Ohana/Biergarten

[KyGirl]

I'm trying to do my best as a new planner and I need some help! At 180 days I booked an ADR for O'Hana for dinner at 7:00 pm. Now I've added the Wishes Dessert Party for our group for that night. I've read that the restaurant is notorious for late seatings and now I'm afraid we'll be too late or too stuffed to enjoy the party that night. We're only a week away from our trip so of course there's no way we can move our reservation at O'Hana backwards. They're booked solid. The plan was to spend the day at Epcot and then use the monorail to travel to O'Hana and then the MK. So now I'm toying with the idea of changing the ADR to an earlier (app. 5:30pm) one at Biergarten and then taking the monorail directly to the MK for the Party. It seems like this would make for a less rushed evening for us. We're a party of five adults and have never eaten at either restaurant. I picked O'Hana for the night because it seemed like a fun and different choice for us and so maybe Biergarten would achieve similar results. Anyway, I'm rambling (bad habit of mine!) but what do you experts think? I know O'Hana/Biergarten is like comparing apples to oranges but what would you do?

 

[DisCopper]

I enjoy both restaurants. I've eaten at O'Hana once. We didn't have a "late" seating, but it was a few minutes after our designated time. I've passed by a lot, and the place generally seems to be chaos, so I guess I can understand the late seatings. Lots of people everywhere. Because it's not a buffet, you also have to rely on the servers getting you fed quickly.

We've eaten at Biergarten twice (once this week), and both times, we were seated almost immediately. Because it's a buffet, you can grab your food as quickly as necessary. The lines may back up, but they seemed to move fairly quickly.

I'm not sure what time the Dessert party is, but your plan to switch to Biergarten may be a good one. The only flaw is that when you finish eating, you'll need to walk all the way out of EPCOT (which, by my calculations, is 0.74 miles from Germany to the monorail).

 

[disneysnob]

I'm trying to do my best as a new planner and I need some help! At 180 days I booked an ADR for O'Hana for dinner at 7:00 pm. Now I've added the Wishes Dessert Party for our group for that night. I've read that the restaurant is notorious for late seatings and now I'm afraid we'll be too late or too stuffed to enjoy the party that night. We're only a week away from our trip so of course there's no way we can move our reservation at O'Hana backwards. They're booked solid. The plan was to spend the day at Epcot and then use the monorail to travel to O'Hana and then the MK. So now I'm toying with the idea of changing the ADR to an earlier (app. 5:30pm) one at Biergarten and then taking the monorail directly to the MK for the Party. It seems like this would make for a less rushed evening for us. We're a party of five adults and have never eaten at either restaurant. I picked O'Hana for the night because it seemed like a fun and different choice for us and so maybe Biergarten would achieve similar results. Anyway, I'm rambling (bad habit of mine!) but what do you experts think? I know O'Hana/Biergarten is like comparing apples to oranges but what would you do?

Honestly, I would reschedule the Wishes Dessert to a different night. I believe Ohana's is plenty of food, and you may leave there too full to really enjoy all of the different desserts. I would instead plan a late lunch or quick, early dinner, and then do the desserts. Since Wishes Dessert party is kind of expensive, I would want to eat my money's worth!

 

[Tribe0701]

We went to 'Ohana in March and it was well, well below par. $40 per person for substandard service, poor food and a guy walking with a guitar (entertainment). Bottom line is that we feel 'Ohana went downhill. I like your plan to eat in EPCOT and then go to MK.

 

[jdisnut]

I love 'Ohana and dramatically prefer it to Biergarten. I wouldn't sacrifice a dinner there for almost anything. Is there any way you can change the Wishes dessert party to another night? If not, I agree that 'Ohana may not be the best option. If you're committed to the Wishes dessert party, I suppose you should switch to Biergarten. But it pains me to recommend you skip 'Ohana.