Anyone have good Hollywood and Vine experiences?

[Calee]

This is our 3rd trip and probably last for awhile. Our kids our 7, 9, 11 and are still really enjoying character meals. I'm guessing by the time we come back they may be over it. I really want to try new things this time.

On our 1st trip we had the dining plan and did Tusker House, Crystal Palace and Chef Mickey. 2nd trip no dining plan and only did one-Crystal Palace.

This trip we have the dining plan again so I would like to take advantage of character meals. No princesses. So I have:
Garden grill breakfast
1900 park fare breakfast
Hollywood and Vine lunch

I hear so many bad things about H&V! I have one IRL friend that went and liked it. Does anyone here have any positive experiences? It would be lunch or dinner.

 

[Dash7]

We like it. It is what it is, a buffet with something for everyone. I've actually had a couple of things there that were really good. There's not much ambiance to the place, but the characters are cute in their outfits. My family always requests this one as a must-do.

 

[KenHutch]

Eaten there 3 times and while I have never had a good meal the character interaction was excellent each time. When I book most of these I know what I am really paying for are the characters. And do not count on the ages of your kids as a reason for dropping meals in the future. My 18 year old daughter insists each trip on a meal at Ohana for breakfast and at least on meal at Tusker House or Chef Mickey's. Some things never change and my future engineer really loves Disney.

 

[Calee]

Eaten there 3 times and while I have never had a good meal the character interaction was excellent each time. When I book most of these I know what I am really paying for are the characters. And do not count on the ages of your kids as a reason for dropping meals in the future. My 18 year old daughter insists each trip on a meal at Ohana for breakfast and at least on meal at Tusker House or Chef Mickey's. Some things never change and my future engineer really loves Disney.

You are right! But i know they love them now so I want to seize the moment lol.

You say you've never had a good meal there...how would you compare it to chef Mickey dinner? My kids (and husband lets be honest) will be happy with decent kid food and dessert. I would like something better than that but im not a huge eater anyway and hey if they are happy I'm happy!

 

[Calee]

Is the food the same at lunch and dinner?

 

[KenHutch]

You are right! But i know they love them now so I want to seize the moment lol.

You say you've never had a good meal there...how would you compare it to chef Mickey dinner? My kids (and husband lets be honest) will be happy with decent kid food and dessert. I would like something better than that but im not a huge eater anyway and hey if they are happy I'm happy!

Look if you can tolerate Golden Corral you will be fine. And I have to eat at Chef Mickey's every trip (the girls) and the earlier you schedule a meal the better it actually is.

 

[ENJDisneyFan]

We enjoy H&V. The food is decent and the characters are a lot of fun.

 

[jenjersnap]

We had written off H&V after atrocious experiences 7-10 years ago, but, when my youngest begged to go Minnie’s seasonal dine, I found an adr and...it was good! We returned two years later and still good. I rate it fairly high on my character meal scale, other than Garden Grill it is definitely our favorite character dinner.

 

[disneyfav4ever]

We do the Halloween dinner there every year and really like it. I never understand the constant horrible reviews it gets.

 

[Nittany]

We like it for breakfast and will be returning during our trip in October. Always great character interaction and the food is decent. We have eaten both breakfast and lunch there and prefer breakfast.

 

[Tessaf]

We did it last year for breakfast and really enjoyed it! DH actually thought the food was better then some other character meals and the characters were great at interacting with us!

 

[whitney37354]

We've been there on every trip: once for breakfast & three times for dinner. The food is average buffet food, IMO, but it's fine. BIL loved the peel & eat shrimp last time and piled that plate full! The character interaction last year was the best we've ever had with non-face characters at a meal.

 

[pineapplepalms]

We did the holiday lunch there in 2017 and the character interaction was amazing. The food was pretty good and not nearly as terrible as I'd heard. We loved our experience so much we're doing the holiday lunch again this year.

 

[elgerber]

We do the Halloween dinner there every year and really like it. I never understand the constant horrible reviews it gets.

I don't either, we have eaten there several times, and never had a bad time. Granted we are not gourmet foodies, but we have never left hungry or unhappy with the choices.

 

[RealBlast3]

It's always a good breakfast! I have done it quite a few times. I mean, you really can't mess up eggs and sausages and Mickey waffles, though, can you? But it's always very, very good and unlike Chef Mickey's, it isn't a chaotic and confusing to navigate crowded mess with food thrown everywhere. I have never had lunch or dinner there.

 

[MarkinNM]

It's always a good breakfast! I have done it quite a few times. I mean, you really can't mess up eggs and sausages and Mickey waffles, though, can you? But it's always very, very good and unlike Chef Mickey's, it isn't a chaotic and confusing to navigate crowded mess with food thrown everywhere. I have never had lunch or dinner there.

Good the hear as I have H&V tentatively scheduled on our HS day for breakfast and was wondering on the food, it is breakfast but who knows.........This is our SWGE day so the eating in HS for breakfast is limited and not many choices.......

 

[Nancyg56]

We liked Minnie's Seasonal Dine in December. The food was good, and the character interacion was excellent. Honestly, it is a buffet, so that is what it is, however the food was fresh and hot, and the service was attentive.

We also go periodically to Chef Mickeys and enjoy that one as well, so take my opinion with a grain of salt.

I firmly believe that in WDW you need to temper your expectations when you consider the high cost of the character meals buffets. They are still buffets. Some are better than others but they are still buffets.

 

[dancergirlsmom]

I generally book the Fantasmic dinner package and we always enjoy it. DD19 still loves the character meals so we always have plenty booked especially on our girls trips. We love Fantasmic so get the added bonus with booking that.

 

[Llama mama]

I generally book the Fantasmic dinner package and we always enjoy it. DD19 still loves the character meals so we always have plenty booked especially on our girls trips. We love Fantasmic so get the added bonus with booking that.

I booked the Fantasmic dining also. Which is great. Weird question on these buffet you can go up for a second plate right?

 

[dancergirlsmom]

I booked the Fantasmic dining also. Which is great. Weird question on these buffet you can go up for a second plate right?

Yes. It's all you can eat.