.

All in all I will say it was neither fantastic or terrible. I might even say it was better than my lunch at Coral Reef (food and service). Would I eat here again, probably but not for a while. We have decided that we really have to stay away from Disney buffets for a bit. So basically, if you have an understanding as to what to expect from a Disney buffet you shouldn't be too surprised with this one. Hope that sheds some light on Hollywood & Vine. This November I'm trying Brown Derby for the first time...can't wait to get me some Cobb Salad.

 

[~Fisharefriends~]

Thank you for your honest review it was very informative.

 

[mommyoftwinfants]

When we went in june it was terrible, everything that should have been hot was cold and everything that should of been cold was warm, lol. We only saw our server three times, the first time was 10 mins after we were seated to get our drink order, then about 15 after that to bring us our drinks, the last time we saw her was when the check came and she made sure to tell us "since you are a party of 6 my tip amount is ???(so and so) and pointed to the receipt.

 

[wishspirit]

Cast Members are required to waer a name tag.

Should they forget their tag, they can wear any tag avialable.

It's frowned upon, but it happens.

They told up this on the Keys to the Kingdom tour. They choose a name closest to their own, so its easier if they are called by name, but sometimes its just luck of the draw!

However i think i am going to stick with it, i work for the NHS and nothing can be worse than hospital food right........

One can only hope! I have had some gross NHS food in my time, one triffle i swear was moving!

 

[willis37862]

This is the one place DH and I agree is on the NEVER dine again list We had a terrible experience there on our last trip from the check-in at the podium till the end. The highlight was our lovely waitress, she could tell we weren't happy with the way things went at the podium so she went out of her way to make up for it. Even with her doing a great job the food was the worst we had on the trip.

I had hoped that things had improved but I see from the mixed reviews it might not have.

 

[WDWBetsy]

Sorry to hear that you didn't like it. Sounds like it's hit or miss, which seems to be the case with the Disney restaurants.

We ate there on Sept. 2 (also my mom's 71st birthday), and it was honestly my favorite buffet meal. We had an 11:30 ADR and were able to have both breakfast & lunch. We checked in a little early and were seated quickly. After the lunch buffet opened, the line did get a little long so we were lucky.

Our server was wonderful - and when I told him that my mom had forgotten her birthday button, he brought out another one - and also a cute birthday cupcake. Then my mom had to do the birthday dance around the restaurant with a little girl. The characters were WONDERFUL and really had fun with our DD. Leo pointed out that they both had red hair.

Overall - one of our best meals. The food was fresh and we enjoyed the variety. I especially liked the corn chowder soup, and the corn casserole (can't remember the exact name). We're planning on returning in 2010. Again, sorry you had a bad experience.

 

[JulieEck]

We just did the breakfast there on 8/31. We thought it was great. DH stuffed himself full and couldn't believe the amount of food that was available. Our time was 8:05 and we were in and out with all characters, birthday cupcake, dances, check, etc. just in time for the park opening. We joined the front of the crowd heading to TSM and were able to ride that with basically no wait. Couldn't have asked for anything to go better. Now for the disclaimers: this was our first park day, first time on a dining plan of any sort (and free at that!) and first time doing a table service restaurant at Disney. So we didn't really have anything to compare it to Disney-wise. We did one other Breakfast that trip at Crystal Palace, which was also great. DH is now sold on paying out of pocket for the early breakfasts at any park.

 

[jjpenguin]

We did dinner in May 07 and were very pleased with the selection and quality of the food, nice salads and mains were varied and fresh. Didn't think much of the desserts but by then we were stuffed.

 

[pjhorton21]

Of the 14 eateries we visited at WDW on our last vacation in August 2007, Hollywood & Vine is the ONLY one that we had a bad experience at - bad food, bad service, crowded, blech! All of the other restaurants were great!