I wouldn't say it's rare to be able to see Mt.Fiji from Hakone. It really depends a lot on the time of the year. Chances are excellent in the winter time, lot poorer in the summer. We've stayed at Green Plaza probably close to 10 times over the years, and we've been extremely lucky. I'm not sure that there's been a single stay where we couldn't see Fuji at all from the hotel. Then again, most of our visits have been in colder months. I just looked at our photos from the last 3 stays there (including a stay in Aug) and there's a picture of Mt.Fuji in the afternoon from the hotel on every one of those stays. Anyways yes it is a bit of a crap shoot, and that's another reason why I think the OP should stay away from doing a day trip where Mt.Fuji is the sole agenda. With Hakone, at least he/she gets to ride the mountain trains, check out the Open Air Museum, do onsen, etc.

Well we all have different taste buds, but curry is almost up there with ramen as far as quintessential Jpn food, so.... Fujiya curry is to die for. Don't know how else to describe it other than to say the taste is multi-dimensional. If you go to Fujiya in Kofu, their buffet restaurant includes all you can eat Fujiya hotel curry. I get at least 3 servings each time.