Arrival day dinner...

[dledger]

We are arriving to MCO very early on our arrival day (9am). I was currently planning to spend a little down time at our resort (POR) and possibly sharing a small lunch before my current ADR at 3:30 for Ohana. My fiancé has never been to Ohana and I've been twice. After dinner I was going to plan some FP+ for AK to enjoy some of the new nighttime offerings (most likely NOT the new fireworks though)... But now I'm wondering if we should go to Yak and Yeti instead to save on having to deal with Disney transportation. We have both never eaten at Yak and Yeti (we usually stick to flame tree)

Anyone have experience at both and have a preference? We are on the dining plan if that makes a difference!

 

[jimmytammy]

Ohana is a great way to start a WDW vacation, nothing screams Disney like a meal there to me. We used to do this all the time, but after traveling, usually arriving later in day, we found we were more worn out(age)than previous years. But I like the idea of doing this. But the logistics of getting to AK in time, that may be a stretch. I would stay in MK at this point, or as you say, go direct to AK and eat at Yak n Yeti. We ate there once and enjoyed it

 

[sharonabe]

If Ohana is a must and you can't get another ADR while you're there, I would keep Ohana and change my first day plans to MK. If you can get another ADR that fits into your current MK plans, then I'd probably switch to Yak n Yeti and do your AK plan.

 

[Shellyb84]

Yak and Yeti is good, and a step above a lot of other theme park restaurants (other then Epcot's choices), but Ohana is our favorite place, that's either our first or last ADR of the trip. With a 3:30 ADR, you could likely get to AK by 6:00-6:30, which leaves several hours to enjoy the park since it's open until 11.

 

[hedberg1661]

Honestly, given the time that you have Ohana booked (330) I would say do it! Many reports lately on the boards have shown that the food at Ohana is best at the first few seating's so I think this will make for a great experience.

 

[Hopefully]

If you are flying and arrive at MCO around 9 AM, you will have been up very early. It is likely that your room will not be available to you to rest until close to official check in time of 3 PM.
I find travel day tiring. I think your current plan of traveling first to the Poly followed by travelling to AK for evening activities would be way too much for us.
I definitely would choose one or the other. My vote would be AK and Yak & Yeti. We love Y & Y and are going back again in October.
But if it was us, I would choose to do something closer to my resort and get back early to get a good night sleep to start my vacation rested.

 

[dizzyjen]

f you are flying and arrive at MCO around 9 AM, you will have been up very early. It is likely that your room will not be available to you to rest until close to official check in time of 3 PM.
I find travel day tiring. I think your current plan of traveling first to the Poly followed by travelling to AK for evening activities would be way too much for us.
I definitely would choose one or the other. My vote would be AK and Yak & Yeti. We love Y & Y and are going back again in October.
But if it was us, I would choose to do something closer to my resort and get back early to get a good night sleep to start my vacation rested.

This is just what I was thinking.

 

[Nancyg56]

This is just what I was thinking.

Me too.

 

[kreckl]

If you have your heart set on AK that night, then I would say don't travel over to Ohana. Y and Y or someplace else closer.You'll be traveling to the airport, flying, traveling on DME, waiting around at your resort...
But, if you want Ohana I would personally grab a cab ( we budget a few $20's for such things) and get over there, then go to MK for a bit, then head back to your resort early.

 

[Ensusieasm]

We are arriving to MCO very early on our arrival day (9am). I was currently planning to spend a little down time at our resort (POR) and possibly sharing a small lunch before my current ADR at 3:30 for Ohana. My fiancé has never been to Ohana and I've been twice. After dinner I was going to plan some FP+ for AK to enjoy some of the new nighttime offerings (most likely NOT the new fireworks though)... But now I'm wondering if we should go to Yak and Yeti instead to save on having to deal with Disney transportation. We have both never eaten at Yak and Yeti (we usually stick to flame tree)

Anyone have experience at both and have a preference? We are on the dining plan if that makes a difference!

If you are going to stick with your plan for an evening at AK, SKIP Ohana and go for Tusker a House or Yak&Yeti.

 

[AshleeH]

I would do Tusker House with that plan. We like Chef Mickey's to kick off the vacation - it really gets us in the Disney spirit, but I wouldn't do it if it meant driving all over WDW. Arrival Day can be stressful if things aren't on schedule, so I would eliminate the travel time where I could.

 

[dledger]

Thanks all- we were originally planning on not going to AK at all and now that they added all the nighttime entertainment this is the only night for us to squeeze it in. I love the atmosphere of Ohana but really want to avoid a headache moving all over the property.... Still not sure what we are going to do but I appreciate your input!

 

[kreckl]

Boma?

 

[dledger]

Boma?

I considered boma and other AKL dining options but then figured it would be just as much work as Ohana, just closer to the AK. I'd still either need to taxi or go to a park (or dtd) and then switch buses to the resort. So far I've kept my Ohana ADR but I'm considering just dropping it all together for flame tree QS... Definitely over thinking this one

 

[isabellea]

I would go to Tusker House. Cannot be wrong with Mickey, Donald, Goofy and Daisy!

 

[kreckl]

Taxi is a breeze. And then you can just hop on the bus from AKL- 5 min ride to park.

 

[hskaggs11]

Yak and Yeti is one of my favorite meals!! We have made sure it's our AK day lunch every year we've been to WDW. Y&Y is great, especially if you are on the DP! We LOVE the Wonton dessert there, and if you like seafood, the Seafood curry is awesome! So is the salmon for that matter. I absolutely love the Ahi-Ahi nachos, and since we do DxDP, it's included in our DP (we have to share it since it's a "for 2" app, but its certainly big enough!)
I also fell in love with Ohana when we ate there for the first time last year. I would be totally torn if I had to choose between those 2!
I myself am going to do a 3:55 ohana "dinner" (lunch to me!) on our arrival day when we land in MCO at 9am. But we are making that a MK day, and taking it pretty easy, probably leaving before wishes. We also have a full AK day scheduled with Y&Y lunch followed by a Jiko dinner after AK closes (it's only open til 6:30 when we go in 2 weeks).

 

[OKW Lover]

My fiancé has never been to Ohana and I've been twice. After dinner I was going to plan some FP+ for AK to enjoy some of the new nighttime offerings (most likely NOT the new fireworks though)... But now I'm wondering if we should go to Yak and Yeti instead to save on having to deal with Disney transportation. We have both never eaten at Yak and Yeti (we usually stick to flame tree)

I'm confused. If you are staying at Pop, you'll need to deal with Disney Transportation for either 'Ohana or Y&Y. Yes, its just one bus to Y&Y, but you could just to bus to MK and monorail to 'Ohana. Really not difficult. Even easier would be uber to 'Ohana.

 

[dledger]

I'm confused. If you are staying at Pop, you'll need to deal with Disney Transportation for either 'Ohana or Y&Y. Yes, its just one bus to Y&Y, but you could just to bus to MK and monorail to 'Ohana. Really not difficult. Even easier would be uber to 'Ohana.

That's essentially my point. I know I'm going to have to use Disney transportation either way, unless I taxi/uber. We really avoid trying to do that, but I have considered it. so, I was trying to find out if people had preferences between ohana and yak and yeti that would make it worth either the extended travel time of going to MK (or dtd) and then to the poly or if I should just change to Y&Y. Basically, is Ohana superior to yak and yeti that it's worth the headache or just let it go? I still don't know what I'm going to do... I've gone through so many different scenarios and just can't pick which menu and option sounds better to me