Hollywood & Vine?

[Banana Pancakes]

Hi everyone! We are planning our first Disney vacation. We are trying to decide on restaurants as our 180 mark is approaching. Our children love Disney Jr., so we were planning to go to Hollywood & Vine for lunch one day. I keep reading bad reviews about the food. Is it dreadful, or is there enough from which to choose so that the children can enjoy the character interaction?

 

[melana]

We ate there once for lunch once on our trip 2 years ago. It was decent...not terrible..not great. It had a lot of options. I remember the mac-n-cheese was pretty good. I can't remember what else I had from the buffett..but I remember the mac-n-cheese for some reason.
We actually had dinner reservations but it was so hot that we wanted to eat early and get back to the room. Luckily we were able to switch. We were able to see the character interaction and it seemed to be really good. We weren't there for the characters but the kids around there really seemed to enjoy it!!

 

[KT0191]

I agree with PP. The food wasn't horrible but it was nothing spectacular. We liked it though and we are doing it again this September. (Lunch)
The dessert station is awesome. Lots of options available.

 

[DisBuckMan]

It was bad enough the last time we ate there that we won't waste our time and money there again unless they radically change things...which from recent reviews, they haven't.

 

[Hopefully]

We thought it was horrible at dinner. Never Again!!!!

 

[Princess Minnie321]

I booked a breakfast so I am hoping it is decent. My daughter loves Sofia and cannot wait to meet her.

 

[mom2travel]

We had a late lunch seating (one of the last times before the pause between lunch and dinner) there last August. Food was decent. Lots of choices. None of us had any complaints. Dessert was good. Character interaction was very good

 

[CJ227]

If possible I definitely recommend doing breakfast over lunch. We did lunch there in September and it was just awful. We tried breakfast during our December trip and it was SO much better. I have extremely picky eaters and they wouldn't touch anything at lunch but all 3 of my children found something to enjoy during breakfast. If your kids aren't picky you might be ok with the lunch, but we will definitely stick to breakfast for our Disney jr. meals from now on!

 

[atilley01]

I had heard the same negative reviews about H&V so my expectations were low but I thought the food was fine. Like others have said, nothing spectacular but we left satisfied and the character interaction was a lot of fun.

 

[Mommy2TwoMickeys]

I've had breakfast there about 3 times already and my family and I are going back for the 4th time in 2 weeks! I actually really like the breakfast. We recently did Chef Mickeys on New Years and it was not great. Believe me, I am NOT a picky eater, but when I saw that they didn't even have sausage links, that did it for me. FYI the characters are the same breakfast. Enjoy!

 

[TheRustyScupper]

Our Ratings of Hollywood and Vine Buffet: (*rev 2/08/2016*)
. . . food price value: C
. . . food quality: C
. . . food quantity per serving: A
. . . food prep speed: B
. . . food selection: C
. . . seating quantity: C
. . . seating comfort: C
. . . eatery atmosphere: C
. . . eatery convenience: B
. . . staff friendliness: D
. . . staff attentiveness: D
. . . character interaction: B
.
Our Recomendations:
. . . appys:... Peel-and-Eat-Shrimp
. . . entree:.. Carved Turkey Breast
. . . dessert:. Hot Cobbler
.
NOTE: H&V had previously been an eatery-of-choice for Studio guests. But, *possibly*
due to DDP and reduction in tips, the food selection/quality suffered significantly. We
found it badly kept, and with less than hospitable CM's. The character interaction for
the kiddies is pretty good. But, as with any Character Meal, you go for the characters
and not the food quality . . . and this is no exception.
.
NOTE2: Some people have reported dirty-soiled-messy buffet areas. Although we have not
seen such, personally, we do trust the opinion of the folks who have mentinend it.
Take this as a grain-of-salt comment.

 

[DisBuckMan]

Our Ratings of Hollywood and Vine Buffet: (*rev 12/08/2016*)
. . . food price value: C
. . . food quality: C
. . . food quantity per serving: A
. . . food prep speed: B
. . . food selection: C
. . . seating quantity: C
. . . seating comfort: C
. . . eatery atmosphere: C
. . . eatery convenience: B
. . . staff friendliness: D
. . . staff attentiveness: D
. . . character interaction: B
.
Our Recomendations:
. . . appys:... Peel-and-Eat-Shrimp
. . . entree:.. Carved Turkey Breast
. . . dessert:. Hot Cobbler
.
NOTE: H&V had previously been an eatery-of-choice for Studio guests. But, *possibly*
due to DDP and reduction in tips, the food selection/quality suffered significantly. We
found it badly kept, and with less than hospitable CM's. The character interaction for
the kiddies is pretty good. But, as with any Character Meal, you go for the characters
and not the food quality . . . and this is no exception.
.
NOTE2: Some people have reported dirty-soiled-messy buffet areas. Although we have not
seen such, personally, we do trust the opinion of the folks who have mentinend it.
Take this as a grain-of-salt comment.

Agree with all this, other than your "revision" date.

 

[TheRustyScupper]

Agree with all this, other than your "revision" date.

1) Sorry about the date.
2) It should have reflected a February date.
3)Let's mark it off to "A Senior Thing".

NOTE: I can't complaint about getting old(er). It is so convenient to mark it off as "A Senior Thing" or "Memory Lapse" than to admit it is wrong. I guess there are benefits to getting old.

 

[Betty_Baylor99]

We went there for dinner and food wasn't horrible, but it wasn't much to rave about either. There was enough variety for my picky kiddo to eat and character interaction was good. I wouldn't go out of my way to pay OOP, but if you need to use a TS credit on the DDP, I'd do it here if your kiddo's a Disney Jr. fan. FWIW, we were able to meet up with three of the Disney Jr. characters (Doc, Jake and Sofia) in the Disney Jr. area in the afternoon prior to our dinner reservations so I wouldn't have felt like I missed out if I dined elsewhere.

 

[Hopefully]

1)

NOTE: I can't complaint about getting old(er). It is so convenient to mark it off as "A Senior Thing" or "Memory Lapse" than to admit it is wrong. I guess there are benefits to getting old.

I love & agree with this Or as I used to say to my poor Mom when I was young, " Getting older beats the alternative ".

 

[rg35]

It was fine. It's buffet. Buffets usually aren't going to knock your socks off. It's a character buffet, which means that the main purpose is really the characters and not the food. If your kids love disney jr., then you should do it.

 

[kastoney]

If it was me I'd have lunch elsewhere (the kids would likely love SciFi) and just see the characters in the park. Doc, Sofia, and Jake are all easily accessible outside the Disney Jr Live building. We've done H&V twice in the days when the characters weren't available in the park and it was pretty darn mediocre. The food was edible, but I can't say much more than that. Think Shoney's buffet but sadly at Ruth Chris prices.

 

[droe]

Hoping it's better this fall, but pretty sure my kids won't care as long as they see characters.