Should I keep Ohana Ressie?

[CowboyCO]

I've got an Ohana reservation for our next trip. We've been there three times. First time (before the menu change) is was fantastic. Second time, had an 8:20 ressie so we could see Wishes at 9:00. Got there 10 minutes earlt and finally got seated 9:15. Table in the back corner away from the main dining room. Lousy service (I had to get up and go ask for water). All the food got dropped at once. Ignored the whole meal.

Went a third time and they tried to drop the food all at once and I sent them away and let them know there was no rush, that we would like the main dishes after salad and appetizers. The meal was OK, but there was a sense of "rush them in, rush them out.

This trip, in addition to Ohana ressie, we have Tutto, Liberty Tree, Chef De France, Cape May, Whispering Canyon, Rose & Crown, Captain's Grill and Garden Grill. We are on DDP (deluxe) and are staying at AKL Jambo.

I'm struggling because there really isn't any benefit of deluxe dining at Ohana and it has been hit or miss (mostly miss). Do you have a favorite restuarant to suggest? Boma and Sinaa are out of the picture. This night that I have Ohana on is late in our trip so location really isn't an issue as we will be in "hopping mode" at this time in our trip.

 

[VAN]

I have had similar experience with O'Hana as your's. I used to LOVE IT. Then things started going downhill ... menu change, then service which was worse and worse with each visit.

I dropped O'Hana from my favorite list very reluctantly; however, just by wishing it, won't make it go back to the fabulous experience that it used to be.

Since you are on the deluxe plan, I would suggest:

Hoop-de-Doo Review dinner show (love-love-love it!)
Polynesian dinner show (never been, but might be fun)
One of the deluxe restaurants you find at the Grand Floridian
Deluxe restaurant located in and near the Boardwalk/YC/BC

 

[CowboyCO]

I have had similar experience with O'Hana as your's. I used to LOVE IT. Then things started going downhill ... menu change, then service which was worse and worse with each visit.

I dropped O'Hana from my favorite list very reluctantly; however, just by wishing it, won't make it go back to the fabulous experience that it used to be.

Since you are on the deluxe plan, I would suggest:

Hoop-de-Doo Review dinner show (love-love-love it!)
Polynesian dinner show (never been, but might be fun)
One of the deluxe restaurants you find at the Grand Floridian
Deluxe restaurant located in and near the Boardwalk/YC/BC

Thanks for the response. The deluxe plan doesn't get you those signature restaurants without burning two TS credits. Deluxe gets appetizers and desserts, plus TS at every meal. Thinking about maybe the Wave at Contemporary?

 

[VAN]

Yes, but don't you get 3 TS for each day? I've never had it but thought it was more than enough to double-up on.

 

[wvulion]

We had a nice experience at the Coral Reef in EPCOT the last time we went-the service was great, the food excellent, and the view was fun (dined with a diver). It might be worth a try. We also really like the Brown Derby at HS for a nice escape from the park. I think the O'Hana thing is sadly, becoming more common. I have had more luck with breakfast there than dinner--maybe switch up your time if it's a sentimental favorite, as it is with me.

 

[CowboyCO]

Yes, but don't you get 3 TS for each day? I've never had it but thought it was more than enough to double-up on.

We're actually doing DVC, so we split the deluxe up, so we have 3 TS for every two days. It's a loophole for DVC that is allowed so you can add DP to specific days. We're doing a nice breakfast every other day, and TS every night.

 

[bluejasmine]

You know more and more ppl are complaining about that rushed feeling at Ohana.. I bet because they are so busy they tell the staff to work through the meal quickly.. I tell you what I will NOT be rushed, I will be sure to tell our waiter as soon as our meal begins.. I wouldnt dream of making another family wait really BUT at the same time we pay for our meal like everyone else..

 

[HunnyJar]

You know more and more ppl are complaining about that rushed feeling at Ohana.. I bet because they are so busy they tell the staff to work through the meal quickly.. I tell you what I will NOT be rushed, I will be sure to tell our waiter as soon as our meal begins.. I wouldnt dream of making another family wait really BUT at the same time we pay for our meal like everyone else..

It seems like you just can't please some people. Some people will complain if they are served too slowly while others will complain if the food comes out too quickly. I totally agree with you when you said you would talk with your server. They aren't going to know unless you tell them. Our last visit was last February and we were definitely not rushed at all. But had we felt that way, we would have said something then and there about it.

 

[WTP]

We very much enjoyed our meal at Ohana in Dec '09. We were seated very, very late but our server was friendly. We didn't feel she was that attentive. Still, I tried very hard to find a good ADR time for us on this trip but couldn't find anything before 8, so we're trying the Wave instead. The menu looks very appealing to me!

 

[disneygotogirl]

Just ate at ''Ohana a few nights ago and it was great. Could you try for an earlier reservation? Seems like all the "fireworks view" restaurants are crazy around fireworks time. you could always plan to end your meal around Wishes time, and watch from the beach.

 

[disneylvrnMS]

We ate at Ohana last week and we did not feel rushed at all. Our reservation was for 8:00 and we didn't actually arrive until 8:10 due to transportation delays. We were seated about 5 minutes after we checked in. Our meal was great and the service was also great.

Our child was actually doing the coconut race when the server brought our desert. The waiter waited until he had finished the coconut race before he brought his ice cream out so that it wouldn't be melted.

 

[VAN]

I do hope things are improving.

The time before last, we were virtually ignored by our "cousin" ... we had to continually flag down other "cousins" all night to request our next course, and not just the meats!! I think we actually sat 20 minutes between courses with no cousin in sight!! I think we ended up being at our table for 2-1/2 hours ... we even had to flag down a different "cousin" to ask for our bill.

Again, I hope things are improving because it has been heartbreaking to see a place that used to be so great be SO BAD!!!

 

[River Country]

3 weeks ago was my first and last trip to Ohana. Besides the service i didnt think the food was that good. OK the Dumplings and wings were good, but all i heard about was this phenomenal meat on skewers. I thought it was dry and the shrimp were good but i had to peel them just not what i was expecting.

 

[Quin]

We ate there 1 week ago and had a great experience. Knowing that 1) seating can be slow and 2) service is as fast or slow as you wish, I made our ADR for 7:35 on a night when Wishes was at 9 pm. We checked in at 7:30 and I told the desk that we would like to be seated somewhere where we could see the Castle - not asking for a direct window seat, just didn't want to be off in the side room - and offered to wait until such a table was available.

We were seated before 8 pm and got a table right on the window with a perfect view of the castle. We seemed to have 2 'cousins' serving us, one of whom was apparently new & nervous (dropped a few things) but pleasant and anxious to please. After we explained to both of them that we wanted to take our time and waved them off when they wanted to drop more food before we were ready, it worked fine. We watched Wishes before we even started dessert. They did indeed dim the lights and pipe in the music. Wonderful!

 

[t_daniels]

Can I ask why Boma is out of the picture? We didn't eat in restaurant, but we ordered room service from there one evening, (didn't want to do the buffet style eating) and it was wonderful. Granted, it probably wouldn't be as fun for a family as a themed restaurant..