My Ohana Story......

[DisneyFamily123]

We have an ADR dinner on June 1 @ 5:25 & breaksfast June 3 @ 10:55. I am thinking about changing dinner for Tusker House & just keep breaksfast because my ds wants to see Stitch. I hate to wait hours to eat while my lil ones are whining cause they are hungry & bad attitude from CMs.

I like your plan... we liked the Ohana breakfast and didn't have the wait problems (in 2009)... It was nice to see Stitch... didn't see him in the parks that trip.... but in 2010, we saw him and Lilo at Animal Kingdom and at the Magic Kingdom Christmas Party....

Not sure if you mean dinner or breakfast at Tusker House.... but we really like the Tusker House character breakfast! Plus if you can get up early... we had an 8am reservation on a day when Animal Kingdom opened at 9am... On the way to Tusker House, the park was empty and made for great photos without other people in the background... Some CMs helped take pictures of all of us too!

If you are looking for dinner... We REALLY liked the Garden Grill character dinner (Chip, Dale, Mickey, Pluto).... food was very good and served family style so you don't have to worry about missing characters like the buffet places....

 

[TeresaZ]

I had almost this same exact thing happen to me at LeCellier's. By them swearing I missed my reservation (they said my reservation was at 4 - my confirmation number said 4:45) we also missed our planned candlelight processional package.

Who do you contact to complain? Is there an e-mail?

 

[jerlove]

I had almost this same exact thing happen to me at LeCellier's. By them swearing I missed my reservation (they said my reservation was at 4 - my confirmation number said 4:45) we also missed our planned candlelight processional package.

Who do you contact to complain? Is there an e-mail?

For any guest relations emails both positive and negative use

wdw.guest.communications@disneyworld.com

 

[Soph&HanMom]

We at at Ohana on Dec 14th @5:05pm. Agree with the crazy long line to get to the podium and the atmosphere of anxiety there. We did not wait long, service was excellent if a tiny bit rushed, food was good. I agree that the hostesses are not as pleasant as the servers but I attributed that to all the people that were frustrated with the Aloha dinner being cancelled and trying to get another place to eat.

We also ate here for breakfast on the 17th. Again crazy lines at the podium and hostesses stressed about all the people. Service was awful, I would have killed for a refill of coffee. I just think with any restaurant you can have both good and bad experiences depending on the staff working at that time. I'm sorry that you had to go through all that trouble just to get a table. I made my Dh carry an index card with all our ADR's printed on them just in case of this situation.

 

[latmck]

I like your plan... we liked the Ohana breakfast and didn't have the wait problems (in 2009)... It was nice to see Stitch... didn't see him in the parks that trip.... but in 2010, we saw him and Lilo at Animal Kingdom and at the Magic Kingdom Christmas Party....

Not sure if you mean dinner or breakfast at Tusker House.... but we really like the Tusker House character breakfast! Plus if you can get up early... we had an 8am reservation on a day when Animal Kingdom opened at 9am... On the way to Tusker House, the park was empty and made for great photos without other people in the background... Some CMs helped take pictures of all of us too!

If you are looking for dinner... We REALLY liked the Garden Grill character dinner (Chip, Dale, Mickey, Pluto).... food was very good and served family style so you don't have to worry about missing characters like the buffet places....

DisneyFamily123, I meant Tusker House for dinner. DH asked about a good seafood place instead of Tusker House. I am looking at Cape May for dinner.
I am so glad that I found this website to know to carry my confirmation number on an index with us just in case.

 

[Tanbellisima]

disneyfamily123, i meant tusker house for dinner. Dh asked about a good seafood place instead of tusker house. I am looking at cape may for dinner.
I am so glad that i found this website to know to carry my confirmation number on an index with us just in case.

amen.

 

[mollygirl13]

We have an ADR next month. I will do the following (repeating it over and over again in my head):

1) Bring my confirmation w/ me to the Podium
2) Get there at least 45 min early

 

[DisneyFamily123]

Oh... Seafood! My goodness... how about Flying Fish Cafe? It's a signature restaurant, not a buffet like Cape May Cafe... but WOW! We thought the food at Flying Fish earlier in Dec. was incredible! I don't have my dining reviews posted yet... but the mussels were to die for.... DW was half done her crab cake appetizer before I could get the camera out... the red snapper and the yellowfin tuna entree were great.

But to top it off... the boardwalk entertainers right outside the Flying Fish were very funny and DS5 was part of the act.

Flying Fish was kind of like California Grill in that there's an open kitchen and it's a bit noisy in the restaurant... which in my opinion, makes it more kid friendly than a restaurant where you can hear a pin drop.

Never been to Cape May for dinner.... so I can't compare.

DisneyFamily123, I meant Tusker House for dinner. DH asked about a good seafood place instead of Tusker House. I am looking at Cape May for dinner.
I am so glad that I found this website to know to carry my confirmation number on an index with us just in case.

 

[latmck]

Oh... Seafood! My goodness... how about Flying Fish Cafe? It's a signature restaurant, not a buffet like Cape May Cafe... but WOW! We thought the food at Flying Fish earlier in Dec. was incredible! I don't have my dining reviews posted yet... but the mussels were to die for.... DW was half done her crab cake appetizer before I could get the camera out... the red snapper and the yellowfin tuna entree were great.

But to top it off... the boardwalk entertainers right outside the Flying Fish were very funny and DS5 was part of the act.

Flying Fish was kind of like California Grill in that there's an open kitchen and it's a bit noisy in the restaurant... which in my opinion, makes it more kid friendly than a restaurant where you can hear a pin drop.

Never been to Cape May for dinner.... so I can't compare.

I didn't know about Flying Fish Cafe. I will look at this as an option. I can't wait to read your dining review. Thanks for the suggestion.

 

[Disnut4925]

Cape May Cafe is a good all you can eat buffet. Flying Fish is an excellent signature restaurant - the food there is on a higher level. And expensive of course, but worth it. I agree with the PP who said their food is incredible!

 

[jerlove]

So this is the letter I had sent to guest relations. Another Diser was kind enough to forward me the contact information of the Area manager and Food and Beverage manager for the Poly so I was sure to copy them as well.

To Whom It May Concern:



My family and I love going to the Walt Disney World Resort and often begin planning our next trip before our previous one has even ended. I find WDW to truly be the most magical place on earth and am blown away by the friendliness and quality of service your cast members provide to my family on every trip. This last trip to the Animal Kingdom Lodge was not exception we were extremely happy to find out that we had been upgraded to a nicer room with a better view at check in and the cast members we encountered at the resort were fantastic.



Our trip this year was however marred by one negative experience that has left me debating whether or not to communicate it to you. I have decided too in hopes that improvements can be made.



Our negative experience was with dining at Ohana. This is a restaurant that we have been to in the past and is on my must dine list on each of our trips.



We had an ADR for 7:20pm on December 1st and arrived to check in to the restaurant at around 6:45pm. Waited in a very long line to check in but hey this is Disney we are used to lines. I get to the front of the line and give the cast member my name and she informs me that she does not have a record of my reservation. I insist that it is there as I had confirmed everything with my online profile prior to leaving. She again insists that she has looked at every possible list and I do not have a reservation and that if I wish to wait she can get me a walk up table but it will take at least 2 hours. I again insist that is not acceptable and she asks me to produce my confirmation number. Almost insinuating that she feels I am trying to pretend to have a reservation just to get in the restaurant with out a reservation. I have never needed to have my confirmation number with me in the past so I mistakenly left it in my resort room. It was suggested that perhaps I should go and get my reservation number. I felt this was a ridiculous resolution to my problem as round trip to the Animal Kingdom Lodge would be over an hour.



In frustration I left the check in podium and went in hunt of a pay phone to call WDW-DINE to see if they could be of any assistance. Once down stairs I proceeded to the concierge desk and explained the problem I was having. Within minutes the wonderful cast member at the desk was able to not only locate my reservation but give me a print out of my confirmation to take back upstairs.



I head back to the check in podium and am greeted by the same cast member. I hand her my printed confirmation slip she takes a look at it and smugly replies “oh you do have one, here you are on the list” and then tells me to come back in 20 minutes and she will give me a pager. 20 minutes go by I go back up and she hands me a pager and tells me to stay around the area and I will be paged when my table is ready. I understand mistakes can happen but there was not even so much as an apology when I presented her with my reservation number.



My family and I then proceeded to wait in the lounge area for our pager to go off. After waiting about an hour we strike up a conversation with some ladies that mention they were waiting for a walk up table as they did not have an ADR and had been waiting about an hour. I advised them that we did have an ADR and we had already been in the lounge for nearly an hour. With in minutes of this conversation their pager goes off to advise them that their table is ready!!! I might add that they were the exact same party size as we were.



I go up to the podium to follow up with our reservation and find out why we have been waiting over an hour and am basically dismissed with an eye roll and told that they will page us when our table is ready.



We waited what seemed like another half an hour before our table was ready. In the mean time my youngest son fell asleep and never ended up getting to eat and my oldest son was so tired and cranky from waiting that he never ended up eating much at all.



Overall the food was great and the service once we were seated was fine, however what I experienced just to “prove” I had a reservation and then the ensuing hour and a half wait past my reservation time made this a very poor experience on my family’s part.



As I stated before I understand that mistakes can happen and restaurants can get backed up but the complete lack of empathy or apologies from any of the front line cast members made this a terrible experience.



What motivated me to write this letter is that I belong to the online Disney community and I am starting to see a trend of poor/similar experiences by others at Ohana and I am hoping that this letter will help bring attention to the fact that this fantastic restaurant is currently in need of some improvements.



Regards,

I just recieved a response from the Area manager responsible for Ohana here it is.

"Thank you so much for taking time to share your feedback with us .

I apologize that you experienced a long wait and do appreciate your understanding. We always evaluate our processes and adjust as needed but we always appreciate our guests input . We will look into this and make any necessary adjustements.

I have enclosed my contact number and if I can be of further assistance to you, please let me know."

Is it just me or does his response seem to miss the main point of my concern. I do not know how to respond. I go thru the whole story of my experience with the Cast Member and what he gets from the entire note is that I was upset about the wait? Sure that was part of it but come on if I did not have such a sour experience during check in the wait would have been a minor irritant.

I think I have found the reason for the poor service experience and it is with management who do not even recognize where the true concern lies.

Am I over reacting? Before I respond I am interested in others thoughts

 

[DisneyFamily123]

I think I have found the reason for the poor service experience and it is with management who do not even recognize where the true concern lies.

Am I over reacting? Before I respond I am interested in others thoughts

I'm not sure... I actually talked with the restaurant manager while at Ohana, and the area manager on the phone after coming home from Disney. While the restaurant manager was just defensive and blaming... he did offer to create a "seamless dining experience" if I return and gave me his card. I thought that was good.

The area manager extended an apology and acknowledged the problem and listened to some ideas I shared. He also said to contact him if I return again and he will make sure my dining experiences at the Polynesian are good.

I really think Ohana's problems come from having a very large mass production of food in a very small area. The long lines really take away from the Polynesian feel of the main building -- you know... the sounds of the water, the tropical plants, the music, etc... The lobby during the day time is so nice.

Ideally, I'd try to put Ohana somewhere else at the resort (away from the main building if possible)... move Kona Cafe in there or some type of nice signature restaurant.... and use the Kona Cafe area for a more relaxing sushi bar, coffee cafe or something with light fare.

The checkin process at Ohana is not good.... I remember that a whole bunch of ADRs came available all at once about a month or so before we got there... so I wonder if Ohana, being large, has trouble making sure they have enough people coming to fill the tables when many people will cancel or not show, so they overbook on purpose.

 

[50bestforyou50]

wow

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

Wow after reading what the OP had to say I would also be very frustrated if that happened to me, so I hope that WDW will do something after getting their letter.

 

[traylorc]

Sorry the OP had such a horrible experience at Ohana. I have dined there several times and I have been fortunate to never have a problem.

For those of you who have not been to Ohana, I would still give it a chance and form your own opinion regarding your experience. Because the bottom line is this, there is not a restaurant at Disney where someone has not had a bad experience and posted about it. So you are thinking about not going to Ohana because you read about the OP's unfortunate experience, well guess what somone, somewhere out there can give a first and account of a bad experience they had at the restaurant you are thinking about going to.

Once again, I'm sorry the OP had such a terrible experience.

 

[Minnesota!]

just cancelled our dinner reservation for 1/11 because of all the reports of awful service (food and customer) and there is NO way I am waiting as long as we did last time (an hour) past our ADR with hundreds of other people. Not so much the waiting, but the waitign SPACE is not conducive to families...kids running all over, etc.

Anyway, there should now be an opening for 525 on 1/11 should anyone want to snag it...

 

[larryz]

Is it just me or does his response seem to miss the main point of my concern. I do not know how to respond. I go thru the whole story of my experience with the Cast Member and what he gets from the entire note is that I was upset about the wait? Sure that was part of it but come on if I did not have such a sour experience during check in the wait would have been a minor irritant.

Sounds to me like you got a form letter, and I agree that the manager missed your point.

Since he gave you his phone number, I'd call him and let him know your problem was not so much the wait as it was the snotty, condescending attitude of his podium person, complicated by what appears to be a vindictive delay of your dining experience because you had the temerity to stand up for yourself and prove that you a) had ADRs and b) were there on time.

Ohana is starting to sound a lot like l'idiot, the mythical Hollywood restaurant lampooned in "L.A. Story."

 

[gypsydoodlebug]

just cancelled our dinner reservation for 1/11 because of all the reports of awful service (food and customer) and there is NO way I am waiting as long as we did last time (an hour) past our ADR with hundreds of other people. Not so much the waiting, but the waitign SPACE is not conducive to families...kids running all over, etc.

Anyway, there should now be an opening for 525 on 1/11 should anyone want to snag it...

I think I' going to cancel our dinner as well... it's DH's birthday and our last night of our stay and I'm thinking this is not the way we want our trip to end. Not that both of us canceling our ADRs will make much of a dent in the system over all, but I'd rather spend my money elsewhere.

 

[mollygirl13]

I think the OP should def call the manager. Tomorrow! Do not let this go. They need to know that there is a huge problem at 'Ohana.

DH and I have a reservation next month. We have experienced, first hand, the 'Ohana madness and it is something that DH do not like at all!
We, too, will cancel our reservation for a more relaxing meal.

Also, the 'Ohana madness certainly takes away from the loveliness of the Poly.

I'm not sure as to why the problems at 'Ohana are just shrugged off & swept under the rug

Very unDisney-like

 

[soccer_mom4]

I'm sorry to hear that OP had such a terrible experience. We just ate at Ohana's on Christmas Eve at 7:45. We had just the opposite experience. We checked in at 7:30, and requested a table by a window. We were sitting at a table with a beautiful view of the castle by 7:40! Everyone was extremely friendly and the food was delicious.

We have had dinner here before and have alway had great service, but we always eat at a later time.....