'Ohana Dinner Disappointment

[Tuvalu]

Hate to say this, but 'Ohana is no longer on our "must-do" list.

For years we have booked dinner right at our 180 days mark. This trip too, and the best time I could get was 5:10 p.m. I tried numerous times to adjust our reservation, both by calling and checking the website, to no avail. I checked multiple times the day prior and day of, thinking there may be some cancellations. But the message was always the same, "Reservations Unavailable."

So we met our friends there last night (June 4th) at 5 p.m. We barely sat down and the server asked for our drink order...and the salad was literally tossed on our table. Our drinks had not yet arrived when the bowl full of noodles, vegetables and wings was plopped down, to be quickly followed by the pork wontons and new lettuce wraps (which weren't very good.) We were given only two small containers of dipping sauce for our party of five, and had to ask for the macadamia nut butter for our bread.

As soon as our server gave us our drinks, she returned with the pork skewers. Seriously, it was like being in a food eating competition to see how fast they could make us eat. AND THE CHICKEN SKEWERS ARE GONE, despite posts to the contrary. Sorry, chicken wings are not a substitute especially when we were given only 2 drums...the rest were tips.

After the first round of skewers we had to flag our server down for seconds. It seemed like we were just supposed to finish whatever we were given the first round so that they could come clear the plates and bring dessert.

Coffee was not offered after we received our bread pudding. It was very clear we were not supposed to linger.

We adjusted when 'Ohana removed the yummy Maui potatoes and replaced them with the bland noodles. We miss the fried wontons and three different sauces. The turkey skewers were our favorite but we accepted the chicken. But we are done accommodating. We don't want to "settle" when we are paying $38 plus tax and tip for dinner (the price is nowhere noted, BTW. You are at the mercy of the whatever seasonal price they want to charge.)

THE FUNNY PART? The restaurant was only 75% full. Lots of open tables when we were eating and when we left and when we stood nearby visiting with our friends in the hallway. Are 'Ohana reservations intentionally under-booked to keep up the hype?

 

[disney4life2008]

Hmmmm you have been a member for nearly 3 years and with that background I am certain you know (from your number of posts) how Ohana is set up. Literally as soon as you sit down - the salad and bread comes; then a few minutes passes and the wings and noodles come; etc. I do agree that the pace is too fast because you cant enjoy the food because it comes so fast. But that is what they are known for pilling on the food. I am on the fence about Ohana - the cuts are somewhat unbearable. But it is not worth it if you are looking for a wine and dine type meal.

 

[DisneyDebNJ]

Hate to say this, but 'Ohana is no longer on our "must-do" list.

For years we have booked dinner right at our 180 days mark. This trip too, and the best time I could get was 5:10 p.m. I tried numerous times to adjust our reservation, both by calling and checking the website, to no avail. I checked multiple times the day prior and day of, thinking there may be some cancellations. But the message was always the same, "Reservations Unavailable."

So we met our friends there last night (June 4th) at 5 p.m. We barely sat down and the server asked for our drink order...and the salad was literally tossed on our table. Our drinks had not yet arrived when the bowl full of noodles, vegetables and wings was plopped down, to be quickly followed by the pork wontons and new lettuce wraps (which weren't very good.) We were given only two small containers of dipping sauce for our party of five, and had to ask for the macadamia nut butter for our bread.

As soon as our server gave us our drinks, she returned with the pork skewers. Seriously, it was like being in a food eating competition to see how fast they could make us eat. AND THE CHICKEN SKEWERS ARE GONE, despite posts to the contrary. Sorry, chicken wings are not a substitute especially when we were given only 2 drums...the rest were tips.

After the first round of skewers we had to flag our server down for seconds. It seemed like we were just supposed to finish whatever we were given the first round so that they could come clear the plates and bring dessert.

Coffee was not offered after we received our bread pudding. It was very clear we were not supposed to linger.

We adjusted when 'Ohana removed the yummy Maui potatoes and replaced them with the bland noodles. We miss the fried wontons and three different sauces. The turkey skewers were our favorite but we accepted the chicken. But we are done accommodating. We don't want to "settle" when we are paying $38 plus tax and tip for dinner (the price is nowhere noted, BTW. You are at the mercy of the whatever seasonal price they want to charge.)

THE FUNNY PART? The restaurant was only 75% full. Lots of open tables when we were eating and when we left and when we stood nearby visiting with our friends in the hallway. Are 'Ohana reservations intentionally under-booked to keep up the hype?

This saddens me so much, and Im with you, with the changes in the menu these last several years. I actually miss the sausage too, but that went by the wayside I think a year before the turkey did.... now, the chicken. Ugh... Two years ago, we had the same type of service you experienced, last year, was more like what we are used to. I wish they would leave well enough alone.

 

[AndyS2992]

This is the first time I have ever read someone complain about food at a restaurant coming too FAST lol

 

[lostpro9het]

Hate to say this, but 'Ohana is no longer on our "must-do" list.

We had a similar experience in regards to delay in drink order and haste in food service this past May with a few exceptions:
We had to wait 45 minutes past our reservation before we were sat despite showing up 20 minutes early.
We did have chicken skewers.
May have made the mistake of telling our server a head of time that we are TiW card holders which lead to our poor services.


I don't believe we will be back for 'Ohana dinner but have yet to have a poor breakfast experience and will probably continue that tradition.

 

[CheshireCat12]

The only complaint I have from our recent visit is that they actually took too LONG to come around with the meats. I love the steak but it took forever for someone to come around, and they didn't come by twice for any meats. So we were a bit neglected. Food was good though the pork was a bit dry. Best thing was the dessert!!!

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

We have a reservation there in a couple weeks. I don't think the lettuce wraps are a good replacement for the chicken. But I guess I'll reserve judgment until we eat there. I think I might be in for disappointment though. I wish they still had the chimmichurri sauce.

 

[Tinkerbella16]

I hate the changes.. They take away things the guests love at these popular restaurants. We loved the chicken. Our meal there in November 2013 was our last. It just was not that great. We also felt rushed and food was not all that great, except for the chicken, shrimp and bread pudding! Those 3 stood out above the rest. We are in no hurry to return.

 

[TrolleyFollower91]

Hmmmm you have been a member for nearly 3 years and with that background I am certain you know (from your number of posts) how Ohana is set up. Literally as soon as you sit down - the salad and bread comes; then a few minutes passes and the wings and noodles come; etc. I do agree that the pace is too fast because you cant enjoy the food because it comes so fast. But that is what they are known for pilling on the food. I am on the fence about Ohana - the cuts are somewhat unbearable. But it is not worth it if you are looking for a wine and dine type meal.

I'm pretty sure the OP does know the "typical" pace of an O'hana dinner. Given that her name and avatar is from one of the Poly buildings, she probably has eaten there a number of times. Therefore, I think her opinion should be regarded in that her service was rushed and a little rude. Yes, O'hana does give you lots of food in a different pace than a menu-style restaurant, however the party was barely seated before food was literally "thrown" on the table.

I can confirm this because I was one of her dining companions. I don't necessarily think this was a "complaint" thread, more of an FYI.

 

[disney4life2008]

I'm pretty sure the OP does know the "typical" pace of an O'hana dinner. Given that her name and avatar is from one of the Poly buildings, she probably has eaten there a number of times. Therefore, I think her opinion should be regarded in that her service was rushed and a little rude. Yes, O'hana does give you lots of food in a different pace than a menu-style restaurant, however the party was barely seated before food was literally "thrown" on the table.

I can confirm this because I was one of her dining companions. I don't necessarily think this was a "complaint" thread, more of an FYI.

I did not take it as a complaint at all - I actually agree. I am going to say this as nice as possible - Ohana "now" reminds me of going to golden corral. If you remove the disney surroundings and the resort and place the restaurant in the golden corral context - it makes sense. The quality of the place has decreased dramatically even compared to when I first went in 2009. Every body and their mama goes here - just like golden corral. My last trip in January I felt that I got my monies worth but it was not worth it. I myself am strongly debating on not going back in August and instead going to Trails End for dinner. I do not know if its worth it for me to pay $50 for pot stickers and wings - thats really the only thing I eat now.

 

[DisneyDebNJ]

We have a reservation there in a couple weeks. I don't think the lettuce wraps are a good replacement for the chicken. But I guess I'll reserve judgment until we eat there. I think I might be in for disappointment though. I wish they still had the chimmichurri sauce.

When I made ADRs for our upcoming trip this Fall, Ohana was one of the top must dos, tradition dictates we have dinner here, every trip.... sigh... now Im second guessing myself. What I dont get is I thought the turkey (then the chicken) was more popular than the steak or pork (or sausage before that was changed too) Next thing you know,they'll do away with the bread pudding!

 

[disney4life2008]

When I made ADRs for our upcoming trip this Fall, Ohana was one of the top must dos, tradition dictates we have dinner here, every trip.... sigh... now Im second guessing myself. What I dont get is I thought the turkey (then the chicken) was more popular than the steak or pork (or sausage before that was changed too) Next thing you know,they'll do away with the bread pudding!

I think its more cost than anything. I anticipate that within the next year the wings will be gone and replaced with chicken tenders/bites. I do not think the bread/ice cream will go away - there are some things that can not mess with that is one (likely along with the pot stickers). But the noodles, change in veggies, wings are all fair game to disappear.

 

[seahawk7]

I hate the changes.. They take away things the guests love at these popular restaurants. We loved the chicken. Our meal there in November 2013 was our last. It just was not that great. We also felt rushed and food was not all that great, except for the chicken, shrimp and bread pudding! Those 3 stood out above the rest. We are in no hurry to return.

We cancelled our reservation this year for similar reasons.

 

[TRONorail12]

We had a similar experience in regards to delay in drink order and haste in food service this past May with a few exceptions:
We had to wait 45 minutes past our reservation before we were sat despite showing up 20 minutes early.
We did have chicken skewers.
May have made the mistake of telling our server a head of time that we are TiW card holders which lead to our poor services.


I don't believe we will be back for 'Ohana dinner but have yet to have a poor breakfast experience and will probably continue that tradition.

It's not always good to check in really early. If the restaurant is running behind on reservations, they have to seat tables in order of reservation time. Just within that 20 mins, there could be a dozen other tables of guests with reservation times ahead of yours.

 

[lostpro9het]

It's not always good to check in really early. If the restaurant is running behind on reservations, they have to seat tables in order of reservation time. Just within that 20 mins, there could be a dozen other tables of guests with reservation times ahead of yours.

regardless then, we still had to wait 45 minutes AFTER our time, kinda ridiculous for a Thursday if you ask me.

 

[lunchbox1175]

Sorry to hear you had a bad experience, I think the main issue is that you were stuck with an early evening dining reservation. The super fast experience seems to be the trend at all of the buffet or family style service restaurants at WDW. I have noticed that when we have a 5pm dining reservation, we are usually in and out in about 45 minutes, you don't have the other events like the congo line and hula lessons when you get there that early, it is even that way at the character meals, as you can sit down and all four characters will be at your table within 20 minutes. But when it is later, and the staff is tired and trying to catch up from the previous seatings, they tend to be slower. My suggestion, and I have done this many times, is to just tell them no when they bring you something you aren't ready for. My friends and I frequently do this at 'Ohana, as we really enjoy the salad, wings, noodles, and dumplings, more than the meat, so when they come around with the meat super quick, I just tell them we aren't ready for it, and that we would like another round of whatever we are enjoying at the time. I have also asked them to not bring out anything until we have our beverages. There is nothing wrong with controlling the pace of your dining experience.

 

[PolynesianPrincess]

So sorry to hear about your experience Ohana is one of my favorite and we've never had a bad meal there, breakfast or dinner. I wouldn't be shocked though at our next go around if we were disappointed, juding by the posts I have seen lately about quality of the food going down. Ohana is fast paced biut sometimes I think it's a little TOO fast. On thing you mentioned was not getting the macadamia nut butter... In all our meals there, we have NEVER gotten any butter. The only time we got the butter was at Kona Cafe. Are they always supposed to bring the butter out? If so, they never have for us.

I would definitely file a complaint to WDW about it. We voiced our concerns with some things in the fall and received a prompt follow up. I know I have read threads where people complain and hear nothing back but maybe we heard back because we were AP's at the time, I don't know.

While I love Disney, we're pretty much set with vacationing there for awhile. We can put up with declining food quality and rising prices only so much. Our money is now being spent on Disney Cruises!

 

[DisneyDebNJ]

I hate the changes.. They take away things the guests love at these popular restaurants. We loved the chicken. Our meal there in November 2013 was our last. It just was not that great. We also felt rushed and food was not all that great, except for the chicken, shrimp and bread pudding! Those 3 stood out above the rest. We are in no hurry to return.

What I would like to see, if theyre going to remove things from the menu, yet still raise the price, add something people will actually eat, rather than a pseudo lettuce wrap, at the very least, they can offered peeled shrimp

 

[flynnibus]

This is the first time I have ever read someone complain about food at a restaurant coming too FAST lol

People don't like being rushed out of a place when many people value the dinner meal as a time to savor the meal or enjoy your company.

 

[Tinkerbella16]

What I would like to see, if theyre going to remove things from the menu, yet still raise the price, add something people will actually eat, rather than a pseudo lettuce wrap, at the very least, they can offered peeled shrimp

Right?!!! It always seems to be a favorite replaced with something just BLAH! And this has become a trend at many restaurants on property.. I find it hard to believe that they got rid of the delicious chicken at Ohana because of the cost.. I don't know about you, but I doubt disney is hurting anywhere when it comes to money. They are a money machine!!! Just don't get it.