Is Kona Cafe worth a special trip?

[CJ]

DH & I will be staying at the Pop Century in August and need one more dinner before emh night at MK (we already are eating at the Plaza earlier in the week I am not a fan of any of MK's other restaurants).

So I was considering taking the bus to MK and then the resort monorail to the Polynesian and then eating dinner at the Kona Cafe. Is this a long or confusing trip.. is Kona easy to get to once you're at the resort? And is the food worth a special trip?

 

[scottny]

DH & I will be staying at the Pop Century in August and need one more dinner before emh night at MK (we already are eating at the Plaza earlier in the week I am not a fan of any of MK's other restaurants).

So I was considering taking the bus to MK and then the resort monorail to the Polynesian and then eating dinner at the Kona Cafe. Is this a long or confusing trip.. is Kona easy to get to once you're at the resort? And is the food worth a special trip?

I think it is so worth the trip. One of the best meals I ever had down there.

 

[Sammy]

Kona is one of our favorite restaurants! We always make a special trip there at least once each trip. Try the sticky wings....delicious!

 

[bhk56]

hi,
I don't know the bus time from your resort to MK, but once you board
the monorail and head for the Polynesian resort - you've got it made. In May 2008, this will be our 3rd trip to Kona. It is a little noisy, but not annoyingly so. Fairly easy to find, as I remember it is close to O'hanas, so there are lots of people milling about. We usually have had just a short wait upon arrival. It is a busy resturant. The service has been terrific.

As far as the food! We love the bread served with the meal. It is sweet and ohhhh so yummy. On the previous food plan, we loved ordering the chicken wings for the appy. The first year, I ordered the Mahi Mahi, it was good - but I spied what the lady ordered on the next table -coconut almond chicken. Impressed by the visual, I retained that memory for 1 whole year!! LOL - ordered it in 2007 and I plan on the same in 2008.

The desserts are heavenly. You cannot go wrong ordering any of their wonderful desserts.

Enjoy, I think you will really like it. I am hoping you do!

Becky

 

[KarenAylwood]

Our first year on Free Dining this was our first meal. On our arrival day we made our way to MK to ride PotC and Haunted Mansion (you know, to get the Disney feel ) and then took the monorail over to the Polynesian. We ate at Kona and had one of the best meals of our trip. Then after we went down to the Poly beach and watched Wishes and the Water Pageant. It was one of the best nights of our trip!

 

[Bev J]

We really enjoy Kona Cafe and are so glad we found it. It's a nice break from the busy park and worth a trip from any resort. My DH is a real picky eater and he had nothing but good things to say about Kona. We just made our reservations for December and the first thing he asked is to make sure and make an ADR at Kona.
If you enjoy good coffee make sure and order the Kona Press Pot- delish!

Bev

 

[Aimeedyan]

I didn't think it was worth a trek for breakfast, personally. But for lunch or dinner, it might be. Esp if you haven't seen the Poly yet. Part of a WDW vacation is checking out hotels, IMO.

Dinner was very good there. Breakfast was average.

 

[byoung]

Yes it's worth it.

 

[Minnie]

We love breakfast and dinner at Kona's!

Breakfast - Macadamia pancakes are awesome

Dinner -Coconut almond chicken is out of this world

Well worth the trip

 

[hart6066]

I don't think it's worth it. We went last year after hearing so much about it--the food was good--better than some other TS--but nothing spectacular, and what I really didn't like was the atmosphere--it felt like you were in some ordinary hotel restaurant. I feel, again I may be in the minority, that at Disney at least half--if not more--of the fun is the atmosphere. The food really isn't as good as most nice places in your home area, and what you're really going for is the atmosphere and then the food. Kona just didn't do it for us--I would have tried O'Hana (and we actually tried to walk in once we saw Kona) instead. I think the newer hotels have more unique looking/feeling restaurants (like AKL and WL) and for a meal that's worth the trip, I'd pick Le Cellier or the Italian one at EPCOT. I just didn't get the fuss about Kona. Again, the food was fine, but I felt like I was having it at some generic hotel. Good luck and have fun!

 

[Tiggr924]

Its worth it and once you get to MK is really easy. You just hop on the monorail and you're there!

 

[Tinker*Shell*Bell]

My 13 yo son loved the dessert at Kona so much that when I told him we're going back this summer his first question was "Can we eat at Kona again?"
This boy asks for nothing so I booked his dinner immediately!

Getting to Kona once you're at the resort is easy. Get off the monorail, enter the building from the monorail platform. Kona Cafe is to your left immediately after the coffee stand.

The restaurant is open to the upper level of the lobby, there is a large walkway around the upper level and hotel guests pass frequently. It is between the monorail platform and Ohana...so it can be steady foot traffic. No big deal, but you do feel like you are in a hotel. We were further back into the room, so there were not people in the upper lobby strolling by looking at us while we ate...that might have made me not like the place. If they try to sit you at the railing ask for a different table.

Food wise? It was good. Not "holy crap Mabel you gotta eat there!" But very good food, and the prices were not terrible. Of 8 people in our party only one did not love the meal. He ordered the noodle dish and said it was the same exact meal that Cap't Cooks served...so he was more annoyed that it was $16+ when he had paid $7 at lunch the day before. Everyone else was happy with their dinner, no complaints at all.

HTH Sheli