Ohana's not what it used to be

[brertoad]

We stopped going to 'Ohana's for dinner. We have been about 5-6 times over the last couple years and it just never was as good as the first time. The service can be spotty, sometimes the meats are dry and overcooked, or they don't bring refills in time. They are so stingy with the shrimp, they ALWAYS bring it last, so we're eating chicken and waiting for shrimp the whole time. Took the in-laws here around Christmas time two years ago and they weren't impressed, and felt like a waste of money, I had high hopes. I think that was probably the last time we went.

My favorite thing is the bread pudding - love it, but it doesn't make sense for me to pay $45 a person for bread pudding. Tambu lounge offers individual sized portions, yay.

 

[smiths02]

We just went Feb 4th. The service was okay. But almost slow...noodles came way after the first meat. Oh, and no hot towels anymore? The singer guy was nice.
The food was not as good. The salad is not nearly as good. The bread needs butter (but it hasn't changed). The noodles and veggies are okay, but the noodles seem sweeter than before...almost too sweet but still okay.
The pot stickers were overcooked.
The chicken wings were not good...it was like someone just poured paprika and chili powder and oil over them.
The meats were cooked except for overcooked shrimp...like so overcooked you could not remove the peel.
Dessert was excellent.
We are through especially now that my family would pay 3 adults and 2 kids.
We loved it in 2009 and 2011 and thought it still good in 2015, but just not worth it anymore.

 

[brinkley07]

Thank you for posting! We were so disappointed at our last visit that it made our do not return list for a while. Overall the food seemed to be mediocre at best, the wait staff unavailable, the meal rushed, and poor manners of other guests reaching over an in front of my husband while he was eating to get a picture of their child. I love a good pic of my kid, but not at another persons expense. We were saddened by the decrease in quality and the overall lack of respect by others. I would rather go to one of the resorts other restaurants where there is a more welcoming atmosphere and an appearance that staff want to perform their jobs. Too many other GOOD choices.

 

[POOHDRMR]

We had so many wonderful memories of Ohanas when our kids were little. They still do hula lessons for the kids, etc. but somehow everything feels rushed and thrown together. We had a window view which was very pretty with all the buildings lit up. The service in't what it used to be-very rushed and not very friendly. The friendliest person was the chef who came over to talk to us because of food allergies. The waitress and her helper seemed peeved, kind of just rushed along. I don't know if they were short staffed.
The food-shrimp, chicken and steak were decent.
Salad was good. They now serve noodles instead of rice and stir fried veggies. I liked the rice better. Veggies were good. Desert was bread pudding with real vanilla ice cream on top. Kids got chocolate brownie cupcakes with white frosting and mini m&ms on top. I asked for a brownie and it was unbelievably great!
Overall it was fine but expensive for the bad service we got.

We go to Ohana every trip and 2 trips ago the service was terrible also-we were put in the other room and we had to ask the bus boy to get our waiter because he never came around to check on us or bring the chicken nuggets we ordered the kids.It took forever too. I was hesitant to try again last trip because it is expensive and my great memories were shaded from last time but we decided to try again and it was wonderful-probably one of the best of the trip.The kids had fun the waitress was friendly and cheery and the food was all good. Now over the years the food has changed(I miss the potatoes) but the bread pudding is really what I crave-and I don't eat any other bread pudding! and that has stayed the same. I hope if you give it another chance it is better-I completely understand how service there can make the difference.

 

[bella2117]

The last time we ate at Ohana we got terrible service. First we waited almost an hour for our table (yes i made reservations way in advance) Finally get seated. We got our potstickers and noodles and then NOTHING. We just thought maybe it was just taking a little longer than usual but then someone came by and asked if we ready for dessert and we told her we didn't even get our meat yet!!! At that point EVERYTHING was beyond rushed to the point where they were throwing the food on our plate. It just left a bad impression but that was two years ago. We are trying again this year and hoping for the best. the first time we went was AMAZING!! I'm making an early dinner reservation this time.

 

[Lisa F]

Ohana hasn't been what it used to be for like the last 15 years. It seems very hit and miss - sometimes people have a great experience, sometimes terrible.

 

[TCARON]

Similar vote here. We avoid O'Hana's and head for the bar, then Kona's.
Too bad, used to be a ritual for each trip.

 

[senadler]

I have been holding on to a dinner reservation at Ohana for our spring trip, but I think I have decided to order the Ohana Feast through room service instead. I have seen a number of good reviews, and I was concerned about the timing on our arrival day anyway. My DS5 and I should be able to just split one adult meal, and the credits will be the same as dining in the restaurant.

 

[striker3636]

Oh dear! We had an awesome experience when we came here for dinner in 2006! For our upcoming girls trip, DD14 picked this breakfast as her one character meal (no DDP, and on a budget). Now I'm a little worried!

 

[North of Mouse]

They now serve noodles instead of rice and stir fried veggies. I liked the rice better.

I have always enjoyed the noodles, but this past time they were very dry. Have been going for many years, but never remember them serving rice!

We just went Feb 4th. Oh, and no hot towels anymore?

We also were just there and we had the hot towels for our sticky hands. Maybe your server just forgot them??

But, we do feel like the food was not as good as it usually is. We probably will not go back there in the near future. Our service, and server were fine, but other than the bread, salad, and yummy dessert, we felt that the meal was just so-so. Never felt that way before there. Have always gone there every trip. Sadly, this is kind of the way we're starting to feel about our whole Disney experience.

 

[senadler]

Oh dear! We had an awesome experience when we came here for dinner in 2006! For our upcoming girls trip, DD14 picked this breakfast as her one character meal (no DDP, and on a budget). Now I'm a little worried!

This is still our favorite character breakfast, and I think it is dinner that most people are having issues with. The service at breakfast can be a little spotty, but it is a few dishes all served family style, so it doesn't really require attentive service. We were there with a party of 10 in October and did not have an issue with getting refills on food or drinks.

 

[Stinkerbelle_628]

Our boys listed O'Hana as their favorite restarant from our last trip - we are planning to go again in December. Hopefully, it will improve by then!

 

[tmiller33]

We dined at Ohanna this past Friday night. We have gone every year for the past 6 years. We had really good service and were not rushed at all.
I will say the quality of the food has gone down allot. Except the shrimp all of the food was cold. The pieces of steak I was served was very tough and had grizzle.
The flavor of the noodles has also changed. They were on the bland side. My family still loves this place and we will probably be back again but may give it a few trips before we return.

 

[bbak30]

Unfortunately I have to agree. We LOVED 'Ohana the first 3 times we went. Talked it up to our families and couldn't wait to take both sets of parents in October.
It was ok, but not amazing at all. The skewers were few and far between. Everything was either under or over cooked. Very disappointing. We will skip it next trip.

 

[mdsouth]

Wow, sad to hear that the majority of people hear are reporting the downhill slide of service and food.
As other have said, if Disney promotes this as an all-you-can-eat dining experience and expect you to pay for this experience than they had better come through. The reviews here indicate that not only is it hard to track down a server to request additional food but many do not even get a decent amount of food served to them in the first place.

Sad, sad, sad and another example of how Disney is failing to keep up its high standards.

 

[gonemousin']

Curious if people have had any luck complaining to restaurant management about their issues? The negative stories all share a theme. With enough complaints or refunds being issued for poor experiences, I'd think this would escalate to executive management quickly.

 

[smiths02]

Wow, sad to hear that the majority of people hear are reporting the downhill slide of service and food.
As other have said, if Disney promotes this as an all-you-can-eat dining experience and expect you to pay for this experience than they had better come through. The reviews here indicate that not only is it hard to track down a server to request additional food but many do not even get a decent amount of food served to them in the first place.

Sad, sad, sad and another example of how Disney is failing to keep up its high standards.

There was too much of the salad, wings, noodles...although timing was off
There was enough dessert,
It was the meat that I think made the slow, weird service suffer...they give you like two pieces of steak..and the beef has always been inconsistent because it's not filet mignon...so I would kind of speak up when they FIRST come with skewers that you want the meat...we had to wait FOREVER for those extra two pieces of meat. The chicken wasn't worth bothering for me (it was just okay), and the shrimp were inedible because of the shells (they have been better in past visits and it was probably just this time)
I think they try to make it cheaper by coming with bread, salad, wings, noodles, dumplings...cheaper food to make...then steak they only offer two pieces, then shrimp is in the peel so it takes longer to eat LOL Then more steak took forever so I was eating more dumplings

My biggest issue was really that the noodles, salad and wings were just not that great...the flavor had changed, not for the better.

 

[smiths02]

Curious if people have had any luck complaining to restaurant management about their issues? The negative stories all share a theme. With enough complaints or refunds being issued for poor experiences, I'd think this would escalate to executive management quickly.

I didn't feel anything was bad enough to demand a refund or talk to manager. It was just okay and not as good as before.
I did, much to the chagrin of my DH because it took like 10 minutes, take a dining survey in Magic Kingdom one afternoon, but that did not include Ohana
I also took the survey when I got home.

It seems like specific restaurants don't care about feedback, though. In the real world, restaurants give you comment cards or the manager stops by the table...even at chains like Outback.

 

[Nebraska_Disney]

2009 was great, 2011 was good, 2013 was not good (bad/slow service) and now we have a reservation coming up. We have only gone for dinners and have seen the changes many speak about. We are going to try it again this year for dinner and also have a reservation for breakfast on another day.

I have noticed at Ohana, at dinner time, the later you go, the more rushed it feels and the more backed up it gets. I'll be sure to flag down anyone bringing meat out, even if I am not ready for it, as I don't want to sit there waiting all night. We will see how it goes.

 

[Nancyg56]

Wow, sad to hear that the majority of people hear are reporting the downhill slide of service and food.
As other have said, if Disney promotes this as an all-you-can-eat dining experience and expect you to pay for this experience than they had better come through. The reviews here indicate that not only is it hard to track down a server to request additional food but many do not even get a decent amount of food served to them in the first place.

Sad, sad, sad and another example of how Disney is failing to keep up its high standards.

For my family, there was plenty of food, it just was not good. The service was not great, but we gave our server a pass. She was dodging the party from Hades that was parked right near us. They were running her ragged, and I would have hidden anywhere I could too to get away from them. I think that her treatment offended me more than the lousy food. There was a manager holding the wall up watching the whole thing and did nothing to help her. I would have thrown the whole bunch of hooligans out, or at least told the to keep their rowdy bunch of cheerleader wannabes' out of the aisles, and to stop their chanting, stomping, clapping and singing, jumping and bouncing. But he did not.

The food was mostly not hot. Like it was made ahead and sitting. The meat was tough, dry and stringy. I think that there was shrimp, but did not have any, I don't like it.

Dessert was as good as it always was.