O'hana character breakfast??

[ejgmom]

We will be in Disney in less than 2 weeks...woohoo!! I couldn't score Chef Mickey's character breakfast so we are going to O'hana on Sun. (which is an ee day) at 10:50...latest I could get. My question is to people who have been there before. How is the character interaction?? How is the family style different from buffet? And why do people seem to not like O'hana as much as the others? It's certainly not recommended as often or written about nearly as much as other character breakfasts.
Thanks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[crisi]

Our last experience here wasn't great, but our previous experiences were fine.

Family style means that a large skillet will be brought out to you. There is less selection than a buffet, but you don't need to get up and get your own food. We've never had an issue having the staff keep the skillet full promptly - if you want more, just ask. We love family style with two toddlers/preschoolers.

Character interaction has been great - except last time when we had the last seating, got seated very late, and the characters all left halfway through the meal. Very disappointing, and I won't ever book late again. But that may have been a fluke.

 

[Harambe]

We are planning on doing this in Sept, but I plan on getting a 7:30 PS. Hopefully Mickey will be there then. He is the only reason we still do a character meal! DD (11) needs to have a picture hugging Mickey! Not really looking for awesome food, but this will be a breeze for us to get to, and hopefully will be quieter than Chef Mickey's (can't stand the noise there!).

 

[mbelec]

Hi! We have this one booked next Monday (leave Friday!!!). What's in the skillet, anyway? I hadn't realized this one wasn't a buffet.

 

[alacazander]

Good question!

I've never been but will be booking us for our September trip. I think it will be fun!

 

[jwfla422]

We will also be trying this breakfast a week from Monday. Made 9am ps since we couldn't get CM's thought we'd check this one out.

Crisi- I'm disappointed to hear the characters were gone when you went last time, even if it is a late seating that's still not right especially since it is a character meal.

 

[phanomouse]

O'hana in my opinion is one of the overlooked must do's. I go to O'hana's Character breakfast almost ever trip and I am in WDW between 9-11 times a year. I don't go with children so I can't say that I go for the characters but I love the setting and the food. In the skillet you get sausage, potatoes, eggs, waffles. You also get assorted tropical fruits and friendship bread (sweet bread with pinapple and coconut). I have never had a problem with service here, I would recommend it to anyone even though its not my absolute favorite, I still love it. Just go and don't have any concerns in your head and you will enjoy every minute of it.

As for the characters not being there for the late reservations... I find this to be very odd. My guess is that this was there scheduled time to not be roaming. I have been at character meals when the characters disappear for a lot longer then they normally would but always come back. I have also been to meals when characters stay much later they is expected or required by the restaurant. For example, I took my brother and his family to Chef Mickeys for dinner, all of the characters were out and visited us many times. We ended up staying very late in the restaurant and the characters were there until we left. I went back to talk to the manager to thank him and he told me that characters will continue to make rounds until the restaurant is emptied and that went for all character meals not just for CM's.

Oh and by the way... if I were to ask my which were my favorite Character Meal I would say either Cape May or 1900 park fare. Anyways have a great time don't be too overly concerned or you will stress yourself into not enjoying your time and experiences.

 

[phyllis1966]

We also loved our breakfast at 'Ohana! Just an addition - the skillet also offers bacon and buttermilk biscuits. Everything was delicious and the character interaction was great - we saw most of the characters twice while we were there, only having to wait a few extra minutes to see Mickey ...

 

[crisi]

No, they weren't coming back, as the restaurant was closing until dinner. There were only about six tables left when they left halfway through our meal, but we ended up being the last people seated, so they were only around for twenty minutes or so. It was very disappointing. When I spoke to the manager, she apologized, but said that the characters needed to be someplace else. We had to wait 45 minutes to get seated for our PS, which I had booked as the last breakfast PS - so I do sort of blame myself - breakfast hours were over before we even got seated. Mickey wasn't walking around, but seated out front, and the hostess didn't fill us in that we should get in line to see Mickey before we got seated - so we then wasted another ten minutes waiting in line to see Mickey after we got seated - along with everyone staying at the Poly! I did this because we were traveling with my mother in law - who is not an early riser, and I though the kids and I could get some park time in early, then head for breakfast. Next time I take someone who doesn't want to haul her backend out of bed for breakfast, I'll book Garden Grill for dinner.

 

[ejgmom]

Thanks everyone for sharing your experiences. I'm looking forward to going now! I want to see the Poly anyway and let the kids ride the monorail.

 

[phanomouse]

Wow Crisi, I wouldn't say you should blame yourself. Like I posted before the manager of CM told me that the characters are to stick around until all guests have left. I am hoping that your experience was an isolated case.

 

[KilleriMac17]

I think Ohana's is great for both Dinner and Breakfast. Difference between their family style, and buffet is they bring food to your table, instead of you having to go get it.

at breakfast the characters were good, they try to go around to all the tables, and also participate in the activities as well, so if you are in and out, you may have a problem(its easy to fill yourself up fast in here). we say goofy and micky, chip and dale however were at other parts of the restaraunt.
I will go again for both breakfast and dinner again hopefully next year

 

[crisi]

I also hope it was isolated. I am pretty understanding of logistics. For some reason that day, things took longer than expected. With a late seating everyone who takes longer earlier than you will impact your PS. If the CMs in costume needed to get to another venue for a show, that's understandable. As it was, we were seated just a few minutes before breakfast hours officially ended - I think the characters did stay around a little longer.

Our waitress was good, the food was yummy and the character interaction we did get was OK (a little rushed).