Character dining experiences are one of the best ways to meet characters in Disney World. First, you’re guaranteed to see certain characters while you’re there, and the interactions can be longer than what you might get at a regular meet and greet.

Two, you get characters AND food, and what’s a better combination than that? Many character dining experiences switched to family-style dining after Disney World reopened, but a lot of them are returning as buffets. Hollywood & Vine in Disney’s Hollywood Studios reopened with family-style dining, but now we’re taking you with us to see if buffet dining has changed anything at this spot!

Atmosphere

Hollywood & Vine in Disney’s Hollywood Studios is known for being a great character dining spot, as this is where you’ll find the Minnie’s Seasonal Dine events! Minnie hosts various “dinner parties” throughout the year that are themed to the seasons. Right now, Minnie is hosting guests for her spooooooky Halloween Dine party.

As you enter the restaurant, you’ll find a pretty substantial photo op set up that you can pose in front of — just beware of anything terrifying potentially going on behind you!

Guests will also receive a complimentary autograph card signed by Minnie, Mickey, Pluto, and Goofy to commemorate the special character meal experience.

What kind of Halloween costumes are these characters donning for this ghostly gastronomic experience? Let’s check them out!

Characters

Of course, it’s not Minnie’s Halloween Dine without, well, Minnie of course! She flounces around the restaurant greeting guests and showing off her oh-so-fashionable spider-witch costume. 

Mickey is here too, dressed as a spooky spider-vampire to match his girl, Minnie!

We also got to hang out with Cowboy Goofy, who is wearing a hat that looks like it’s MUCH larger than ten gallons.

And finally, Pluto makes his way around to all the tables, wagging his paws and tail while saying hello and greeting guests.

Character meals can be a great way to interact with your favorite pals, plus you get to eat FOOD while doing so! Speaking of food, there is a LOT of it to cover since this is a buffet, so let’s get started!

Eats

Hollywood & Vine has transitioned back into buffet-style dining, with adult lunch and dinner pricing starting at $55 per adult and $36 per child. It’s a bit pricey, but it is a buffet so you can get your money’s worth if you want to!

We started off with bread (as we often do) and were delighted to find multiple options. The Spitzweck Rolls were pretty standard — crusty on the outside and soft on the inside. The Herbed Focaccia was light and airy, and a nice upgrade from your typical roll. We also enjoyed that they offered Pita Bread as an option, but it was pretty standard and nothing special.

What’s a buffet without a salad bar? You’ll find several different greens and dressings…

…plus fruit and other chilled salad options. We built our own mixed greens salad and grabbed a tiny bit of the balsamic, caesar, and ranch dressings to try them out. They were all pretty lackluster, and the ranch sort of had a “this has been sitting out on a buffet bar for a while” taste to it.

The Caesar was standard, not fishy, and the balsamic was a bit on the sweet site.

The Couscous Salad with Cilantro Lime Vinaigrette was tasty but could have used a bit more flavor as it was pretty bland — save for the pretty overwhelming olive flavor — so if you’re not an olive person you might want to skip this.

The Kale Salad was dressed well and didn’t have that bitter flavor you sometimes find with kale. It wasn’t overly stiff and was nice and fresh-tasting. For a basic-looking salad, this was bursting with flavor!

For all the bean queens out there, you’ll find a Cowboy Caviar-esque cold Bean Salad on the bar as well. It was predominantly black bean flavored, and could have used more of the dressing that was on it. You might find something like this at your local grocery store or deli. Tasty and filling, but nothing to write home about.

There was also chilled Shrimp Cocktail on the cold bar! Unlimited shrimp cocktail is not something you find every day in Disney World, so this was a pretty great addition to this buffet. These were perfectly cooked and served with lemon and cocktail sauce on the side so you can eat them however you like!

Our only real complaint is that they weren’t pre-peeled, so prepare to get your hands a little dirty.

Along with a salad bar, you’ll find some hot soup options on the buffet as well. On our visit, we tried the Vegetable Soup which was made with a tomato-based broth and chock full of beans and mixed vegetables. It was rather bland and didn’t taste much different from something you might find in a can at the grocery store.

The Chicken Noodle Soup was better than the vegetable and had chunks of chicken, carrots, and lots of noodles. If you’re craving soup while in Disney World and are heading to Hollywood & Vine, this is probably a decent option.

Now, onto the sides and meats! There are plenty of options for all kinds of palates at this buffet, so chances are you (and more importantly — your kids) can find something to your liking. In fact, you might even get them to like another vegetable with the Caramelized Brussels Sprouts. These were crispy and had a great, almost-sweet flavor from the caramelization.

The Olive-Oil Roasted Potatoes literally melted in our mouths. We may have even enjoyed them more than the mashed potatoes we’ll talk about in a bit! They had that classic starchy potato flavor but the richness of the olive oil really stood out while the chopped chives gave a tangy taste. This is a great dairy-free option!

Heads up, mushroom fans — the Roasted Mushroom Farro Risotto was excellent. There was a rather strong mushroom flavor, so if they aren’t your jam you might not like this! We thought it was creamy, rich, and had a nice earthy flavor. 

Remember we mentioned mashed potatoes earlier? The Sour Cream and Chive Whipped Potatoes were perfectly fluffy and delicious. We had HUGE chunks of potatoes in our serving along with a good amount of chives. Sometimes flavored mashed potatoes like this don’t always have a ton going on — but we were delighted to find this wasn’t the case here.

For being meat-eaters who don’t really love tofu — the Crispy Asian Tofu was incredible. It was so perfectly crispy and had a spectacular Asian-inspired glaze that tasted primarily like soy and sesame — but not in an overpowering way. We think plant-based eaters and meat-eaters alike will enjoy this.

We tried the Garlic Broccolini which was absolutely swimming in garlicky goodness. Seriously, we think even broccoli haters wouldn’t be able to say no to this. The broccolini acted like a vehicle to get this garlicky, buttery sauce into our mouths. But, if you’re not a fan of these little green trees, you might enjoy…

…the Sautéed Peas and Pearl Onions! The peas were fresh — not canned — and cooked well. They weren’t overcooked and mushy like you can sometimes find with peas, but the onions added a decent aromatic flavor. 

Despite being labeled as Beef Stew with Root Vegetables, we didn’t really think there was anything too “stew-ish” about this dish — but it was flavorful! Large chunks of beef were mixed with potatoes, carrots, and more in a tomato-based sauce. The meat was juicy and didn’t taste like it had been sitting on a buffet.

The next dish we tried was Macaroni and Cheese with Shrimp and Bacon. We honestly felt like there was a little toooooo much going on here, even though we wanted to love this. There were large pieces of shrimp and MASSIVE chunks of bacon, and we think it would have been better to just put one protein in it, though it was creamy!

You’ll also find some Sautéed Green Beans on the bar, and we thought they were…fine. Pretty boring, basic green beans tossed in olive oil and salt and pepper. There are plenty of other sides here that are much better and more interesting.

Moving onto some of the more meatier proteins you’ll find at this buffet, starting with the Herb Crusted Tenderloin Steak with Horseradish Cream. We’ve got no complaints here — the steak was tender and cooked perfectly, and since it’s carved fresh it doesn’t fall victim to that “sitting out on a buffet line” curse.

The horseradish cream sauce was a great complement to the savory, saltiness of the meat and didn’t have an overpowering flavor. Unlimited tenderloin steak? Sign us up.

There’s also a Slow Roasted Pork Belly with Guava Glaze on the bar, and we really enjoyed this too! It was crispy and caramelized on the outside, and had that smoky, salty flavor while being so tender on the inside. It was really fresh and juicy and the guava glaze added a sweetness that really made the flavor shine.

We did find it to be a little on the fattier side (which is common with pork belly), so if that isn’t something you like you might not want to give this a shot or ask for a less fatty piece.

Salmon on a buffet isn’t always appealing, but we found that the Pan Seared Salmon with Beurre Blanc was actually quite good. It wasn’t overly fishy, and the flavor of the beurre blanc sauce made this one of our favorite items we tried all day!

The Oven-Roasted Herb Chicken was alright, but we’ve absolutely had better. Despite being touted as “herb chicken,” it was rather lacking in flavor and we didn’t get too much of that herbiness. It was cooked well though, and was juicy which was surprising for something that had been sitting under a heat lamp.

Kiddos can eat well at the Hollywood & Vine buffet, too — starting with Baked Chicken. We didn’t really see THAT much of a difference between this and the Herb Chicken, though this “kids chicken” didn’t have herbs on it, or really any sort of seasoning or sauce. It was still tasty, though!

What’s a kids’ buffet without Chicken Nuggets? Hopefully, we’ll never have to find out. These are your typical Disney chicken nuggets — and there’s nothing wrong with that! But, you’re paying for a pricey meal here and can get these pretty much anywhere on property. If you’ve got a picky eater on your hands, though — these nuggets might be the Holy Grail.

Oh, what’s that? You thought Casey’s Corner in Magic Kingdom was the only place you could get Mini Corn Dog Nuggets? Surprise! You’ll find them on the kids bar at the Hollywood & Vine lunch and dinner buffets as well. We’re pretty sure these are the same exact corn dogs, but here they’re UNLIMITED. Crispy on the outside, fluffy on the inside with a juicy dog in the middle.

You’re probably going to need some unlimited Potato Barrels (tater tots) with your unlimited corn dog nuggets, right? Have no fear — you can eat all the Potato Barrels you can possibly fit into your pocket Napoleon Dynamite-style.

These were crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside, but they did have a little bit of that stale taste from sitting under the heat lamps for a bit. We’ve never met a potato we didn’t like, though.

We are FINALLY moving on to desserts, and there are quite a few to choose from here! We tried the Carrot Cake Cupcake with Cream Cheese Icing first, and thought it was a pretty good cupcake. It wasn’t too sweet and there wasn’t too much icing so if you’re not a fan, you still might like this. There was a good fall-ish flavor from the carrot cake spices, too!

The Mississippi Mud Pie is living up to its name — at least in looks! This chocolately and delicious pie wasn’t overly rich and was full of different layered textures that made for an interesting dish. There were some large Oreo chunks and the whipped cream on top tasted really fresh!

For fruity dessert fans, the Apple Crisp will probably hit the spot. It was super warm and the apples were perfectly soft and well-cooked. Cinnamon is the predominant flavor here, and the baked oats on top added the most satisfying crunch.

It’s Peanut Butter Jelly (Tart) time! We LOVED this dessert. It had a mousse-like texture and you could really taste both the peanut butter and the jelly flavors in there. We thought the tart shell was nice and soft and not too crunchy like you can sometimes find with these.

Did you know they can put magic into a dessert? Or at least, they certainly tried to here with the Candy Magic Bar. Our reporter who tasted this said that it “tasted like something your Aunt would bring to your 8th birthday party” but in the best way possible. It’s full of chocolate, M&Ms, Oreos, pretzels, and coconut shavings. What’s NOT to love?!

And finally, we tried the Creme Brûlée Cheesecake! These lil mini cheesecake bites were good, but wasn’t the best cheesecake we’ve ever had. We didn’t really notice any overtly Creme Brulee flavors aside from where they torched the mini cheesecakes on top, but overall this was a pretty decent mini-cheesecake!

We told you we had a lot of food to cover! But, should you make a reservation for Minnie’s Halloween Dine at Hollywood & Vine???

Nosh or Not…

Make reservations at Hollywood & Vine if…

• You’re looking for a seasonal character meal.
• You want a break from the hustle and bustle of the parks.
• You want a lot of variety and A LOT of food.

Skip Hollywood & Vine if…

• You’re looking for a stellar meal you’ll want to tell all your friends about.
• You don’t want a lot of food or are looking for a lighter meal.
• You have picky eaters on your hands.

Overall

At the end of the day, Hollywood & Vine is a great option for those looking to have a character meal in Hollywood Studios while dining on some pretty decent food. We really enjoyed the herb tenderloin and olive oil potatoes, but overall the food wasn’t the best we’ve had on property. For character meals that also boast excellent food, consider booking a table at Topolino’s Terrace or ‘Ohana instead.

Check Out Our Latest Review of Mama Melrose’s in Hollywood Studios HERE

 

What do you think of Hollywood & Vine switching back to a buffet? Let us know in the comments!