Horrible Mother's Day Dinner @ Ohana

[chloelovesdisney]

It seems that at Ohana your server makes the difference. We just went there a week ago and it was great. The food courses came at a good pace, and the server asked a few times if we wanted more of anything in particular (we did not, it was too much food and there was a lot left over). The meat was hot, but I can see how if it wasn't brought to your table promptly and was carried around it would be cold. If you are the 1st or 2nd table they go to after getting the meat from the grill it should be hot, but after that, I would expect it to be getting cold.

After waiting a long time for one course, not getting the next within a reasonable amount of time and seeing other tables being served promptly, I would definitely complain to the manager.

 

[sephorachick]

the past two times I went to o'hanas I noticed it really has gone down hill. THe only think good is the dessert & I can make that at home. I'm sorry about your experience now u can try a new place next time!

 

[LuvLuvLuv]

We go to Ohana a couple times per year--one time per trip. In November at 5:00pm it was a total miss and I was really disappointed and ready to skip this May. DH realllllllly wanted it so I booked it, and it was probably the most fantastic time we've been there. It was Sunday, May 6 at 9:35pm. I've been there when it's been good, mediocre, bad, and fantastic.

Chef Brandon was great with my allergies, and the lady singer wasn't there... just the guy--and I think he's great! (she gets on my nerves a bit, lol) We'll be back in the fall for sure!

 

[alex9179]

I've learned two main things from the restaurant forum.

1) All restaurants have good and bad reviews, you never know how your meal will turn out. The only ADR I feel confident about is V&A's. All the others have been slammed and praised so I'm going in with my eyes open.

2) Don't hesitate to speak to a manager about your experience, good or bad. I will definitely take the time to express my pleasure or disappointment and try to correct a situation that isn't going well. I'd rather confront it than end the evening feeling cheated and irritated!

We'll be trying 'Ohana in October since it's at our resort and I think the kids will have fun. Here's hoping it's a pleasant evening!

 

[monami7]

We ate there sat night and it was great. We were sat 10 minutes before our arr and we ate everything. The food was hot and really good.

 

[catne]

your description of cold foods (that should have been hot), slow/no service, etc. is exactly what we had on our one & only trip there last year...and we were not there on a busy day, either.

The only thing I can figure is people like having the little kids entertained, and the promise of unlimited refills when then price tag is typical Disney-expensive makes the place worth it to some.

But unlimited supplies of cold vegs, cold noodles, dried out meat, and ice-water-complete-with-floating-flies? Well, no more for us,thanks.

 

[BEASLYBOO]

I like to read reviews but in the end, I like to make my own mind up. Just because someone says it was great or it was terrible is no reason for you not to try it yourself! (The only exception to that rule, ABC Commissary, Aarg!)

I've found the food to be generally good (love those darn noodles), the service to me is hit & miss! Is that the fault of the manager, the kitchen or the wait staff, I don't know!

We only go now, if someone new to Disney requests it with forewarning that we may be there a while!

 

[bluejasmine]

We love Ohanas go every trip but we did have bwd service once and another time the meat was dry but most of the meals there have been great! We love the ambiance, the music and games! I really cant name a quiet disney restaurant besides V&A.
Every restaurant even non disney have bad days but its important to speak to a manager when this happens so they can try and rectify and try to keep it from happening again.

Btw...noodles are meant to be eaten room temp.

Give it some time maybe write guest services and try it again, hopefully youll love it!

 

[rhorsley]

You never know what you will get really. We love the Poly and all the breakfast experiences there have been great. However, I missed an entire day of vacation in September due to, what I believe was, their dessert.

The meal was lovely, service was good. However, at the end of the meal our 1 year-old had a melt down and we had to leave rather quickly. I was the only one to try to inhale dessert before leaving and even then it seemed a little off. Starting around 11pm that night until 8am the next morning I was violently ill. Even after that I felt completely miserable for another 12 hours or so...You know how you feel after your body has purged itself of every everything and quickly.

No one else got sick and that was the only thing that day that only I ate. It could have, of course, been a bug...but it didn't feel like that. It was more like purging then queasy vs having to wait thru a bug.

You just never know...It's hard to make food and keep it safe for 10's of thousands of people a day.

 

[hooch11bear]

So sorry about your experience!! I have to say that we were the same way, excited about trying it out for the first time. Our meal was the same way, slow service, cold dried out meat. I did love the desert though!! We won't be going back any time soon. We will be eating at Kona this year!!

 

[Friendly Frog]

I just wanted to comment that I think it is sad that anyone has to worry about getting flamed for reporting a bad experience. Thanks for the information.

 

[lugnut33]

If they would just raise the cost of the dining plan then I think that would solve all the inconsistency problems.

 

[Fantasia Sam]

I was really sorry to hear about your experience... not a great way to spend your lovely Mother's Day meal

You didn't say if you spoke to a Manager or not? I'm with some of the crowd who have already answered you and would have asked to speak to someone as soon as I saw those other tables on dessert.. yikes that is some wait!

I have never had a bad meal in 'Ohanas for breakfast or dinner... I was disgruntled by the last change in menu but I still went back and tried it and I liked it, of course there is way better out there on-property that give you more food, quality etc for your DDP or OOP $$.

That said we've not eaten dinner here for a while now not since 2009 because we had eaten there so many times before so hopefully the next time we go it will still be as good as we remember

 

[JennyDrake]

Sorry to hear you had a bad time. You are right though, all the restaurants are very "hit or miss".
That said, I happen to think O'Hana is one of the worst, most over-hyped places on all of WDW property. So at least we're one of the families that won't be taking up someone else's tresured table!

Ditto. Long wait even with ADR, lackluster (at best) service and very, very overcooked meats. At least our food was apprpriately hot/cold.

 

[pigletto]

I'm so sorry to hear of your experience!! We ate at Ohana for the fourth time about 10 days ago and it was easily the best meal of the trip. The food temp was perfect, meats cooked perfectly, great server and quick refills on everything. It sounds like you had an AWFUL server. Even if it was a kitchen problem (which doesn't seem to be the case when the tables around you were getting their food) your server could have kept you updated, and ultimately discounted your bill.
I served for a long time. I knew when a table was getting poor service from me. If I messed up I would find a manager to make it right for the customer. Your server had to know she was dropping the ball.
We've had poor servers at Ohana but nothing as terrible as you've described. Again, I'm sorry it turned out so awful for you.

 

[Maggie'sMom]

I just wanted to comment that I think it is sad that anyone has to worry about getting flamed for reporting a bad experience. Thanks for the information.

Who was flaming the OP? The posts I read almost exclusively said they were sorry the OP had a bad meal, that there has been inconsistency at Ohana (some people had great meals, others had horrible meals), and that they might have wanted to involve a manager or write guest services about their poor experience. I've seen no flames.

 

[mmmears]

Sorry -- it sounds like you had lousy service. While we always go to 'Ohaha for dinner (mainly because we've been doing it for so long it's kind of a tradition) I'm surprised at how it's become so hard to get ADRs there lately. It does seem to be "THE" place this year, and that usually hurts the quality IMO.

Thanks for writing your review...

I just wanted to comment that I think it is sad that anyone has to worry about getting flamed for reporting a bad experience. Thanks for the information.

I totally agree! Even if I have great food and service somewhere, anyone else can have an entirely different experience. And I'd rather read all the pros and the cons of a place before deciding to go there.

 

[GRUMPY AND I KNOW IT]

DW and I had 8:45 adr at Ohanas in Feb, of this year and we arrived at 8:30to check in and the line was all the way around to top rail!! We made our way to the podium and were told to wait in line as our adr were not late yet...we waited in the line 45 min. and when we got our turn was told that our adr was too late that they were seating the 7:00 guest now and they would be closed by the time they got to us. They triple booked. Manager was no help did not care....made a big deal out of the fact they would not charge us if we for not showing up but would not help us find any other choice for the dinner that night....we will never go back because of him....we have called ---e-mailed--sent smoke signals to Disney management and had the big brush off....Ohanna....... Onotta!

 

[nonnasally]

That settles it for me. Going next week. We will now eat at kc and save hours of aggravation. Thanks dis friends for the honesty and so sorry it happened to you.

DW and I had 8:45 adr at Ohanas in Feb, of this year and we arrived at 8:30to check in and the line was all the way around to top rail!! We made our way to the podium and were told to wait in line as our adr were not late yet...we waited in the line 45 min. and when we got our turn was told that our adr was too late that they were seating the 7:00 guest now and they would be closed by the time they got to us. They triple booked. Manager was no help did not care....made a big deal out of the fact they would not charge us if we for not showing up but would not help us find any other choice for the dinner that night....we will never go back because of him....we have called ---e-mailed--sent smoke signals to Disney management and had the big brush off....Ohanna....... Onotta!

 

[Joshua_me]

We complained to the server, who basically said "sorry, but it is what it is." Um, what??? I asked to speak to a manager, but after waiting 10 minutes, we just left.

^ This is a trend we've recently noticed happening in Disney restaurants...

It's almost as if the servers/CM's KNOW that they are serving bad food, and there is precious little they can do about it.

Remember: It's usually the kitchen's fault - and even the best kitchens can "get in the weeds". But, when they are being supplied inferior product, there's only so much they can do.

Times used to be that when you asked to speak with a manager, one appeared almost instantly. Now, it's if they are hiding in embarrassment.

I've seen this happen at CRT and Shutter's, just to name a couple.

The sense of pride that once overflowed at WDW seems to be dwindling.

This, as profits and keeping the corporate investor's happy takes a back seat to guest satisfaction.

(Let's make things as cheap as possible and still get away with it...)

Breaks my heart, it does.