O'Hana Recent Experiences? Not what it use to be?

[Aussie RJ]

Other than the beef which is too dry, the rest was beautiful in July this year. We have it booked again during Christmas week. Need to remind myself to save room for the bread pudding

 

[maryj11]

Our breakfast there in early September was terrible! We won’t do it again. The food wasn’t even warm and looked and tasted just like the quick service Disney breakfasts. We asked for new waffles stating we wanted warm ones, more cold ones came out; wouldn’t melt the butter. Service was fine. We also had a Boma breakfast on that trip which was wonderful.

This was our experience with breakfast there the last time. Food didn’t seem fresh and wasn’t hot. The time before breakfast was good.
Our last dinner there seemed rushed and food didn’t seem as good other times we had dinner there. I’m guessing it’s hit or miss with Ohana.
We have another dinner reservation there for our next trip so we will try again lol!

 

[Mikey15]

We scored a dinner reservation this last trip, but ended up cancelling after we were able to try the items we wanted to try (noodles, wings, bread) at Tambu Lounge. Had to ask reaaalllyy nicely for the bread, might not be repeatable. It doesn't look like much but that was so good, especially if you love coconut. The noodles and wings we did enjoy the flavour of, but they were quite salty (which is something we run into at a lot of Disney dining). We're not beef or shrimp or pork eaters so we saved money vs. the dinner & feel like we missed nothing besides the view and atmosphere.

But we got that back at the breakfast reservation we were able to get! I think their breakfast is tasty, but much of the price is definitely the character experience. Food quality was as good or better at Whispering Canyon for a lot less, and a lot easier to get into.

Cancellations happen, and while Ohana's harder to get than most, they do pop up on a day or two's notice as people move their plans around. But even if you can, if you just want to have a taste before committing, there's Tambu,

 

[Aussie RJ]

Food quality was as good or better at Whispering Canyon

This is a common debate in our house. I guess both restaurants live on the edge of “inconsistent”. But on their day very nice family fun food.

 

[Moose66]

I agree with your position on this. I think it applies to many restaurants at WDW. I‘ve never had what I would call a bad meal. It’s all about the experience to me. I have been to Yachtsmans several times. I’ve had decent steaks and great steaks but I love the experience of dining inside the bubble. I love GFC especially for breakfast. Restaurants are about the experience to me. I love fine dining but the criticism of WDW restaurants in general are unwarranted to me.

Yachtsman is fahtastic, first time there was '99 and I try to go every time I visit.

 

[rangerxenos]

I was so disappointed with my first experience at dinner for O'Hana in 2015 I haven't gone back!

 

[jess20k]

We did Ohana once back in like 2010 buying into the hype and how amazing it was...well for us it was a complete disaster.

Service was beyond atrocious.

Everything started out fine, we got the bread and salad, and then we just sat there for 20+ minutes with an empty bread plate and salad bowl before the noodles, and wings showed up, then it was another 20 minutes of nothing.

The servers with the skewers kept running out by the time they were getting near our table, and instead of starting where they finished they would go back to the beginning of the rotation.

Our "server" came back asked us if we were ready for dessert and we had to to tell them we never even got a single skewer at our table.

It was just a very disappointing experience.

We did have the Ohana Hurricane buffet and that was pretty good because we could serve ourselves and weren't at the mercy of incompetent wait staff.

That was 12 years ago. They do not even have the skewers anymore, but I wish they did.

 

[Mazz519]

We went to Ohana right before the Pandemic was one of the most upsetting meals we ever had there, Yes it has changed they scaled down the menu but of course not the price and service was just ok.
We said we won't be back for sometime

 

[peteykirch]

That was 12 years ago. They do not even have the skewers anymore, but I wish they did.

My point was my experience was so bad, that despite going to WDW every year since then we refused to do the traditional Ohana experience.

 

[AmyMac1109]

Where else can the same O'Hana bread pudding be found?

Okay, so it's not exactly the same, but try Sebastian's Bistro at Caribbean Beach Resort. They redid the menu and their coconut pineapple bread pudding was created by a former 'Ohana chef and it is AMAZING. Honestly, Sebastian's is a gem regardless. It does not have the atmosphere 'Ohana has, but the food is delicious and significantly cheaper. For our family of 5, Sebastian's was a down right bargain.

 

[EYL]

In my house, meal time is usually for family to catch up with one another. I found this hard to do when I went to Ohana's this past August for breakfast. Just to note, I only went once before then and it was in 2019. In August, we felt crammed into a line of tables. The barely-2-feet gap between tables made it feel like we were in a school cafeteria. Whenever the CM had to squeeze through, we had to move in our water cups. The breakfast food was scaled back (no Characters) but was still mediocre. Even with the scaled down price, we just didn't feel it was "Disney worthy" and subsequently cancelled our other reservations there. I don't think I'll go back there for awhile.

I second Sebastian's Bistro. We had a great meal there!

 

[Aimeedyan]

Okay, so it's not exactly the same, but try Sebastian's Bistro at Caribbean Beach Resort. They redid the menu and their coconut pineapple bread pudding was created by a former 'Ohana chef and it is AMAZING. Honestly, Sebastian's is a gem regardless. It does not have the atmosphere 'Ohana has, but the food is delicious and significantly cheaper. For our family of 5, Sebastian's was a down right bargain.

Sebastian's bread pudding (and food!) is far superior to 'Ohana. SO GOOD.

 

[AmyMac1109]

Sebastian's bread pudding (and food!) is far superior to 'Ohana. SO GOOD.

I'm happy to see the Sebastian's love because it's one of my favorite restaurants on property. Though, I don't want it to become harder to get a reservation....

 

[cfox612]

We were there back in April before characters were back. The food was just as good as we remembered. We did brunch.

 

[FeliciaB23]

We stayed at the Poly 11/13-11/19. At 60 days, I failed to get a reservation for 2 at 'Ohana. I set up the free reservation finder, nothing came through.

On our last day while we would be waiting for an Uber (It was around 3:45pm, there was no line, and we were not getting picked up until 6:00pm) I walked up to the stand and asked about walk up's. She said there was one group ahead of us but it would be a few hours, and she likely couldn't get us in until 5:30 - I said "even for hotel guests?" and she said yes. So, walk up was not an option as we had to leave at 6pm.

We ended up going to Tambu Lounge at 3:50 and asked if we could order from the 'Ohana menu (Wings, Noodles, Potstickers, and Bread pudding are offered). One of the bartenders said they do not serve food from 'Ohana until 4pm, and they do not serve the bread pudding until 5pm... We said "okay" and stood around for a few minutes waiting for 4pm to hit. At 4, we were seated. Another bartender then told us not to order the food until 10 minutes after because if we order it now, it will arrive cold. Odd. We then ordered our drinks from another bartender and at 4:10 (lol) ordered the 'Ohana noodles and a sushi roll. The bartender asked if we wanted to order the bread pudding too and we said "we thought we couldn't order that until 5" and she looked at us funny and said "no, order whenever you want!"...so, we then put an order in for dessert.

We last dined at 'Ohana in 2018 but oddly enough, no bananas were served with it. I remember bananas? Anyway...noodles and bread pudding were absolutely delicious and it cost about 1/3 of the price of actually eating in 'Ohana. So - moral of the story is - if you can't get into 'Ohana (we couldn't) - try the tambu lounge!

 

[Atlantix2000]

On our last day while we would be waiting for an Uber (It was around 3:45pm, there was no line, and we were not getting picked up until 6:00pm) I walked up to the stand and asked about walk up's. She said there was one group ahead of us but it would be a few hours, and she likely couldn't get us in until 5:30 - I said "even for hotel guests?" and she said yes. So, walk up was not an option as we had to leave at 6pm.

I think being able to get in at 5:30PM without a reservation sounds good (though it wouldn't work with your departure). Did you ask about walk ups any other night? I suspect they would have fit you in any day (though not necessarily at ideal times).

 

[DisneyCatt]

Have been reading on a lot of Disney Facebook groups that O'Hanas is not tasting as good as it use to. Any recent experiences?

'Ohana, fyi.

 

[DisneyCatt]

Have been reading on a lot of Disney Facebook groups that O'Hanas is not tasting as good as it use to. Any recent experiences?

'Ohana..not O 'hana. And not "'Ohana's. No S.

 

[FCDub]

'Ohana..not O 'hana. And not "'Ohana's. No S.

Literally everyone understands what’s being communicated. Same with people using spellings like Remi, Olga’s, etc.

 

[imbelle]

Literally everyone understands what’s being communicated. Same with people using spellings like Remi, Olga’s, etc.

True, but that apostrophe type character is called an okina and it is treated as an actual alphabet letter in the Hawai'ian language. It is pronounced as a glottal stop. Native Hawai'ian speakers can get annoyed about it not being used properly.