Here now: Beautiful weather; Very let down by Ohana

[Disneyliscious]

Arrived Saturday and hung out at the condo. Weather is absolutely beautiful.

On Sunday we had an 8:10pm dinner ADR at Ohana. First time eating there and it was a huge disappointment. I totally fell for the hype and wish I hadn't now. The disappointing meal was offset by the ability to go to the beach and have a gorgeous view of the fireworks. Music is no longer piped in but the bungalows do not affect the view at all. There are plenty of lounge chairs available.

The food at Ohana is decent. Salad, noodles, wings, and dumplings were all really good. The meats were VERY dry and over cooked. We were seated about 20 mins late, no biggie. They sat us with a loaf of bread and nothing to drink. Was about 15 minutes (minimum) before anyone came to our table to order our drinks. After that, it was just weird. They brought out the salad and we ate. The waited, and waited some more. Then we got the noodles/wings and ate those. Then we waited, and waited some more. Then we got chicken from a skewer. We each took 2 pieces, ate those, and waited a LONG time before the beef skewer was brought around. Finally, we got the shrimp. It was really odd, and frustrating, to have to wait 10 to 15 minutes AFTER eating before we got our next food. At one point the 3 of us timed it and we all 3 had empty glasses for just over 18 minutes. We actually got the chicken skewer and the beef skewer brought to our table while we had empty glasses.

The dessert, bread pudding, absolutely TO DIE FOR. We had a 2nd one brought out it was so good. Best dessert I've ever had in my entire life, hands down.

It wasnt our servers fault things went so wrong. The guy was literally sweating from running around so much. He was working hard but was just stretched too thin, so we dont blame him. However, we certainly wont be back. Once seated, it took right at an hour before we ever saw the first skewer. NO thanks.

Off to MK tomorrow. Will check in to report on crowd stats. We expect a nightmare.

UPDATE**

Monday was MK day. Got there at rope drop and rode Buzz 2 times. Used a FP+ for SM then rode it immediately again with a 25 min wait. Was able to score a BoG lunch the night before so we dropped our dinner ADR (have noticed a lot of BOG ADRs coming available during our trip btw). We all 3 got the braised pork and loved it. Its a loud and chaotic restaurant for dinner but very reasonably priced, especially since you get free drink refills. Will def be back for lunch. Ate our lunch at 11:05am then headed to BTMRR for our 2nd FP+. Line was HUGE. The FP+ line was about 25 mins long.

Didnt have time to make it to our 3rd FP+ which was POTC so had to reschedule it. 3pm as the soonest available. Its now about 1pm abd Splash has a 70 min wait, POTC also has a 70 min wait. We decided to just sit and rest at Tortuga Tavern because everything was PACKED. Ordered drinks at at Tortuga. While in line they literally run out of food (beef). All lines are backed up for more than 30 minutes (serious, no one was moving). All I had was drinks and a manager came to apologize to people and he directed me to another line where he was going to come get my drinks for me. I moved lines and never saw him again. Finally after 40 mins in line I asked for a refund. A diff manager comes and gets my drinks for me. Gives me a free water for my wait. Gee thanks.

Finally get our POTC FP+ time and we get to the loading area and the boats are SOAKED. I kid you not, we were in the next to the last row and there was standing water of at least 2 inches inside the boat. Stepped in and our shoes fill up with water. NO idea what was going on. The whole ride, our boat was slanted to the left and the water on the left side of the boat was about 2 to 3 inches below the side of the boat. Its like we were sinking or something. Worst ride on POTC ever.

Left the park at 4pm and took a boat to Ft. Wilderness for Trails ENd dinner. AMAZING and will do this every trip. Excellent food and it was so nice and quiet there. Just the break we needed.

Back to MK at 6:30pm and used a 4th FP+ on HM then back to main street at 8:25pm for the parade. Standing room only, was packed. After the parade we were so exhausted we left, didnt stay for fireworks.

My advice? Pay for park hoppers if you want to see MSEP/Wishes during party months and just hop over that evening. I will DEF do that next time.

Tues - AK: Perfect day. Rode Safari, Kali, Everest, Dino, and did Its tough to be a Bug and were done by 12:10pm (got there at 9am).

Wed - Epcot: Got there at 9am, rode TT, MS, Land then did WS and left by 3pm. Enjoyed lots of food at FWF but wont do it again. The small amount of food you get for the price is pretty bad imo. It was a nice experience to do once though.

We used EasyWDW crowd calendars and they have been spot on so far. Def recommend them.

Tonight: MNSSHP

 

[Nancyg56]

My family goes to 'Ohana every trip. It has always been good. It has never been my favorite meal, but they really like it so I make it a priorty ADR on my plan. Well we went in August expecting it to be good, as it has always been. What a cluster! WE will not be back, not for a long long time.

THe food in general was "okay" but that is when you consider that we love the bread pudding and it was really good, and the wings and dumplings were good. Not hot, but they were good. Everything else was served room temp. Not cold, not hot. Blech. The meats on the skewers, when they came around were all dry and tough.

One of our party ordered a coccktail and she usually can drink anything. It was horrible. Like there was something seriously wrong with it, and the rest of our drinks were good. We had to insist it be removed from the check, when the management should just have taken care of it.

This restaurant atmosphere was out of control in that management totally abdicated responsibility for the behavior of customers. I know thereis a lot out of their contol, but there never be a free for all going on at a table that disturbs everyone in teh area and sends a server into hiding. When did it become acceptable for guests tolet kids use tehaisles as a playground?

I did notice that this occured in more restaurants tahn I have ever see before, but 'Ohana was just a mess. I have never ever posted a negative review of a restaurant, but had shared this one since I came home. I agree with you, we will nto return.

 

[Tomh]

I wouldn't write off the restaurant for eternity because of one bad experience. We've been to Ohana probably about 7 times, and we've always had a good meal, and never experienced those kind of delays. I would think that op's experience is the exception, not the norm.

 

[ArwenMarie]

Last time we were there we thought everything was good except the meats. Just not good. But we find most of the meat at WDW is low quality other than at the Signatures.

 

[pooch]

Went once, not on the high priority list. I also believed the hype and was totally disappointed.

 

[bmalonef45]

We love this place, but have also noticed on our past two trips that its not what it was. Similar issues as other posters. We'd like to give it another shot but can't get a reservation for our upcoming Thanksgiving trip.

 

[smscrapbooks]

Was just at Ohana last Thursday and we had the exact same experience as OP. There was a spill at our table and we did our best to clean it up with what we had, but my husband still ended up with wet pants. Our waiter seemed overworked and not very available. The meat was very slow in coming out and quality was not at all like our past trips and we've been 7 other times. Empty glasses with no refills and big gaps of time waiting for meat to be brought. Also my husband asked them to bring a "treat" by for my 40th birthday and they forgot

 

[biondagirl]

We had breakfast there in August and I wasn't impressed. A few of my friends were there and thought it was great, so I was really looking forward to it. My husband thought they had the best eggs ever, though. I enjoyed the view and the characters but I am not in a rush to return.

 

[ParrotBill]

That's too bad. But I have noticed a trend at restaurants all over to try to stretch servers farther. The new menu boards going in to Pizzeria Uno and Olive Garden, for example, are a step just before reducing the number a servers on a shift and assign more tables. Servers are not paid enough for what they do.

 

[Nancyg56]

There seems to be a recent history of pretty abysmal experiences here. I usually give a pass because every restaurant can have a bad night. For me to really post a negative review the entire experience had to be beyond horrible, and what put it over the top was the management's total abdication of responsibility towards that poor server. She was frazzled beyond what any server should be put through and there was not one bit of intervention. When it was clear that the server was overwhelmed and kind of embarrassed that she was avoiding us, we let her know that we understood, and the poor woman looked close to tears. And the managers were standing there watching.

 

[dvcmom14]

I've been hearing this a lot lately and it kind of breaks my heart. We went once and absolutely loved it. I've got two ADRs for our February trip (one breakfast, one dinner) and I'm so nervous that it's going to be not as good as we remember. I'll keep holding out hope, though!

 

[Nancyg56]

I've been hearing this a lot lately and it kind of breaks my heart. We went once and absolutely loved it. I've got two ADRs for our February trip (one breakfast, one dinner) and I'm so nervous that it's going to be not as good as we remember. I'll keep holding out hope, though!

Breakfast was good when we went in August. I will say that my family went in still a little burned by our dinner a few nights prior, so a few of us were critical but all in all it was okay.

 

[jhaig]

Three years, three bad experiences in a row for us, three strikes Ohana, you're out. Much better at Kona anyway.

 

[JennyDrake]

I've been (only) twice (dinner) and both my experiences echoed yours. The meat was cooked "well past dead" and getting drinks refilled was a chore. We waited an hour to be seated with an ADR, then we waited for server, then we waited for drinks, then we waited for food, then we waited for more food, etc. You get the idea. I am not a high maintenance diner and I am a former server, but it was inexcusable.

Now I LOVE Kona, especially for lunch. Food is very good and prices aren't insane.

 

[casnider]

Okay, now I am nervous. We are eating Thanksgiving dinner here. Never been before. Too late in the game to change.

 

[FirstTimeDisneyVisit]

We finally got to east here on our honeymoon ans we where excited for it ! I thought the food was good and for some reason i loved the salad ! I would defiantly eat here every trip and look forward to doing it as well. The only thing i didn't like was the waiter kept asking if we where done with our food, seems like they where rushing us out.

 

[JESSketeer]

I'm surprised to see so many negative reviews! DH and I ate at Ohana this past September and had a great experience. We loved the food and the atmosphere; we will definitely be eating here again!

 

[Tomh]

It is sad to hear all these negative reviews, does indeed sound like a recent trend.

 

[GreatLakes]

There are some restaurants at Disney that I think are completely over-hyped. 'Ohana, Le Cellier, and Teppan Edo are the top three that come to mind and that doesn't even take into account the terrible food served at most character meals. The characters should be an added benefit to an already excellent meal but that is rarely the case.

That being said I have still had excellent meals on property despite the general decline in the overall dinning offered by WDW. This past trip we had very good, and in some cases excellent, meals at The Wave, California Grill, Brown Derby, Spice Road Table, Tangerine Cafe, Boma, Saana, and Tusker House.

 

[Disneyliscious]

Updated the first post with more info this morning.