We had originally chosen Hollywood & Vine restaurant as a character dining dinner choice because we were pairing it with the Fantasmic dining package. In previous years when attending Fantasmic we had rushed around grabbing hot dogs before the show, and we wanted to take it a bit slower this time.
Located in Hollywood studios at Echo Lake, you can choose to enjoy breakfast, lunch or dinner with various characters.
What To Expect At Hollywood & Vine Restaurant
The Hollywood & Vine menu consists of an all you care to enjoy buffet. It’s one of the Hollywood Studios character dining restaurants, located just inside the entrance to the park. I don’t know how many times I have walked past this restaurant and not realised it was there!
The waiting area outside doesn’t have a lot of shade, but there is a lot of seating. We were given paper fans whilst we were waiting as it was a very hot day.
The restaurant is large with lots of tables crammed in. We were a little close to the table next to us in a booth, and also hemmed in by a pillar. Normally I wouldn’t mind but when you are eating at a buffet restaurant, you have to keep disturbing the person next to you so you can get out again.
Related post – Hollywood Studios table service restaurants
Hollywood and Vine Characters
Which characters are at Hollywood and Vine? There are a variety of Hollywood Studios characters to be found inside Hollywood and Vine restaurant. As we walked in to be shown to our table, we spotted Donald Duck in front of a beach background with a photos photographer. We were given a ticket to exchange for our photo with Donald any time during or at the end of our meal.
Minnie’s Seasonal Dining at Hollywood & Vine restaurant varies through the year. Depending on the time of year you visit, you can expect Springtime Dine, Summertime Dine, Halloween Dine and Minnie’s Holiday Dine. There is also the opportunity to experience Silver Screen Dine.
You can expect to see Minnie and the gang for lunch and dinner service at Hollywood & Vine.
Depending on the season you visit, the characters will be dressed in their appropriate outfits. It’s a lovely way to see characters dressed differently to their standard costume.
The Hollywood & Vine characters were Minnie Mouse of course, Goofy, Mickey and Daisy, with Donald waiting for us at the entrance to the restaurant. This was during Summertime Dine, and the character at the front of the restaurant will change according to season.
During breakfast service, the characters in Hollywood & Vine are Disney Junior stars. We found there was great interaction from the characters, even if they did move on quite quickly. I’m guessing it’s because the restaurant is so large and they have quite a lot of tables to get around.
Hollywood & Vine Restaurant Menu
This post was written pre Covi-19, and as such buffet restaurants are operating slightly different as above currently. View the latest menu here.
The buffet stations are laid out in a good order, with salads, dressings and cold food at the beginning. The buffet looks huge but it is actually duplicated across the restaurant for ease depending on where you are sitting.
I didn’t think there was as much choice on offer compared to Crystal Palace when we visited, however the choices of meats and mains were different which was nice.
We chose a lot of buffets so there would be something for everyone. I find that works if you have different tastes within the family or visiting group. Salad is featured a lot here, but why are the salads pre dressed on a buffet? I would prefer to dress my own salad afterwards I think.
Additional Disney Word Restaurant Reviews include –
- Storybook Dining
- Rose And Crown Pub
- Whispering Canyon Cafe
- 50’s Prime Time Cafe
- Cinderella’s Royal Table
- Crystal Palace Restaurant
- Chef Art Smith’s Homecomin’
- Garden Grill
- Yak And Yeti
- Hoop Dee Doo Revue
- Ohana
- Rainforest Cafe
- Tusker House
- Via Napoli
You may also like to read – Best Buffet Restaurants at Disney World
Whilst the food choice was limited, it was all cooked well and tasted nice. We certainly didn’t go hungry! The magical star cocktail was a nice choice, and pretty with it’s colour changing ice cube.
Being on the Disney dining plan, you could use a table service credit for the Fantasmic dinner and show. This special meal option provides a ticket to exchange for priority seating during the same night’s show of Fantasmic.
Gluten Free At Hollywood and Vine
There are a lot of gluten free choices on the buffet stations at Hollywood & Vine to begin with. You are welcome to check with the chef or your server if you need any additional information. We found there to be a decent amount of choice.
Dessert was a gluten free brownie with ice cream and strawberries. It was a little chewy but very tasty.
Hollywood & Vine wasn’t my favourite buffet restaurant out of the ones we visited, however it was a good choice to combine with the Fanstamic dinner and show package.
