Ohana or Whispering Canyon??

[italianlover]

I am decideing between the two for my 30th birthday celebration. I have never been to either and it seems to be a tough decision. Its gonna be 3 grandparents, me, my DH, my friend and her husband along with 4 kids.
Whispering Canyon has the fun atmosphere I think my family would LOVE!! Its BBQ and that kinda turns me off cause I am vegetarian (but I do eat chicken and fish just no meat) and so is one other person in our party but I could always eat chicken.
Ohana everyone raves about also! This is also all meat but I could eat the chicken (which everyone says is dry) or the shrimp. Only has 1 dessert which seems so limited to me, actually the whole menu seems limited.
Out of the recommendations I've been given these two seemed very high on the reviews. Both of these has the price range were looking for and entertainment for the kids AND adults also that I wanted to have I would love a sit down dinner at a seafood restaurant BUT we definetly don't have the money for that. (DH and I are paying the whole bill as an agreement if they paid for the rest of their trip) SO with all that said, what are you opinions between the two?

 

[Zoey75]

I just got back from Disney and ate at both. They both were good but I would go to 'Ohana hands down. My kids loved it & they food was very good. Plus if you get the right table you can see Wishes fireworks from 'Ohana. Feel free to ask me any questions.

 

[SPOERLX3]

We have eaten at both and there is no comparison!
IMHO O'Hana is much better than Whispering Canyon; food, atmosphere and desert! And yes they only have one desert because that is all they need. The desert at O'Hana is one of the BEST deserts in all of Disney

 

[HadesTX]

I'm the lone vote for WCC. I wasn't impressed with Ohana's food. Some was good, but a lot of it I just didn't care for.

 

[AshleyAnn]

I love everything about Ohana! They win hands down for me!

 

[mindyd]

We loved Ohana and no one really cared for WCC it was okay but nothing we would go out of our way to go back to again.

 

[gigi1313]

my family totally prefers WCC over Ohana for dinner... 'Ohana b'fast is a whole 'nother story, they love it! but only because we have not done b'fast at WCC yet (will be on Thanksgiving morning)...

 

[AKA Jane Random]

Ohana just because the fireworks are so spectacular!

 

[KatMark]

We have never eaten at Ohanas (but we have eaten at places similar) and I would pick it hands down over the Whispering Canyon Cafe. We ate at the WCC in 2008 and you could not pay us to go back -- awful service, awful bbq (and we love bbq...Flame Tree's bbq is much better); did not care for the potatos or any of the other skillet items. The only good part of the whole evening was the bottomless milkshake. There were also NO antics going on the whole time we were there (although this didn't phase us one way or the other, but I felt bad for the others in the restaurant who didn't get them).

 

[nkereina]

People rave about Ohana but I am not a fan of anything on their menu. We did WCC at the end of September and sat next to a large party with lots of kids and they got all of the antics, they were having a lot of fun. I will say if you pick WCC, don't order the Westen Chicken pasta dish. This is what I got and hated it - very garlicy and just not good. Not sure what other chicken options they had.

 

[DaisyMaisie]

Just a heads up you will confuse the waitstaff and chef if you say either that you are a "vegetarian" or that you do not eat "meat." Both chicken and fish are "meat."

I am guessing you either do not eat "beef" or "red meat" or maybe even shellfish? Either way it is my understanding that they can accommodate you at Ohana.

 

[Tinkermom76]

I have eaten at both and would recommend WCC, we loved it there and they do have a fish dish on their menu. It is a menu dinner where at Ohana you can't choose what you get and we had a bad experience there for dinner so we won't go back again.

We are going to WCC again next trip for dinner as my kids are upset we haven't been there in a while and want to go back bad

 

[AngelStitch]

Definitely 'Ohana! Best restaurant in Disney!

 

[JimS4210]

I'm the lone vote for WCC. I wasn't impressed with Ohana's food. Some was good, but a lot of it I just didn't care for.

Same here. We love WCC and try to hit it at least every other trip. We're big BBQ fans and are pretty outgoing as a family, so it's a perfect fit for us. Ohana was okay, but nothing special in our opinion. We've eaten there twice, with mixed results both times. And Raglan Road has MUCH better bread pudding!

Jim

 

[jdb1232]

We've eaten at both, Ohana would be my choice.

Don't rule out Kona' at the Poly, its our favorite. Great seafood, fantastic desserts.

 

[Missyrose]

I know there have been a number of posts about bad service/food at 'Ohana, don't let them scare you away! I was just there in October and had a fabulous meal.

 

[dawgs4disney]

Although both restaurants are a lot of fun, O'hanas would be my choice for a 30th birthday dinner! Actually, we will be dining there in December for my 40th! The bread, salad. Chicken wings and shrimp would be items you would probably like. We have also had them offer to bring the kids ice cream for dessert rather than the bread pudding. I personally did not try the dessert
my first visit, but once I did I was hooked. It is a must do for our family on every Disney trip! The entire atmosphere is a lot of fun with a group!!Happy birthday as well!!

 

[cbg1027]

Woops double post

 

[cbg1027]

I haven't been to WCC, but I voted for 'Ohana because I think it's a more unique experience in terms of food and atmosphere.

You can get BBQ almost anywhere (at least in half of the US). So the atmosphere is what makes WCC unique.

At 'Ohana, both the food and and atmosphere are pretty rare in dining. But yes, the choices are more limited in terms of the menu items.

FYI: Be careful if you make any dietary requests because saying you're vegetarian will confuse the chefs if you want chicken or fish in your food. If you make any special requests, you should say that you don't eat red meat. I'm not trying to sound rude, but you're not a vegetarian if you eat chicken and fish. A vegetarian does not eat animals...and chicken and fish are animals.

 

[twinklebug]

I haven't been to WCC, but I voted for 'Ohana because I think it's a more unique experience in terms of food and atmosphere.

You can get BBQ almost anywhere (at least in half of the US). So the atmosphere is what makes WCC unique.

At 'Ohana, both the food and and atmosphere are pretty rare in dining. But yes, the choices are more limited in terms of the menu items.

FYI: Be careful if you make any dietary requests because saying you're vegetarian will confuse the chefs if you want chicken or fish in your food. If you make any special requests, you should say that you don't eat red meat. I'm not trying to sound rude, but you're not a vegetarian if you eat chicken and fish. A vegetarian does not eat animals...and chicken and fish are animals.

I'm going to echo the above, particularly for 'Ohana - dinner is served on skewers and they'll come around hovering the food over your plate asking if you want it. I mentioned to them no less than 3 times that I'm allergic to shrimp - and to ~please~ not even bring it to the table as my kids won't touch it anyway (my allergies are that bad) and yet the servers never got the message, each time bringing it to the table and holding it over my plate.