Should I cancel H & V??

[teag_98]

I have it booked for the Fantasmic package...but holy, the reviews are soooooooo bad. Even those who say it's ok say just that, it's ok. How valuable is it to have the package anyway? It says you still have to show up half an hour before, and what I've read is that you can still get a good seat an hour before without the package....

I should mention that we're going in late June, and that I have to have breakfast there (3 yr old )...seriously folks, when the words dirty and never again and disgusting are applied to a restaurant over and over again, it kind of turns one's stomach, you know what I mean??

 

[DisneyGirlie]

I've been there for dinner once and not impressed at all. I didn't think it was disgusting or awful, but I just didn't enjoy it enough to ever return.

 

[septbaby]

You can find bad reviews for Mama Melrose too, some truly think it is the pits for both food and service; others love it. Unless you want to spend 2TS you pick one and go for it. We found the seating convenient and dinner at H&V was just fine. Our service there was better than fine.

Look at it this way. If you drop the ADR someone else will gladly take it. So whether you go to Fantasmic with or without a package its all the same to Disney. You just have to decide how you want to spend your time at DHS. Honestly, I have not been impressed with any reviews for dinner at DHS.

We'll be at H&V for a character lunch this trip and I'm excited to go there. Personally I think buffets hold a better chance of not disappointing because of the variety.

 

[KatMark]

We give each restaurant two chances and H&V has had both and we will not go back. Both times the place was very dirty around the buffet and in the bathrooms. The service was terrible...it took 15 minutes before anyone ever came over to get our drink orders and give us our Fantasmic tickets; the food was lukewarm and bland, when there was food...several items were out and it seemed to take forever to replenish. Now, we enjoy Mama Melrose. No, it is not a gourmet meal, but we have dined there three times and had good food and good service. We consider it a step above Olive Garden.

 

[DonaldTDuck]

We did the H&V Fantasmic package in '06. I think a lot of the food is a little strange, but there were several good choices and we had the best service of our trip there. I go off season, so I don't think I need the package, but I wouldn't nix eating there again. But i'd rather eat at PTC any day.

 

[frdeb1999]

We honestly like H&V and do it about everytime we're there. I can give you bad reviews on quite a few resturants that I've ate at. And we give them all a couple chances.

 

[disnut8]

Just read a trip report and the guy and his wife make it a point to visit Hollywood and Vine on every annual trip.

Honestly, you could ask 50 different people and get 50 different answers. There are some on these boards that gush over California Grill. We've been but it was just OK and we won't be back. There are people on these boards who say that Yachtsmen Steakhouse is just OK but we love it.

How are you going to know if you like Hollywood and Vine if you don't try it for yourself?

 

[MickeyNicki]

I would not go there ever again the food and service was that bad

 

[teag_98]

It's not that I don't want to try it...honestly, if I could afford to go to Disney all the time I would eat there without blinking an eye. I do believe that you should form your own opinions about the restaurants, and I know that some ppl like it.

But, this will most likely be the only time my family will every be able to afford the trip, so I just don't want to waste my time or my family's on something that bad, that's all

And, truthfully, it is the only restaurant I've seen that's referred to as dirty time and again....

Thanks for all your input, I truly do appreciate it!

 

[beroh2253]

We eventually will get to all of the Disney restaurants and form our own opinion. There are many restaurants I do like that have many bad reviews like San Angle Inn. But since this is your only trip, now we have been to both H & V and Mama Melrose, I would go to Mama Melrose.

 

[vtwep]

did the character breakfast there before the park opened last November. We had a great time. It was NOT dirty, the buffet was fine, service was good, and my DD4 loved the interaction and dancing with the characters. I can't speak for lunch or dinner as we didn't do those there, but our experience was a good one. The only reason we wouldn't go back is IF my daughter is out of the Little Einsteins and Jo Jo stage when we return.

 

[MollyMoo]

We will be doing the H&V Fantasmic Dinner Package in late June and am looking forward to it. H&V is one of the few restaurants we haven't tried yet and we have never seen Fantasmic. I have read the reviews and am really not concerned about what others say they have experienced ... will judge for myself. I have read great reviews of restaurants I thought were simply mediocre ... everyone is different. If the meal is lousy I won't go back ... it is only a meal and it won't make or break my vacation.

I have read horror stories of waiting in line for Fantasmic for up to 90 minutes so a 30 minute window sounds much more tolerable. Twice we have gone to the park in the evening specifically for Fantasmic and were discouraged by the huge lines full of exasperated adults and squirmy kids ... yes, I think the dinner package is likely worth it!

 

[beroh2253]

Here is what we did last year to see Fantismic, (we perfer the EPCOT restaurants and have hoppers) have to see it at least once each time we go to DW. We didn't do the package and didn't get in line. We waited till about 1/2 hour till it started. people that were in line were already seated. We walked in, you come in at the top of the seating, we turned right and walked over to where the Fanticmic Package people sit, losts of room over there and best place to get out at the end of the show.
Now maybe were were lucky and if it would have been full wouldn't have gotten in. Does this show fill up much?

 

[eeyorethegreat]

We have been three times and haven't been disappointed at any of the meals. Dis not find anything dirty or gross and the service was good not GREAT but good- nothing to complain about.

 

[septbaby]

It's not that I don't want to try it...honestly, if I could afford to go to Disney all the time I would eat there without blinking an eye. I do believe that you should form your own opinions about the restaurants, and I know that some ppl like it.

It really is a simple decision tree.

1. Do you want the Fantasmic package? If NO then process over. If yes then continue.

2. Do you want to spend 1TS or 2TS. If 2TS, decision over as you'll work to get a reservation at The Brown Derby. If 1TS then choose MM or H&V.

3. Do you want a single serving meal or buffet? If you can choose one or the other, decision over. If "I'm not sure", then you have to find another qualfier to select.

There is a math, science, logic background working here so I can make choices like this w/o too much consternation or emotion. My emotion kicks in after I've decided and as my 6yo nephew said this weekend "I'm so excited".

The key is you'll be with your family, you'll be at Disney and you'll get to eat. That's pretty much a win, win, win scenario in my book.

 

[Utfootballdiva]

I guess it also depends on when you are going and what else (if anything) is available. We are going on our first trip to WDW in 11 days (yay) and we have an ADR for H and V for our first night b/c we wanted to do the Fantasmic package. Sadly our ADR is for 4pm which is way too early for us but nothing else is available. I've called several times to check and MM is totally booked that night and all they could offer at BD is a 3:30 ADR.

 

[LAinSEA]

Let me first say that I am NOT a fan of buffets; if there is a chance for me to get sick or be grossed out by the mess (or patron behavior) it is at a buffet. Still, my parents, sister and nieces wanted to do the Fantasmic package last August and H & V was the only option available on the night we needed it.

We had the first seating and I was impressed. The food was excellent; fresh, plentiful, no mess. The choices were great for picky eater and "foodie." The restaurant was not yet crowded. The service was fabulous. Some would say that having to begin eating dinner at 3:45 pm when Fantasmic was scheduled for 9pm is nuts. We were not rushed and the meal probably took us about an hour and a half. But this made for a lovely, late, cool in the A/C lunch/dinner. I would go back and take my even more-buffet phobic DH with me next time.

Perhaps H & V suffers the same fate as most buffets--crowds and mess overcome servers and kitchen staff as the night goes on. Again, all the more reason to enjoy that really early dinner or late lunch.

-Laurie