‘Ohana

DisneyGirlMI

Also Cute and Fluffy!
Joined
Dec 8, 2012
What’s with all the dumping on ‘Ohana’s lately? Is it really that bad now? I’m truly curious as we’ve always had good meals there. We haven’t been in two years, but we have it booked for this summer. Now I’m getting concerned.
 
Not sure why some don't like Ohana's. We ate dinner there for the first time last month when at Disney. It is a fixed menu and perhaps some don't realize that until they go there. Always a good idea to review the menu before choosing a restaurant. I think it is a great place to take small children since you don't have to order your food and/or wait for it to be cooked. Small children don't have the attention span of adults and find it challenging to wait for food in a restaurant. We enjoyed the food and would certainly go again in the future.
 
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I can't speak to the lunch or dinner but we were just there for breakfast in January. Food was excellent, service was great and the character interaction was awesome! My daughter absolutely loved it and we had a wonderful meal. We would absolutely go again!
 


It's been the same for us every time we've eaten the food whether at the restaurant or via room service in terms of taste.
Would I eat there on an adult only trip? Nope too many other places that spark my interest.

Pretty much a requirement when we travel with kids though and the adults don't mind eating a meal here either.

The only changes I've noted recently is the salad has changed for the better and more veggies are served in the noodle dish.
 
Last June we had dinner there twice and breakfast once. I honestly do not understand the haters because we have never had a bad meal there and we open and close every vacation with dinner there. Its a favorite of just about the whole family.
 


Last June we had dinner there twice and breakfast once. I honestly do not understand the haters because we have never had a bad meal there and we open and close every vacation with dinner there. Its a favorite of just about the whole family.
See, that’s how we feel too. That’s why I’m so confused by all the hate for it lately.
 
I have always wanted to have dinner at 'Ohana and plan to try it this summer. Some of the complaints have been service related and involve food coming out too quickly, etc. YMMV. I'm looking forward to it and think it will be a perfect fit for a group that includes a preschooler, a toddler, and a baby. The continuous arrival of food is perfect for us, but maybe not for others.
 
Not sure why some don't like Ohana's. We ate dinner there for the first time last month when at Disney. It is a fixed menu and perhaps some don't realize that until they go there. Always a good idea to review the menu before choosing a restaurant. I think it is a great place to take small children since you don't have to order your food and/or wait for it to be cooked. Small children don't have the attention span of adults and find it challenging to wait for food in a restaurant. We enjoyed the food and would certainly go again in the future.


My family has dined there many times, and honestly, the food and service was hit or miss, but not terrible. WE are familiar with the type of service as well as the offerings, so that was not an issue in terms of style.

The last time we dined it was a total disaster, and it is going to be a long time before I send my money there again. I refuse to pay for food dumped on my table, stringy tough meat and cold side dishes. I also know what the drinks were supposed to taste like so when several of our standard orders were not drinkable I expect to be accommodated without having to listen to a server trying to explain why it tastes the way it does. I just want it replaced.

This is how the cluster started and it went downhill from there. I am seldom so mad I just pay a bill because anything I say is going to be regrettable. This was one time when it was better to pay and walk away.
 
I think problem is inconsistency. We went in 2016, 2017 and Ohana was the worst experiences of both trips. For the 2018 trip I made a pronouncement that we were not booking 'Ohana. I wasn't waiting 40 mins for a table, someone wanting my drink order before I was in the seat, and mediocre food coming out so fast that I felt like Lucy at the chocolate factory so that they could flip that table asap. That was our experiences in 2016 and 17. My teens whined about tradition and all that stuff and I buckled. We went in 2018 and it was a good time. We were seated in about 15 mins and the wait staff was amazing. The food is still not what it used to be.. but it was okay. Next time I go, who knows what it will be like. I think a lot depends on who is serving you. So far I have not booked it for 2019.
 
Well the reason we disliked it it was not for the service. Our server was simply lovely and the pace at which things served was great. We won't be back because...

A. Waited over 45 minutes past our ADR to be seated and the waiting area was an absolute zoo.

B. Once seated the restaurant was also a zoo.

C. The shrieking ukulele player (now gone) gave me a headache.

D. We were seated on the racetrack around which children were constantly crashing into us or being shoved by their parents during the parades and such. Servers too.

E. The food was awful (dinner). Cold gummy noodles. A bowl of broccoli. Crunchy dry potstickers and the meats were gross.
 
What’s with all the dumping on ‘Ohana’s lately? Is it really that bad now? I’m truly curious as we’ve always had good meals there. We haven’t been in two years, but we have it booked for this summer. Now I’m getting concerned.

I went in January and it was a bad experience that needed manager intervention. It seems like it’s a 50/50 shot of a good experience and for the price they charge I don’t feel like playing a slot machine.
 
Well the reason we disliked it it was not for the service. Our server was simply lovely and the pace at which things served was great. We won't be back because...

A. Waited over 45 minutes past our ADR to be seated and the waiting area was an absolute zoo.

B. Once seated the restaurant was also a zoo.

C. The shrieking ukulele player (now gone) gave me a headache.

D. We were seated on the racetrack around which children were constantly crashing into us or being shoved by their parents during the parades and such. Servers too.

E. The food was awful (dinner). Cold gummy noodles. A bowl of broccoli. Crunchy dry potstickers and the meats were gross.
This was my experience as well. Ukulele player was AWFUL! Waited forever to be seated. The place is a zoo. Most importantly, the food is terrible. Low quality, just not good. Slimy wings, dry pot stickers, dry meat, tasteless noodles. Not impressed at all. Im in no hurry to go back either. And this was a couple of years ago.
 
Low food quality...period.

You can get a better meal with the same food at your local Chinese buffet for $9.
 
We went for a 2 week vacation split between Universal & Disney last August. We had the dining plan at both Universal & Disney, so we were able to enjoy an array of differing Quick Service & Table Service restaurants from both parks. Unanimously, my family felt that Ohana was the most disappointing restaurant from our entire trip, including all of the restaurants we ate at in City Walk. The food at Ohana is HIGHLY overrated, and extremely uneven. The meal was rushed, which went counter to atmosphere the restaurant tries to create. My family loves the Polynesian and this is the worst place to dine in the the entire resort. We had much better quality food in many Quick Service locations such as Satuli' Canteen, The Polite Pig, Wolfgang Puck Express, Captain Cooks and even the Chicken Guy.

I would love to consider that maybe our experience was just a bad night for the restaurant. But after reading so many people having poor meal experiences here I think we were facing the reality of what has become more of the norm. I wonder if those that continue to go there are more caught up in the nostalgia of the place then what it has become. We will not go back - to many other places we would rather try or re-experience. But this is solely our opinion and I respect those that do disagree and love Ohana.
 
We did it for breakfast last year and while the food was OK. The place is one big room and so seems very crowded and loud. My wife did not like how the food was served (the family style, pig slop format as she describes it). Getting food was slow, the characters took forever to get around and we missed some of them. It wasn't worth it for us and from what I hear about dinner, we wouldn't like it either.
 
Well, guests must like O'hana dinner because, at the 180-day mark, there was no availability from December 1st to December 19th, 2019.
 
Every time we walk near 'Ohana in the evening the lobby seems jammed with people waiting for their seats. The price is through the roof, and the quality of seating available (noise, crowding, view) varies widely and is a real coin flip. $200-300 (plus specialty drinks) for a family to eat is crazy. Sorry, we LOVED this restaurant for so many years, but it is seems to be another victim of Disney's greed combined with high demand.

Now the Kona Cafe is wonderful!
 
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