Rearranged adrs. Again. How is Hollywood & Vine breakfast?

[chloelovesdisney]

Really wanted to do 1900 Park Faire for breakfast but we're doing a super short trip and I just don't want to spend the time traveling to a resort. I have a PPO breakfast at Garden Grill and also H&V. Have done GG a couple of times, but haven't been to H&V in many years and never for breakfast.

Any good? I wish they had some different characters there but I think my son will enjoy it no matter who he sees.

Also, thoughts on TS lunches for appetizer and soup or salad? We're doing a mom/son trip during President's Week, I'm afraid CS locations will be mobbed at lunch time and it will be hard to corral my son, carry the food and drinks and find a table. I've tentatively booked lunch at Coral Reef and Skipper's Canteen just so I know I won't have to stress out about it.

Maybe I'm overthinking all of this, I've rearranged our plans a few times already.

 

[Lisa F]

I'm a single mom so I always travel mom/son.

I took mine when he was 6 in 2014, 8 in 2016 and am taking him the same week you are (thursday - sunday president's week and then a cruise).

Coral Reef was one of our favorites last time. I LOVE the lobster bisque at coral reef and he loved the steak and fries and sitting tankside. He also loved the kid cupcake.

He liked skipper's canteen too, he had the mac and cheese there and it was the same stuff from liberty tree tavern and they subbed fries for the broccoli... carb city. I had the Orinoco Ida's Cachapas there and they were delicious and just right for lunch (we also got desserts). He LOVED the Volcano dessert. I think we got out of there for under $30 with AP discount at the time including tip so it was about CS cost when we did it for lunch, but next time I'd skip dessert and it would probably be a bit less even without discount. We are doing an 11am Liberty Tree Tavern on our trip for lunch (but having a light breakfast). I'm hoping to order a kid meal for myself but the kid wants the patriot platter. If we can do that combo it will be about $30 before tax and tip which is not much more than QS.

QS was hell on earth when he was 6, I avoided it on our last trip when he was 8 and we did 2 TS a day and I have a couple of off hour QS locations during off hours with mobile ordering planned for this trip hoping it won't be too bad, just to see how it is... to fill in the gaps between very far spaced TS.

Garden Grill is single mom heaven on earth because you sit and they bring everything to you. That and 'Ohana are my two favorite character breakfasts.

We did H&V for dinner and found the food adequate. It gets very mixed reviews but i found it was nowhere near as bad as the worst or as good as the glowing reviews. The character interaction was the best there though, I have read reviews on that and that was my experience as well. It's a different set of characters though so I'm not sure how it is for breakfast. I think all the breakfast buffets are fine, some better than others. I am easy to please for breakfast and breakfast is hard to mess up... kid eats his weight in mickey waffles, bacon and fried potatoes and will eat biscuits and sausage gravy if available so we're good with the staples there.

Are you looking for other suggestions or just validation of what you've got? I had absolutely no trouble ordering a single app for lunch at skipper's canteen on my last trip so I don't think your idea is a bad one. In fact I asked the waitress about size and if she thought I should order a second app and she said "why don't you just order one and if you want a second halfway through it will come out quickly." I ended up being quite satisfied on one app and not pressured at ALL to be ordering more.

Kid meals at non AYCTE TS are very reasonable IMO but I live in a high cost of living place where the cost is similar without dessert ($9) or only a dollar or two less without drink and then they upsell you on the $3 chocolate milk. I'd pay $3-4 more for a TS kid meal over QS to have someone wait on me in a heartbeat.

 

[pattyw]

We're a family of all adults and we did a PPO H&V breakfast. We enjoyed the food- there was a good variety and it wasn't real crowded. We had great service- drinks replenished very quick. And we enjoyed the characters too!

 

[chloelovesdisney]

Are you looking for other suggestions or just validation of what you've got? .

I don't know exactly what I am looking for, I just keep posting all my adr changes. My son just turned 6 and I'm not so keen on navigating a crowded cs with him. I think you've convinced me to keep those lunch adrs. I'm actually looking forward to trying Coral Reef and Skippers Canteen now, they're both new places for us.

We're a family of all adults and we did a PPO H&V breakfast. We enjoyed the food- there was a good variety and it wasn't real crowded. We had great service- drinks replenished very quick. And we enjoyed the characters too!

Thanks, this is great to hear!

 

[ericaseiler]

We were pleasantly surprised with our PPO Bkfst at H&V. We had read some pretty poor reviews but found the food to be fresh and hot and the restaurant to be clean and not too chaotic.

 

[Magic_Man]

With the exception of Tusker House, I find the breakfast buffets to be pretty interchangeable. No matter how good or how bad one thinks a particular restaurant is for lunch or dinner, when it comes to breakfast, they pretty much follow the same formula. If you enjoy Disney breakfasts, there is no reason to suspect that you will think that H&V is any worse (or any better) than any other you have been to.

 

[KenHutch]

Hollywood & Vine for breakfast has character interaction you won't find anywhere else. That being said H&V is the only restaurant on my never again list at WDW. We found the service to be incredibly poor and the place was messy and the food just adequate. But if it has characters your little one likes I do understand as the veteran of a couple of dozen princess themed meals (and at 17 I am still booking them for mine).

 

[chloelovesdisney]

We were pleasantly surprised with our PPO Bkfst at H&V. We had read some pretty poor reviews but found the food to be fresh and hot and the restaurant to be clean and not too chaotic.

Thank you, we like plenty of places that get poor reviews (Chef Mickey's dinner especially) so I am open to giving every place a try ourselves.

With the exception of Tusker House, I find the breakfast buffets to be pretty interchangeable. No matter how good or how bad one thinks a particular restaurant is for lunch or dinner, when it comes to breakfast, they pretty much follow the same formula. If you enjoy Disney breakfasts, there is no reason to suspect that you will think that H&V is any worse (or any better) than any other you have been to.

Very true, we've had good experiences at other character breakfasts.

Hollywood & Vine for breakfast has character interaction you won't find anywhere else. That being said H&V is the only restaurant on my never again list at WDW. We found the service to be incredibly poor and the place was messy and the food just adequate. But if it has characters your little one likes I do understand as the veteran of a couple of dozen princess themed meals (and at 17 I am still booking them for mine).

I only wish they had a character meal with Buzz and Woody, my son would go crazy for them!

 

[OhAmbs]

My little one and nephew love H&V Breakfast. They stopped doing the sing a long shows a while back, I was hoping the would bring them back since it helps some of the shy kids be more open to the characters. Food there is decent. My SIL loves the potatoes casserole there and always grabs an ADR.

 

[Burgermom]

My little one and nephew love H&V Breakfast. They stopped doing the sing a long shows a while back, I was hoping the would bring them back since it helps some of the shy kids be more open to the characters. Food there is decent. My SIL loves the potatoes casserole there and always grabs an ADR.

When you say that they stopped doing the sing along show what are you referring to? I am trying to decide whether to do H&V breakfast and had heard that the characters sort of sing and dance with the kids. Is that no longer the case? Do they just go around to the tables?

thanks

 

[aimfon]

We did H&V breakfast for thanksgiving 2016 and the food was good, service was great! My kids were 2 & 6 at the time and loved the interaction with the characters.

 

[OhAmbs]

When you say that they stopped doing the sing along show what are you referring to? I am trying to decide whether to do H&V breakfast and had heard that the characters sort of sing and dance with the kids. Is that no longer the case? Do they just go around to the tables?

thanks

In previous years they would have Disney Jr show type cast members dancing and singing the theme songs from the show (Jake, Sofia, Doc, etc). They would have the kids come up to dance and 'sing a long', they would even call up kids to sing Happy Birthday. The last time we went, it was very much like all the other Character Dinning experiences. I'm not sure why they stopped with the shows but I always hoped they would bring it back. To be fair, there is no other more convenient place to see that Disney Jr Characters. I also feel like they understand the crowd, as far as ages, and they tend to be more patient with those that are shy or even the over excited ones (my DD).

 

[married2mm]

Maybe I'm overthinking all of this, I've rearranged our plans a few times already.

Rearranging & overthinking are all part of the joy of a Disney vacation
It's when hysteria sets in you need to worry

H!&V was my fave ADR by far on our last trip.
The food was yummy & the character interaction was fantastic.
Our server was a delight also.
We had an amazing time -so much so we have a ppo ADR for breakfast on my birthday.

 

[chloelovesdisney]

Rearranging & overthinking are all part of the joy of a Disney vacation
It's when hysteria sets in you need to worry

H!&V was my fave ADR by far on our last trip.
The food was yummy & the character interaction was fantastic.
Our server was a delight also.
We had an amazing time -so much so we have a ppo ADR for breakfast on my birthday.

Under 30 days, I have hit full fledged hysteria mode.

 

[married2mm]

Under 30 days, I have hit full fledged hysteria mode. [/QUOTE

thats definitely taking it to another level

 

[nkereina]

Our group of 9 loved H&V breakfast. We also did PPO and all the food was fresh, hot, and we loved the options. Characters were also very interactive, and I think it was Doc who came by our table twice.

 

[Burgermom]

Thanks for all of the advice/thoughts. Any tips on how to finish up in less than an hour with breakfast? We have an 8:10am ADR at H&V. Hope to check in at 8 and be done shortly before 9am. We don't have any super important RD target rides (have FPP for the rides that we want to ride) but we also don't want to be too late starting our touring. My son is not set on meeting all the characters; is mostly interested in meeting Jake.