What are we expecting from Minnie's Holiday dining?

[CampbellzSoup]

Wow I can't get a reservation this must be a hot thing they have gojng

 

[marchingstar]

like others, my barometer for Minnie's dinner is based on the Jedi Mickey dinner I had in May (the only time I've eaten at H&V). my thoughts:
1. the food wasn't the most creative, but it was fresh and tasty. during Jedi Mickeys dinner the restaurant was pretty busy, which meant nothing sat under heating lamps. I wouldn't necessarily seek out H&V for its food alone, but it was a pretty good meal. (the exception are the desserts, which were adorable and not the best. they were okay, but they definitely looked better than they tasted)
2. service, like food quality, is really subjective. it depends not just on when you visit, but on you too. I expected the Jedi Mickey dinner to be busy, and we waited maybe 10 or 15 minutes for our table. but the service was pretty standard disney service to me.
3. I definitely agree with the OP, the theming of this place has been lackluster for past special meals. with Jedi Mickey they slapped a few plastic wraps around some poles and that was basically it. I'm hopeful that the restaurant will look okay for Minnie's dinner, but since breakfast and lunch are still with the disney junior characters I'm not holding my breath.
4. at Jedi Mickeys dinner we had some of the best character interaction I've experienced in the World. we didn't dawdle, but we saw each of the 6 characters at least 3 times, some many many more. and we're 2 adults, so they weren't just coming over to see cute kids or something. I have high hopes for the characters at the holiday meal again.

I did stop by this thread for a reason, and now that I've shared my (many!) thoughts I'll ask: does anyone know what characters will be around for dinner? obviously Minnie, and more of the Fab 5? I'm hoping for chip and Dale, but since they aren't fab 5 I don't know if they'll be there.

 

[TBGOES2DISNEY]

I thought I read somewhere it would be Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Daisy, and Goofy. Can anyone back me up on this?

 

[mrsjoannh13]

I thought I read somewhere it would be Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Daisy, and Goofy. Can anyone back me up on this?

I thought I read somewhere it would be Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Daisy, and Goofy. Can anyone back me up on this?

This is on the Disney Minnie Holiday Dine page: a rare chance to see Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Daisy and Goofy all together (all-new costumes!)

 

[marchingstar]

I thought I read somewhere it would be Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Daisy, and Goofy. Can anyone back me up on this?

ah thanks! I missed this info

 

[ninafeliz]

I'm expecting to pay a lot of money to get photos with the characters in holiday outfits and to get a unique experience you can't get other times of year. I'm not expecting to eat much, and I'm not expecting the food to be anything more than fine. I remember at the SW dinner there was always a character coming so I couldn't go get food, and I couldn't keep my kids there forever so i could eat afterwards. I do hope it is more organized than the SW dinner I did the first year they had it, at that time we had a table in the middle of one of the rooms and the characters consistently skipped our table. So I hung around b/c they were on their way, and then they skipped us. We had to get managers more than once, and ended up having to see Mickey on the way out when they grabbed him for us since we hadn't seen him yet after almost 2 hrs. I got cute pictures, but the event was total chaos. I do hope this one is executed better, or I think even I might write H&V off for good no matter what special dining event they come up with in the future. I do hope (or wish) they have the characters go around with a handler/support CM each, like they do at the CP, so I can get photos of all 4 of us instead of just the kids or my DH and kids. I hate always asking people at the next table over, as they are involved in their own chaos trying to eat and see characters.

 

[jgplimdesign]

I was able to grab an ADR for Minnie's Holiday Dinner Party (or whatever it is being called) for Nov. 11. Just got lucky seeing that ADRs were available for booking back when---and gave it a try. I keep hoping to see more on it regarding the menu, etc. (it probably doesn't help that my husband and I have more restrictive diets: vegetarian and vegan, respectively---but as long as there is a good variety, we manage quite fine and never starve!) I have a feeling we won't really know the details until someone attends the first dinner and posts! I'm not sure if it is something worth doing or not----but I know if I release the ADR now, I'll never get it back. It will be a last minute cancellation if we go that route. I hate doing that. . .but when something is 'new' it's hard to plan. . .

I'm sad to read the previous posts here, though. . . I'm not sensing a lot of love for this venue, kitchen, management, etc. . .

Worried.

 

[ny0090]

Since Minnie's Holiday dining is November 7-January 3, I think the restaurant will be elaborately themed with lots of Christmas decorations. With Star Wars weekend, it was only a month long and only on the weekends so staff members needed to put up items that were easy to take down during the weekdays. Since Disney World decks out their resorts and parks with Christmas trimmings, it won't look out of place to keep everything during breakfast and lunch with the Disney Junior characters.

 

[karrit2000]

Since Minnie's Holiday dining is November 7-January 3, I think the restaurant will be elaborately themed with lots of Christmas decorations. With Star Wars weekend, it was only a month long and only on the weekends so staff members needed to put up items that were easy to take down during the weekdays. Since Disney World decks out their resorts and parks with Christmas trimmings, it won't look out of place to keep everything during breakfast and lunch with the Disney Junior characters.

The Jedi Mickey Dinner wasn't only weekends it was every night beginning early in May before SWW even began until the final Sunday of SWW in June.

 

[ny0090]

The Jedi Mickey Dinner wasn't only weekends it was every night beginning early in May before SWW even began until the final Sunday of SWW in June.

Sorry, my bad. Did they keep up the Star Wars decorations the entire time? I booked ADRs here (without Fantasmic!) and I'm planning to cancel my Tusker House reservations. I really hope I'm making the right decision.

 

[marchingstar]

I'm not actually sure if the decorations for Jedi Mickey's dinner were up the whole time--I think someone who went to H&V for breakfast or lunch in May/June would have to answer that. I can definitely say the decorations looked temporary, and like they could be removed each day. I'm sure there are tons of pictures available through a quick boodle search. But you're definitely right, @ny0090 , holiday decorations would fit with the resort/park look for November and December, so we might see more elaborate stuff up. I was just basing my thoughts on what we've seen at previous special character meals at H&V.

If you're concerned about which reservation to keep, I would say hang on to both for now. Then once Minnie's dinner starts up in early November you can check out some reviews and see if it's matching up with your expectations. With these special meals people tend to get reviews posted pretty quickly, both on the boards and on disney blogs.

 

[pmaurer74]

this is true. I was worried about the food but it was real ok at the Jedi Mickey's dinner

 

[jacksgirl]

I'm looking forward to seeing the Fab Five in their holiday best, and hoping the food is decent too!

 

[Dr Gevil]

like others, my barometer for Minnie's dinner is based on the Jedi Mickey dinner I had in May (the only time I've eaten at H&V). my thoughts:
1. the food wasn't the most creative, but it was fresh and tasty. during Jedi Mickeys dinner the restaurant was pretty busy, which meant nothing sat under heating lamps. I wouldn't necessarily seek out H&V for its food alone, but it was a pretty good meal. (the exception are the desserts, which were adorable and not the best. they were okay, but they definitely looked better than they tasted)
2. service, like food quality, is really subjective. it depends not just on when you visit, but on you too. I expected the Jedi Mickey dinner to be busy, and we waited maybe 10 or 15 minutes for our table. but the service was pretty standard disney service to me.
3. I definitely agree with the OP, the theming of this place has been lackluster for past special meals. with Jedi Mickey they slapped a few plastic wraps around some poles and that was basically it. I'm hopeful that the restaurant will look okay for Minnie's dinner, but since breakfast and lunch are still with the disney junior characters I'm not holding my breath.
4. at Jedi Mickeys dinner we had some of the best character interaction I've experienced in the World. we didn't dawdle, but we saw each of the 6 characters at least 3 times, some many many more. and we're 2 adults, so they weren't just coming over to see cute kids or something. I have high hopes for the characters at the holiday meal again.

I did stop by this thread for a reason, and now that I've shared my (many!) thoughts I'll ask: does anyone know what characters will be around for dinner? obviously Minnie, and more of the Fab 5? I'm hoping for chip and Dale, but since they aren't fab 5 I don't know if they'll be there.

I would say this is spot on from our Jedi Mickey's Dinner experience from June 2014. The food was actually much better than expected, but the desserts, while very cute in appearance, were not the best tasting. And we did have great character interactions as well, didn't feeled rushed at all and got some great photo ops with the Fab 4 in SW gear.

Really looking forward to seeing the Fab 5 in Holiday gear in December - DD10 still doesn't know we are going, and will flip when she sees Minnie in her Xmas outfit.

 

[Quellman]

I'm not real sure where the OP thinks these meals should be held at the studios if not Hollywood and Vine. You can debate the food quality all you want but for space reasons it isn't going to be better elsewhere.

50s Prime Time is divided into many small rooms, there isn't a way characters servers and guests can all fit in the space.
They have done events at SciFi, but personally it is much too dark to get good photos.
Mama Melrose looks smaller than Hollywood and Vine, but I can't be for sure.
And no way would they give up the signature restaurant for a character event.

 

[marchingstar]

I'm not real sure where the OP thinks these meals should be held at the studios if not Hollywood and Vine. You can debate the food quality all you want but for space reasons it isn't going to be better elsewhere.

50s Prime Time is divided into many small rooms, there isn't a way characters servers and guests can all fit in the space.
They have done events at SciFi, but personally it is much too dark to get good photos.
Mama Melrose looks smaller than Hollywood and Vine, but I can't be for sure.
And no way would they give up the signature restaurant for a character event.

I kind of agree--I've heard pretty scathing reviews of regular dinners at H&V (when there aren't special character meals). the unique meals are much different, and I think they're a great use of a pretty big restaurant. I also agree with previous folks who are disappointed at the idea of temporary-looking decorations. it would be amazing to see the space turned into a total Christmas-themed wonderland, and in the past the lackluster decorations have been a bit of a disappointment to me. but overall I still think it's gonna be a wonderful meal

as for food quality: I think I said it before, but it's really not fair to compare regular H&V dinner to these unique character meals. on a regular day, H&V is the least popular HS restaurant (I think the majority of people are there because they want F! seating, and couldn't get in to MM or HBD. hah!), and so the food quality suffers. these character meals sell out (as anyone searching for a reservation knows, it's one of the hottest ADRs for the holiday season). the restaurant will be full, and food turnover will be quick. it isn't signature dining, but it'll be fresh.

 

[shauna reid]

has anyone seen a menu for this?

 

[karrit2000]

Many years ago they held character meals in the building that now houses the Disney Junior Live show. It was one of the first character meals I ever did & I remember enjoying it very much. It was a breakfast but I don't know if they did other meals later in the day. They showcased characters from newer movies and I remember meeting Aladdin, Quasimodo & Clopin(from Hunchback). There were one or two other characters and they had a magic lamp set up for you to go rub to hear Genie. They decided to get rid of the wonderful dining experience to use the space for a theater show which I think was a huge loss. So now all we get is whatever they decide to put in H&V.

 

[Dr Gevil]

has anyone seen a menu for this?

I've seen lobster mac n cheese and honey bourbon brined turkey breast as two of the offerings for the meal. That works for me.

 

[coopersmom06]