Ohana recent negative news

[NHTikiBeckie]

Just like every other restaurant in WDW, you will find good and bad reviews. I find most of the bad reviews come from people who are a little easily more irritated than we are. We are very easy going and love Ohana and have never had a bad meal or experience there.

 

[Vegcentric]

I've had two experiences with 'Ohana. The first was quite a while ago, when I was around 8 or 9 years old, and I remember it fondly. I can't remember what we ate, all I remember was that the service was really great and the activities were a blast. My father hated it, because he can't stand any dinner where he is "bothered" (so he'd hate 50's Prime Time Diner as well, haha), but I liked how everyone was extremely friendly and called us cousin.
It was a very inviting experience.

Went during the week of November 15-21st (sorry, I know you were asking about Thanksgiving week), and it was an experience I would rather forget. My husband and I are both vegetarian (I slip some cheese into my diet on occasion, though I'm primarily vegan), so we ate differently than others but in no way was this the negative part of the experience. The food wasn't bad at all, in fact 'Ohana probably has the best tofu you can find on Walt Disney property, but the service was a bit sad.

No one called us cousin, the air conditioning was on extremely high and even with sweatshirts on we were freezing. We had several people come to our table repeatedly with meat and shrimp skewers. One server approached our table timidly and literally tossed our salad down on the table and left without a word. Another man came to our table with a huge skewer of shrimp, and though he was friendly, he was instant.

"Would anyone here like some shrimp?" My husband looked up at him for a moment, looked back down at his tofu dish and smiled and said, "Oh, no thank you. We're fine here." The man with the shrimp kept staring at us and asked again, "Are you two sure?" We just nodded and smiled and he walked away after a few more awkward silent moments.

A couple other servers came to our table with skewers of pork, looked at our dishes, blurted out "OH" loudly and then walked away. This wouldn't be so bad, except we never actually saw our own waitress until 45 minutes later. We sat there with empty drinks for most of the evening. She was nice, but that was about it. She was just nice. We had much better service at other restaurants. This was the only restaurant we actually wouldn't visit again.

While I think the restaurant has definitely declined in terms of service, I don't know if it declined food-wise. If the service thing wouldn't bother you, and you are big meat-eaters then this still might be a viable spot for you to dine. I also know my expectations were much higher than they should have been going in.

 

[brunette8706]

Go to BOMA it is so much better! Ohana I find that they serve you with other foods WAY TOO FAST. The beef skewers are very tough, it's alot of interaction with big kids and little kids and it can be loud at times. I prefer BOMA so much more. BOMA also has a much better selection.

 

[Vegcentric]

Go to BOMA it is so much better! Ohana I find that they serve you with other foods WAY TOO FAST. The beef skewers are very tough, it's alot of interaction with big kids and little kids and it can be loud at times. I prefer BOMA so much more. BOMA also has a much better selection.

Yay for Boma love! This is pretty much the ONE restaurant that I always visit whenever I'm at Disney World. Their carrot and ginger soup is the most amazing thing I've ever had. The selection really seems to suit everyone, even really picky eaters. I definitely saw people visiting the chicken nuggets, so it's also kid-friendly as well.

 

[brunette8706]

Yay for Boma love! This is pretty much the ONE restaurant that I always visit whenever I'm at Disney World. Their carrot and ginger soup is the most amazing thing I've ever had. The selection really seems to suit everyone, even really picky eaters. I definitely saw people visiting the chicken nuggets, so it's also kid-friendly as well.

**
Hi! You are exactly right! And the BIG PLUS is it's in the GRAND Animal Kingdom Lodge! That hotel is just GORGEOUS! They also have a cool bar/lounge to grab a drink or too! The place is really exotic with African decor' throughout.

Brunette

 

[7165red]

We really enjoyed Ohana and will be going back this xmas. Love the bread pudding.

 

[Tiger926]

Just like every other restaurant in WDW, you will find good and bad reviews. I find most of the bad reviews come from people who are a little easily more irritated than we are. We are very easy going and love Ohana and have never had a bad meal or experience there.

That's quite a generalization to make - why would you assume that people who don't agree with you are more picky or more irritated than you? That's just plain silly. Why would you assume that because you have never had a bad meal there, then it must be the fault of the other guests? I don't get that line of thinking at all?

As many people have pointed out, 'Ohana seems to be one of those restaurants that is consistently inconsistent. Good one day, bad the next. We've eaten there many trips apart, at different times of day, and experienced the same thing. We are the farthest from picky there is - we actually clean up our kids' messes, are very kind and accommodating, buss our own tables in order to help the servers out, and pretty much don't expect much from our servers at all, except take our order and maybe one refill of water. Having said, we do expect to see our server more than just the initial order taking though. Having eaten in pretty much every Disney restaurant multiple times, we do have lots to compare to, and that is where our ratings are coming from. It's definitely not because we are more picky than you, how silly...

Tiger

 

[ajpa]

Since I can't get an Ohana dinner ressie (waah ... and I am a meat lover and a bread pudding monster!!!) I will just believe in all the negative reviews.

 

[Ciciwoowoo]

We ate there on Saturday, November 21st and we just loved it! I do have to say though, we had one vegetarian in our party and me, who currently has gestational diabetes. We had noted this on our reservations. The chef (I believe his name was Chef TJ...I've seen his photo here on the DIS) came to help us both and he was super! He asked me how many carbs I could have with the meal and told me to pretty much stay away from most of the meat as it was cooked with honey. He prepared a special salad for me (a balsamic kind of dressing) and a plate of gorgeous abundant steamed shrimp and the wings without the sauce, along with some rice. I tried a nibble of some of the meats and my shrimp far surpassed the regular offerings! Also, the chef made a special dessert for me from a won ton wrapper, cinnamon apple, some raspberries and sugarless caramel.

I have seen pics here on the Dis of the special vegetarian meal the chef made for my sister in law. She loved it! Every night, both she and I wished we could go back and eat at O'hana. We loved this place!

 

[crabbygal902]

Different strokes for different folks!

Wow, it seems that most people either LOVE it or HATE it! Well, we're kinda in the high middle area. We certainly like it well enough and this is why:

After a busy day of touring, it is nice to sit back and enjoy a Lapu Lapu...or two!

We have had better food other places at Disney, but there is something different and special about 'Ohana for us. And the men in our group LOVE the unlimited meat on a stick!

We have been fortunate to have wonderful servers and we enjoy the Hawaiian lady who gets the kids involved in the limbo and coconut races. Since we have a child with a food allergy, we always talk to the chefs and they are just great about accommodating our needs.

The character breakfast is really good there, too.

We always schedule it as the last dinner of our Disney vacation before we leave early the next morning. The happy, laid-back atmosphere and a table full of good food makes what could be a very depressing night for us a happy one.

And that's why we like 'Ohana!

 

[si-am]

We ate dinner at Ohana last Tuesday (11/24) and were not disappointed. Service was great, the food was as good as it always is.

I've never been a big fan of the meats there (I find them dry and overly salty, especially the pork) but the shrimp were really good and I ate SO MANY of the dumplings.... they were delicious!

Our server was great about bringing more food when we asked for it and refilling drinks.

No complaints!

 

[bairdbeth]

We ate at Ohana on 11/20 and loved it! Our food was piping hot and abundant. The Ohana lady was there entertaining the whole time and giving out leis. Lots of games too! The shrimp is my favorite and I actually had to let it cool down before I could peel it. This was our 2nd time to Ohana and we loved both times.

 

[MickeyEars]

This is our favorite meal at Disney!!! I can eat my weight in the shrimp alone!! We love it so much we usually go twice during our stay. I just made our ADR's last week and once again we have 'Ohana for dinner twice during our 9 nights there. We've never done the breakfast so I also booked that.

Carla

 

[ChrisnKim913]

'Ohana is my favorite restaurant period. That said, we went with some friends in late October and we noticed a drop in service. The food is still great but the service isn't what is used to be. probably a sign of the times. I will still be going back regardless.

 

[doclegler]

We ate at 'Ohana Nov. 10 and had a WONDERFUL time. We have been there twice, and loved it both times. I'm sure service varies by person, so I can't really speak for that. We have had great servers, and this time, were seated right at the window looking to the castle.
The food was well prepared and it came in a timely manner...except for dessert which did take a little longer. Otherwise we had no wait for anything.

 

[bozley0621]

Has anyone felt rushed if their ressie was late in the evening....9:30ish p.m. late?

 

[princessmom29]

We were there for dinner tuesday night and LOVED it!!! The food was really good, and DD loved the entertainment. She had a ball doing the hula, limobo ect. I really enjoyed the salad, and the duplings got a thumbs up from everyone including DD6. I do not normally eat chicken wings and I ate 3 of theirs. All the meat was fresh, hot and tasty. The noodles were pretty good, but they are nto something I normally like so i am not a great judge. Dessert was awesome! Definitely a meal we will do again.

 

[rapriebe]

We ate at Ohana twice on our last trip. The first meal was absolutely perfect. Everything was very good and cooked perfectly. The service was the best we have ever had, not rushed and always there when we needed them.

The second time we went, about 4 weeks later, and it was horrible. We were seated and then we waited, and waited and waited. Finally a waitress came and got our drink orders. After we got the drinks, still no food. Finally caught up with her at a nearby table and had to ask for some food. She asked if we wanted some pork or turkey. I was like, duh, we would like to get our salad first. Waited some more and finally had to ask for pot stickers and wings and she again tried to give us some of the meat she had on a skewer instead of the next meal course. Our entire meal continued in the same fashion and what made it worse was that the restaurant was not full. The main dining room was pretty empty for a large portion of the time we were there. This visit was one of the longest meals, I believe we were there for almost 2 hours. I was so ticked when we left - I felt like I had to beg to get any food. Our water and soda were never refilled and remained empty through most of the meal. Unfortunately since we had a TIW card, their tip is automatic. I know I could have discussed it with a manager but that would not have pleased my "better half" at all.

Next time I'll just hope for good service - everyone has a bad day, can't get good service all of the time.

 

[portocall]

We ate at Ohana on November 24th. Everything was terrific, from the service to the food. It was our favorite meal of the trip. Even the 5 year old rated it above all the others, including Chef Mickey's which he loved.

 

[goofy4prez]

We ate at Ohana for the first time on our last trip in Jan. 09; we loved the place. I read the reviews and was very concerned and actually almost cancelled my ADR. I'm glad We didn't listen. We will be in WDW next week throuigh Christmas and have an ADR again for Ohana.