Meeting Disney Junior characters at Hollywood & Vine in Disney’s Hollywood Studios

When we arrived at Hollywood and Vine for our 8.05am breakfast reservation I couldn’t help feeling slightly jealous of the people who got there before us. As the first family of the day, they were escorted to the table by all the characters–Vampirina, Doc McStuffins, Goofy Roadster Racer and Princess Sofia.

But it didn’t take long before it was our turn to sit down too, and we were happy to be seated near the entrance on the right hand side, which was good in terms of the route the characters followed when visiting each table. Although we love character meals in Walt Disney World for collecting autographs and meeting Disney favourites, one of our goals was also to hit the rides early by finishing the meal in time for the 9am park opening.

Since characters tend to stick to the same route, the location of the table can be quite important, but when we’ve had reservations near the opening time of a restaurant, it’s generally not been an issue to see all characters and finish our meal within an hour.

This was also the case at Hollywood and Vine, and soon after being seated we made a beeline for the buffet, where the children found their Walt Disney World breakfast favourites – Mickey Waffles with strawberries and cream and multi-coloured Froot Loop cereals. In addition, we enjoyed fresh fruit, pastries, scrambled eggs, bacon, roasted potatoes and much more.

A few minutes into our meal we spotted Vampirina, a Disney Junior character who the children were excited to meet. We quickly got into character dining mode, which for us involves opening autograph books on the right page and letting the children pick out a coloured Sharpie pen to give to the character to write.

A friendly dad with a big smile jumped up and kindly helped us take family photos. While there are PhotoPass photographers taking pictures of diners at some character meals–typically with one character by the entrance–this was not the case at our breakfast.

Instead, we could meet the four characters by our table and ensure we were ready on time for Daddy T to run ahead to try to do either Tower of Terror or Rock n’ Roller Coaster without a FastPass (he opted for the coaster after seeing there was already a line for Tower of Terror).

Before the hectic moment at the end of the meal, we had been enjoying a tranquil start to our day with no queue at security when entering the park and a crowd free walk down Hollywood Boulevard. We’d also had a chance to sit down and relax with hot drinks and been in awe of the family next to us.

While other diners impressed by singing Disney Junior theme songs to the characters doing the rounds, we came across as a quiet bunch and realised we need to up our game for next year by putting in some more practise. In Walt Disney World, planning questions to characters and showing off some Disney knowledge is simply just another way to add to the magical experience.

I would book an early morning character breakfast at Hollywood and Vine again, as I like starting the day early in Walt Disney World, entering the parks without crowds and meeting characters in restaurants. The park rope drop procedure and location of Hollywood and Vine, however, meant we didn’t get to the rides before non-diners.

Tags: Character dining, Disney's Hollywood Studios, Doc McStuffins, Goofy, Hollywood and Vine, Orlando, Princess Sofia, Vampirina, Walt Disney World