Just booked Hollywood and Vine....anyone have any recent experience there as a vegan? We were having trouble finding a decent sitdown in Hollywood Studios
I haven't had a recent experience there, but I was at WDW for a week in 2008 and was still eating vegan at the time (am now vegetarian). Unfortunately, it was by far the worst meal I've ever had at WDW, and the only place my H and I have said we'd never return to. It was noted on our reservation that I was vegan/no dairy/no eggs, so a chef came out to our table. I guess I got spoiled by all the other restaurants' chefs while we were there (had some of the best meals of my life, to the point where my FIL's running joke was that he was gonna "turn vegan" so he could have what I was having), but this guy just came out and basically pointed out the salad bar, raw vegetables and fruit, and one kind of bread. Unlike every other restaurant we went to on that trip, he also didn't offer to make me anything (and I'm way too shy to ask). He also tried to tell me that a dessert that had mini marshmallows on top was vegan. I said, "Oh wow, are those house-made gelatin-free marshmallows?" (I don't think they had Dandies at the parks yet) and he said, "Oh man...I always forget about gelatin!"
It was also an extremely noisy restaurant back then...the decor was all glass and chrome and other shiny things that the noise bounced off of, with nothing to absorb it. I ended up with a really bad headache.
Hopefully H&V has improved its vegan offerings since then, though. And you know, so much of it is what chef you happen to get on the day you go there. Some (life Chef TJ) are so excited to make special meals and really seem to take a lot of joy and pride in doing so...and others, not so much (which is understandable, especially when it's busy). Due to the "luck of the draw" nature of the chefs, nowadays I tend to book only at restaurants that have something on the official menu that I know I like and can eat...but admittedly, that is often very difficult to do as a vegan.
I also concur with the previous poster who mentioned Mama Melrose. My D has food allergies and when we went on our trip last year, her GI doctor had her on an egg/dairy free diet...she was previously a vegetarian, but this now meant she had to eat vegan. Being a kid, our D was devastated about this, so H and I agreed to eat vegan with her so we wouldn't be eating all her favorite dairy/egg dishes in front of her. We booked Mama Melrose, and because our reservation was labeled as egg/dairy allergy, the chef (a youngish male whose name i forget) came out and talked to us. We explained the situation, and he told my daughter that he'd be delighted to make her a very special dish if she'd just tell him what some of her favorite foods were. She mentioned eggplant, sundried tomatoes, whole wheat pasta, capers, and a few other things I'm forgetting right now, and WOW...he brought us a family-size portion of one of the best pastas I've ever had in my life. It had all these insanely delicious roasted veggies that were just gorgeous, and lots of other diners were looking jealously at our meal. The chef also brought us out some special bread and custom-made a dessert for us (it was good, but not as good as the pasta, so I forget what it was). So as you can see, we enthusiastically recommend Mama Melrose!
FWIW, for us, HS is always the toughest park to find good vegetarian/vegan food at. One other idea you might try is to take the short walk or boat ride over to the Beach Club and go to Beaches and Cream...they have a vegan veggie burger and several vegan ice cream and sundae options. They were also incredibly accommodating and kind to our D during our trip last year.