My Ohana review

[tkitty]

I ate dinner at Ohana's May 1st 5:00 pm. We rode the monorail to Ohana's. I was pleasantly surprised that it was on the same floor. I checked in and was seated within 3 minutes.

This is where it turns sour. The meal felt incredibly rushed. First they bought out the bread. It was cold...barely had flavor. I didnt really taste anything wonderful about the bread. They than bought out the salad and everything else. It seemed like as soon as we took a bite of one thing they were bringing something else out. There wasnt even anymore room on the table and they were still bringing stuff out We didnt get any refills on drinks . The waiter was so so . He didnt go above and beyond . He didnt even bring out the actual food. I felt so bad about the meal being rushed worse yet we were paying CASH and was still rushed in and out . I had the salad bowl sitting on top of the bread and the potstickers/wings sitting on top of the salad bowl with the noodles/veggies darn near falling into my son's stroller...Everything was bought out too fast! We barely got to enjoy anything. I didnt care for the food. I felt the salad dressing was too sweet . I was disappointed that everyone didnt get a seperate dessert...nope we all had to share banana pudding Great... Not only that but I had it noted on the ressie that it was my mom's birthday and nobody said happy birthday or gave a special cupcake. In fact I had to ask for a flower lei * THREE times!!

This was our experience also. Right down to the birthday that was on the ressie. I had to remind her twice, and then it was hardly worth the trouble. This was back in Oct. 2009, sorry to see it hasen't changed.

 

[sjs314]

DH an I will be eating at 'Ohana for the first time in October. Like the OP we have a ADR for 5:00pm (made it for this time since we are going to MK afterwards for MSEP & Wishes)

Does it seem as if they are rushing the earlier guest and the pace slows down with later reservations? say 8pm or later? I had read that allow 2 hours for a meal at 'Ohanas (wait time after check-in before being seated) and actual meal time and yet I read in this thread people rushed and finished in one hours time.

Just a little worried now about our reservation time

 

[smiths02]

No offense but you must be very, very easy to please. 'Ohana is a great restaurant, my Disney favorite, but the quality and service takes a definite hit due to free dining, no question. Right now, they're offering chicken instead of turkey, a definite down grade (excepting personal taste, of course). They no longer have a predominately Polynesian staff. Their specialty drinks have gotten smaller yet more expensive and they even tried to get rid of the skewered shrimp at one point.

It's OK to have your opinion based on your taste and enjoyment but don't pretend like it's the end all.

Why is there no question that it is free dining? Have you not noticed that the economy has completely tanked in this country (and many other places in the world)? Most places are offering less and charging more.

 

[bluejasmine]

Although I LOVE Ohanas and go every trip on our first night I agree about that rushed feeling BUT we dont allow them to rush us. We take our time, ask for seconds of anything we want and just relax. I understand they have ALOT of ppl that dine each night so we are considerate but at the same time we take our time as we would any restaurant.

Ever notice they do the same thing at Japanesse restaurants? Only thing is they will take your plate and scrape it into a to go box so you basically have to go..LOL

 

[DCDisney]

I think WDW is just over birthdays now that the promo is over. I wish they didn't even ask because it leads you to think they will do something. We went for my 40th and never at any of our weeks worth of sit down meals did they ever do anything. We also stayed at Universal for 2 days and they said HBD at check in and sent a room service tray with a big piece of birthday cake, fruit, a card with a pin, and a gift cert for a free app or sundae at any of the on site restaurants.

 

[Dallas_Lady]

'Ohana isn't what it used to be. It's so popular that they rush the experience to get the next set of diners in. I loved it in 2002 & 20004. In 2007 it was ok. 2009 it was just as the OP described. We have an ADR for it this trip, but I might cancel it.

 

[DisneyCayley]

We ate at 'Ohana on May 15 and LOVED it! Our servers were amazing and we didn't feel rushed at all. As a previous poster mentioned, we looked at it as not appetizers, main course, dessert but one big meal and then an amazing dessert. We would recommend it to anyone and if we are ever able to go to WDW again (please please please!) we would definitely head to 'Ohana!!

 

[Disneylove1228]

we ate at ohana May 1st, it was awesome!! we had great service all around, he even brought me and my husband a 2nd desert and called it the "main course"! LOL

 

[maltdisney]

We eat at Ohana usually the first night of every trip and have experienced both - being able to sit relax and eat at your own pace and other times when we felt like our server must have been looking at a stopwatch.

Either way, we love the food and the atmosphere and you have to remember that you're not totally subject to the pressure to eat quickly and leave when it occurs. I've sent the dessert back on more than one occasion when they've turned up with it, telling them that no, I'm not finished and could you please bring me more pork / steak / chicken etc Don't be afraid to tell them you will be there for a while, so they should slow down a bit. It works!

 

[Buzzsgramma]

Yikes!!! I have a ADR for 14 at 2 pm on Thanksgiving Day and I am just about to cancel it......

 

[maltdisney]

Yikes!!! I have a ADR for 14 at 2 pm on Thanksgiving Day and I am just about to cancel it......

If it's any assurance, I had a similar size party there some time ago and they all loved it. Service was absolutely fine. Different dining dynamic I think when there's a big party.

 

[arcticdisneylovers]

Sorry to to hear your experience was not good. I guess experiences really vary. We went in January and loved it. The service was terrific and the food was great. We were the first table seated with a castle view. DD6 loved the games, in fact she announced to all that, "This is the best day ever" I think Ohana's will be a regular for us now. DH probably liked the food more than me. There too much food as usual. Our servers were very attentive and kept our drinks refilled and offered food refills more than once. Though we didn't need more food. We also enjoyed the little fire show outside the Poly after supper. I do seem to remember waiting a bit for the bill to be brought but no big deal.

 

[latmck]

We ate at Ohana on Tuesday 5/24/11. It was the best meal we had all week for dinner. We were sitted in about 10-15 min after our ADRs time. It was fine because we were chatting with others & taking pics. Our waitress was so great, & we didn't feel rush at all. In fact, she told us to take our time & relax & enjoy everything. The food tasted so so good. Our waitress brought out a cupcake for our anniversary & ice cream for the girls. I didn't know that they did that; I was waiting for the banana bread pudding. Ohana is on our must do list.

 

[DisneyLindsay]

2 years ago we ate at Ohana with a party of 16 and in September we ate there with a party of 22.
We have had amazing service, and great food. We were not rushed in the least, yes the food comes fast, but with that many people at a table you want enough to go around.
We also looked at it as one big meal and not courses. I've enjoyed every morsel, and can't wait to go back, in fact his coming sept visit we have it scheduled twice!! Can't wait! It is my husband favorite meal of all, and the concensus of our party is we should eat there every night! Really though there is so many great restaurants to choose from, but Ohana's make our short list every time!

 

[WishIwerethere]

We were there May 10 and were grateful to be seated earlier than our very late reservation. Service was not good but also not horrible. My biggest disappointment was with the food.

We had eaten there several times, the last being several years ago, and each time the sides were garlic mashed potatoes and a couple of veggies (I believe corn and green beans), and the bread pudding was served individually (along with other dessert choices for those who did not like bread pudding). Everything was excellent -- very memorable meal and well worth the cost. This time we got cold noodles and steamed broccoli as the only sides. Yuk! The meal cost $125 for three people (including tip), and it wasn't even close to worth it. We won't go again, given the number of wonderful choices at WDW. (And I don't think I have ever NOT liked a sit-down meal at WDW.)

 

[disneyfav4ever]

I'm sorry you didn't enjoy your meal, but it sounds like you expected better service since you were paying OOP instead of being on a dining plan, and that you're also upset because you didn't get anything special for free, and I don't know why a family-style dessert would be suprising, since that's how the whole meal is served. But I do agree that the food comes out too fast, and the tables need to be larger or something to accomodate the amount of food served.

 

[disneyfav4ever]

http://allears.net/din/recipes/rec_sfnood.htm

I'm going to have to make this for dinner sometime this week, I almost always have all the ingrediants for that.

 

[MamaCoog]

We are also in the minority here that 'Ohana is one of our favorite meals at WDW. I always make our ADR so that we can see Wishes. I don't think we've ever gotten out of there in under 2 hours. The food is served family style but you are welcome to eat at your own pace. I've never had a server ask us to leave because we were taking too long to eat Maybe it's because we're from the south and family style dinners are common here? It would be no different from a typical Sunday dinner after church where everyone sits down to a table full of food. You're not expected to eat everything immediately, you just take your time and eat until you're finished. We just ask our server to remove the items that we are finished with, as we finish them to free up some room as we go. We've always had an amazing experience there Luckily, there are tons of other options on WDW property for the OP to try!! I have trouble trying new things because it means I have to miss out on an old favorite.

 

[Princess Me]

We also had a bad dining experience at Ohana on March 19th of this year. We were not rushed at all, in fact each course took forever to arrive & some things we had to ask for multiple times. This was our first visit to Ohana and, despite my research, we did not know how the restaurant was laid out and what entertainment was available. We had a 9 year old in our party and both the host and our server knew it was our first visit (they asked us), but neither told us that there was children's entertainment. We were seated at a table near the entrance of the restaurant (separated only by plants) and nowhere near the entertainment--we could only hear it, not see it. I had read about the amazing lapu lapu drinks and so we ordered three of those right away, but we did not get them until after the main course had arrived. We had to remind our server about them twice before she finally brought them, and she never once apologized. Most of our meal was just spent waiting--for drink refills that we had to ask for, for each course, for my niece's children's meal that we had to ask about, and at the end for our check. Also, we were not given leis, but we saw a couple of other tables who had them, and my niece really wanted one, so we asked our server in the middle of our meal about them, and she said she would find some. We did not get leis until after we received our bill, and only then because we asked a more official looking employee with a clipboard about them. None of the staff was particularly welcoming or friendly & we definitely did not feel anything magical during the 3 hours we spent there.

 

[Buzzsgramma]

I cancelled Ohana's for 14 on Thanksgiving at 2:00 pm.