News Ohana reopening July 9th

[Disney Stine]

Yep. We were there a week ago. That shrimp casserole is basically mac and cheese with shrimp instead of macaroni. Not worth the $55 per person it costs right now. Plus the waiters/waitresses seem even more stressed than usual- too many tables per server and not enough time to help them all. We were nice to our server- she was sweet but she was running all over the place! I felt bad for her!

This is what we encountered tonight. Our server was everywhere and no where at the same time. Not her fault at all. What was upsetting was our meal… the shrimp was overcooked, the chicken honestly looked like throw up and undercooked, and the steak was rare. I’ve been to this restaurant many times in my life and I found myself sharing my opinion with a manager, unfortunately. As someone who has worked in a restaurant, this was hard for me to do. I felt the review needed to be given since the menu change.
I wouldn’t recommend dinner service to anyone at the moment. The price tag was hard to swallow after only eating noodles, potstickers, and bread pudding.

Only posting this to let others know.

 

[WDWTrojan]

This is what we encountered tonight. Our server was everywhere and no where at the same time. Not her fault at all. What was upsetting was our meal… the shrimp was overcooked, the chicken honestly looked like throw up and undercooked, and the steak was rare. I’ve been to this restaurant many times in my life and I found myself sharing my opinion with a manager, unfortunately. As someone who has worked in a restaurant, this was hard for me to do. I felt the review needed to be given since the menu change.
I wouldn’t recommend dinner service to anyone at the moment. The price tag was hard to swallow after only eating noodles, potstickers, and bread pudding.

Only posting this to let others know.

What was the manager's reaction? Were they receptive?

The homogenization has been wild lately. The same undercooked "chicken" you mention is on the menu now at FIVE family style restaurants (Trail's End, 'Ohana, Whispering Canyon, Sebastian's and Cape May). It's the same skin-on baked chicken parts, they just put a different sauce on it. The "chimichurri" sauce on the chicken at 'Ohana is the same sauce on the beef at Cape May. It almost seems like this stuff is being prepped off-site in a banquet kitchen then just warmed at the restaurant. Who knows, but the DDP created some homogenization, but what's happening now is just embarrassing. Though not as embarrassing as that shrimp dish. What kind of Guy Fieri/Paula Deen fever dream did that come out of? Horrific.

 

[Jon81uk]

This is what we encountered tonight. Our server was everywhere and no where at the same time. Not her fault at all. What was upsetting was our meal… the shrimp was overcooked, the chicken honestly looked like throw up and undercooked, and the steak was rare. I’ve been to this restaurant many times in my life and I found myself sharing my opinion with a manager, unfortunately. As someone who has worked in a restaurant, this was hard for me to do. I felt the review needed to be given since the menu change.
I wouldn’t recommend dinner service to anyone at the moment. The price tag was hard to swallow after only eating noodles, potstickers, and bread pudding.

Only posting this to let others know.

Did the manager not offer to discount the meal given the chicken and beef were undercooked for you?

 

[marni1971]

One to avoid then now.

 

[wedenterprises]

Amazing how Ohana has gone from top of the list to the bottom. It's been our favourite restaurant for years and while getting reservations has always been a challenge, finally getting one (at our desired time) would cause us to jump up and down with joy. I've read all the reviews and watched all the video reviews I can find because I didn't want to believe it, but Ohana looks terrible at the moment.

 

[Weather_Lady]

This is what we encountered tonight. Our server was everywhere and no where at the same time. Not her fault at all. What was upsetting was our meal… the shrimp was overcooked, the chicken honestly looked like throw up and undercooked, and the steak was rare. I’ve been to this restaurant many times in my life and I found myself sharing my opinion with a manager, unfortunately. As someone who has worked in a restaurant, this was hard for me to do. I felt the review needed to be given since the menu change.
I wouldn’t recommend dinner service to anyone at the moment. The price tag was hard to swallow after only eating noodles, potstickers, and bread pudding.

Only posting this to let others know.

Thank you for your candid review. It must have been tough as a former restaurant employee to give constructive criticism, and I'm sure you did so gently, but that kind of feedback is absolutely essential. Hopefully if enough people voice these concerns Disney will listen, and eventually restore the 'Ohana menu to something approaching its former glory. If not, then we just have to hope reservations will drop off enough to make an impression, although it could take a painfully long time for the bad reviews to have any appreciable impact on ADRs...

 

[Disney Stine]

What was the manager's reaction? Were they receptive?

The homogenization has been wild lately. The same undercooked "chicken" you mention is on the menu now at FIVE family style restaurants (Trail's End, 'Ohana, Whispering Canyon, Sebastian's and Cape May). It's the same skin-on baked chicken parts, they just put a different sauce on it. The "chimichurri" sauce on the chicken at 'Ohana is the same sauce on the beef at Cape May. It almost seems like this stuff is being prepped off-site in a banquet kitchen then just warmed at the restaurant. Who knows, but the DDP created some homogenization, but what's happening now is just embarrassing. Though not as embarrassing as that shrimp dish. What kind of Guy Fieri/Paula Deen fever dream did that come out of? Horrific.

I could see the annoyance on the manager’s face as he walked over to my table. I get it. I understand it. When someone asks to speak to a manager at a restaurant, it is never a good thing. He awkwardly nodded his head and just muttered he would give us a discount. I stopped him and explained that a discount was not why I asked to speak to him. I wanted to give my opinion on the meal since they just reopened with a new menu and thought honest reviews would be appreciated. I told him the restaurant has been on our go to list for years and hasn’t ever let me down. My dining mate was a first time diner and I had to apologize to her for suggesting this restaurant. He told me many of the old customers are complaining because the entertainment piece of the skewers are gone and that’s been his most negative feedback. I almost felt it was a dig at me since I mentioned I’m a repeat guest. I then had to explain that, while I liked the skewers, it wasn’t the only reason why I ate at ohana. I ate there for the quality of the food and the food quality wasn’t there last night. I’m extremely open to trying new menus…

Did the manager not offer to discount the meal given the chicken and beef were undercooked for you?

Yes, the manager gave us 10% off.

Thank you for your candid review. It must have been tough as a former restaurant employee to give constructive criticism, and I'm sure you did so gently, but that kind of feedback is absolutely essential. Hopefully if enough people voice these concerns Disney will listen, and eventually restore the 'Ohana menu to something approaching its former glory. If not, then we just have to hope reservations will drop off enough to make an impression, although it could take a painfully long time for the bad reviews to have any appreciable impact on ADRs...

Thank you. I truly hope they listen to guests but I have a feeling they didn’t really care. It’s a shame. On the bright side, it gives me the opportunity to try a new restaurant on my next trip.


It’s now 1:30 pm the day after our meal. I spent majority of the night getting sick. My dining mate also felt sick. I won’t say it was from the restaurant because that’s an unfair assumption, but I don’t believe that helped.

 

[fgmnt]

If this isn't a wake up call, I don't know what else could be. This was an instance where my family actually brought this to me instead of the other way around.

This is the goal of strategic planning manifest. What an incredibly disappointing development.

 

[Disstevefan1]

I could see the annoyance on the manager’s face as he walked over to my table. I get it. I understand it. When someone asks to speak to a manager at a restaurant, it is never a good thing. He awkwardly nodded his head and just muttered he would give us a discount. I stopped him and explained that a discount was not why I asked to speak to him. I wanted to give my opinion on the meal since they just reopened with a new menu and thought honest reviews would be appreciated. I told him the restaurant has been on our go to list for years and hasn’t ever let me down. My dining mate was a first time diner and I had to apologize to her for suggesting this restaurant. He told me many of the old customers are complaining because the entertainment piece of the skewers are gone and that’s been his most negative feedback. I almost felt it was a dig at me since I mentioned I’m a repeat guest. I then had to explain that, while I liked the skewers, it wasn’t the only reason why I ate at ohana. I ate there for the quality of the food and the food quality wasn’t there last night. I’m extremely open to trying new menus…



Yes, the manager gave us 10% off.



Thank you. I truly hope they listen to guests but I have a feeling they didn’t really care. It’s a shame. On the bright side, it gives me the opportunity to try a new restaurant on my next trip.


It’s now 1:30 pm the day after our meal. I spent majority of the night getting sick. My dining mate also felt sick. I won’t say it was from the restaurant because that’s an unfair assumption, but I don’t believe that helped.

More members of the WDW food poisoning club! Its almost a rite of passage. I hope for are feeling better

 

[Jon81uk]

Yes, the manager gave us 10% off

That’s a bit measly. Given that most of the main courses were pretty bad, I’d expect $15-20 off per person if you compared to the cost of a full three course meal.
If you think (approximately) wings & dumplings is $15, dessert and drink $10, sides $10 and meats/shrimp $20 if you were to order from an a la carte menu really.

 

[RSoxNo1]

We have something that's wildly popular... I know we can keep the price the same and make it worse. It will take a while for people to realize it's no good anymore and we can cut costs!

 

[Nubs70]

Ohana is just another example of Business Process Optimization (BPO).

What began as a job lot transformation with different selections of beef has devolved to a single cut of beef to single meat selections to product substitutions and finally commoditization.

Not dissimilar to North Face. North face.started as a specialty brand and can now be found at any TJ or TK Max (dependent on your location).

 

[DC0703]

What was the manager's reaction? Were they receptive?

The homogenization has been wild lately. The same undercooked "chicken" you mention is on the menu now at FIVE family style restaurants (Trail's End, 'Ohana, Whispering Canyon, Sebastian's and Cape May). It's the same skin-on baked chicken parts, they just put a different sauce on it. The "chimichurri" sauce on the chicken at 'Ohana is the same sauce on the beef at Cape May. It almost seems like this stuff is being prepped off-site in a banquet kitchen then just warmed at the restaurant. Who knows, but the DDP created some homogenization, but what's happening now is just embarrassing. Though not as embarrassing as that shrimp dish. What kind of Guy Fieri/Paula Deen fever dream did that come out of? Horrific.

The sauces aren't being prepped off-site, they are completely pre-packaged at the moment. I have a severe food allergy, so I spoke to chefs a lot on my last trip and was told repeatedly that right now a lot of the sauces, sides, etc are not being freshly made but come packaged from a factory and are reheated. As a result many things were a problem for my nut allergy (cross contamination at factory level) and I couldn't eat. Usually that's not the case for me at these places.

I'm guessing these are COVID related alterations due to food distribution issues, reduced kitchen staffing, etc. Note that this only applies to these "family style" restaurants like Whispering Canyon, Cape May , Garden Grill, etc, I'm not sure about others.

 

[aladdin2007]

I hope all will share these thoughts and comments with Guest Relations, whether its via email or another format. A 10% off discount is like a slap on the hand and not satisfactory. I think they are starting to hear about it loud and clear but the louder the better.

 

[Wendy Pleakley]

Prepackaged & reheated sauces at one of Disney's signature dining locations, at $55 a head.

 

[Disney Stine]

Hey all! I’m feeling much better now. Once I started to get back on my feet, I went to the front desk and told them about my experience which then included my food poisoning. They were kind, understanding, and annoyed for me. The front desk contacted ohana and an ohana manager contacted me. The ohana manager was nicer than the manager I spoke to last night at the restaurant, but he dismissed my sickness saying food poisoning happens 24 hours after eating and that I didn’t get it there (this is not a true statement). The ohana manager did feel bad that the food was unsatisfactory and did provide a $150 resort credit to my account. At no point did I ask for any discount or credit, however, after seeing the $50 (discounted price) get chucked into the toilet last night, it did feel better to know that my money didn’t totally get flushed away.

 

[Zummi Gummi]

Prepackaged & reheated sauces at one of Disney's signature dining locations, at $55 a head.

It’s really sad. I’m local, but I still used to go to Ohana for special occasions 3-4 times a year and had no problem paying the $55 price. Not now. I’ll take a break for a bit until they sort out these issues. A $55 a head signature restaurant shouldn’t be using pre-packaged sauces.

 

[AdventurersClub]

It's embarrassing the Vlogger Crusaders fought so hard for the return of the five cent noodles rather than the more expensive shrimp skewers. I don't know on what planet anyone would think this dinner is a good deal.

 

[erasure fan1]

It's embarrassing the Vlogger Crusaders fought so hard for the return of the five cent noodles rather than the more expensive shrimp skewers. I don't know on what planet anyone would think this dinner is a good deal.

Yes I personally don't get the love for the noodles. They are mediocre at best for me. Ohana was my favorite meal in Disney but I won't pay that money until the menu is back to normal.

 

[castlecake2.0]

From what I have heard from a few people now, there is one team for world/land right now trying to get all the restaurants back online and operational. Some of the things that are happening:

• Menus were designed to be prepared with less kitchen staff due to social distancing (to give an example, at one point Whispering Canyon was using two kitchens to cook dinner in order to keep staff distanced)
• Now social distancing isn't the issue, its the lack of cast for both front and heart of house, that's why so many restaurants are family style, easier for kitchen to prepare and easier for server to ring in and serve/clear
• even if a restaurant wants to update their menu, they have to wait for the global team to source and cost everything which they dont want to do until they have more restaurants open

its very messy and its producing some very negative results. I would expect in a few months it will start to balance out. One person described it best to me as "we are basically trying to do in a year what originally took almost 50 years to do" and its been much more complicated than we ever thought it would be.