Ohana?

[Rascalplanner]

Taking our daughter for her 11th Bday in November for the 1st time! It’s a total surprise trip and she has no idea!! I’ve been researching / planning/ reserving like crazy. Have it booked for dinner, but now am seeing so many mixed reviews. Not worried about dining credits and there seem to many other dinner options for the trip. Have dinner booked so far at Cali Grill, Jiko, Chef Art’s & Narcoossee. 9 nights so lots of time....any help, much appreciated!

 

[DisneyRobin]

California grill, chef mickeys, the yak and the yeti and sci fi for sure! She may also enjoy eating in Cinderella’s castle and/or st be our guest.
You may want to try some Epcot restaurants, too. San Angel Inn is very festive and has a cool atmosphere. So many of the restaurants in Epcot are really fun, festive and have great food.
As far as Ohana goes, we enjoy the breakfast with the characters but don’t usually do that since crowds are low in the parks in the mornings and we’d rather do rides then. Their dinner is festive but the food is ok and my kids (tweens and teens) don’t love it so I usually end up cancelling that reservation. It’s probably a lot more fun than narcoosees though.
You may want to do the frozen dessert party or another one of those type of parties. The Christmas party is happening in nov and the food and wine fest goes through most of the month and then turns into the holiday food fest.
Have a great bday trip!

 

[Mr & Mrs DD]

We have eaten at "Ohana twice. We weren't that impressed on the first visit. We ate there again and it was very very good. We enjoyed it so much that we have reservations for our next trip.
We ate at Chef Art Smith last year and really it as well. You said "any help much appreciated." Did you mean other dinning suggestions or our thoughts about "Ohana" or both?
As I said, Ohana was really good on our last visit. We find a number of places at Disney that aren't always consistent. Two other places we really enjoyed on our last visit was "Skipper Canteen" and 50's Prime Time Cafe. 50's Prime Time is a fun place for kids (we enjoy it as well). We also enjoyed Biergarten. Best on wishes on you dinning choices and the surprise trip for your daughter.

 

[drdisneygirl]

Our family really enjoys Ohana and we have never had a bad experience there. It is the one restaurant that my family requests for every trip. However, there may be better options for an 11 year old's birthday celebration that would be more fun or exciting for her. There are plenty of options at WDW so I hope you find the one that suits your family the best! Enjoy!

 

[DisneyHardin]

We really like 'Ohana and have eaten there 5 or 6 times for dinner. The food has always been excellent. We've had less than perfect service a couple times, but it wasn't terrible.

 

[David G Farr]

I just ate dinner there the other night. Food is good, you won’t leave hungry. If you have a late reservation you can see the fireworks from MK.

 

[NYCgrrl]

Taking our daughter for her 11th Bday in November for the 1st time! It’s a total surprise trip and she has no idea!! I’ve been researching / planning/ reserving like crazy. Have it booked for dinner, but now am seeing so many mixed reviews. Not worried about dining credits and there seem to many other dinner options for the trip. Have dinner booked so far at Cali Grill, Jiko, Chef Art’s & Narcoossee. 9 nights so lots of time....any help, much appreciated!

The 'Ohana negative reviews seem to center on the wait some have during popular ADR times (probably from 4:00 PM to 8:00 PM) and rushed service which is a by product of the wait. The food is fine family fare and requested by my mini traveling companions (ages 8 to 13) every trip. I've noticed the later the dining time, the less wait so book accordingly.

If for whatever reason you opt to drop this ADR you'll find many other choices. Have you an idea what park you'll be visiting on her birthday? Would be great to make a reservation nearby if possible. Or opt for somewhere near your resort.

 

[Marc D]

We went to ‘Ohana last month and we had a wonderful time. We walked the grounds at the Poly, grabbed a drink at Trader’s Sam - our kids enjoyed the antics - then headed to the restaurant for our 8PM ADR. We were seated promptly, the food (outside of the bread pudding) was delicious and the service was efficient.

 

[Schneewittchen37]

I visited 'Ohana with a group of 8 back in April. I think it might even have been Easter Sunday dinner. 4 kids, 4 adults. We had a great time, nice drinks, and we all loved the food. And, no we weren't rushed. Anyway, we liked it so much that we're heading back there in February for my daughter's birthday. It's a really great place for celebratory activities. I'd keep the ADR.

 

[_19disnA]

Dining reviews for most restaurants tend to be all over the map, not particularly helpful and you have no idea if that person likes to write critical reviews. Also, if there are already 25 good reviews, why bother being the 26th? People seem more inclined to write a critical review since they have something to complain about. Some reviewers also find one thing they didn't like about the meal (i.e. they ran out of breadsticks) and then bash the entire experience.

We ate at O'hana's a few months ago and really enjoyed it. It is a fixed menu, which is ideal for small children who don't understand the concept of waiting for food after ordering. Having a fixed menu eliminates the wait time your typically get at most 'order off the menu' restaurants. We had reservations at the normal dinner hour and there was no long wait to be seated.

With any Disney restaurant, it is a good idea to glance over the menu to make sure they have items you enjoy.

 

[Jim Ousley]

March 2019 we ate at Ohana. 2 Adults and 2 kids. Terrible meal and terrible service.

We were sad. This is our go to reservation and favorite every visit.

I emailed in and gave our review and issues and they gave us a gift certificate to come try again next visit.

I did not email for the refund. I just wanted to share the experience.

We have had so many good meals here it is hard to beat!

 

[KenHutch]

We have been to WDW 5 times and we have eaten at Ohana 10 times for dinner and 4 breakfasts. We tend to schedule late enough in the evenings to watch the fireworks from our table and have always had a decent view as well as good food.

 

[billlaurie]

We ate at Ohana in June, a group of 12 with 3 birthdays. They call all the birthday people to the center, give them leis and teach everyone to sing HB in Hawaiian. It was fun and the food was excellent. We weren't at all rushed. We also went to Trader Sams. So much fun! Ohana is our only repeat on the next trip.

 

[Pyxie]

I saw the mixed reviews before our trip too, but Ohana was easily my family's favorite meal of the trip is now a must do each time.

 

[Markal]

It’s our favorite restaurant at Disney. We’ve never felt rushed and we enjoy the food. Save room for the dessert. It’s fabulous!

 

[Rascalplanner]

Ok, I think we will stick with it! Thanks for everyone’s answers! I’ll report back after November and hopefully have a glowing review!

 

[tracysis]

Desert was the best part of our meal, we were very disappointed with the meal, mediocre at best.

 

[Rascalplanner]

The 'Ohana negative reviews seem to center on the wait some have during popular ADR times (probably from 4:00 PM to 8:00 PM) and rushed service which is a by product of the wait. The food is fine family fare and requested by my mini traveling companions (ages 8 to 13) every trip. I've noticed the later the dining time, the less wait so book accordingly.

If for whatever reason you opt to drop this ADR you'll find many other choices. Have you an idea what park you'll be visiting on her birthday? Would be great to make a reservation nearby if possible. Or opt for somewhere near your resort.

We will be in MK on her Bday and I have BOG for lunch and then Cali Grill for dinner. I have Ohana 2 nights before her Bday.

 

[Rascalplanner]

We have eaten at "Ohana twice. We weren't that impressed on the first visit. We ate there again and it was very very good. We enjoyed it so much that we have reservations for our next trip.
We ate at Chef Art Smith last year and really it as well. You said "any help much appreciated." Did you mean other dinning suggestions or our thoughts about "Ohana" or both?
As I said, Ohana was really good on our last visit. We find a number of places at Disney that aren't always consistent. Two other places we really enjoyed on our last visit was "Skipper Canteen" and 50's Prime Time Cafe. 50's Prime Time is a fun place for kids (we enjoy it as well). We also enjoyed Biergarten. Best on wishes on you dinning choices and the surprise trip for your daughter.

Any other recommendations, I’d happily accept! I have BOG for lunch, 50’s Prime Time booked for lunch as well.

 

[DharmaLou]

What about breakfast at Ohana? We went there a week ago today for DDs 11th birthday and she loved it! Stitch is her favorite.