Thoughts on H&V Minnie's Seasonal Dine?

[frannn]

We were lucky enough to book the combo dining package for Pixar and Fantasmic at Mama Melrose for lunch. Unfortunately, DD14's must-do, Sci Fi, is not available for dinner that day. I was able to get H&V, so I showed DD a YouTube video of the meal and she is excited about it and says she is ok skipping Sci Fi for this. Has anyone been to this that can give info? It would be the summertime one. We haven't been to H&V for so many years due to bad reviews, and we usually do MM and SciFi every trip. The food listed on the menu looks ok- is this accurate or does it change?

 

[AtlantaDisneyDreamer]

We did Minnie's Seasonal Dine last summer and really enjoyed it. The characters were very cute in their swimsuits, and the food was good.

The meats and desserts are generally the same from season to season. There may be a bit of a variation to make it seem more seasonal. The "creative array" of salads listed on the menu is seasonal. The summer ones had strawberries and summer fruits. There were some cute names for the salads and vegetables that sounded like summer. We have also done the Halloween dine at H&V, and it is similar, but it has more fall-like menu items, themed around fall (like beets and squash) and Halloween.

I did not think the reviews did it justice. The food may not be spectacular, but it is a buffet and is generally fresh and plentiful, in our experience. I think it is worth doing- if just to see the characters in some unique costumes you may not see in other places.

 

[elaine amj]

Awesome! I am booked here too and hoping for a good meal

 

[MickeyWaffles]

We did it in the winter last year. We generally don't like the food at any of the character buffets but this was decent. Not good, not bad, decent. Our character interactions were INCREDIBLE.

We booked an early dinner (first seating) so the buffet was untouched, food was fresh, not all the tables were taken yet, and we had multiple visits with all the characters. We also had the best server we have ever had at a Disney restaurant. It was one of our favorite experiences from our last trip.

 

[IceSkatingPrincess]

I went to the Christmas one last year and IMO it was bad. Crowded, loud, and not good food.

 

[brockash]

We were lucky enough to book the combo dining package for Pixar and Fantasmic at Mama Melrose for lunch. Unfortunately, DD14's must-do, Sci Fi, is not available for dinner that day. I was able to get H&V, so I showed DD a YouTube video of the meal and she is excited about it and says she is ok skipping Sci Fi for this. Has anyone been to this that can give info? It would be the summertime one. We haven't been to H&V for so many years due to bad reviews, and we usually do MM and SciFi every trip. The food listed on the menu looks ok- is this accurate or does it change?

We did it last year and it's fine. Nothing great and nothing I would do except for the package, but it's edible. It def. won't be a substitution for Sci-fi, but it's okay.

 

[mickey1968]

I did the Christmas version last year and I really enjoyed it. The food like someone else said wasn't bad. This was my first character meal since I always travel solo. The characters were great but I do wish they had a photographer that went around with them, that was really my only problem. The people at the table next to me took pics for me and of course Minnie and I did some selfies.

 

[DisneyDadn07]

We have reservations to try this when we go in September and the kids are excited. We are trying to only keep our favorites from trip to trip so we can try new things. Last time at Hollywood we tried 50's Prime and enjoyed it.

 

[DISNEY1975]

I did the Spring one a few weeks ago. Its not 5 star restaurant, but it was good. Its a buffet, so there is always something for everyone. I typically dont like buffets for dinner, but this one had a ton of different options. I got one small slice of the carved turkey and ended up going back for seconds! Great beans were delicious too, and lots of other things. Characters were great and the ice cream station was a great ending! We had a dun time and great viewing for Fantasmic, It was a nice evening!

This dessert was delicious! There were some type of mango bead on top, when you bit them, mango juice exploded in your mouth. Mmmm soooo good! I wanted more just for the bead things!

 

[elaine amj]

I did the Spring one a few weeks ago. Its not 5 star restaurant, but it was good. Its a buffet, so there is always something for everyone. I typically dont like buffets for dinner, but this one had a ton of different options. I got one small slice of the carved turkey and ended up going back for seconds! Great beans were delicious too, and lots of other things. Characters were great and the ice cream station was a great ending! We had a dun time and great viewing for Fantasmic, It was a nice evening!

This dessert was delicious! There were some type of mango bead on top, when you bit them, mango juice exploded in your mouth. Mmmm soooo good! I wanted more just for the bead things!

Ooo..I really appreciate your review! I think we will enjoy it. We have fairly simple tastes and do enjoy buffets in general so I'm pretty sure we will enjoy this one. That mango dessert sounds fabulous!!

 

[JoePa4Ever]

We generally avoid dinner buffets at WDW because we've found them to be subpar, at best, but we ate at H&V last Sept and had a great experience. The food was really good and there was a large variety. I was really surprised at how good the dinner buffet was and you can't go wrong with the Fab 5 for characters. Looking forward to eating there again this Sept

 

[oktxregulators]

We have been to HV when it was a Character Meal with Jake, Handy Mandy and a few others and Mickey's Beach Party last summer. The food is average at best..it is a buffet and you will probably find something you like but I don't think it's worth the price if you are paying out of pocket for it. There is better food elsewhere in the park and better character dining experiences at other places in Disney. However, that is just my opinion and I'm sure other people love it. You will just need to try it for the experience.

 

[BrittyRo]

WE originally did the Holiday Dine! LOVED IT. The seasonal food was fantastic! The characters were ADORABLE in their holiday attire. We then did the Halloween one last year. Their costumes were awesome! So adorable and the food was alright. We booked again for this year. Though doing it as a lunch (now that it is offered). Very cute/fun/enjoyable. We are paying OOP with TIW.

 

[wdw4rfam]

We were lucky enough to book the combo dining package for Pixar and Fantasmic at Mama Melrose for lunch. Unfortunately, DD14's must-do, Sci Fi, is not available for dinner that day. I was able to get H&V, so I showed DD a YouTube video of the meal and she is excited about it and says she is ok skipping Sci Fi for this. Has anyone been to this that can give info? It would be the summertime one. We haven't been to H&V for so many years due to bad reviews, and we usually do MM and SciFi every trip. The food listed on the menu looks ok- is this accurate or does it change?

We have done all but the summer one but they were all good. We are going a few weeks after you judging by your countdown- but ours will be Halloween. Don't let reviews scare you, we've been there over 20 times and never had a bad meal.
On another note- I have had a hard time the past 4 trips getting sci-fi. We just moved our dates last week and I got every ADR switched easily except that one. It all of a sudden a tough ADR if you don't get it right away. If she does really want it though, watch it because we had a ton open up the week before and week of in march.

 

[disneyAndi14]

We did the Halloween dine this past October and we loved it, the food was good and the characters were so awesome. It was two thumbs up for us! I think the food was much better than several years ago.

 

[MichelleWDWfan]

I've done the seasonal dining at H & V at each season. I love seeing the characters in all the different outfits!
Spring is Fancy outfits, summer beach attire, then they have halloween and christmas outfits.

 

[JessyP]

We did the Christmas one last year and it was good! The kids love the characters and I liked it far better then sci-fi. Food was fine, not spectacular.