We, too, experienced a miserable check-in at 'Ohana!

[mollygirl13]

I'm so happy I read the DIS!

Thank goodness I knew enough to arrive at 'Ohana early for our 5 pm ADR.

This is what happened to us on January 24th:

We arrived at 'Ohana around 4:20 pm. The CM at the podium would not check anyone in until after 4:45 pm. So DH and I sat down right by the podium.

At 4:30 pm, the line started! So Dh and I got in line. We were 6th in line! At 4:30! No one ahead of us had an ADR. Just us.

At 4:40 pm, the line was now well past Kona Cafe. And it was getting busier and busier. The CM was STILL standing there and was not checking folks in. He was chatting w/ the 1st man in line.

At 4:50 PM, he started checking folks in. Now the line was to the Sushi Bar. Everyone in front of us was on standby. Which takes more time to check in. So, DH and I waited. We finally got to the podium around 5 pm. The CM joked at how we were his first with a reservation. We were checked in immediately and we waited until we were buzzed, which was about 5:10 pm.

Holy cow! When we got seated, the check-in line was SOOO long that I actually felt sorry for the folks in it. It looked like the line was almost out the door. Around 5:05 a 2nd CM came up to the podium and started a 2nd line.

We had a nice meal but the check-in process was a mess. Thank goodness I had the DIS to tell me to arrive EARLY. Otherwise we would have been in line near Kona and probably would have been considered late for our ADR.

And i'm confused as to why there are not 2 lines: one for ADR's and one for stand-by?

I did write an email to WDW Guest Services letting them know of the messy check-in process at 'Ohana. Hopefully they will change something to make the check-in smoother.

 

[J3nn78]

Sorry you had such a bad experience. I just ate there the day of the marathon and we arrived 10 minutes late for our 5:15pm and there was only 1 family in front of us on line. We only waited 5 minutes for our table to be ready. Weird that it was so busy for you.

 

[Don Disney]

We were there in Nov.,and similarly,we arrived AT our time of 5pm to find the line forming to epic proportions.I can't remember how long we waited,but the service was extremely slow....We ended up seeing Wishes(8pm)from our table,instead of in the park like we had planned.Needless to say,we cancelled our 2nd Ohana ressie for the next week.It was a ridiculous wait for our table,and then the"turtle-like"service.The food was pretty good though.

 

[bookbabe626]

That's funny...we had almost the exact same experience...long line, no one started checking people in until 4:45, checked in and seated by 5:05...and I posted another thread saying how my worries had been unfounded, that the checkin experience was great. And I didn't get in the line early like you did, I was back by Kona.

After hearing about all of the people that didn't even checked in, let alone seated, until ages after their ADR time, I was worried I was going to be there forever. Instead, I was already eating salad by the time of my ADR. To me, that's a great checkin, not a miserable one...

 

[MickeyEars]

After years of experience we always book 'Ohana for 5:00 and arrive early. I'm always within the first 5 or so in line but every time we eat there the check-in line is back to the sushi bar within minutes.
There has to be a way to improve the check-in process.

Carla

 

[Tiger926]

Sorry this happened, but this is how they operate for both breakfast and dinner. I feel badly whenever I see that line up, as the food and service are terrible, so that wait becomes even more intolerable at the end of a bad meal.

After 3x, we are done. We have never seen such disorganization and arrogance from a Disney restaurant. Disorganization on the part of staff, and arrogance from the manager who knows he is horrible at his job, and that his restaurant needs a serious overhaul, but he refueses to do anything about it.

Sorry you experienced the chaos and absurdity that is 'Ohana check in, Tiger

 

[Agri]

That sucks. I'm so glad I cancelled our reservation for Ohana then. Most restaurants that are popular like that turn away people without ADRs until they've gotten everyone *with* ADRs first. We have been told to wait several times at other restaurants on property if we try to do a walk-in.

I bet they're also seating more people than they should with this current process.

 

[travelfanatic]

Is there a line at all times or just at opening? We have an ADR in April for Hubby's birthday and it's at 8:15pm just wondering if we should arrive early. This is our first dinner experience at Ohana so I don't want it to be a disaster.

 

[catne]

on a slow Saturday in NOvember, we experienced a line as described above...20 min in line waiting to check-in before it opened...by the time we were seated around 5:15, the line was back to the sushi bar. When we came out at 6.30 or so, the line was still all the way back to Kona's check-in area.

Last May when we ate at Kona on an otherwise slow Saturday, we had a 7.30 ADR at Kona. The Kona line took 15-20 minutes, and the Ohana line went past the sushi bar (turned the corner there) Can't imagine how long it took to get to the check-in. That was the Saturday before Memorial weekend (not looking at a calendar, but think it was around the 20th or so), the parks just really weren't busy yet but Poly's restaurants were.

 

[TDC Nala]

I discovered a new spectator sport in December. Sit at the 'Ohana bar at about 4:30, have a cocktail (you can ask them for the Backscratcher even though it isn't on the menu any longer) and watch the faces on folks showing up for dinner when they see the check-in line. For some reason they were only having one CM at the podium to do the early check-ins and there was no way they'd check anybody in before 4:45. The line grew to epic proportions and may have been back where they were blocking the doors from the monorail. And the bar area was chaos, with all the groups waiting for the first seating. Once they started seating they cleared out the bar area pretty quickly. The servers come out and do a little "opening" ceremony, but there were so many people already crowded into the area that they had some difficulty getting them all lined up for the welcome.

So those reading know, if you have an early reservation there, arrive early and expect the line. I think part of the problem is that the many folks who are desperate to eat there and can't get reservations are told to show up at opening. That advice is given here (it's still probably the best shot at getting a table) and it's given by some of the phone reps at WDW-DINE also. Arriving early to 'Ohana at any time is probably good advice.

 

[mollygirl13]

Does anyone know if the check-in is any easier later in the evening, say 7ish?

Like the PP mentioned, many folks who do not have an ADR come at opening hoping to get in. That is definitely what we encountered since the first 6 folks in line were put on the waiting list.

I'm going back in May with my husband and mother and my mother really wants to eat at 'Ohana. I'm wondering if I make our ADR for a bit later the check-in process may be easier than what we experienced on Jan 24th.

 

[tskover57]

we've always had later ADRs and never experienced a problem. We have an ADR for 7pm this May, this is the earliest we've gone so I hope it's still late enough!

 

[tinkerbell313]

We were there in September with a 6pm reservation and had no wait to check in...now we had a 20 minute wait before our thing-a-ma-jig went off.

We were also there recently, January 25th with a 5:05pm reservation. We waited in that long line. Once it started moving it went quickly for us. We then waited another 10 minutes for our table.

However, a CM was coming through the line asking if we had ADRs...if you did not have one, he would tell the people that they were booked and had no availability.

 

[Momto2PrncChrmgs]

That's funny...we had almost the exact same experience...long line, no one started checking people in until 4:45, checked in and seated by 5:05...and I posted another thread saying how my worries had been unfounded, that the checkin experience was great. And I didn't get in the line early like you did, I was back by Kona.

After hearing about all of the people that didn't even checked in, let alone seated, until ages after their ADR time, I was worried I was going to be there forever. Instead, I was already eating salad by the time of my ADR. To me, that's a great checkin, not a miserable one...

HAHA! I had a similar experience, but waited a bit longer for our 515 ressie-still thought it was a decent experience. We got there early (we had REALLY good luck with busses this trip), about 430, walked around the gift shop, got sodas for the kids and drinks for us (my first LAPU LAPU). Even thought the line was growing, I waited until someone was at the counter before I got in line, and it was back past Kona. I had a nice family in front of me that I chatted with while sipping my drink. took about 15 minutes to get checked in, I think we were seated about 530. Maybe the strong drink clouded my judgement, but I was ok with the experience after hearing the stories.
And we thought the food was just as great as always, could've used more meat, but I'm sure if I would've asked, I would've gotten it. I just filled up on the noodles and pot stickers...and DESSERT! YUM!!

 

[Shagley]

I'm so happy I read the DIS!

Thank goodness I knew enough to arrive at 'Ohana early for our 5 pm ADR.

This is what happened to us on January 24th:

We arrived at 'Ohana around 4:20 pm. The CM at the podium would not check anyone in until after 4:45 pm. So DH and I sat down right by the podium.

At 4:30 pm, the line started! So Dh and I got in line. We were 6th in line! At 4:30! No one ahead of us had an ADR. Just us.

At 4:40 pm, the line was now well past Kona Cafe. And it was getting busier and busier. The CM was STILL standing there and was not checking folks in. He was chatting w/ the 1st man in line.

At 4:50 PM, he started checking folks in. Now the line was to the Sushi Bar. Everyone in front of us was on standby. Which takes more time to check in. So, DH and I waited. We finally got to the podium around 5 pm. The CM joked at how we were his first with a reservation. We were checked in immediately and we waited until we were buzzed, which was about 5:10 pm.

Holy cow! When we got seated, the check-in line was SOOO long that I actually felt sorry for the folks in it. It looked like the line was almost out the door. Around 5:05 a 2nd CM came up to the podium and started a 2nd line.

We had a nice meal but the check-in process was a mess. Thank goodness I had the DIS to tell me to arrive EARLY. Otherwise we would have been in line near Kona and probably would have been considered late for our ADR.

And i'm confused as to why there are not 2 lines: one for ADR's and one for stand-by?

I did write an email to WDW Guest Services letting them know of the messy check-in process at 'Ohana. Hopefully they will change something to make the check-in smoother.

Thanks for the heads up about getting there early. I'm glad you were able to get seated fairly quickly after you checked in and you had a nice meal.

 

[quest4dl]

Seems like an early ADR is most likely to experience the long check-in line due to hopeful standbys arriving early as well.