Disney's Jedi Mickey's Star Wars Dine at Hollywood and Vine Review

As you may have read in my previous post, Brad and I just returned from Walt Disney World. We went back to celebrate our two year anniversary. Since we were unable to be at Disney during Star Wars Weekends, I wanted Brad to experience something special that was Star Wars related. We decided to try the Jedi Mickey's Star Wars Dine at Hollywood and Vine. We hated to spend the money for the Star Wars breakfast, and it really didn't fit in our schedule. We booked our dinner for our first night at Disney. The cost for this buffet is $57.99 per adult and $34.99 per child. You did get a PhotoPass card with a copy of your picture with Jedi Mickey. See below for my review and pictures!

Location - Hollywood Studios
Date - Saturday, May 9, 2015
Time - 6:15
Booked - February 4, 2015
Bill Total - $123.52 before tip

Pretzel Roll
Dinner Roll
Caesar Salad
Fresh Green Salad with various toppings and dressings
Edamame Salad
Broccoli Slaw
Tomato Cucumber Salad
Corn Chowder
Vegetable Soup
Insalata Caprese
Cantaloupe Salad
Thai Beef Salad
New Zealand Green Mussels
Shrimp with Cocktail Sauce
Fish and Chips
Felucia Fasolaka
Bratwurst with Sauerkraut
Polenta garnished with Beef Caponata
Fried Rice
Sweet and Sour Pork
Orange Chicken
Salmon
Sautéed Vegetables
Corn
Barbecue Meatballs
Ranch Chicken
Lobster and Shrimp Macaroni and Cheese
Garlic Mashed Potatoes and Beef Gravy
Roasted Strip Loin
Herb Roasted Turkey
Steamed Broccoli and Carrots (Kid's Buffet)
Tater Tots (Kid's Buffet)
Macaroni and Cheese (Kid's Buffet)
Chicken Tenders (Kid's Buffet)
Corn Dogs (Kid's Buffet)
Salted Caramel Cupcake
Butter Cookie
Chocolate Dipped Strawberries
Brownies
Chocolate Dipped Marshmallows
Key Lime Tart
Cookies
Chocolate Dipped Cookies
Chocolate Dipped Pretzels
Blue Milk Ice Cream
Vanilla Soft Serve Ice Cream
Chocolate Dipped Pineapple
Chocolate Dipped Apples
Raspberry Cheesecake
Caramel Tart
Hazelnut Cupcake

Characters

Jedi Mickey - PhotoPass photo included
Princess Leia Minnie
Darth Vader Goofy
Stormtrooper Donald
Ewok Chip 'n' Dale - you do not get to meet them together

Overall Review

We arrived at Hollywood and Vine around 6 pm for our 6:15 reservation. We had to wait in a small line to check in. Apparently they were not sold out because they were allowing people to leave their name and party number and wait. I am not positive how long the walk up wait was however. Since it wasn't Star Wars Weekends yet, I am guessing the crowds for these dining opportunities were at their lowest. We were given a pager and waited about 10 minutes. They had water available during your wait, and we waited outside of the restaurant under umbrellas for shade.

When our pager went off, we were asked to stand in a line to meet Jedi Mickey. The character experience with Jedi Mickey was short lived. They only took two pictures, and one of the pictures Brad was moving positions. Afterwards they handed us a card with our picture loaded on it. Of course since we already purchased Memory Maker, this was not a benefit to us. They also did not allow autographs. They gave us a postcard with all of their autographs on it. After some confusion on who was supposed to seat us, we finally were taken to our table. We were handed a piece of paper with red on one side and blue on the other. We were asked to select a side and were given rubber bands to turn these into lightsabers.

Our waiter arrived quickly and took our drink orders. He told us that we were in the first group. Meaning we didn't get much of a warning before the characters arrived. This was only an issue once (Goofy below). Dale arrived right as our waiter finished taking our drink orders, so we were able to have him take a picture of both of us with Dale. That is the biggest issue with character meals with just the two of us. I really wish they had PhotoPass photographers at all character meals. To me, that would be much nicer. After our drink order, I went to the buffet first. No sooner than I placed the bread and lettuce on my plate, I heard Brad yelling at me. Goofy was already in our section and was only two tables away. So I left the buffet and went and waited at the table. We had to take this picture individually since our waiter was no where near us.

After meeting Goofy, I was able to go finish getting my food. I filled up two plates worth of food. I got a little bit of everything the first round. The second round I went back for just a few things. I really do not get my money's worth from a buffet. I get full way too quickly! Chip came by and since our waiter wasn't near, we took individual pictures again. Next we had dessert. I didn't select as many desserts, only things that truly sounded good. During our dessert we met a friendly cast member whose job was just to keep an eye on the characters. She was nice enough to take our pictures for the rest of the night. We meet Donald, Minnie, and Chip one more time.

We were finish with dinner around 7. I only made 3-4 trips to the buffet and that includes my trip for dessert. My favorite food items were the salmon and macaroni and cheese. My favorite desserts were chocolate dipped strawberries, pineapples, apples, and marshmallows. The blue milk ice cream was also really good. It tasted like blue raspberry to me, and you know you have always wondered what the Blue Milk from Star Wars tastes like!

Our waiter was really nice and attentive. I don't recall really needing a refill or anything. The theming of the restaurant was really lacking. They placed some Star Wars Weekends posters throughout the restaurant, and some of the food items were Star Wars themed. But that was pretty much it. I just feel like they could do more since this is a two month long experience.

Overall the restaurant was just ok. Honestly, I would not do this again in the future. It is not worth the money we spent for the food and character interaction. The food was just ok (definitely nothing to call home about), and the character interaction was lackluster. It would be much better too if you got to meet Chip and Dale together as they should be. Instead you meet them separately. So if you are like me and can't remember who has which nose, it's like meeting the same character twice. I only recommend this for families that are not going to be at Disney for Star Wars Weekends and they really want to meet the Disney characters dressed up in their Star Wars gear.