What am I missing-Ohana breakfast

[cheshirealliekat]

Ohana seems to be a very popular choice for breakfast. I am real trying to understand why? The menu is underwhelming and it is very hard to understand why anyone would pay $24+ for scrambled eggs and Mickey waffles?! And you can't order an adult beverage to help ease the mind about the price? Even with Disney's inflated pricing in mind it seems...insane. What am I missing?

 

[sharonabe]

It's a character breakfast. You have the price wrong, though. It's nearly $32 for adults and a little over $19 for kids. It's the same price as all the other character breakfasts.

One thing that makes it different is the food is served family-style at your table. You don't have to get up and get it yourself. Some families, especially with littles, prefer this method.

It's also the only character meal with Stitch!

 

[Kimberly9701]

Characters there are great.

Family style a plus.

Kids learn what "Ohana" means

Kids also go in a Congo line around the restaurant following the characters and each one gets a maraca to shake. - Adorable!

 

[PetePanMan]

Glad you asked the question as I have been wondering about this too. Price seems so high for what you get (even with characters)

 

[Kimberly9701]

Glad you asked the question as I have been wondering about this too. Price seems so high for what you get (even with characters)

We did 7 character meals, I think.. And Ohana was our favorite for sure! It's in line with all of the other character breakfast pricing - but with better food and atmosphere. . The coffee is good, everything was good. No complaints here
And, personally I prefer family style over a buffet any day.

Edit--- To be fair, if you couldn't tell from my avatar, my son's favorite character is Stitch. One of the main reasons we stayed at Poly. But we would have loved it either way.

 

[22Tink]

I'm probably in the minority here, but I found 'Ohana breakfast really underwhelming. I was really disappointed. The food was terrible. So dry like it had been under the warmers for hours, and the character interactions felt very rushed. Definitely not worth the price IMHO. I was glad we had free dining. People do seem to love it but I probably wouldn't go again.

 

[bbak30]

Probably because it's a character meal. We have never been. I can't see paying that much!

 

[pjweaver]

I prefer Garden Grill or Tusker House for character breakfasts, much better interaction with the critters. We always have breakfast once at Kona Cafe in the poly where it is cheaper and better food, but no characters.

The question for op is are you looking for good food or an interactive experience? Keep in mind that anything on WDW property costs more.

 

[Lisa F]

I travel solo with my son and we had a great time there in 2014. The food is basic but when it was served to us it was hot and fresh. He is a picky eater so no matter what elaborate breakfast creations are on the menu, he will eat mickey waffles and bacon and he will do some damage at an AYCTE place and I won't have to feed him again for hours. We loved the character interaction when we were there. Family style is my preference since it doesn't involve me juggling two plates to serve both of us without leaving my 6 year old alone (he is on the spectrum and has some fine and gross motor coordination issues and plates will land on the floor if I let him hold his own, esp with all of the distractions at Disney). He will be 8 when we go next and it might be a little easier at buffets with him then but still it is so much more relaxing to have the food served.

I did not find it cold or dry or unappealing in any way (and I am pretty picky) but I will say that I just hold my nose and pay whatever things cost at Disney when I go. NOTHING is worth the price you pay there... outside of Disney. I grew up in NYC and I live on Martha's Vineyard now so I am somewhat used to high prices, but I never really go into anything and say "this isn't worth what I paid" unless it is a BAD experience (which I have luckily never really had). I just go in assuming the price is the price and it comes out of the vacation budget and vacation isn't real life and who cares if I can get a whole dozen eggs for 1/10 the price of the breakfast that "Just" includes plain scrambled eggs, breakfast meats, basic potatoes, fruit and waffles. Stitch! We had an awesome time with great character interaction when we went and will go back. Maybe for adults only there are more appealing choices but honestly (and no one kill me) I never really understood the appeal of character meals for adults only myself. If I was without my kid I would be picking restaurants based on food and atmosphere only and the more serving and less screaming and whooping, the better! But with my kiddo... well we will do Ohana again, Garden Grill (he is looking forward to the cinnamon roll the size of his head, I am looking forward to sitting and being served), Tusker House, CP and Hollywood and Vine seasonal dine for characters. The character meals were the highlight of our last trip and I ended up adding CP at the last minute they were so awesome! It turns a meal into an event, esp with a kid who has a hard time waiting on boring slow moving queues for characters. He does alright on ride lines esp with fastpass and careful planning.

 

[Minnesota!]

I have always wondered, too. The whole thing just looks blah to me. I want some variety when I pay that much for food!

 

[aaarcher86]

The food you end up getting are the staples we always end up getting at the buffets anyway. The atmosphere is really fun. We just love everything about it.

Honestly, I didn't even know what the price was until someone posted it. Enjoying ourselves and having fun is worth the price for us. The food has always been good. The bread is delicious. I LOVE the juice, and the characters/music are entertaining.

I don't think it's any crazier than people paying outrageous prices for BOG breakfast. At least I get some characters at Ohana.

 

[DTW2WDW]

We are going in two weeks and have an Ohana breakfast booked, 4 adults, 2 kids. It's really hard to ignore the price when Kona Cafe by all accounts has much better food for half the price. How much is meeting Stitch worth? Especially now that he's in the Magic Kingdom too. I suppose it's still a bit of a 'value' compared to Chef Mickey's (though they have a full roster of the classic characters). Hmm...

I really need to turn that part of my brain off soon and just enjoy the ride!

 

[Nancyg56]

'Ohana is our favorite character breakfast and is generally our farewell meal. The character interaction is really good, and for my crew, not all realated by blood but family just the same, 'Ohana means something special.

The food is served family style, and so far, has been hot and fresh, delicious and plentiful. I have found that in terms of character meals, this one is the least expensive for what we got.

DTW2WDW- we had to tell my DH to stop looking at the prices, because he was shell shocked. WE even get the DDP to make sure he does not look, and still....He spent one trip saying "It's only money!" And we asked hm "WHo are you and what did you do with Buddy?????"

I will say that he just saw a video of our precious Nola belting out the lyrics of her Frozen songs at the sing-a-long and told me that alone was worth every penny spent.

 

[JustCallMeMommy]

Stitch has always been DD's favorite character, so this meal is a good fit from that perspective. Like most of the character meals, much of the cost is in the "experience." That said, I much, much prefer the food here to Chef Mickey's or the other Disney breakfast buffets I have tried, with the exception of 1900 Park Fare (loved it). At 'Ohana, the food comes out hot, and they bring you more of the things you like. I don't have to watch someone else's kid manhandle the food I am about to eat or wipe their nose then pick up a serving utensil. DD's favorite thing in the world is the juice at 'Ohana also, though I think you can get it at Kona and a few other places, too.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

With little kids, the AYCTE character meals are the absolute, utter best.

This is why I recommend Garden Grill and Ohana breakfast to many, because you don't have to juggle buffet plates for shorties while looking for the character pass.

 

[quagmire0]

We went to 'Ohana on our first family trip. I thought the food was decent, not spectacular - but the nice thing is that it is family style. No having to shuttle back and forth to the buffet to feed your family. Service was great and we got plenty of time with the characters. the Polynesian also has a cool ambiance to it, IMO. You're going to find an inflated price for all of the character meals. To be honest, if I didn't have kids, I probably wouldn't go to any character meals. I'd probably go somewhere else that serves a better breakfast.

Going back to price - we only go to Disney about every three years or so. I search and plan (for just about a whole year leading up to the trip) to find the best bargains for housing, transportation and tickets so that when we get there we don't have to nickel and dime ourselves when it comes to dining.

 

[cheshirealliekat]

I guess I can see the appeal of the AYCTE when you are juggling multiple small children and trying to get them plates. We only have one child, so it isn't difficult for us to juggle the buffets for now. We have done 1900 Park Fare for breakfast and dinner and really enjoyed it, so I guess I was just shocked at how limited the menu was at Ohana. I try to find a balance between characters and foods I would like to try when it comes to planning the meals. I expect the inflated Disney pricing, but it's weird to me how they price the meals so similarly despite the difference in food offerings.

 

[Lisa F]

With little kids, the AYCTE character meals are the absolute, utter best.

This is why I recommend Garden Grill and Ohana breakfast to many, because you don't have to juggle buffet plates for shorties while looking for the character pass.

yes. FAMILY STYLE RULES!

 

[Lisa F]

I guess I can see the appeal of the AYCTE when you are juggling multiple small children and trying to get them plates. We only have one child, so it isn't difficult for us to juggle the buffets for now. We have done 1900 Park Fare for breakfast and dinner and really enjoyed it, so I guess I was just shocked at how limited the menu was at Ohana. I try to find a balance between characters and foods I would like to try when it comes to planning the meals. I expect the inflated Disney pricing, but it's weird to me how they price the meals so similarly despite the difference in food offerings.

Well for any kind of a family style meal, the menu has to be somewhat limited because otherwise you will end up throwing away a lot of food. I think they just went with the basics that everyone would enjoy in this particular breakfast probably because it works with how the kitchen is set up. Buffet restaurants set up that day running buffet meals all day are probably more set up to prep, store and present more variety. Garden Grill has an all you care to eat that has a similar menu but with a couple of variations. I think they are just variations on basics that have the most appeal... juice, fruit, bread, eggs, breakfast meat, breakfast potatoes and some kind of sweet starch for syrup. I'm sure these have the widest appeal and I bet that mickey waffles and bacon go twice as fast as anything else on any buffet even with interesting choices.

 

[disneyfav4ever]

You're paying more for the characters.