Question about Ohana

[4tinkerbe]

I've been really curious lately about the Ohana dinner at the Polynesian resort. What made me so curious was in one of my earlier threads, I asked everybody's top three restaurants and I got a lot of people naming Ohana so I have a couple questions:
How is the seating arrangements in this place? Do you have to sit with another family or can you get a private table?

And about the food- Do you get up and serve yourself or do they bring the food to you?

What makes this place so good to you????
THANKS!

 

[vicki_c]

1 - everyone gets their own table
2 - they serve the food to you
3 - we don't really like it, so I can't answer that one

 

[julluvsdisney]

WE LOVE OHANA!!

We love the bread the atmosphere the bread pudding the salad the meat!!! Pretty much everything! I just asked my DH what he loves ohana about ohana and he said "EVERYTHING"! Lol! If you like meat and eating family style you'll prob will love it! If you dont eat meat I would def say stay away beacuse all you get is meat meat and more meat. We go every trip.

 

[Disneylove1228]

We love 'Ohana... before our honeymoon, we never did any TS restaurants... this was the first one we did and maybe that's why it has a special place.. but we tried it again last week since then (Our hm was in November 2008) and it was still pretty amazing! The service is awesome, they made us laugh throughout our meal and brought PLENTY of food !

 

[chocovrdmicears]

1 - everyone gets their own table
2 - they serve the food to you
3 - we don't really like it, so I can't answer that one

The only thing I would change in the above statements is:
3 - We really don't like it, so I can't answer that one

 

[EJKorvette]

We had dinner there just tonight!

Part of our Disney routine of the past two-plus years is to come over to the bar at the Polynesian in the afternoon of the first day of a trip when we drive up. This trip we are actually staying here at the Polynesian (my first time!) and thought we should try to get a walk-in at O`hana's, rather than watch everyone else walk in there as we go to the Kona Café.

Now I have heard Pete's rant about the food v. the value at O`hana's, and really wasn't expecting much. I was pleasantly surprised. I loved the wings, dumplings, broccoli, and noodles, although they all could have been served warmer.

The sauces were good. The chicken was so good it didn't need any sauce. The steak was good, and the shrimp was okay. I didn't care for the pork.

I love bread pudding and I love vanilla ice cream, so I loved the dessert.

I was thinking that the meal was better than the podcast's reviews, until the bill came. Thirty-five dollars each? We certainly didn't have thirty-five dollars worth of food.

I suppose it's good to do once for the experience. Kids will enjoy the kid food that is available and doing the dances and songs along with the Hawaiian entertainer. Next time though we will go back to the Kona Café.

 

[TinkandGoofy'sMom]

Another 'Ohana lover here.
Bread-Yum!
Salad-Fresh!
Pot stickers and wings-Delicious!
Noodles and veggies-Good! My daughter loves the broccoli!
Meat-I like the shrimp best, then the beef. Pork and poultry are ok.
Dessert-Scrumptious!

 

[lpizzuro123]

'Ohana is our favorite place to eat - both in WDW and the regular world.

Here is a picture of the shrimp on the skewers.

And the wonderful dessert.

Linda

 

[All Star Suzy]

Our family has been going to WDW for many, many years. 'Ohana is always on our list of "must-do" restaurants...in the top 3 for both DH and myself.

We love the atmosphere...we've never stayed at the Poly, but we always visit. Love the dark, island feel. There is usually a hawaiian musician in the waiting/seating area which is enjoyable and helps pass the time.

We have been lucky enough to be seated with a beautiful view of the Castle during the fireworks (with the music piped in) which was magical. It's also fun to be seated in view of the wood grille where the meat is prepared.

Food is very plentiful and tasty. We always go during free dining, so cost isn't an issue to us (it would be if we were paying out of pocket!). We enjoy all of the different meats, and I especially like the salad and the bread pudding dessert.

There is entertainment in the restaurant...coconut races and dancing for the kids as well as a woman with a guitar who in our opinion is not very good, but somehow fits into the themeing of the place.

It's a never-miss for us! They've had several menu changes through the years which always annoys us, and then we adjust. It's just a place that screams DISNEY for us. Hope this helps!

 

[graceesmom]

We love Ohana. We love the atmosphere. I love the all you can portions for my husband, but family style service so we don't have to get up from the table to make our daughter's plate. We love the entertainment.

I particularly love the bread, the salad, the noodles, the potstickers and the wings. My husband loves the all you can eat shrimp, pork, turkey and beef. My daughter can eat 2 bowls of noodles by herself.

We all love the bananas foster bread pudding.

 

[disneybliss2]

Our family LOVES Ohana! The food is delicious (I'm not a huge meat eater either. Yes, I enjoy meat, but I can also do without it. Don't feel like you have to be a big carnivore in order to like this place.) The pot stickers and noodles are delicious. The meats are very tasty as well. For the money, you can't beat it since it's all you can eat. I like that they offer kids a different option (chicken nuggets, mac-n-cheese, hamburger, etc.) if they don't like the food that is served family style. Besides the food being wonderful, it's a fun atmosphere for the whole family. My girls love it because they teach them Hawaiian dances, give them leis, and do coconut broom races. It's a cozy, Hawaiian feeling, yet fun. For those reasons, we love Ohanas.

 

[OhMari]

We only paid $28 on March 30th.

We had very good food, but we had to wait for our steak and shrimp. We finally asked. Our waiter had 11 tables, and he was running hard trying to serve us all. After 20 minutes, we finally asked. we waited a long tome too for the desert and all the ice cream was melted. A manager walked by and saw us looking at it and he whisked it away and brought us out a new one.

 

[bdcp]

We love Ohana. The food is good and we love the atmosphere. It's become our first night dinner place. We'll be going our first night again in Oct. We also love to share a Lapu Lapu with dinner.

 

[DeeCeeSW]

I like to gorge myself on the potstickers, shrimp and bananas foster. I am my happiest when eating at 'Ohana. It is our first night tradition. Sometimes it's our first AND last night's meal.

GO FOR IT!

 

[mb_uh]

1. Your own table.
2. They bring you bowls of sides, salad, dessert all family style. Meat is severed to each person.
3. We love it because the food varies from dishes are are good to ones that are great. Not a buffet- too hard with kids. Kids were entertained with games and fun so DH and I could actually enjoy our meal instead of refereeing between the kids.

 

[MissionMouse]

...I have a couple questions:
How is the seating arrangements in this place? Do you have to sit with another family or can you get a private table?

And about the food- Do you get up and serve yourself or do they bring the food to you?

What makes this place so good to you????
THANKS!

Your own table, but realize the location in the oversize room makes a difference. I would recommend waiting longer for a table rather than taking a table behind the grill next to the lounge/bar. The food is presented "family style;" which is a form of regulated buffet, since you are dependent on your server to bring you more, once you request more. Meat quality varies depending on the "chef" working the night of your visit along with the server. Availability can vary from night to night as we have experienced over recent visits. Nothing like the steak becoming available during your dessert. The polynesian influence has declined to meet the DDP participant expectations. This has also result in significant changes over the last decade. Most of the side dishes tend to be prepared in advanced and you can tell by taste or texture or both. Many people love this place and we view it as one of the Disney toruist traps. It provides a unique experience within a great theme, but the food and service is not what it use to be. Now, if you have never dined here you will have no reference to what I have said, so it is highly possible you can have a great time. Personally, we do not do dinner here any more but you recommend the character breakfast.

 

[si-am]

Ohana food quality and service is hit or miss. If you get meat that's not too dry and salty, and a server who will actually bring you more stuff when you ask for it, then it's fantastic.

If either of those things goes wrong, it's miserable.

 

[traylorc]

Ohana food quality and service is hit or miss. If you get meat that's not too dry and salty, and a server who will actually bring you more stuff when you ask for it, then it's fantastic.

If either of those things goes wrong, it's miserable.

Essentially 'Ohana is like any other WDW restaurant....if the food isn't up to your standards and the customer service is subpar your experience will suffer.

I guess I consider myself fortunate. My wife and I have eaten at 'Ohana on multiple occassions and we never had a problem. They have been some of the best meals we have enjoyed at WDW. I love the place, but I acknowledge there are some folks out there who hate it or are not impressed. Different strokes for different folks.

The problem with 'Ohana is that because it's popular you have many loyal folks posting their positive experiences. This in turns creates very high expectations...sometimes unrealistic expectations. Bottom line, I would recommend that the OP try 'Ohana and experience the place for themselves.

 

[catne]

we found nothing to like about 'Ohana. Service was mediocre, "entertainment" was terribly annoying for a party of adults (it's aimed at small children) and the food was terribly disappointing. Cold, bland and oddly spaced/served. So many parts of the meal we had heard such good things about...like the special pineapple bread. It was horrible: cold, rock hard & dry. Obviously leftover from previous day or before that even. Then one dish after another was bland at best, or downright yuck.

Other than this place being all you can eat, we could not begin to see the appeal. What good is all you can eat when nothing besides dessert is worth eating? The grilled meat was either burnt or to tough to eat (and don't know how they manage, but "hot" off the grill was room temp.)

 

[bluejasmine]

Ohana Lover here...

Its a tradition to eat here our first night each trip..

I adore the Poly resort so its what started in back in 2005..

I love that its such a variety of food, in such a casual but fun atmosphere plus it reminds me of my time in the islands.. The low lights, the hawaiin music, the tropical atmosphere and the view of the lagoon and castle cant be beat!

The noodles, wings, dumplings, veggies are my faves..
The grilled meats and sauces are great and the bread pudding is the best!

My DH always get a lapu lapu (drink in a pinneaple) I always get a pina colava its a mix between pina colada and strawberry daquiri so yummy!

DD loves the shrimp!