Is Ohana really that bad now?

[Harmacist]

I went in February for the first time with my girlfriend for dinner, I didn't hate it but wasn't wowed. I am going to go again in August with my brother's family since they want to try it, and I am not mad about going again. For the price though I'd much rather go to Sebastian's for dinner (but I'd prefer that stay an under the radar gem). Overall I think you are paying for convenience (easy to get to from MK), atmosphere with a nice dash of nostalgia.

 

[pineapplepalms]

FWIW, I had a late breakfast time and it was definitely not food that had been sitting around. YMMV

Same, ours was around noon and the food was hot and fresh. They were still very busy that day since it was after the 10K.

 

[pixiedust33]

We just went last week for the first time and would never go again. And we were on the dining plan so the cost wasn't even the issue. The service was terrible. Not entirely her fault because she had like 10 tables, but she wouldn't even glance our way when she walked by even with me staring at her and waving. The food came out in a big rush and we didn't even get our cocktails until halfway through our main course. The salad came out literally half frozen. It was gross, but I couldn't flag our server down to ask for a replacement. The bread was fine, but nothing that special. The potstickers were good, but, again, nothing special. The noodles were overcooked and mushy and fairly flavorless? I don't understand the fuss at all. The chicken was so tough as to be inedible. The steak was pretty good and so was the shrimp, and that was about it. We wanted more of the steak, but couldn't flag down a server to get more until they were bringing dessert and at that point, we gave up. Bread pudding was not as good as Kona. Cockatils were ok, but not as good as Trader Sam's. It took an eternity to get the check. Just a miss on every point.

There was a wandering ukulele player, but no other entertainment. The vibe was kind of dark and loud for a toddler. We stayed at the Poly so also ate at Kona and thought that was fantastic - great service, great atmosphere and better flavors.

 

[tom1944]

Are breakfasts easier to be adequate than dinners?

 

[pks_domer]

Tusker House is the "hidden gem" of AYCTE character meals. That and the breakfast at Hollywood and Vine blow all the other overpriced character meals away.

And for those that love the Ohana breakfast juice, the juice at Tusker is pretty darn good as well...

 

[LuvMyEAR]

When we finally scored an O’Hana reservation, I was elated. However, it was a “one and done”. The salad dressing was delicious, and I ended up adding it to shrimp and meat, and even the noodles to increase the edibility factor of the food. As far as I could tell, the predominant flavour of everything except the bread pudding was salt, salt, and more SALT! Meats were tough and dry. Our server was lovely for the initial interaction, but after that he was a just blur as he delivered our food. Luckily, we did not want seconds of anything… We definitely felt rushed, and the restaurant was not the least bit crowded through our entire meal.

I would 100% chose Boma for any future AYCE meals.

 

[hulagirl87]

My friend and I were so excited to do Ohana for dinner because we love the breakfast there so much but it was one of our least favorite meals. The chicken tasted like burnt tires. Not a fan at all.

I love the atmosphere of the Polynesian so much, so will definitely do the breakfast there again, which I have done several times. Love Lilo and Stitch!

 

[MimitoAlex]

We started skipping O’hanas before the pandemic.This is a really beautiful space that is in need of total rework..

The service was really terrible the last 2 times we went.. the food the last time was the last straw..

There are lots of other options.

 

[erinch]

I posted this in another thread.

We ate at ‘Ohana post-covid, taking our son-in-law, who had never been. Our daughter had wonderful childhood memories of the races with the kids and was excited. We had a very lackluster time. We were nowhere near a window, which most people aren’t, and I was glad to see families with young kids have the better seating. But our section was like they needed to up the lighting just a tad. It was dingy, reminding me of seating in a national park cafeteria. Perfectly serviceable, but we felt crowded on every side.

We told our server, who didn’t claim to be a cousin, that we weren’t in a hurry, wanted our first-timer to enjoy the meal, and we would appreciate finishing the starters before moving on to mains. She said, almost snarled, she wasn’t the food runner and had no control over pacing. So soon enough, we had a 4 top crammed with delicious bread, salad that was a tad drowned in the stellar vinaigrette, pot stickers and wings, and also the meats and noodles and veggies. On the one hand it was nice to mix and match, and on the other all I felt was Crowd, all around us—the food runners couldn’t get between our table and the next one one side, and Crowd on the table. By that time, the lapu lapus had long run out, and a glass of wine would have improved much. Our server had a pile of tables. I’ve done my share of waitressing along the way, and I think multiple people must have called off that night. She never stopped. I was torn between empathy and admiring the ability never to catch our eyes, even when we were performing Jedi mind-melds with her. Ricky the son-in-law, who’s a pilot, and makes life and death split second decisions, left, we thought for the bathroom, and came back soon with wine for me, and exotic refills for himself and my daughter his wife. Happily my hubby was stopping at 1, as that was all he could carry . As related in other threads, we found everything fine, most of it lukewarm, and the steak impossible to cut, the chicken dry. Ricky loves peel and eat shrimp and was happy. Dessert arrived while the table was still piled with all the stuff. We refused it until the table was cleared, nicely, and got the special stink-eye reserved for those making life more hellish for an overworked staff. I asked Ricky what he thought, and he said he had no idea you could make that much money by putting a drink in a pineapple.

With all that said, people in first class over by the window seemed to be having a good time, and I imagine a 9 year old could still find it magical. We had a far more magical time on the porch at Jock Lindsay’s, and then on the porch at the Boathouse. We also had a more magical time battling birds for corn dog nuggets at Casey’s. And we had a truly magical time at Boma, then wandering around AKL.

 

[Maleficent's Dad]

This is a really beautiful space that is in need of total rework..

Best ‘Ohana take I’ve seen in a while!

 

[ElyseInWonderland]

For the price, it's absolutely a rip-off. The food is alright (it's never been stellar IMO) but the way they rush you through the experience is inexcusable. Unless it's "do-or-die" for your kids, you'll have a much more enjoyable meal elsewhere.