Hello everyone,
We had two TS meals (H&V and Boma) and 4 CS meals (Artist's Palette, CHH twice, Pizzafari) during our recent trip. These were actually the first TS meals we had ever had at WDW! Our last visit was 7 years ago. The rest of the time we ate in at our villa at SSR using groceries from Wegoshop and a few things we brought with us. We eat seafood but no chicken, pork, beef or other meat.
We are: Me (age 40, likes most things besides meat!), DD11a (twin with somewhat adventurous adult tastes), DD11b (twin with a more limited palate), DD7 (resembles DD11b in looks and eating habits). For two meals we were joined by DH (age 59, loves to eat, unfortunately hurt his leg and decided to rest & relax at the resort so did not come along to the parks with us)
I will start with the buffets since that's what I put in the title.
Hollywood & Vine I booked this dinner for one reason: the Fantasmic Dinner package. It was the cheapest of the 3 FDP options and I know that buffets work really well for my girls because they can see the food, try a little bit, go back for more of what they liked.
We arrived just at 5:00 for our 5:00 ADR. So many were waiting they had run out of buzzers. They said to wait nearby and they'd call my name. The kids sat on a wall where they were able to get a view of the passing parade! That was lucky. Eventually the parade ended and DD11b said she needed to use the bathroom. We waited until a CM came outside and I asked if she could use the restroom. He said of course and told her how to find it and she set off. Then he took about 6 steps away and called out...our name! The wait was about 15-20 minutes. After he showed us the table I went over to the restroom to escort DD11b so she wouldn't go back outside to look for us.
I loved our table. One bad thing I'd heard about H&V was the noise level. We were all the way on the left hand side (as you enter) in a little nook! We had a window on one side of our table and walls on two other sides. It was secluded and calm.
I sampled
ceasar salad-- delicious. I got more of this and would have eaten more than I did but I knew it was very high calorie
roasted beets-- OK
endive salad-- OK
spicy fennel salad-- didn't seem spicy at all
rice-- awful. It was chewy and I just hated it
shrimp & cocktail sauce-- can't go wrong with this. DD11a likes this too
salmon-- fine, I had more of this, and DDs 11a and 11b had some as well
garlic mashed potatoes-- DD11a took some of this but it looked to me like it had bits of bacon in it. I cautioned her but she decided to go ahead and eat it. Then it occured to me, if it did have bacon it would have said so on the sign. I asked a CM and she explained that was bits of the red potato skin and the dish was vegetarian. So I tried some and it was OK. Fine but I didn't love it.
There were a couple of other things I could have eaten but passed up.
In addition to the adult foods enjoyed by DD11a, DDs had
rolls
broccoli
corn
mac & cheese
penne pasta from the roasted vegetable pasta dish
They seemed happy enough.
Actually, what happened was, after my first round of samples, I had gone back to get proper portions of the things I had liked. At the end of the line I noticed DD11a at the dessert table! I firmly informed her that it was not time for dessert. We were not rushing through the meal. This was a full park day with no return to the hotel. This dinner was a time to rest and cool off as well as eat. When she got back to the table and observed her sisters and me still in the middle of dinner, she decided to get some more dinner food!
Finally I deemed it was time for dessert. My girls were awestruck at the idea of unlimited dessert because we don't have dessert every night and if we do it's small portions.
brownies (DDs 11a and 7)
ice cream (DDs 11a and 7)
chocolate mousse cup (DDs 11a, 11b and me)-- we agreed this was the best thing & had several each. In fact after the meal we agreed that the last one we had each eaten had been a mistake!
key lime tart (DDs 11a, 11b and me)-- I thought this was good and I had more than one but I scooped out the filling and ate it with a spoon rather than waste calories on the crust
cheesecake (me)-- this was good but the mousse & key lime things were better
carrot cake (me)-- took 1 bite and discarded
three berry cobbler (me)-- sampled and did not finish
Other things available that we did not try were pineapple upside down cake, rice krispy treats and apple cobbler
Our server was fine. She brought drinks and removed plates efficiently. Speaking of drinks, the girls had Sprite and lemonade. I had Diet Coke and water. I wish they would offer a drink with no caffeine and no calories other than water (diet Sprite, caffeine free diet Coke, etc.) but no.
The FDP worked out wonderfully as by the time we took our seats, the arena seemed completely full except for the FDP section, which was only half or a third full. So it was worth it to not have to get there earlier. But I would not eat there without the FDP as a motivation.
We had two TS meals (H&V and Boma) and 4 CS meals (Artist's Palette, CHH twice, Pizzafari) during our recent trip. These were actually the first TS meals we had ever had at WDW! Our last visit was 7 years ago. The rest of the time we ate in at our villa at SSR using groceries from Wegoshop and a few things we brought with us. We eat seafood but no chicken, pork, beef or other meat.
We are: Me (age 40, likes most things besides meat!), DD11a (twin with somewhat adventurous adult tastes), DD11b (twin with a more limited palate), DD7 (resembles DD11b in looks and eating habits). For two meals we were joined by DH (age 59, loves to eat, unfortunately hurt his leg and decided to rest & relax at the resort so did not come along to the parks with us)
I will start with the buffets since that's what I put in the title.
Hollywood & Vine I booked this dinner for one reason: the Fantasmic Dinner package. It was the cheapest of the 3 FDP options and I know that buffets work really well for my girls because they can see the food, try a little bit, go back for more of what they liked.
We arrived just at 5:00 for our 5:00 ADR. So many were waiting they had run out of buzzers. They said to wait nearby and they'd call my name. The kids sat on a wall where they were able to get a view of the passing parade! That was lucky. Eventually the parade ended and DD11b said she needed to use the bathroom. We waited until a CM came outside and I asked if she could use the restroom. He said of course and told her how to find it and she set off. Then he took about 6 steps away and called out...our name! The wait was about 15-20 minutes. After he showed us the table I went over to the restroom to escort DD11b so she wouldn't go back outside to look for us.
I loved our table. One bad thing I'd heard about H&V was the noise level. We were all the way on the left hand side (as you enter) in a little nook! We had a window on one side of our table and walls on two other sides. It was secluded and calm.
I sampled
ceasar salad-- delicious. I got more of this and would have eaten more than I did but I knew it was very high calorie
roasted beets-- OK
endive salad-- OK
spicy fennel salad-- didn't seem spicy at all
rice-- awful. It was chewy and I just hated it
shrimp & cocktail sauce-- can't go wrong with this. DD11a likes this too
salmon-- fine, I had more of this, and DDs 11a and 11b had some as well
garlic mashed potatoes-- DD11a took some of this but it looked to me like it had bits of bacon in it. I cautioned her but she decided to go ahead and eat it. Then it occured to me, if it did have bacon it would have said so on the sign. I asked a CM and she explained that was bits of the red potato skin and the dish was vegetarian. So I tried some and it was OK. Fine but I didn't love it.
There were a couple of other things I could have eaten but passed up.
In addition to the adult foods enjoyed by DD11a, DDs had
rolls
broccoli
corn
mac & cheese
penne pasta from the roasted vegetable pasta dish
They seemed happy enough.
Actually, what happened was, after my first round of samples, I had gone back to get proper portions of the things I had liked. At the end of the line I noticed DD11a at the dessert table! I firmly informed her that it was not time for dessert. We were not rushing through the meal. This was a full park day with no return to the hotel. This dinner was a time to rest and cool off as well as eat. When she got back to the table and observed her sisters and me still in the middle of dinner, she decided to get some more dinner food!
Finally I deemed it was time for dessert. My girls were awestruck at the idea of unlimited dessert because we don't have dessert every night and if we do it's small portions.
brownies (DDs 11a and 7)
ice cream (DDs 11a and 7)
chocolate mousse cup (DDs 11a, 11b and me)-- we agreed this was the best thing & had several each. In fact after the meal we agreed that the last one we had each eaten had been a mistake!
key lime tart (DDs 11a, 11b and me)-- I thought this was good and I had more than one but I scooped out the filling and ate it with a spoon rather than waste calories on the crust
cheesecake (me)-- this was good but the mousse & key lime things were better
carrot cake (me)-- took 1 bite and discarded
three berry cobbler (me)-- sampled and did not finish
Other things available that we did not try were pineapple upside down cake, rice krispy treats and apple cobbler
Our server was fine. She brought drinks and removed plates efficiently. Speaking of drinks, the girls had Sprite and lemonade. I had Diet Coke and water. I wish they would offer a drink with no caffeine and no calories other than water (diet Sprite, caffeine free diet Coke, etc.) but no.
The FDP worked out wonderfully as by the time we took our seats, the arena seemed completely full except for the FDP section, which was only half or a third full. So it was worth it to not have to get there earlier. But I would not eat there without the FDP as a motivation.
DD is a vegetarian and will appreciate this. 
You did a wonderful job.
, so they made use of the small fountain/water play area nearby to really get drenched!
