'Ohana, or "how to ruin the last 2 days of your vacation"

[marivaid]

We gave 'Ohana four tries.
#1 - Rushed in & out of the place in a little over half an hour.
#2 - Waited 20mns in line only to be told we were too late for our ADR.
#3 - GREAT meal (in August 2010)
#4 - Otherwise known as GrossFest,2010.

So like I said we had a great meal in August and 'Ohana was definitely at the top of our list this trip. We originally had a 6PM ADR but because we spent too long at the outlets and wanted time to relax & change before dinner, I called and had our reservation moved to 9.15.
Mistake. Big mistake. HUGE mistake.

We got there on time but were not seated until after Hallowishes was over, so around 9.45pm. We were a party of 3 which for some reason got seated at a huge round table for eight, which also happened to be right under the A/C. We were freezing to the point that I almost left the restaurant to go buy a sweatshirt.

Our server was really sweet and nice, the one good thing about that dinner, and it's probably because she was so nice and it was so late (we were the last party to be seated and served that night) that we didn't want to bother her and ask to be moved to another table.

The salad was fine, but the wontons and chicken wings were lukewarm at best. Something was wrong with the noodles. They tasted slimy, as if they had been reheated in a microwave. My sister is vegetarian and was served a meal much like she had the last time, but this time it was all mushy and, for the most part, cold. Our veggies were cold as well. The chicken was fine (we were brought a skewer with only 4 pieces left on it). My mom tasted the pork and said it was just okay. The beef was very greasy and, again, cold. In retrospect, I am SO glad that I only ate one piece of chicken and one piece of beef. I think they may have just taken a few pieces of meat that were left, stuck them in the microwave and put them back on the skewers. I noticed when we were served our appetizers that there was no more fire in the area where they cook the meat.
We waited a long, long time for the shrimp, but at least when they got to us they were hot and tasted great.

We were the last table and when we left it was past 11pm, I will say this for the restaurant, the servers never made us feel like we should rush out of there. The chef even came to make sure that my sister hadn't eaten any of the food that contained dairy.

I felt queasy on the ride back to the hotel. The next morning we were ALL feeling awful. I had it worst of the three of us, probably because my sister didn't eat any of the regular food and my mom's stomach is lined with steel or something... but even she wasn't feeling too well.
I spent the day in bed and in the bathroom, lovely, the next day I forced myself to go out as it was our last day. We went to Teppan Edo for lunch and kept it down okay, but my Cali Grill dinner went to feed the fishes after an hour
The 12-hour journey back home was not lovely either.

I don't believe we'll ever go back to 'Ohana after this, we could have complained to Disney, and probably should have..

 

[disneychic2]

Never eaten there, now don't think I want to. But any of the restaurants can have an off day I guess. Sorry you had a bad last two days!

 

[Tink813]

Wow Im surprised! We have eaten there at least a dozen times and never had that kind of experience! Sorry it was so bad for you....esp. the belly issues!

 

[sweetsusannah]

Sounds like a very bad experience! Maybe it was the time factor? Instead of cooking you new food you got the warmed over stuff.

We have eated at 'Ohana half a dozen times and it has always been great! We went last week and my vegetarian sister asked me to try to book it twice for our annual family trip next year because everyone including her loved it so much. We always book an early ressie though.

 

[tiredsigh]

Yikes! We learned already not to do any seating late in the evening. The food did not taste as good. I'm sorry you had a bad experience

 

[marivaid]

Yes, I do believe it had to do with our late ADR.
We've done dinners later than that, but they were mostly buffets, and they kept on putting out freshly cooked food even when it was close to 10pm.
I expected 'Ohana would be doing the same thing but it wasn't the case.

That's why I said it was a big mistake to move our reservation, I bet we wouldn't have had that problem at 6pm.

 

[tiredsigh]

Yes, I do believe it had to do with our late ADR.
We've done dinners later than that, but they were mostly buffets, and they kept on putting out freshly cooked food even when it was close to 10pm.
I expected 'Ohana would be doing the same thing but it wasn't the case.

That's why I said it was a big mistake to move our reservation, I bet we wouldn't have had that problem at 6pm.

We went around 6pm the first time we ate there. I wanted to go back the same trip and could only get in at 9:15ish. The later time was awful. I learned my lesson the hard way.

If I had a food poisoning episode from it, I don't think I'd be back to that restaurant for a long while Hard to forget the previous meal! Sorry

 

[kamik86]

Hmm... now I'm wondering if my 8:30 ADR in January will be ok of if I should change it.

 

[Ava]

I would write to Disney about your experience. Even though you had the last ADR of the night, you should not have been served whatever warmed-over food was left, which seems to be what happened. You were paying guests & deserved to have the same quality of food at 10pm as previous guests had at 6pm. It's simply not acceptable (or safe) to serve any guests old food. The "higher-ups" at Disney need to be aware of problems like this so they can be dealt with.

Sorry you had such a bad experience.

P.S. - What is the meal they serve to vegetarians at O'Hana?

 

[Pooh&OurHunny]

Thanks for posting b/c I had an ADR there and my husband said he had no desire to eat there and would rather eat somewhere else... I have been second guessing the cancelling and your post made me feel better. Sorry for the bad experience.

 

[BelleRocks]

Wow, so sorry! Our experience there a couple of weeks ago was fantastic...but it was indeed a 5:15 reservation!

I'm not a complainer, but I would definitley complain about that experience.

 

[PelletierBears]

You should definately contact Disney to complain. Your money is the same whether you pay at 6pm or 10pm so the food quality should be the same as well.

I see that on your first trip there you were rushed through the meal. During our trip last year the waiter / food runner tried to pull that with us until I called him on it. We had just served ourselves salad when he started bringing the veggies! When I told him to slow down he claimed that was the pace of the restaurant...yeah that might have worked if I hadn't been there several times before

Sorry you had so many bad experienced there...it can be a great meal when done right

 

[Sarah Millar01]

Oh no, I am so sorry you guys had a bad experience there. I have eaten there 4 times and had 4 wonderful dining experiences. Just an off day I guess.....not the norm for Disney!!

 

[apcs]

Sorry to hear about that experience. The worst part of that story is that it ruined the rest of the trip, not just that evening. I would definitely call to complain - Disney should know when there dining is unsafe.

 

[kmsimone]

We are deciding between ohana and hdd. Based on your post its hdd for us Thanks

 

[marivaid]

We are deciding between ohana and hdd. Based on your post its hdd for us Thanks

Well, others have had great dinners at 'Ohana, it just wasn't the case for us
That doesn't mean you'd necessarily have a bad time

While I would never tell someone to avoid it at all costs, I also can't recommend it, and definitely would warn others to avoid late ADRs.

 

[sasquatch]

We ate there at 5:30 pm on Saturday, November 6, and it was excellent. However, your experience does make me question one thing.

The pot stickers and wings served to us could have fed six adults. We were only two adults, two children. I asked the server if they normally give a table of 2/2 that many pot stickers and wings, and she said no, and added, and I'm paraphrasing, "but if it makes you feel better, we recycle them." I didn't ask to elaborate, but I wish I had. She was clearing the table and mixed the eaten plates with the uneaten food, so I assumed she did not mean they were going to reuse the portion we did not eat. I should have asked what she meant.

Anyhow, it sounds like the lesson here is to stay away from a late ADR at Ohana. I would definitely return given our tasty first experience.

 

[marivaid]

"but if it makes you feel better, we recycle them."

GAG

 

[catne]

And thought it was one of the worst meals we've had on site. We were not in late evening seating, either: we were in the earliest seating, so the food should have all been very fresh (seated at 5:20) However...the ONLY hot food was the dumplings & wings. Even the meat skewers were barely warm (and we were being served from a full skewer so should have come straight from the grill area.) Our noodles weren't slimy...they were refrigerator-cold. Like they had been made hours before & kept in the fridge. Guess we got there too early for the reheat. So I would not blame cold food on being in the late-night seatings...they were still filling the restaurant when we were seated. Was finally full table by the time we left around 6:15 or so.

And we were freezing, too...as were people all around us. I think they have the A/C set for the comfort of the serving staff...we mentioned how cold it was to our server and he said "oh, really? You think it's cold? We love working here because it's so comfortable." I also asked if the food was supposed to be cold or barely warm and the server said well sure, some dishes were meant to be cold. Yeah, like the salad and the ice cream!

 

[Cinderella94]

We ate there at 5:30 pm on Saturday, November 6, and it was excellent. However, your experience does make me question one thing.

The pot stickers and wings served to us could have fed six adults. We were only two adults, two children. I asked the server if they normally give a table of 2/2 that many pot stickers and wings, and she said no, and added, and I'm paraphrasing, "but if it makes you feel better, we recycle them." I didn't ask to elaborate, but I wish I had. She was clearing the table and mixed the eaten plates with the uneaten food, so I assumed she did not mean they were going to reuse the portion we did not eat. I should have asked what she meant.

Anyhow, it sounds like the lesson here is to stay away from a late ADR at Ohana. I would definitely return given our tasty first experience.

What?!?!