Dining Suggestions - The Wave or Kona

[KeroKero]

I've got all our ADR's booked for our September trip, but am re-thinking our first night.

We need something in MK or on the monorail line to maximize our time in MK that evening. So I am up in air between The Wave and Kona (haven't been to either in the past). I already have Ohana one night, will Kona food be too similar? Should I just keep The Wave to keep our dining options different (food wise, location etc) for the entire week, or go to Kona just cause its so delicious (so I hear)?

Arrival - The Wave 5:20pm (then to MK for EMH til 12pm)
Sept 3 - Portobello 7:30pm (Hotel and DTD kinda day and night)
Sept 4 - Crystal Palace 7:20pm (HS in the am, early pm then to MK)
Sept 5 - Sanaa Restaurant 5:30pm (AK day)
Sept 6 - Ohana 7:55pm (EP in the am, early pm then to the Poly)
Sept 7 - Kouzzina 6:25pm (am park undecided, EP in the evening)
Sept 8 - Bongos 8:15pm (HS in the am, undecided rest of day, DTD evening)

 

[hgeisler]

Kona and O'hana are completely different experiences. O'hana has a bunch of skewered meats,noodles,veggies,bread,and salad continuously served to you. Kona's menu is very different.
I've never been to the Wave. I've heard good and bad. I have been to Kona several times. It's delicious! One of my fave TS restaurants

 

[poohbear13]

The Wave is different dining too. Very contemporary... probably why it is where it is LOL Love the menu. It is very classy atmosphere. Not very kid friendly but not impossible with kids either. Just more of an adult restaurant.

 

[SAT887]

I would stick with the wave. While not my favorite, the food was good. I like going for the "resort" experience as well. Plus you can walk back over to MK in a matter of minutes!! I usually try to do restaurants spread across resorts to get a feel for all of WDW.

 

[KeroKero]

ADR's are always so stressful for me!! I can never make up my mind.
This trip alone I've changed ADR's about 20 times!! I feel myself going insane. Too many choices!

I'm still up in the air about Kona or The Wave, and now I've added Grand Floridian Cafe and 1900 into the mix.

At least this is the only day I'm up in the air about anymore. That's progress!

 

[Christine]

I just dined at The Wave two nights ago. I was extremely pleased with the meal. The ambience is tons better than Kona which sort of sits out in the lobby. It is all very beige/brown looking and very soothing. We got one of the 6-person booths which was very soothing. I think the food was better than Kona also albeit it is a little more "odd" if that's the word???

I had a filet mignon. VERY good. My son and his friend had the Chili-Soy Flat Iron Steak over Udon Noodles which they loved. My mom had the Pork Tenderloin which she said was excellent. My dad had the lamb shank and everyone raved about it. I don't care for lamb so I can't comment on that. It really was a top notch meal for a "regular" non-signature restaurant. My meal at Kona was average.

 

[SAT887]

ADR's are always so stressful for me!! I can never make up my mind.
This trip alone I've changed ADR's about 20 times!! I feel myself going insane. Too many choices!

I'm still up in the air about Kona or The Wave, and now I've added Grand Floridian Cafe and 1900 into the mix.

At least this is the only day I'm up in the air about anymore. That's progress!

I didn't care for the Grand Floridian Cafe. The feel of it was not for me, however the GF burger my husband oh so very yummy I have enjoyed 1900 park fare for breakfast and it was very good!

 

[JavaQueen8]

Definately go to Kona. It is completely different than Ohana and the food is excellent!!

 

[iloveeeyore]

We had a better experience at Kona than we did at The Wave, but we have only been to each 1x for dinner. We enjoyed everything on the table at Kona, while The Wave was much more hit-or-miss. The desserts at The Wave were disappointing. We didn't care for the atmosphere there, either; it is windowless and dark. We prefer the open feeling of Kona. Yet others (see above) find just the opposite. The menu is constantly changing at The Wave, and maybe we just chose badly. I have been hearing better things within the past few months.

I agree with PP that Kona and 'Ohana are completely different, but you also might want to check out a different resort.

 

[Mom2Elliot]

We ate at the Wave sat night, ohana Sunday night and Kona last night. Ohana and Kona are totally different. We really liked theWave (beef is delicious!) but we all enjoyed Kona even more!

 

[Christine]

Wanted to add: I didn't eat dessert at The Wave because they didn't really appeal to me. You can probably get a a better dessert at Kona.

 

[KathyK]

On our recent trip, we ate at The Wave for dinner on our first night. I was a little apprehensive, because I hadn't read a lot of reports. Well, we had a great time. It was a wonderful dinner.

We also had lunch at Kona one day, and we were all disappointed. My 9 year old ordered the grilled chicken kid's meal, and it was just a dried out piece of chicken breast (about 1/3 of a breast). There were no sides or garnishes, just a hunk of rubbery chicken on a plate.

 

[KeroKero]

Wanted to thank everyone for their opinions. I really appreciate them. However we've decided to go in a totally different direction. Since we'll be arriving at our resort that morning super early (should be there before 10:30am), we're going to have more of a park day than originally planned.

We're going to do a TS in AK! We've never done one before cause of the early closing, so since we have the chance to do a late lunch this day we're going to take advantage of that. Now the decision is either TUSKER or YAK AND YETI