'Ohana or Crystal Palace???

[cltonra]

Help me out! I am so torn! I have reservations for both crystal palace and 'Ohana for a mid day MK break for our family of 8. I figured they would love the food at Ohana but the reviews I am reading are less than stellar and the price tag is more. Any experience with Crystal Palace since it reopened the buffet?

 

[_19disnA]

We enjoyed O'hana during our prior Disney trip. Never been to Crystal Palace so can't help there. The reviews from O'hana tend to be all over the map. I think many do not realize it is a fixed menu and the style of service. Unlike restaurants where you order off of a menu and then wait 25+ minutes for the food, O'hana doesn't work that way. If you have small children it works great since they tend to get fidgety waiting for food.

Make sure to review the current menu as some items have changed recently.

With any restaurant review, I find unless I know what the reviewer likes/doesn't then it is hard to say if that review is of any value to me. Many people seem to like to bash places for no good reason, so perhaps they are the type of people who just like to complain online.

 

[TheOneWithTheTriplets]

I love a breakfast buffet, but lunch/dinner don't do it for me. Since CP isn't serving breakfast yet, I'd do O'hana.

If they expanded back to 3 meals, I'd book the latest breakfast you can at CP so you can eat the breakfast, then do your seconds with the lunch.

 

[jbh275]

O’hana for sure. But if you’ve never been to Crystal place, definitely try it.

 

[jtopp]

Crystal Palace. Service is always fabulous, not so much at Ohana. Also, more food choices at the palace.

 

[DizneyMommy]

Ohana is our must-do meal every trip. We’ve done CP but just for the characters which aren’t there right now I think? The food was okay but it’s just a buffet.

 

[Tonberry]

We booked Ohana during the summer because people who have been there in the past love it and rave about it.
We had a pretty disappointing experience such as tasteless noodles, overcooked meat that didn't have much flavor, and food coming out way too fast and all together.
Come to find out that a lot of current reviews are disappointing too.

 

[Disneypapa]

O'Hana without a doubt

 

[GreyStr0ke]

Crystal Palace for me. Ohana is far from what it once was. $50 for Panda Express quality food is a hard pass for me.

 

[2DisPrincesses]

‘Ohana hands down! We just ate there Christmas Day and it was great! Service and food were wonderful. Everyone in our group agreed it was by far our best meal. Beat out Space 220 and Cinderella’s Royal Table easily.

 

[jemtx]

We did Ohana pre-Covid and loved it. We were excited to eat there again this fall, but we were very disappointed in the quality of food—mostly the main entrees/meats. The price was not worth it this time. We had never eaten at Crystal Palace, but tried it this fall shortly after it returned to a buffet and we really like it. For the price—$39–it was a good value (by Disney standards). We were pleasantly surprised by how good the food was for a buffet. The shorts ribs, fried chicken, prime rib, mashed potatoes and greens were stand-outs. The deserts were also good—the butterscotch pudding w/ caramel popcorn was so good.

 

[disneydreamer74]

I have always read mixed reviews about Crystal palace. My DD is a picky eater so we thought we would try it out on our Oct. 21 trip. It was HORRIBLE!! My daughter and I both struggled to find food to get full on. Luckily, we are light eaters. We are not food snobs, but wow..it was not good food. The only thing we could stand to eat was the fried chicken. That being said, the highlights were the desserts and customer service. I prefer to fill up on Protein vs sugar though! So, we will not return to CP. I have not tried Ohana, so I can't elaborate on that. Enjoy your trip!

 

[Kona Kouple]

‘Ohana
Being at the Poly for dinner is magical! The food is amazing!

 

[DisneyFan83]

O'hana is one of our favorites. CP was just mediocre in my opinion; at least the time that we went.

 

[mamamia2005]

We went to CP on NYE. There was a good selection on the buffet, and it was nice to choose what we wanted to eat for ourselves.

 

[MissionMouse]

Just dined at both in December and based on food quality and preparation...Crystal Palace wins. At Ohana we were not alone as the other six tables around use were also not interested in eating the shrimp or beef dishes due to poor preparation by staff. Ohana has challenges in delivering consistency in their dinner offerings over the years.

 

[Lunchbox66]

We ate at both this past November. Both were for dinner, so not sure how the lunch menu differs. I was underwhelmed by CP as I was expecting more of a fine dining experience than the actual food we got presented, but the food was fine overall with a nice ambience in the castle. We were seated over an hour late for our reservation, which the manager did personally apologize for, I'm not sure how that timelines are right now.

I enjoyed Ohana's but obviously you have to eat alot to really make the most of it. This was my first time at Ohana's and I will say the food was not spectacular. My DW has eaten there since she was a child and she was very disappointed, telling me the menu is much more limited and the food was not as she had remembered a few years ago.

We tried to eat at both The Plaza (lunch) and CP (dinner) at MK and both times they were over an hour late on our reservations and missed Genie+ reservations because of it, where Ohana's we were sat on time, so that is something I would definitely offer to consider.

 

[CarolynFH]

I was underwhelmed by CP as I was expecting more of a fine dining experience than the actual food we got presented, but the food was fine overall with a nice ambience in the castle.

CP (Crystal Palace) isn't in the castle. Did you eat at Cinderella's instead?

 

[Lunchbox66]

CP (Crystal Palace) isn't in the castle. Did you eat at Cinderella's instead?

Yes disregard my comments on Crystal Palace I mixed them up in my head somehow. Thank you for the correction.

 

[Col. Forbin]

Crystal Palace is great. I often plan it for the mid-day lunch break — great spot to sit down, eat, and relax.