Hollywood & Vine...Never Again!!

[inmyis]

DW and I had a great time last week at WDW. All of our meals were very good to excellent. These included Crystal Palace, Prime Time Cafe, Liberty Tree Tavern, Hoop Dee Doo, Pizza Safari. Even the few meals at Pop were OK. The only POOR experience was at Hollywood and Vine. We decided to do the Fantasmic Pkg there because it was the same price for the buffet either way. The food was OK but no where worth the $22.95. The real problem was the service from our waiter Bill. He was an older gentleman with no Disney skills. He was gruff and very unattentive. When giving us the instuctions for Fantasmic he was VERY fast to get through the info. He disappeared for long stretches of time. For the only time that I can remember I did not leave a tip. I left a little note to Bill expressing our frustations and that he neededd a little "magic". But this was the second time we have had poor service at H&V, so I guess I should have known better!! We should have paid extra for the Brown Derby, oh well next time.

 

[DeeCeeSW]

We'll never eat there again either. We too were there for the Fantasmic package. We needed to see a chef due to my DS and his food allergies--the chef came out yawning and said to our waitperson and us, "Boy, am I tired." He apparently was too tired to make/bring us anything special from the kitchen (my DS cannot eat wheat, eggs or nuts, so he has a limited diet), so he told us what was "safe to eat" from the buffet. My son broke out in a rash almost immediately after consuming his "safe food." The waitperson actually made me lift up my my son's shirt so she could see that hives were forming, brought the chef back out and he was barely apologetic. Turns out that the food DS ate had been cooked in a pan that had been used to cook another dish, one that DS was allergic to. I can't discuss what happened after that, but needless to say, we will never eat at H&V again! Please note that we have never had a problem at any of the other WDW restaurants and they have always bent over backwards to accomodate DS. We continue to go to WDW restaurants and have complete confidence in the chefs there.

 

[JulieM96]

inmyis,

Good for you for leaving your server a note about his poor service. At least he knows why he received no tip, and can choose to improve (or not).

Glad to hear you enjoyed your other meals. Thanks for posting your experience.

 

[turnlisa]

Glad to know that we are not the only ones less than enthused about H&V. We went years ago when it was a character buffet and thoroughly enjoyed it. Last year we thought we would try the FDP there since, as everyone knows, it is the cheapest. There is a reason it is the cheapest! The food wasn't great -- not what you would expect for that amount. Our waitress seemed really rushed and disappeared for long stretches (where do they go anyway?). This year we are spending the extra money for HBD.

 

[beattyfamily]

So sorry to hear that. Great idea to leave a note.

I've always had great service there though. We've eaten there 3 times now with the Fantasmic package with no complaints.

Sorry you had such bad service.

 

[patsal]

Other than Brown Derby there isn't much we care to eat at MGM. Overall, our worse dining experiences have happened at MGM. We try to avoid by getting an early start and leaving to eat elsewhere. Thsi is one park that really needs help with dining choices and food quality. Our last meal at H&V we experienced waitstaff that was never seen after filling outr drinks the first time, people on the lines complaining they had a few hours left untilthey could leave and that couldn't happen fast enough, etc. Never again!

 

[laceemouse]

We had the exact opposite experience there on 10/07. Our waiter was great, and DH and I require a lot of tea refills. We found the food superb. Our oldest DD13 is a vegetarian, DS9 is a big eater, DD6 VERY picky, I love seafood and DH is a meat eater! Only DD11 is easy to please. We all left full and very happy. We did it for the FDP but would eat there again in a heartbeat. We did BD before and were not impressed (big $$, small portions.) Maybe we were just lucky, but it was our best meal of the trip and a new favorite! The dessert was good too!!!

 

[DisneyMomx7]

I hated H&V! We did the Fantasmic package there in July. We had previously done the ones at Mama Melrose's and Brown Derby and loved them.

 

[Kaycee]

I'm sorry to hear about your bad experience at H&V. We ate there in June with the FDP, and while the food was okay, we were fortunate enough to have great service. I had printed out some CM appreciation cards that an internet friend of mine created, and I passed out a few to CM's who added to our Disney magic. Our server at H&V received one of the cards (along with a nice tip which he more than deserved).

 

[gigi1313]

we also had an excellent H&V experience... sorry to hear it's not consistent...

 

[jkovick]

DH & I ate at H & V once. We won't go back. We had no issues with service but found the food to be poor. I have had better food at Old County Buffet (which I am not a fan of at all!)

 

[LovePug]

We've had excellent food and service so far.....isn't the tip already included in the bill ? I think I read that it is, but at least you left a note to show your displeasure.

 

[capthooksmom]

Our first and last experience at H&V was in 2001 to get the seating for Fantasmic. The service was not great, but acceptable. The food was awful! Cold and no taste!!

 

[Del]

Never been to H and V but we did the fantasmic package at Mama MelRose and we loved it. It is a bit out of the way, but good!

Del

 

[drgnfly30]

I booked the FDP at H&V for our last night at WDW only because it was the only restaurant available... should I call back & see if they've had any cancellations ?? You're making me nervous, DH is a restaurant manager & has VERY little patience for bad food service & I embarrass easily!

Christine

 

[ugadog99]

FINALLY someone agrees with us about this restaurant. It is the only Disney restaurant we will never return to. One word sums up the food, price, and service... AWFUL! ICK

 

[Stiff]

Im going to jump on the bandwagon against H&V

we ate there for the fantasmic package in early june....the food, the price.....YUCK....wasnt worth $10 let alone $23 or whatever it cost us.

it was EASILY the worst meal of the week...next year Im going to take the boat to the boardwalk or something when Im hungry

 

[luvmarypoppins]

Our family of 5 enjoys hollywood and vine. Food choices to make everyone happy and the price is reasonable and the fantasmic pkg. is a great plus too.

 

[ralfrick]

The only problem with the note instead of a tip is that tips are often split, so you may be punishing an innocent busboy in the process. I don't, however, know of a way to leave a tip that excludes someone from the split.

Cheers.

 

[liliagm]

We just went there on 10/16 for lunch, the food was good and we had very good service, we where celebrating my sister's bday and we didn't had any ps, we waited for 5 min, where seated and we told our server about her bday in the middle of the lunch, he got her a nice cupcake and announced to everyone that she was celebrating her 18th b-day! (she turned 29) and made the whole restaurant sing happy b-day, we had our refills in time and the desserts where yummi! overall a good buffet.... no complains.... Sorry that you had poor service...