Dinner at ‘Ohana-Disney’s Polynesian Resort.
Mom and Dad in the lobby at the Polynesian Resort.
In February 2024 we took my mom and dad with us on a week long trip to Disney World. We had always heard such amazing things about ‘Ohana and I managed to score a dinner reservation during our rest/resort day. Read on to learn about our experience, what we ate, and then decide of ‘Ohana is a must for your next Disney trip.
The Reservation
The ceiling in the main dining area at Ohana. You can see some of the decor and fun Tiki statues.
This is a reservation that people really get excited about, so you want to make sure that you plan accordingly! 60 days before your trip at approximately 6:00 am, set an alarm because dining reservations will open, and you will be able to book a reservation for ‘Ohana. I would recommend setting your clock for 5:55 am so that you can make sure you are logged in and that you are on the restaurant page and ready to go.
I have missed the opportunity to make the reservation before, so I would also recommend checking a few days in advance and every day leading up to the day of (the 60-day mark that is) to make sure there has not been a glitch and that the day you are trying to reserve has not already become available. You can book your reservation on the My Disney Experience App, on the website disneyworld.disney.go.com, or by calling (407) 939-5277.
A credit card is required to book your reservation and you must cancel in advance or you will be charged a per person fee. You can cancel up to two hours before your reservation.
The Check In Desk at ‘Ohana.
You can check in 20 minutes prior to your reservation at the desk right at the top of the stairs on the upper level of the lobby at the Polynesian. This is also where you would park your stroller. There are some chairs for you and your party to sit at while you wait, but it was SUPER crowded, so we waited down in the main lobby until we got our text message that our table was ready. You could also wait at the bar and grab a drink but again, it was SUPER crowded, so we decided to opt out. Once we got our text, we were advised to head into the restaurant (which was kind of confusing since it was our first time) to be seated. As soon as we found the hostess, she immediately greeted us with “aloha”.
‘Ohana offers Breakfast from 7:30am-12:15pm or Dinner from 3:30pm-10:00pm.
The breakfast features Lilo & Stitch and is the typical Disney breakfast items and character style breakfast, but we decided that we wanted to experience dinner so that is what we booked. Just to be clear-the characters DO NOT appear at dinner.
The Ambience
‘Ohana in Hawaiian means family, so the food is served family style, and the restaurant is set up as one big room with a kitchen in the center where you can see some of the food being prepared.
All around you, the room is filled with tikis and statues. Above you there are traditional Polynesian designs on the ceiling, and a thatched roof in the center of the room like you are in a Hawaiian tiki hut.
While the theme felt very traditional Hawaii, it did not feel very “Disney” so be prepared for that. No characters will be around, and it is not super bright or whimsical.
The Menu
Tying back to “family”, everything is served family style and is all you can eat. The menu is pre-set, so all you have to choose is your drink. A tea or soft drink is included in the price of your meal, or you can choose to add a beverage from the bar (they have an extensive menu).
It is a standard $62 per adult, plus tax and gratuity and $40 per child (ages 3-9), plus tax and gratuity so make sure you come hungry!
They offer a plant based and allergy friendly menu if needed-just ask!
We started out with the mixed greens salad with citrus vinaigrette. The dressing was nice and kind of sweet. We enjoyed this but it was a typical filler salad with veggies. 6/10.
The second thing we got was the signature ‘Ohana bread with honey butter. I was a little surprised to see a literal slice of butter with honey drizzled on top rather than a spread, but it was still tasty. The bread was fluffy but not warm. We give it a 3/10.
The next thing we got was our favorite thing. The platter with Honey-Coriander chicken wings, pork dumplings tossed in garlic chili sauce, and ‘Ohana noodles all in a skillet. We ended up asking for seconds of the wings (although I thought it was weird that there was nothing to dip either the wings or dumplings in). I know that things are family style and that you can ask for as many helpings as you would like, but I thought it was a bit odd that we got one wing per person.
We also asked for seconds of the dumplings and the second batch was hotter and better tasting. We asked for seconds and thirds of the noodles because everyone loved them, and they came out hotter and more delicious each time. The requested items came out on their own (as in on plates of their own rather than another whole skillet of everything coming out).
Wings 6/10
Noodles 8/10
Dumplings 6/10
The “main” items were served next in individual bowls. We still had some noodles leftover (thank goodnes because you needed a starch like noodles or rice or something I felt like to go with the protein and I really felt like the whole meal lacked in veggies).
From the photo, the top left item is the grilled chicken with Polynesian inspired chimichurri sauce, followed by spicy peel and eat shrimp on the top right, and at the bottom the wood fire grilled teriyaki beef.
No one at the table was a fan of the chicken (I think it was the sauce). We made an attempt at the shrimp and ate maybe two per person (although none of us thought it was spicy). And the first round of beef had two cuts of meat that were so rare (for our liking) that none of us could eat it, so we had to ask for another serving and for it to be cooked more to a medium temperature. The server did not ask how we wanted it cooked origionally which we thought was odd, and the origional bowl was a mix of medium, medium rare, and rare.
Chicken 1/10
Shrimp 3/10
Beef 3/10
It was a this point where we asked for additional servings of the last corse (the noodles and dumpling and chicken wings).
I also feel like if you are dining with kids this is kind of a challenging meal as I don’t find myself a particularly picky eater but struggled a bit with some of these items and how they were prepared. That being said, if you are under 9, there is a childrens menu, and I am sure they will make accomodations if you request them for your children.
At this point in the service, they brought us warm, lemony, moist towels to use to clean our hands before dessert was served. It was a nice touch especially since we had been eating wings.
Guys this is one of the things ‘Ohana is known for, the Bread Pudding! It came A la mode and with homemade caramel sauce. It was absolutely delicious and by far the best part of our meal. The bread pudding was warm, and the caramel was super sweet, but the ice cream cut some of the sweet and made it nice and balanced.
Our server brought us coffee with our bread pudding, and as a special suggestion, he brought extra caramel for us to put in the coffee!!! Mind blown!! So incredible!!
The Experience
The kitchen in the center of the restaurant.
While they do not have characters during dinner, we did get to enjoy live entertainment. To our delight, a Ukulele player walked around the entire restaurant singing and playing throughout our meal.
We were in for one more surprise. Our reservation was for 7:25 pm and was in February. The fireworks at Magic Kingdom went off at 8:00pm. Because the Polynesian is so close to the Magic Kingdom, we could actually see the fireworks over the castle from our table!!
Now, some tables will have better views than others, and you cannot request specific tables when booking your reservation, but they turn on the same music that plays at Magic Kingdom and make an effort to slow things down during the show so that it feels like you are there! We really enjoyed it, and it made our evening just a little more magical.
In Conclusion
Mom and I outside the Polynesian.
While we are glad we tried it, we will probably not go back to ‘Ohana. The price for what we actually ended up eating just didn’t seem worth it to us. While the atmosphere was meant to be open and inviting, we found it loud, busy, and crowded. Some people absolutely love it (and there were some things we did enjoy), but it’s is simply not for everybody. Thanks for reading. Aloha!
Have you ever been to ‘Ohana for dinner? What were your thoughts? Share in the comments!
