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Disney Junior Play and Dine Breakfast Character Meal Review
Each time we head to WDW, there seem to be some restaurants and/or character meals that we find ourselves making repeat reservations for year after year. One of those is the character meal at Hollywood & Vine Restaurant in Disney’s Hollywood Studios. During breakfast and lunch this restaurant offers a buffet-style meal and while you eat you are visited at your table by several Disney Junior characters.
Updating this post with a pic from our ’17 stop:
During our most recent visit to the parks, we chose to check out the breakfast buffet and made an early morning reservation. We didn’t tell Lily where we were going until we were about to head into the restaurant. I had smuggled her Sofia the First dress in our backpack without her seeing it. After we spilled the beans about our breakfast plans, I pulled out the dress and in we went!
Here she is, taking it all in, trying to get over the shock of our surprise –
How it works: After the hostess seats you at your table, you are greeted by your server. Your server takes your drink orders and after that you are free to help yourself to food at the buffet. We were thoroughly pleased with the variety of breakfast foods offered at this meal! There was a bit of everything – from carb heaven to fresh fruit to breakfast meats and make-your-own parfaits. There was also a kids’ section with a few items (like Mickey Mouse shaped waffles) that proved extremely popular with Lily.
Characters: Of course, the biggest perk to attending a character meal (and thus shelling out the money for such a meal) is that the CHARACTERS come to YOU while you EAT. There are no lines to wait in, no Fast Passes to worry about. It’s convenient and exciting for the kids and well worth the dough, in my humble opinion.
At the Disney Junior Play and Dine meal, we got to meet Sofia the First, Doc McStuffins, Handy Manny and Jake. Each one will visit your table, pose for a pic (or three) and sign an autograph book if you ask.
A couple of times while you are there, music starts to play and the characters head up front for a couple of songs. Kids are encouraged to go up and dance. If you watch this vid and look for Lily, you’ll see that she was only too happy to oblige. :)
The 2014 cost: At $25/adult and $14 for the kid, our bill came to just under $70 with tax. Tip is additional. Note: the cost has gone up since then. I want to say it’s now closer to $35 per adult.
Cool tip: Like I mentioned above, our breakfast was pretty early. Lily got her Disney Junior fix while Bob and I gulped down all the caffeine we could. When our server brought our bill out, she asked us if we’d like to-go cups to put some coffee in before we left. UM… YES PLEASE?!! We thought that was really nice of her to offer. So whether your server asks you or not, it can’t hurt to request a to-go cup and enjoy your caffeine as you head on your way.
All in all, we walked away from this meal feeling like we got our money’s worth. The food was good and plentiful. We didn’t feel rushed or like we had to eat our food quickly to make room for the next party. The addition of Doc and Sofia to the character lineup got a huge thumb’s up from us. At the ripe old age of 5, these are two of Lily’s most favorite characters and it was great to see them included!
Thanks for sharing your experience at this character meal. We have yet to spend the day at Hollywood Studios and wondered about this character meal. Great to know it wasn’t rushed and the bonus of to go cups was wonderful on the servers part. Thanks for sharing!
You’re so welcome – glad it was helpful! If you have big Disney Junior fans, this one is great. They offer the character dining for breakfast and lunch…. and make sure you also check out the Disney Junior Live on Stage show while you’re at HS – you can even Fast Pass it. :)