My family got to meet Mickey Mouse at Minnie's Holiday Dine at Hollywood Studios in Disney World in Orlando, FL

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The Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Florida is a wonderful place to visit during the holiday season.  There are a lot of great festivities going on throughout the resort.  The International Festival of the Holidays is taking place at EPCOT.  You can go to Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party at Magic Kingdom.  There are amazing decorations throughout Animal Kingdom and Hollywood Studios.  There’s a Christmas tree trail at Disney Springs.

But one thing I like about Christmas is the food.  It’s really nice to sit down and have a wonderful meal with your family in a holiday atmosphere.

So you might be wondering if there is anything like that at Walt Disney World during the holiday season.  And the answer is yes.  And that is Minnie’s Holiday Dine.

Minnie’s Holiday Dine

Minnie’s Holiday Dine takes place at Hollywood and Vine.  This is one of the restaurants at Hollywood Studios.  Right now at Hollywood and Vine for breakfast, you can enjoy a Disney Junior Play n’ Dine Buffet Breakfast.  But for lunch and dinner, it’s a buffet called Minnie’s Holiday Dine.

This year, my family was thinking about trying this unique holiday dining experience.  But when we looked at the menu online, we weren’t sure there were enough foods to justify the cost of the experience.  Because this is not exactly a cheap experience.  It’s $59 for adults and $38 for children ages three years old to nine years old (plus tax and gratuities).

But here’s the thing.  The menu online is just a “Partial Listing”.  So on our first day at Disney World, we walked by the restaurant and asked the hostess outside about the foods available.  We liked a lot of the foods she said, so we felt confident we would enjoy the meal.  We went ahead and booked a reservation for noon the next day.

The next day, we were pleased when we walked in and saw all the great holiday decorations.  Hollywood and Vine has a 1950s diner-type theme (which makes it fit in well with its neighbor, 50’s Prime Time Café).  It all looked great.

There’s also a great photo opportunity right when you walk into the restaurant.

There is a great photo opportunity for our family at the front of Hollywood & Vine during Minnie's Holiday Dine at Disney World

We were told we could come back there at any time during our meal to get a great holiday family photo.

We were given a great commemorative card with Mickey, Minnie, Pluto, and Goofy’s signatures.

Guests are given a commemorative postcard when they visit Minnie's Holiday Dine at Hollywood & Vine in Disney World in Orlando, Florida

That’s a nice touch we can always save from the experience.

But that’s not the only interaction you have with the Disney characters.  Minnie’s Holiday Dine is a character buffet, so that means you get interactions with popular Disney characters!

There were four Disney characters there when we were there.  How it works is that the four characters divide up two by two.  Two will greet guests in one half of the restaurant while the other two will greet guests in the other half of the restaurant.  Every twenty minutes, they rotate.  So while you eat, you should be able to meet with all four characters.  In fact, when we were there, we got to meet with each character more than one time.

The first two characters we got to see were two of Disney’s most iconic characters, Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse!  Minnie and Mickey both looked stylish in their holiday attire.

My family got to meet Mickey Mouse at Minnie's Holiday Dine at Hollywood Studios in Disney World in Orlando, FL

Meet Minnie Mouse & other Disney characters at Minnie's Holiday Dine at Hollywood & Vine at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Fl

I especially loved Minnie’s beautiful red dress.

The other two characters were Goofy and Pluto.  Not to be outdone, Goofy was dressed as Santa and Pluto had on reindeer ears!

My family loved getting our photo with Santa Goofy at Minnie's Holiday Dine at Hollywood Studios in Disney World in Orlando, FL

I love seeing Pluto in his reindeer ears at Minnie's Holiday Dine at Hollywood & Vine in Hollywood Studios at WDW in Orlando, Florida

I would have enjoyed the meal without the characters, but it certainly added to my enjoyment.

Minnie’s Holiday Dine Food

When we weren’t interacting with characters, we could go back to the buffet line.  And we went more than once.  Here’s a tip: make sure you go there hungry.  Because there’s a lot of great food here you won’t want to miss out on.  There’s a lot of Plant-based and Allergy-Friendly options, too.

Main & Side Dishes

You can go through the buffet as many times as you want at Minnie's Holiday Dine at the Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Florida

Here are some of the dishes you can get at the buffet:

  • Seared Salmon with Beurre Blanc
  • Oven-Roasted Herbed Chicken
  • Roasted Pork with Spicy Mustard Sauce
  • Beef Stew with Root Vegetables
  • Macaroni & Cheese with Shrimp & Bacon
  • Meatballs with Barbecue Sauce & Pineapple
  • Penne Pasta & Marinara
  • Roast Beef with Horseradish Cream
  • Peel-n-Eat Shrimp
  • Baked Chicken
  • Chicken Nuggets
  • Green Beans
  • Olive Oil-Roasted Potatoes
  • White Rice
  • Potato Barrels
  • Oven-Roasted Seasonal Vegetables
  • Spring Peas and Pearl Onions
  • Sour Cream and Chive Whipped Potato
  • Couscous Salad with Cilantro-Lime
  • Broccoli & Carrots
  • Crispy Tofu with Asian Glaze
  • Roasted Mushroom Farro Risotto
  • Caramelized Brussel Sprouts
  • Spitzweck Rolls
  • Herbed Focaccia
  • Mini Pita Bread
  • Kid’s Macaroni & Cheese

There’s also a salad bar with multiple dressing options like Balsamic, Caesar, Ranch, etc. and a lot of great toppings like onions, Romaine lettuce, olives, Feta cheese, Parmesan cheese, etc.

A picture of the salad bar at Minnie's Holiday Dine at Hollywood Studios in Disney World in Florida

They also have a lot of fruits.

A picture of the fruits available at Minnie's Holiday Dine at Disney World like pineapple, watermelon & grapes

You can get watermelon, pineapples, grapes, melons, etc.

Desserts

A picture of cupcakes and Mississippi Mud, two desserts available at Minnie's Holiday Dine at the Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Florida

There are also a lot of desserts available, like:

  • Mississippi Mud
  • Carrot Cake Cupcake with Cream Cheese Icing
  • Apple Crisp
  • Seasonal Bread Pudding
  • Ice Cream
  • Candy Magic Bar
  • Peanut Butter and Jelly Tart

Minnie’s Holiday Dine Food Review

So now that I have told you about all of the food you could have at Minnie’s Holiday Dine, I am sure you are wondering for what our favorites was.

We were a bit mixed on the roast beef and salmon.  For some family members, the roast beef and salmon was the best.  So much so we talked about figuring out the recipe for Seared Salmon with Beurre Blanc.

The fruit was a bit hit or miss.  Basically, some of the fruit was soft and was great.

The pita bread was a bit disappointing.  It was a bit too chewy even though it was very thin.

The green beans were delicious.

There was such a great selection of potatoes.  The Sour Cream and Chive Whipped Potato was really good.  They tasted a bit like sour cream and onion chips. The potato barrels (which is the name of it but I think of them as Tator Tots) were also great.  I also liked the Olive Oil-Roasted Potatoes.

The rice could use more fluffing.

The chicken nuggets were good.  There was more breading than chicken, but that’s not a complaint!

I was really excited they had an ice cream machine where you could get vanilla, chocolate, or vanilla & chocolate swirl.  It reminded me of what I used to love to get at Thanksgiving at the Officer’s Club when I was a child.

A picture of vanilla and chocolate swirl ice cream which you can get at Minnie's Holiday Dine at Hollywood & Vine at Disney World in Orlando, FL

Unfortunately, the ice cream was a bit too cold for me and hurt my teeth.  But there were other desserts we liked better.  The Mississippi Mud was the favorite dessert dish of my family.  Another was the Crème Brûlée Cheesecake.  We also loved the Peanut Butter and Jelly Tart.

Overall, even though we did not like each and every food, there was such a great selection of food that it was great.  I would just sample a little of each food and if I liked one, I would go back for more.  There is no doubt in my mind you’ll find multiple foods at the buffet you’ll love.

Conclusion

Minnie’s Holiday Dine is an amazing experience where you can get wonderful Christmas photo opportunities with four of Disney’s most iconic characters: Mickey, Minnie, Pluto, and Goofy.  It also has a huge selection of food so you can easily find food you love.  So given all that you get, and how expensive all food and drink options have gotten, Minnie’s Holiday Dine is definitely worth the price.  So I would definitely recommend this experience for your family.  My family absolutely loved our time at Minnie’s Holiday Dine, and we suspect your family would love it, too.  So if you are planning a trip this holiday season to Disney World, we highly recommend going to Minnie’s Holiday Dine!

Additionally, if you are planning a trip to Disney World this holiday season and you haven’t booked your vacation yet, read this hack for getting a Disney World hotel for a fraction of the price.  Also, click here to find out how to get a discounted price for Disney World tickets.

And if you want other great holiday experiences in Orlando, then check out our SeaWorld Christmas Guide and our Universal Christmas Guide.

 

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Minnie's Holiday Dine Disney World Dining Review