After lunch at Sunshine Seasons we hopped over to Magic Kingdom. We did a few rides and then decided it was time for a snack. GF opted for a pineapple dole whip while I got a swirl. I was hoping for sprinklesI love soft serve ice cream with sprinkles
.yum!but they didnt have any
. We saw some folks who had pineapple and vanilla swirl and decided to mix some of my vanilla w/ GFs pineapple. I liked the combination a lot better than pineapple aloneits just too acidic for me to have more than a spoonful. GF really likes the pineapple, but she thought the vanilla and pineapple swirl was pretty good too.
Our dinner reservation for that night was at Ohana sometime shortly after 8pmI couldnt remember the exact time and hadnt brought the reservation list with us. We got tired at Magic Kingdom and decided we were done with rides for the day, but it was only a little before 6pm. We decided to just head over the Poly and see if they had anything sooner than our reservation (and find out exactly what time our reservation was).
We arrived at the Poly a little before 6:30pm and checked in. I told the hostess that we didnt know when our reservation was and before I could finish the sentence about wanting to get in earlier she quickly said, thats okay, whats the last name? The area around the podium was full of folks who seemed to be waiting to get seated, so I definitely figured they wouldnt have any room for us until our reservation time. The hostess found us in the system, but instead of telling us our reservation time as I expected, she just asked us any allergy or diet restrictions? I told her I was a vegetarian and she started to type this into the computer. She stopped after a few letters and asked, how do you spell that? I was a little confused about what was going onwas she checking us in 2 hours early thinking we wanted to wait in the lounge area that long? Or was she going to get us in earlier? In my confusion (well, thats what Im going to blame it on anyway!
) I failed miserably to spell vegetarian. GF interrupted my failed attempt: Uh, honey, thats not right. Another hostess standing nearby overheard us having trouble and took over the keyboard from the first hostess, apparently typing vegetarian whether spelled correctly or not. This second hostess then handed me a beeper and said to come back when it beeped. I was still confusedthey never said that wed be able to get in early. So I asked how long it would be and she said 15-20 minutes. I thought, hey how lucky! I totally hadnt expected that wed be able to get in early.
We thought wed spend a few minutes outside before it got close to our time to be beeped. I took a look at the pool and GF found an area free of people to have a cigarette. Then we went back inside and sat downstairs since the upstairs seating area was so fullalong with all of the standing area near the walls. The beeper was still flashing green, which I assumed meant it was within range, and I remembered that during our last trip we got the same kind of beeper at Boma and it started beeping at me when I went out of range. We waited until about 20 minutes after we checked in and decided to go upstairs to make sure the beeper was working on the 1st floor. It was really crowded up there and there was no where to comfortably sit or stand w/out being in someones way. We waited another 10 minutes or more and GF decided to ask about the beeperthis was around 7 pm and wed been waiting about 30 minutes. The hostess GF talked to said that it turned out wed be eating closer to our original reservation time30 to 45 minutes laterbecause there were still 10 people in front of us. She didnt explain why we were told 15 or 20 minutes and now it turned out it would take more like an hour and 15 minutes and GF didnt push the issue.
Needless to say, we werent very happy. How could there be 10 people in front of us when 30 minutes ago, there was apparently almost no one in front of us?
We started to wonder if someone just messed up when they told us 15-20 minutes. Maybe the person who told us that didnt realize that our reservation was for so much later? Maybe as people checked in for reservation times earlier than ours we just kept getting bumped back over and over? Of course it would have been totally understandable if they couldnt get us in early, but it would have been good if we had been told that up front. We went back downstairs feeling somewhat annoyed and tried to make small talk. We both were getting pretty hungry so we went through the bag we carried and found some granola bars and such. GF was still starving even after a granola bar.
Once wed been waiting another 40 minutes or so, we went back upstairs to check again. I waited in line for at least another 10 minutes before it was my turn at the podium. While I was waiting I saw another couple bypass the line at the podium and approach a hostess from the side. The hostess talked to them and then grabbed a manager and they began looking at the computer together. I heard the hostess say that the couple had been waiting almost 2 hours and their beeper hadnt gone off, but she couldnt find their reservation. The manager quickly found it, but as he read it out loud I thought he said that the party was listed as already having been seated. He then turned to the couple and apologized and brought them right back to the dining area to be seated. Witnessing this only made me more convinced that there was something weird going on with their system.
When I finally got to the podium, I told the hostess that we were told 15-20 minutes and had been waiting almost an hour and a half. I gave her the name and she looked us up. She cheerfully said, Oh, we paged you already. We couldnt find you. Exasperated, I asked, What?! She asked, Were you downstairs? And when I said yes, she replied Thats why. The pagers dont work downstairs. We paged you
.I want to say
.maybe 45 minutes ago. GF came over at this point and I told her what the hostess said. She looked just as exasperated. The hostess must have noticed our frustration, as she quickly said, Well dont worry. Youre still in the system. Well seat you as soon as possible. As she began to print something out, GF pointed out that 45 minutes earlier was almost exactly the time when she checked about the beeper the first time. So how could they have paged us then, given she would have been standing right at the podium?! She made this point to the hostess who simply insisted that they had paged us at some point and the beeper doesnt work downstairs. As we walked a few steps away, I suggested that maybe the hostess was off in her estimatemaybe they paged us 40 minutes before, when we would have just gotten downstairs. Except, as GF pointed out, that would have been 5 minutes after she had just been told it would be 30-45 MORE minutes until we were beeped. How could they have found us a spot that quickly?
Needless to say, we were feeling a bit annoyed. We had been hoping to see Wisheseither while eating dinner if we were on that side of the restaurant, or outside just before checking in for dinner. But it turned out that I was waiting in line at the podium during almost all of Wishes, which we could barely glimpse out of the window behind the bar. Plus, we were pretty hungry at this point.
Someone came over to seat us a few minutes later and led us to a table set for twoone seat was a chair, one was a booth. On both sides of the table were similar tables. One was about 5 inches away. The other was more like 9 inches away. The table itself was significantly longer than a usual table so GF and I commented that we felt extremely far away from each other. A minute later people were seated at the table to our left and then next at the table to our right. Just trying to talk to GF was difficult because both of us are used to talking pretty loudly to each other. We felt like we had to scream in order to hear each other. And we could hear every word of our neighbors conversation given they were 5 inches away. Also, GF was sitting in the booth part and couldnt arrange the table so that she didnt have to bend over to reach things on the table and this was hurting her back already. I said deflatedly, Well at least its all served family style so we can just eat quickly and then leave ASAP. GF replied, I dont want to eat quickly and run out of here. I want to have a nice dinner. Maybe we can get them to move us. I was sure they wouldnt be able to given we had just waited an hour and a half for the table we had. Luckily, since Wishes had just ended people started leaving the tables closest to the windows and our server was able to move us thoughthank goodness!
Our 2nd table was close to the meat grilling area and right on the edge of the carpeta table for three. We were much happier right away and out came the first bits of foodwoo hoodrinks, wontons, and salad. (Sorry, we goofed and forgot to take pics of this meal!) I loved the peanut sauce
I want some right now! It was GFs favorite of the three as well. We also liked the orange sauce, but thought the green was a little strange. GF described it as tasting kind of like salad dressing. We ate a good amount of the wontons and salad right away, and I started worrying that I was going to get too full way too fast. Next came the shrimp and wings which GF dug into. She loved the shrimp and ate the entire bowl herself. After that were potatoes and veggies. We both loved the potatoes
the best thing at the meal. And then my vegetarian entrée arrived. It was a veggie and udon noodle stir fry with miso broth in a tea press to pour over it. It was very good, but I wished there were more noodles.
By this point wed been eating for awhile, and I wondered if GF would have any room at all for meat since she was devouring the shrimp and potatoes. She could never remember the name Ohana so shed been referring to it as the meat on sticks place yet no sticks had made their way to our table. Eventually our server did bring a little meat, but he didnt come by all that often. Luckily gf was so full that she really didnt need much meat. We ended up asking for more potatoes and wontonslike anyone needs more food after a feast like that! During the meal the entertainment started. I had not told GF that Ohana was kind of like Whispering Canyon with regard to childrens activities. After yelling Alooooohaaaaaa in a scratchy voice, the entertainer called all the children up to play kick the coconut. Their starting line was about one foot away from our table. Next was singing happy birthday and a few other things. Maybe a half hour later she was back again, this time the limbo. Though we could have done without kick the coconut, GF and I agreed that watching little kids limbo was actually pretty cute. I just wonder how any of those kids could be so flexible after such a huge meal! Last came dessertpineapple bread pudding with bananas foster sauce and vanilla ice cream. Yummywe easily ate it all. GF didnt need much of the sauceshe was happy with a less sweet version with just the ice cream. I, however, poured on the sauce; it was the best part!
And finally completely stuffed, we left. Gf and I were both really pleased by the food. In fact, we thought more and more highly of it as the days went on since a couple other of our meals were more mediocre. Were definitely going to go back in the future. The only downside is that people who cant control themselves (like us!) will hurt themselves with so much food.
GF's slogan: "Meat on sticks, oh my!"
Food:
Were definitely going back here. In fact, I wish I could go back right now!
Atmosphere: Noisy with all of the meat grilling and the childrens activities. And theres always the possibility of getting picked on by the entertainers.
Service: Great servers, but clearly some problems at the hostess podium.
as gf says, I always get my way!). 
) I asked if there was any chance of getting a window seat. The host told me that they couldn't guarantee it because they seated people according to whatever table was first available, but they did gurantee that all of their diners would get to see Illuminations.
I hurried that up and tried to follow. I don't know why it was such a big deal that we followed. The viewing area was right there once you got outside. 
) We repeated again: "Michigan." "Oh" he said. He no longer seemed interested. By this point Paula (the hostess) had come back to the podium after having been inside the restaurant for awhile and after having seated a group that had been waiting. She interrupted and told us, "there's an available table now." Yea! We said we'd take it right away. I can't say we were sad to have to leave the drunk people who wished us well.
(Seriously, GF I have significant needs from toilet paper, as you might know if you came across her "What do you do with your toilet paper?" thread.)
