Kona dinner with kids or walk-up 'Ohana?

[Jperiod]

We really wanted 'Ohana for dinner, but there's nothing the week we're there. We want to watch the boat parade and holiday wishes from Poly beach, so it'd be nice to couple it with dinner around there before.

I need one more TS meal, so I thought about Kona because the food looks good. I'm concerned that it'll be a disappointment to DS6, compared to a character meal or somewhere more interactive we could do instead. I mean, I know he'll sit and eat fine, but we "sit and eat" here at home all the time. At Disney, I like the additional elements of fun, themey-ness, etc to the "sit and eat."

'Ohana looked great as far as food, my polyfood-meat-loving DH, and fun for DS. So would it be worth trying for a walk-up the evening of 12/13 vs. an ADR at Kona?

 

[Princess Disney Mom]

Stick with Kona. The line for standby for Ohannas was so long, you will wait forever.

Our kids love Kona. They have a great kid dessert called the Kona cone.

 

[drp4video]

Just ate at Kona two weeks ago. It was very good. We had the steaks. Didn't have children with us, but there were children eating there and they seemed fine. There was a long line wait for O'Hana, and they only take from the line if ADR's don't show up, so I don't think too many people get in.

 

[carebee21]

Kona Cafe has wonderful food but there are no characters, games, etc. It's not a lively, loud atmosphere. It's basically like any other restaurant in the "real world" where you sit, order, etc. And while it may be "disappointing" to your DD to not have every meal be a character or fun meal, I think it will be good for the adults to have one meal without characters or a buffet!

With that said, you can always keep checking and seeing if Ohana opens up. Plus, there's no harm in swinging by Ohana and just asking before you check-in for your Kona reservation. Although it's usually packed, you never know if you may get lucky!

 

[Gmouse]

I've spent DAYS AND DAYS and HOURS AND HOURS trying to get into Ohana for our trip....at a time of day that the suns not about to come back UP again! Finally snagged one at 5:10. Keep checking every day and there is a thread here someone showed me for cancelled ADRs. Shoulda copied it here for ya-sorry!
I would keep Kona and add Ohana on another day if possible. Kona is FANTASTIC. Our DS absolutely loves it. The Banana chocolate creme brulee is the BEST....and the lava cake too Of course the entrees are WONDERFUL We have ressies for 3 times on our trip. Gonna keep working for one more Ohana ressie

 

[Jperiod]

I've spent DAYS AND DAYS and HOURS AND HOURS trying to get into Ohana for our trip....at a time of day that the suns not about to come back UP again! Finally snagged one at 5:10. Keep checking every day and there is a thread here someone showed me for cancelled ADRs. Shoulda copied it here for ya-sorry!
I would keep Kona and add Ohana on another day if possible. Kona is FANTASTIC. Our DS absolutely loves it. The Banana chocolate creme brulee is the BEST....and the lava cake too Of course the entrees are WONDERFUL We have ressies for 3 times on our trip. Gonna keep working for one more Ohana ressie

I'm already subscribed to the cancelled ADR thread, but do you have suggestions for the most efficient way to search? It's tedious to keep putting in each date. I wish they would show you a date range for a restaurant.

 

[DaisyMaisie]

When you arrive for your ressie check if Ohana has anything open, if they do just let them know at Kona.

 

[grace&philipsmom]

We love Kona - we only ate at 'Ohana for dinner once and I wouldn't bother going back there for dinner again.

 

[Gmouse]

I'm already subscribed to the cancelled ADR thread, but do you have suggestions for the most efficient way to search? It's tedious to keep putting in each date. I wish they would show you a date range for a restaurant.

That's the only way that I know of. It IS very time consuming and I wished the SAME thing! Come on Disney-show me weeks worth of openings so I can choose!!
If you haven't tried already-click 1 more or 1 less than your actual party. That's probably not the "fair" thing to do by making it with 1 more than you need. But I beleive alot of folks go in and make a bunch of ressies they aren't really giong to use and leaves the rest of us scrambling to find "leftover" ressies at crazy awkward times.

 

[Jperiod]

That's the only way that I know of. It IS very time consuming and I wished the SAME thing! Come on Disney-show me weeks worth of openings so I can choose!!
If you haven't tried already-click 1 more or 1 less than your actual party. That's probably not the "fair" thing to do by making it with 1 more than you need. But I beleive alot of folks go in and make a bunch of ressies they aren't really giong to use and leaves the rest of us scrambling to find "leftover" ressies at crazy awkward times.

I wondered about that as well since we're 3 and a high chair. I've been putting in 4, but I know with the high chair, you sometimes end up at a different table. Hmmmm. I booked Kona, but I guess I'll keep looking for Ohana.

Oh, in case anyone hasn't tried, you can go to the mobile disney website and search reservations from your phone (not an app, so free!). I just bookmarked it so I could look when I randomly think about it and I'm away from the PC.

 

[Gmouse]

I wondered about that as well since we're 3 and a high chair. I've been putting in 4, but I know with the high chair, you sometimes end up at a different table. Hmmmm. I booked Kona, but I guess I'll keep looking for Ohana.

Oh, in case anyone hasn't tried, you can go to the mobile disney website and search reservations from your phone (not an app, so free!). I just bookmarked it so I could look when I randomly think about it and I'm away from the PC.

same here- 3 and a high chair. we have family meeting us the first half of our trip so i will still NOT count the high chair to get all of us in (need a sneaky face icon

 

[B-Ride]

Take them to Kona and enjoy the food. I like 'Ohana but the food at Kona is way better IMHO. Get the kids a Kona Kone for dessert and they will be happy. I am 55 yrs old and the Kona Kone always makes me happy after my wonderful meal at Kona Cafe.

 

[vettegirl]

We tried to walk up to Ohana in May yea right! We were turned away and not in a nice way. We went over to Kona and have a terrific meal and we both ended with the Kona Kone which was excellent.

 

[jewels4488]

We have been to Kona twice with kids. Once for dinner and once just for dessert. The kids love getting the Kona cone and the dinner was our favorite from all the places we have been to. I have not been to Ohana, but I have seen the crowds waiting to go in. I have also read lots of reviews. Based on those reviews we have decided to try other things. For us, the food quality is really important, and the reviews are mixed about this dinner show. For now we have found plenty of other dinner options, like Kona that are wonderful. However if my kids really wanted to see this show, we'd be there.... Good luck!

 

[Lisa Mize Hill]

If you can't get into 'Ohana or Kona and you'd like something a little more interactive you could always go over to Whispering Canyon Cafe. It's a bit of effort to get there - take the monorail to the Contemporary then the boat over to the Wilderness Lodge or take the boat directly from the MK - but it's very interactive and heavy on the meat.

Then you could always go back to the Poly for Wishes on the beach.

Lisa