Ohana-big ole disappointment

[Meghan NJ]

After much debate I decided to give Ohana a shot. It was our first day at Disney and I thought it would be a good dinner. I know the reviews are mixed, but I took a chance. What a mistake. I don't travel to Disney all the time so I didn't know to request a table in the main room. I didn't realize this until they started with the games, and we were missing out on them. I got up with my DS (age 6), and brought him over there. My husband stayed with DD (age 2), so he didn't get to see DS. All that aside the food was not very good. The noodles and dumplings were ok, nothing I couldn't get at Trader Joe's. I did like the salad, but it would have been nice to finish one course before the next came out. I felt like every time I took a breath more food was comming out. I get that it is a popular place, but I felt way too rushed. The meat was so dry, except for the fatty beef. And the shrimp was just gross, not cleaned, and mushy. I was so disappointed in the whole experience. I complained to the manager, he sent over a "special desert", fried bananas, they were good, but not really a big deal.

There are better places at Disney. Save your money and look elseware!!!

[swisely]

After much debate I decided to give Ohana a shot. It was our first day at Disney and I thought it would be a good dinner. I know the reviews are mixed, but I took a chance. What a mistake. I don't travel to Disney all the time so I didn't know to request a table in the main room. I didn't realize this until they started with the games, and we were missing out on them. I got up with my DS (age 6), and brought him over there. My husband stayed with DD (age 2), so he didn't get to see DS. All that aside the food was not very good. The noodles and dumplings were ok, nothing I couldn't get at Trader Joe's. I did like the salad, but it would have been nice to finish one course before the next came out. I felt like every time I took a breath more food was comming out. I get that it is a popular place, but I felt way too rushed. The meat was so dry, except for the fatty beef. And the shrimp was just gross, not cleaned, and mushy. I was so disappointed in the whole experience. I complained to the manager, he sent over a "special desert", fried bananas, they were good, but not really a big deal.

There are better places at Disney. Save your money and look elseware!!!

Sorry you had a bad experience. We ate there last week and it was our favorite meal of the trip. And we were in the main room, but my son would not participate, not a big deal. Meat was all juicy and tender, didn't at all feel rushed. And the dessert--oh my gosh good!

[Pumbaa_]

there is such diverse opinions on this place. I am with the OP, had multiple bad experiences, won't be back

It is somewhere that people should try for themselves if they are interested, you may have a great experience or not so great. But at least then you won't wonder if you missed something along the way

:cool1:

[LUVDZNY2008]

I was disappointed when I went last August too. I didn't care for the side dishes..the meat was okay. I went there five years ago and thought it was great..we are not going back this year.

[HARVEYSGIRL]

We ate there in July and absolutely loved it! My husband is strictly a meat and potato guy so all you can eat meat was a no brainer. We will definately be back!!! We really liked the dessert to. It was hands down our favorite meal of the entire trip.

[mdsouth]

We ate there in July and absolutely loved it! My husband is strictly a meat and potato guy so all you can eat meat was a no brainer. We will definately be back!!! We really liked the dessert to. It was hands down our favorite meal of the entire trip.

We ate dinner at OHana's in late June. It was our best meal the entire trip! We loved the food and the atmosphere was great for the kids and us! The only thing I didn't care to much for was the noodles. I would have preferrred the potatoes.

[christophfam]

OP, where were you sitting? I've only been once and we were lucky enough to be seated right by the windows. It was a great night. We are going again with friends and didn't realize there was anything but the main room. I want to make sure we don't end up sitting where you were because I know the kids will want walk around with the hula lady. Where is the room you were in? Do I need to ask for table by the windows? I'm not sure that is even possible with our large group of 8.

[shopn24seven]

Went for breakfast only...It was fine.
What is the MAIL SEATING about? What games?

[DISNEYFOS]

We just came back and I was very unimpressed with Ohana's as well.

This was my 2nd time there.

My mom and I actually got very bad stomach problems from the pork. :sick:

[CoolDisneyKitten]

We aren't 'Ohana fans. We've been a few times, and the first couple of times we enjoyed it, but between the loud games, rushed service, and dried-out meat of our last few trips, we've decided to skip it. It's one of the more vastly overrated places at Disney in our opinion.

[plasfam04]

Wow... I'm so surprised to see so many bad review on O'hana but I guess like the OP said you can have mixed reviews anywhere. We have been there about 4 times now and have had great experiences everytime... with the service, food and atmosphere. It is definitely one of our favorites. Sorry you had such a bad experience

[Jeero]

I've been on the fence about trying Ohana and appreciate your honest and detailed review. Uncleaned shrimp are a big "ick" for me. :crazy2:

[shopn24seven]

I would have had to have a **conversation** with the Manager, on that one...

[Pooh Bear Hugs]

Where you are seated and wht time you eat are very important. In 2007 we had a great time, the meal was ok but we had a wonderful table to watch wishes from.

[missy2217]

I had been bouncing back and forth between Ohana and Tony's Town Sq. I went with Tony's and after reading this I am glad.

[Dreamer & Wisher]

I need to make one more ADR for our upcoming trip. We have been to Ohana for Dinner before and we enjoyed it.

I was considering Ohana for the last dinner on our vacation, now I am reconsidering. Maybe we should try The Wave? Thank you for your review.

[pooch]

DD & I had the same experience, we barely tried one dish when the next was dropped at the table. Just didn't enjoy anything here. We're trying the Wave this time.

[wide awake]

If shrimp are cleaned before they are cooked they don't have any flavor...any shrimp flavor that is...they taste like whatever you cooked them in, or whatever you poured on top of them. I adore shellfish of any kind, and don't eat shrimp unless they've been cooked w/ shells on.

[GinCar]

O'hana's has always been a must-do for our family for breakfast. We ate there last week and it was the worst meal/service of our trip. The breakfast was just so, I actually spit out the sausage.:sick:
I could get over the food, because I still loved the pineapple bread, fruit and juice, but the service was pitiful. Our waiter was not around at all.
When the "parade" started, Mickey was supposed to be coming over to our table, but he had to be in the parade. Okay, no big deal, but he NEVER came back. We waited about 15 minutes (before we saw our server again). We politely said, we haven't seen Mickey, Pluto or Lilo (only Stitch) and we were completely done and so was our DD4. He mumbled something and disappeared.
The lady who helps with the characters comes over and says dryly "if you want to see Mickey, I'll take you to him". Okay, I'm thinking great we'll see the big cheese and go.I look at my DH and say, do you want to take DD4 over or me? As I am asking DH, she rudely says- "I'm just trying to help, you don't have to see Mickey." That is when my DD4 says, Mommy I just want to leave. This is from the child that adores taking pics with all of the characters. We did wait (taking up table space) for about 15 min to see everyone, but Mickey.
We will someday give O'hana another shot, but if this had been our first visit, I would have never gone back.
I am glad that those that had a great experience lately, did, because we have so loved this place in the past.;)

[gracie1]

I have o'hana reserved for dinner while at wdw. This is one I booked but not sure if I am going to cancel. The wings look good but I only booked because of the reviews on the bread pudding :lmao: Seems like a lot of bad reviews are coming in lately so may change this one. Not sure to where yet though. Gotta keep researching :surfweb:

[WriteDisney]

After much debate I decided to give Ohana a shot. It was our first day at Disney and I thought it would be a good dinner. I know the reviews are mixed, but I took a chance. What a mistake. I don't travel to Disney all the time so I didn't know to request a table in the main room. I didn't realize this until they started with the games, and we were missing out on them. I got up with my DS (age 6), and brought him over there. My husband stayed with DD (age 2), so he didn't get to see DS. All that aside the food was not very good. The noodles and dumplings were ok, nothing I couldn't get at Trader Joe's. I did like the salad, but it would have been nice to finish one course before the next came out. I felt like every time I took a breath more food was comming out. I get that it is a popular place, but I felt way too rushed. The meat was so dry, except for the fatty beef. And the shrimp was just gross, not cleaned, and mushy. I was so disappointed in the whole experience. I complained to the manager, he sent over a "special desert", fried bananas, they were good, but not really a big deal.

There are better places at Disney. Save your money and look elseware!!!

I agree with a lot of what you said. I too felt rushed and I thought there was just too much coming at once. I wouldn't go again. DBF liked it and would go again :confused: I thought the entertainer was terrible, no kids with us either, but I just didn't think she was up to Disney standards.

I also never felt right after this meal (came down with something the next day) I blame it on this meal even though I have no proof its why I felt sick. I wouldn't go back again.

That said, everyone likes different things. Just my two cents.

[mickeysbestfriend]

but our last three times there were very disappointing and it WAS one of our favorite places to dine at WDW.

Our last trip in January was my wifes B-day and even though it said on our ressies that we were celebrating a special occasion (50th) absolutely no acknowledgement was given. To add to the insult, the service was very slow, the meat dry, the shrimp a sticky mess and the famous bread pudding that we have enjoyed in the past was below par.

I am not sure why the service has taken a nose dive the past few years but it has. I read many more negative comments now than ever before on the service which used to be a pleasure.

Before that we held our pre-nuptial dinner there last November and it was ever worse. We were hoping it would improve by January based on the feedback we gave Disney guest communications but that didn't seem to make any difference.

We may try it again if we start reading positive reviews and I hope they get it back on track. I think the free dining has given them a "don't care" attitude when it comes to guest service in the restaurants.

our two pennies

[cnjmom]

I find it interesting that you all say you were rushed. Our experience was the opposite. We had an 8:05 ADR. We were seated at 8:15 and didn't exit until 10:05! Our server sort of disappeared for the last hour of our meal.

I talked with a friend who is a regular visitor to Disney and she thinks that those with earlier (around 5 PM) ADRs are rushed and if you have a later ADR, that isn't as likely to happen. I actually would have preferred an earlier ADR with three young kids but couldn't get one.

[ToyStory]

We have ate there numerous times. First and second time we loved it. The third time the food was okay, but we had such a great time being able to watch Wishes from our table and my son loved the games. Our fourth time, the food wasn't great and we just didn't feel the magic there anymore. Therefore this trip we aren't eating there.

My sons had a great time at Whispering Canyon so we are eating there again this trip and going to Boma instead of 'Ohana's.

[Epcot luvr]

Sorry to hear of your bad experience. We ate there for the first time in April of this year and had a wonderul time. Our server Roy was excellent and the food was very good. We thought it was a steal for the price, we are a little jaded though we live in a large city and the prices to dine out can be very high. We will be going again in December just for the bread pudding, it was that yummy.

[livie1205]

Ohana is a MUST every trip for us!! We love it...the service is not very good but we work with that...we go in a tell the server right away to bring the salad,veggies and stuff out WITH the meat so we can sit and enjoy our meal.if we need more we just let them know.We like it better this way,I cant just sit and eat a plate of meat with nothing else.We love the food and it has always been cooked the way we like it.I like the bread pudding more then the other dessert they use to have.We eat out dinner in our own time them go out and watch the fireworks from the beach.
I would NEVER dream of not going to ohana on our wdw vacation,we had one bad dinner there in 6 yrs (someone threw up near our table and they took a long time to clean it) but the mang> sent us a letter in the mail good for 5 adult dinners for our next trip! It covered tip AND drinks.

[valeriemouse]

I ate at Ohana on 8/20, and it was my favorite meal of the trip food wise!! I was also there during Wishes and we were seated near a window and I thought it was amazing!!! The dumplings and wings were some of my favorite foods i've ever eaten, and I'm a picky one.

BUT I do get what you mean about it being a different experience by not being where all of the commotion is happening. We weren't near the games and we were a little confused as to what was going on. We just heard this lady's voice coming from somewhere and singing and we didn't realize it was a real person until she was walking around, haha.

[CanadaMomto5]

We had a bad experience there as well. Ate something (probably shrimp) that made me ill as can be. I missed half the next day at Epcot, including the Princess Breakfast. What I did see at Epcot I did not really appreciate as I was still not feeling very well.

Even without the illness, we were not impressed. We received no bread. Did not even know about it until I got home and read about it here. Salad was good. Meats cold and tough.

Breakfast was fabulous and we would go back for that.

[lucyem]

We ate there in 2004. Even then the reviews were all mixed. It seems to be love or hate. My husband loved it so much he wants to go back. I am on the fence about it. I remember it being crowded and crazy noisy. But I do remember enjoying my food.

[bangzoom6877]

On our July 2008 trip we originally had an ADR for the Ohana dinner. Back then you could make ADRs 180 days out, so I made them in January 2008, after reading tons of excellent reviews. Then I started reading some negative reviews a couple of months later. DH and I sat down and discussed it and we decided that we would change the ADR. I still wanted something kid-friendly, and I have boys but I've always wanted to eat with Cinderella. We cancelled Ohana and booked 1900 Park Fare.

What really made us change our minds was when we thought about the type of food they serve there...grilled meat off of skewers. We have some excellent Brazilian BBQ restaurants near where we live, where there is a cold and hot buffet, and you let them know when you are ready for them to bring you meat. They carve the meat right off the skewers and you get as much as you want, all different things (beef tenderloin, pork loin, chicken, duck, rabbit, fish and shellfish, you name it and they have it!). We decided we would most likely be disappointed with Ohana.

We're not planning to go to Ohana on our July 2010 trip either, at least not for dinner. I do hear very good things about the breakfast, Mickey dines there, and they bring the food to you rather than it being buffet, which is more relaxing for a character meal. The one thing that holds me back is that my kids are not into Lilo & Stitch, and I worry they may be afraid of Stitch (they're not familiar with him and they will only be 3 and 5 when we go).

[Kricketnp]

Ate there on 8/20 with valeriemouse :wave2: and had a great time as always. I will agree with the posters that mentioned the shrimp though...it was kind of gross. The server brought over a nearly empty skewer and seemed to just want to get rid of the food left on it, resulting in us getting cold, rubbery shrimp. We definitely didn't ask for seconds of that, but the pork and steak were fantastic. The dessert also made the meal completely worth it...so good!

Personally, I always enjoy Ohana. However, if you're looking for a quiet, conventional meal, this definitely isn't the place for you!

Also, our server was HORRENDOUS. She didn't take our drink orders until we were halfway through our appetizers and rarely came back.

[menye]

we also had a mediocre at best dinner there. it is off our list for next time!

[valeriemouse]

Also, our server was HORRENDOUS. She didn't take our drink orders until we were halfway through our appetizers and rarely came back.

I second that! Horrendous.:scared1: I won't flame her by writing her name here or anything, but the fact that we still remember her name surely means something!!

[iloveeeyore]

Where is there a room that is not the main dining room? I can only visualize a great big room with the oven in the center?

[pepe of ohio]

And that was enough. The price is steep, and food mediocre at best. We felt like it was a glorified Golden Corral. The semi raw beef, questionable pork, and do it yourself shrimp were just not to our liking for the amount of money we paid. My statement always is: how much can you eat? I just rather order what I prefer, have it delivered to my table, eat and be gone. Years ago when it was our first time and this was a semi new eatery dining experience, we decided to give it a try, wasn't impressed from the first, then decided to give it another go a couple trips later and it was worse. We were basically ignored, drinks, food, dessert, we had to grab and server running by and ask, how about some service. We got up and left, manager came up to us and asked the problem, we explain, he apologized and comped our meals, which we didn't want but said we would not return and gave us slips for a few future meal, which we still have and that was 5 trips ago. We don't even consider the dinner meal there anymore. I'll take a Kona meal any day of the week, but O'hauna's is out. Sorry.

[Pooh's-Honey-Pot]

I'm sorry you had a bad experience. We ate there in May for the first time and loved the food and will definitely be going back! I know what you mean about it being rushed though - I didn't enjoy that aspect at all!! My DH and I can eat, but even we like time to take a breath now and again!!!!:rotfl2:

[zima-cheryl]

subbing....

We are at the Poly for our upcoming trip & considering 'Ohanna for one night.

[zima-cheryl]

DH & I just got back & I did a little review of our meal @ 'Ohanna.
Posting it here in case it may be useful to someone.

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?p=33701811#post33701811

[KeeperOfTheCastle]

I have an ADR for Ohana on the my last night of my vacation. I was also on the fence whether I should keep this ressie. I have made up my mind to CANCEL. This is not the kind of atmosphere or food I want for my last night at Disney.Thanks everyone for the info on this restaurant.

[IckyMickey]

:upsidedowThis is a bit embarassing, but are turkey and pork suppose to be pink in the middle? I always thought it was suppose to be white, but reading some reviews it looks like pink's ok.

When we were there last November it was pink and I was afraid to eat it and by the time I finished taking pictures of my DH doing the birthday dance and my son doing the hula it was cold, so I didn't eat it anyways. We're heading back this November for another try and I dont want to worry if it's pink again.

Thanks!

[irongirlof12]

I am so sorry to hear of your bad time their. We have only ever done breakfast and we have done this twice and loved it each time.

[irongirlof12]

:upsidedowThis is a bit embarassing, but are turkey and pork suppose to be pink in the middle? I always thought it was suppose to be white, but reading some reviews it looks like pink's ok.

When we were there last November it was pink and I was afraid to eat it and by the time I finished taking pictures of my DH doing the birthday dance and my son doing the hula it was cold, so I didn't eat it anyways. We're heading back this November for another try and I dont want to worry if it's pink again.

Thanks!

Poultry i.e. chicken and turkey, should always be cooked through until the meat is done. I can have a pink 'tinge' around the bone cuts, occasionally, but the juices should always be clear.

All other meat can and/or should be pink depending on your tastes, but pink in the middle part only, the outside should always be well browned as this seals the meat and juices inside to retain the flavours.

[c&m]

I find it interesting that you all say you were rushed. Our experience was the opposite. We had an 8:05 ADR. We were seated at 8:15 and didn't exit until 10:05! Our server sort of disappeared for the last hour of our meal.

I talked with a friend who is a regular visitor to Disney and she thinks that those with earlier (around 5 PM) ADRs are rushed and if you have a later ADR, that isn't as likely to happen. I actually would have preferred an earlier ADR with three young kids but couldn't get one.

We felt rushed and we had an 8:50pm ADR. We showed up at our table the same time the bread AND salad arrived. We weren't even properly seated, drink orders had not even been taken...and yet the food just popped onto our table. The food came out fast, but our waiter just disappeared for the majority of the night. :confused3

The popularity of this place and how hard it is to get an ADR just baffles me, because the food is just OK, not stellar, and the service is absent. This is our 2nd time there (last time was 2005 and we had a window seat in the main room with all the action), and we didn't get a main room table. We were out in the boonies, oblivious to all the games going on. Yet it was a noisy place to eat because they blast out the sound on the speakers. I don't know if we will go there again. JMO.

[Dreamer & Wisher]

:upsidedowThis is a bit embarassing, but are turkey and pork suppose to be pink in the middle? I always thought it was suppose to be white, but reading some reviews it looks like pink's ok.

When we were there last November it was pink and I was afraid to eat it and by the time I finished taking pictures of my DH doing the birthday dance and my son doing the hula it was cold, so I didn't eat it anyways. We're heading back this November for another try and I dont want to worry if it's pink again.

Thanks!

It is possible that the meat was tinged pink because it was cooked on an open grill. Meat that is smoked often has a pink hue to it.

Disney chefs probably use thermometers to test the temperature of the meat before serving it. Meat should be cooked to 160 degrees in order to be considered safe to serve. If you were to get some meat that was undercooked just ask your server for another serving that is "well-done"

[mickey2000]

Its off our list ...... Not the same !