Should I risk Hollywood & Vine?

[AMonir]

I am REALLY confused about whether or not to risk H & V for the Fantasmic! package. After reading the awful reviews of H & V on this board, I tried changing my reservation today but of course, the other two choices are booked. I don't know what to do! The idea of wasting 90 minutes waiting in line for Fantasmic! sounds totally miserable. At the same time, the reviews I've read about some people getting sick from the food at H &V terrifies me. I would feel HORRIBLE if I caused my friend to get sick from the food at a restaurant I made reservations at! So, what do you suggest? I'm not expecting great food at H & V, but I definitely DO NOT want either of us to get sick from it. Do you recommend I give H & V a chance and stick to the safer food items, or should I avoid it altogether and just wait in line for Fantasmic? I would REALLY appreciate your advice!! Thank you soo much!!

 

[megan4777]

I haven't been to this board much b/c I didn't see a trip in our near future. However, I'm pretty positive we're going Dec 2007, so I'm back!

Anyway, we ate at H&V in Nov 2005 and loved it. We all left there full and happy. It's a restaurant we plan to go to again on our next trip.

Good luck

 

[michvin]

We had been to Disney for a week, and a long weekend in Oct and Jan respectively and were at MGM w/o seeing Fantasmic. In april, we were only going to get to WDW for only one day (gosh, the agony ) and we went to MGM. We got the Fantasmic dinner package at H&V and I have to say that it was pretty good. I mean, it is a buffet, but it was hot, fresh and tasty. The steamed, cold shrimp were a little mushy so we passed on them but the cold salads were very, very good as was the salmon and the chicken and the veggies. I had two plates of veggies while we were there. The kids ate well and had their dish of ice cream. And, i have to say that having the food was far better than having to wait. We got in 25 minutes before the show, sat 3/4 of the way up the right side of the stage and say an AWESOME show. The kids loved it...we went to the early show. I would never, ever do the wait with small children. When we got in, the rest of the theatre was packed...I can't believe people waited that long. Get the dinner...try for an early dinner time and get snacks to take into the theatre. Its worth the food for not the wait.

 

[tashast]

I just got back from Disney last week & we ate at H&V. Honestly, we didn't enjoy it at all. The dessert options were really good but I was disappointed. My hubby who likes just about anything, thought it was just ok. I guess if I had to chose again, I would try one of the other places. But in order to get seating for Fantasmic, I might suck it up and eat there again.

Ok, I was really no help at all.

 

[bdink921]

We ate at H&V last April--we thought the food was very good!! There was a good selection and we had no complaints. We were there at Spring break and it was wonderful to head for Fantasmic 30 minutes before the show and have great seats!!

 

[suswa]

I've decieded we are going to chance it. I'm just not going to let it ruin my trip if it isn't the best place that we eat..

 

[__disneygirl]

Yes, definitely chance it. Ate there in 2002 and it was fantastic, obviously looking at the reviews on here I think it has gone downhill. Nevertheless, i've never had a bad Disney meal and I say definitley chance it.

 

[Cannot_Wait_4Disney]

Try these. 84% give it their recommendation.

http://allearsnet.com/reviewpost/showproduct.php?product=113&sort=8&cat=35&page=1

Expect solid but not spectacular food, good selection of the entrees and sides, decent but not great salad area and good deserts. What's on the carving station changes. Our food was good, all was to proper temperature, was changed out on a timely basis, and was good.

 

[7onbuzz]

The DW and I did the fantasmic package there last year and it worked out pretty well. The food was above average and the service was good. We were able to walk right down to the seating area for the show and the only line we had to deal with was getting out after the show.
If you really want to see fantasmic, stick with H&V.

 

[Dreamfinder2]

Do you like buffets? Some folks barely tolerate them because of sanitation issues... multiple people handling serving utensils, etc.

If you like buffets, you'll manage fine at H&V. The quality will be at least as good and generally much better than your local chains, albeit more $ than the average Golden Corral. If you're not adverse to such feeding establishments, have at it.

 

[Grumpy's Wife]

We have the dining plan for our next trip. I plan on booking Hollywood & Vine just to bypass the line for Fantasmic. If this is the worst meal on the trip that's ok for the time it saved us not standing in line. We will have 6 other Table Service meals to eat delicious dinners at, so 1 out of 7 isn't so bad.

 

[Disneyrsh]

Hollywood and vine was fine for us.

THe service was totally lackluster, but it's ok because it's a buffet and our main directive was to get everyone fed (we had a party of 8) and out of there in time for Fantasmic. The food was fairly good, not horrible, about Ponderosa/TJ Applebee's quality, and we were seated quickly and nobody had to wait for their food.

We ate at Mama Melrose's another time for the Fantasmic show and it was SO BAD that we missed fantasmic, with a 4 pm dinner seating and a 7 pm fantasmic show.

I actually wrote my one and only complaint letter ever to DIsney about the service at MM's. We couldn't get seated, we couldn't get served, we couldn't get our entrees, we couldn't get drinks, and we couldn't get our bill, it was so bad it was ludicrous! And this was in september!!!

So, I'd say that HV works really well because you're more in control of when you get in and out than at a sit down restaurant.

We now avoid all the table service restaurants at Disney if we have anything planned afterwards...

 

[melomouse]

We do H&V every trip to get the Fantasmic package. It's a short walk to Oscar's from there and on our last trip, we found selection, service and cleanliness to be better than CP!!! BD is awesome if you want to pay more DP credits - we haven't tried MM yet - and reviews are also widely varied.

I understand you want your travelling companion to be happy, but if you are only changing plans because you've read a few posts here on folks getting sick or being grossed out at H&V, I urge you to give it a shot, anyway. Opinions on everything on these boards vary widely and are not fact for all parkgoers!!!

 

[LISAMWDW]

I have found the Fantasmic Package really isn't necessary! You can get in w/out a wait and get good seats neat the exit without the pkg. We like to eat a large lunch at Sci Fi or 50's. I would not risk the H & V, I've heard too many bad things. In addition, I'm not a huge buffet fan. Other than a few in WDW that are great, I always avoid them if possible.

 

[dublincailin]

I'm a bit confused! If a number of people ate there and became ill, surely huge changes would have had to be implemented if it were due to lack of hygiene, etc. or it would have had to close down no? Anyone able to point me to exactly what happened and what was done by Disney following their complaints? My concern is for my husband who has to be particularly careful about what he eats due to health problems - thanks

 

[Disneyrsh]

I was over on another thread where people were talking about when/where they've gotten "food poisoning" at Disney, and my argument was it's impossible to tell if you picked up a rotavirus or a gastroenteritis virus from the handrail outside the restaurant and then ingested it while eating (how many of you actually go and wash your hands when you come into a restaurant from the park? We learned that lesson the hard way), vs. an actual food-borne contagion?

Disney's food turnover on the buffets is usually astoundingly fast; food doesn't have enough time to go bad in the first place. Occasionally you'll have a cast member that will handle fresh salad fixings without washing their hands, that's going to be your # 1 source of contamination, because there's no heat to kill whatever got onto the salad and they're high moisture-good bacteria/virus holding grounds.

So, if you do buffets, pick the hot stuff! And wash your hands before you go grabbing those handles to ladle the food onto your plate, the girl behind you will thank you.

Another good buffet tip is to not choose things you can eat with your hands, or choose to eat them with a fork. With the kids, we don't do pizza at the buffets and we get them to eat the chicken fingers with a fork. It's an easy way to cut down on getting a tummy bug.

If your husband has food allergies, you can ask the chef to show you the choices that don't contain the allergen. My daugher has a peanut allergy, so we avoid stuff cooked in peanut oil (it's supposed to be safe for them, but why take a chance?) or that has random nuts in it.

 

[melomouse]

I was over on another thread where people were talking about when/where they've gotten "food poisoning" at Disney, and my argument was it's impossible to tell if you picked up a rotavirus or a gastroenteritis virus from the handrail outside the restaurant and then ingested it while eating (how many of you actually go and wash your hands when you come into a restaurant from the park? We learned that lesson the hard way), vs. an actual food-borne contagion?

Disney's food turnover on the buffets is usually astoundingly fast; food doesn't have enough time to go bad in the first place. Occasionally you'll have a cast member that will handle fresh salad fixings without washing their hands, that's going to be your # 1 source of contamination, because there's no heat to kill whatever got onto the salad and they're high moisture-good bacteria/virus holding grounds.

So, if you do buffets, pick the hot stuff! And wash your hands before you go grabbing those handles to ladle the food onto your plate, the girl behind you will thank you.

Another good buffet tip is to not choose things you can eat with your hands, or choose to eat them with a fork. With the kids, we don't do pizza at the buffets and we get them to eat the chicken fingers with a fork. It's an easy way to cut down on getting a tummy bug.

If your husband has food allergies, you can ask the chef to show you the choices that don't contain the allergen. My daugher has a peanut allergy, so we avoid stuff cooked in peanut oil (it's supposed to be safe for them, but why take a chance?) or that has random nuts in it.

Agree completely, disneyrsh!!

I makes me sad and frustrated when I read posts immediately blaming the food at such and such because they had a sick tummy, so much so that people who have never even been to a place are fearful of going!!!

BTW - Everyone knows that PTC and H&V have the same kitchen, yes???

 

[Tiger926]

Don't care for this restaurant at all! Buffet isn't very good and service is horrible! We will never eat there again, unless they make some major changes.

Good luck and happy eating, Tiger

 

[beckasher]

We ate there in July of last yr and really enjoyed it so well that we are doing it again in 2 wks.

 

[WisMom]

Hi AMonir
I was having the same concerns given some of the recent postings. We have an ADR for H&V for our trip. My strategy was to book it for the end of our trip. If we can get to the second showing of Fantasmic on a night with two shows, two days before our ADR, then I might cancel. If you cancel at least 48 hours ahead of time, there's no charge. Also, since we are going in June, rain can be a factor. Our last trip was in June and it poured buckets almost every evening. So if the weather is good one night, we'll be "making a run for it".

WisMom