OK...The Final Word on Ohanas Please!!

[cd&kids]

I know this is one of the old, stand-by Disney classic restaurants....but one that, for some reason, our family has just not gotten around to trying in any of our four Disney visits.
On Friday, November 12th, we are scheduled for our first time!
Probably two-thirds of the comments I read here about Ohanas is very, very positive....but I also seem to notice a lot of negatives. For you Ohanas critics, what specifically turns you off? For you supporters, what specifically do you love?
By the way, we have a 15-year-old son---a football player who eats like crazy! Also two daughters...11 and 7...both fun-loving and easy-to-please food wise.
Thanks everyone! (And anyone who has a p.s. for Friday the 12th...maybe we'll say hi!!)

 

[trampslady]

Ohana lover here! Things we love:

atmosphere--we don't have kiddos but the hula hoop contest and the coconut roll is great fun to watch.

view--sometimes it's of the castle, depending on where you are seated.

transportation--monorail resort.

FOOD--wonderful selection of sides and meat. In our many visits the food has always been fresh and tasty. The skewers are hot and very well seasoned. In fact, we like them so much, I asked for the recipe for the shrimp marinade and the peanut dipping sauce.

I believe you and your family should definitely try it!

 

[DisnutDave]

trampslady stole our answers! Really, we second everything she said. You'll love it.

 

[bjakmom]

We just tried it for the first time in January and LOVED it !! It was the best I had seen my DS (15) eat our whole trip - he liked the (unlimited!) food so much that he just requested having his 16th birthday dinner there in January - don't know if we'll be lucky enough to get a table next to the window again, but we know we'll enjoy our meal and the friendly atmosphere. DDs and I enjoyed the shrimp and pot stickers. We even loved the fresh pineapple and caramel for dessert - perfect way to end the meal (while we watched Wishes, of course!).

 

[scoutsmom99]

We got lucky and had fabulous view of the MK in October!

The appetizers were wonderful we could make a meal out of just those and the wonderful sauces that are served with them! I only had room for one serving of the meats, but they were tasty. I didn't think the dessert was anything fabulous, but my mother and sister just went crazy. Also the atmosphere was great...cousin Jeff came by and my sister (who is 27) said she was done, but she still had some meat on her plate and he said oh you can do one more bite and made airplane noises and fed her another piece. I got a picture and we laughed about it the whole trip!

 

[Aimeedyan]

LOVE IT

- food was good and not typical WDW fare
- we ate until we almost puked. Really.
- felt we got our moneys worth
- fun atmosphere
- great service

I say give it a try - and let us know what you thought when you get back!

 

[UKAnnie]

DH, DD and SIL and I went last May for the first time. Really looking forward to it after all the hype.

OVERALL VERDICT - GREAT DISAPPOINTMENT

I guess the greatest cause was the bad service. We were seated late in the evening and the place didn't look that crowded, but the food was so slow in coming.

We knew it was all you could eat so the first time the servers came round with the food we didn't take that much, expecting they would return soon. We soon ate what we had and then waited nearly an hour before they came again. Everything took forever. We sat with empty plates and glasses for most of the evening.

My DD isn't backwards at coming forwards and can create the most assertive scenes, but because I'm the type who doesn't like any embarrasing scenes, she holds back. She assured me that if she'd been on her own she wouldn't have put up with it. I do wish now that I had said something at the time.

We would never go back there again.

Ann.

 

[mckryan]

Things I disliked -

- the meat was overcooked. Call me crazy, but I like rare steak and meat that isn't dry and chewy.

- the shrimp were messy. Call me crazy again, but I don't want to sit and peel shrimp.

- the wait staff was inattentive, thus it was difficult to get refills on our appetizer/side tray.

Things I liked -

- location, location, location. I love the Poly, and we had a good spot for fireworks.

- great activities for young kids to keep them busy while you wait for your server to remember you're there.

For us, we went once, and that was enough. There are plenty of other restaurants on the property to try out.

 

[disneyrella]

Things we like:

1. Variation of appetizers, and selection of meats and seafood so that everyone finds something they like!
2. Informal, family atmosphere - we like the combination of good food (and service!) with the informality of sitting around your kitchen table. It's good family time.
3. Food volume!! We're not huge eaters, but there are times you just want to have a lot of food available to you. This is one of those times!
4. Monorail access to MK, Epcot - makes it pretty easy to plan around.

Hope you go and enjoy as much as we have!!

 

[HopperFan]

Like UKAnnie, we went in May for the first time, excited by all we read. We will probably not return. I will duck after I post this, but this was our experience. We are not picky and steadfastly love our Disney dining experiences. On to other places.....

Likes ~ Turkey, Steak and Shrimp were delicious. Side dishes were tasty.
View of castle was nice and we sat not far from fire pit which gave it atmosphere.
We were seated very quickly, actually before our PS.

Dislikes ~ Pork was very dry. Did not enjoy peeling messy shrimp.
We had to beg for more than a couple shrimp at a time, which considering how long you waited for them to return was not unreasonable.
While the wait staff was very friendly and seemed to be working hard, they did not get back to us very often.
For that much money I want more variety of side dishes and something more exciting than could be made at home. Pineapple for dessert is not exactly sufficient considering again the price.
Felt like we were sitting on top of our neighbors, felt like wait staff had no room to manuever around us.
Thought the kids games were hokey and my DD (10) was disappointed that it was so preschool-ish. She is a participator by nature, but not this. During game time it was very loud in there.

I guess we expected something more cultural....and we spent alot of money for our family of five and don't feel it was worth it.

 

[TonyS20]

We did not enjoy this restaurant either. I'm still working on my dining reviews, but 14 days is a lot to compile.

As a quick note, we had a great view of the castle. The pineapple bread was very good, but the server (Danyele) was huffy when I asked for more.

The appetizers were not sides. I like potatoes with my meat and was disappointed there was only rice (I didn't like it). My DH did like the pot stickers, but I was not fond of any of the appetizers. I was really looking forward to the green beans, but they were gross at best.

The meat is VERY SLOW to be brought to the table. We were given all 4 meats within 5 minutes of each other and they never returned. The pork was good that night (I guess it just depends), but the turkey was overdone. We don't like sauces on our meat, so we just sampled a little bit of the sauces.

Our server came to clear our dishes and was huffy again when I asked for more pork. (She had already picked up all my dishes.) She asked DH if he wanted more as well or if it was ok for her to pick up his dishes. He told her he was finished.

She brought our pineapple (very good) and 2 pieces of pork for me (no silverware). The pork was pink, so I only had the one bite.

Highlight of the meal - hanging out in the lounge before our PS. Our bartender, Karen, was great! The drinks were awesome!

I know for many this is their favorite restaurant. We tried it and it wasn't for us. We'll be trying many others on our next trip, but will not return here.

 

[leebee]

You know, it really seems like a lot of the dissent about O'Hana's depends on the server. We went for our anniversary on June 26, '04 and were very pleased. I was hesitant about this restaurant because DD (10) does not eat flesh-type meat. (Prechewed, like burger, nuggets, is fine, but not real chicken, beef, pork, fish etc.) I decided it was MY anniversary and this was where I wanted to go, and I'd buy her a burger at McD's on the way home if she was hungry. Anyhow, we had a really good time. Appetizers appeared quickly on our table, and DD enjoyed the green beans, salad, rice and even the potstickers! Just as we were tiring of appetizers, along came the real food; lots of it, hot and tasty. DH asked for about 6 shrimp, they gave him 14! No problem getting seconds, and although some of the beef and pork seemed overdone, we are med-rare meat eaters and there was plenty of this also. We had no problems getting additional servings, and when a waiter (not even our waiter) noticed that DD was not eating, he asked if she'd like him to get her some macaroni and cheese from the Cafe! All in all, I was very impressed. Even enjoyed the pineapple with caramel for dessert; didn't expect any dessert as the website menus all show additional charges for desserts. I really think that if it's a busy night (lots of food being cooked/eaten quickly) and the wait staff is attentive, people have a better time at O'Hana's.

 

[DisLUV]

We will be there during our trip Dec 6-12 and hope to really enjoy this resturant

 

[daannzzz]

I am a 'Ohana lover for the combination of the the atrmosphere, service, food and games. Like at all restaurants the service depends on who you get. I have mostly had great service but one time our waiter was not attentive but his assistant was of great help. Unfortunately the meat can vary in its proper temp and time of cooking. Most of the time it is all really good but there have been times when one or the other kind of skewer was dry or , as on our fisrt trip, the shrimp were mealy. They tend to tweak the menu a bit here and there. One year, after the appetiziers they brought a wok full of rice, stir fried vegetables and chunks of salmon before the skewers. Even with an occaisional slip up it is a great place to eat.

 

[RPrincess]

Everything hopperfan posted is exactly what I would be posting. I just returned and was a bit dissapointed. However, live and learn what and where you like best. I did not think that I would like Boma's but tried it and loved it. Again some will like Boma's and some will not.exactly exactly

 

[Cameo]

Definitely one of our favorites. I could see how the service could certainly ruin it for you. We had a great dinner at Ohanas and two days later ate the character breakfast there. The breakfast food was good, but the service was awful. Our waitress was also handling a large table and didn't have much time for us. Also, we didn't get to see all the characters and we did not have time to wait. We will definitely go again for dinner and will probably try breakfast one more time before taking that off our list. I would say you should give it a try and then judge for yourself. Oh, and don't forget to order a separate dessert besides the pineapple. The chocolate mousse there is my favorite dessert on Disney property. I practically licked the plate!

 

[Cleokitty]

Count us OUT on returning to this restaurant. Food was overcooked and very dry. Service was poor. Too much money to justify giving them a 2nd chance. We're just going to try some other restaurants this trip.

 

[Tony-NJ]

we went back in 98 and liked it. Had great service and the food was good, not dried out. I DO NOT REMEMBER PEEL your own shrimp! For some reason I don't think it was that way back then.

We went last friday night. Me, SO, MIL and another couple. The service was horrible. Our "cousin" was quite rude. We finally got out drinks and appitizers and didn't see him again for 45 minutes. We tried to get his attention a couple of times, I did everything but trip him!

He gave us attitude when we asked for more appitizers. We finally got them after he brought the first round of meats out. The steak was ok, the turkey was dry. I still can't imagine they served peel and eat shrimp! That was gross. Then he came by 30 minutes later with pork. I asked for water at one point, that took 20 minutes. We couldn't wait to get out of there! What a disapointment! It was the only bad meal we had in 12 days at WDW!

If it weren't for the great copmpany, we would have most likely walked out.

After all that I would still say to try it. It may have been an off night for the server. But we will not go back there.

 

[fmed845]

This is my wifes must do restaurant each trip for us and I have no problem with that. We loved the appetizers. The meats are very good. Atmosphere nice and always had great service. Pretty good view too! Always worth a try.

 

[sherry8253]

I thought the meat was dry and tough. But, we may have just caught the restaurant on an off night. Also, our service was not great. My DH waited a long time for shrimp.