Author: Disney Diva
O’Hana is one of the most highly acclaimed dining places at Walt Disney World. My husband says it is the most “manly” place to eat at Disney also since it is crammed full of every kind of meat you could ever imagine. I’d say Vegetarians and Vegans need not book an ADR here for sure!
The restaurant is found in the Polynesian Resort, so if you’re not staying on the monorail loop, but are in a WDW resort you’ll need to take the bus to Magic Kingdom, then walk across to take the RESORT MONORAIL and it will be the third stop. You can also take the boat over. If you’re driving a car you can park at the Polynesian IF YOU HAVE A RESORT RESERVATION, but realize you can only park there for 2 hours maximum. So you’ll have to move your car if you’re planning on going to a park after you dine.
Once you get off of the monorail you’ll go to the left towards the restaurant as its on a large square. And check in at the host station. They’ll give you a buzzer. You can go straight to the bar if you’d like. The waiter recommended a Malibu McCaw to me and it was delicious. Fruity and sweet coconut, but not too sweet and super smooth. I liked it. ($8.25 per drink)
Once your buzzer goes off you’ll be shown to your table, but you’ll have two stops to make on the way. The first is where they explain the Pineapple Bread and the second is to show you the giant fire pit where they cook all the meat. The fire pit is A-MAZING and is a beautiful centerpiece for the restaurant. They also explain that they call everybody “cousin”. I’m honestly not sure if this is a Polynesian tradition or they’re just connecting Lilo and Stitch to the restaurant. Lilo and Stitch host the Character Breakfast.
After you’re seated your host or hostess will take your drink order. Be warned THIS IS NOT A RELAXING DINING EXPERIENCE. It is very hurried and chaotic. There are people everywhere, constantly interrupting your meal asking if you want more food etc. It IS NOT RELAXING! To be honest it kind of stressed me out. My husband said he didn’t seem to mind, but it bothered me. Especially considering how expensive it is. Everything will come quickly, but they’re definitely trying to turn tables over quickly.
The drink most everybody at my table opted for was the Pomegranate Lemonade. They said it was delicious. I was busy trying to de-stress with my Malibu McCaw.
Very quickly after your drinks are brought out they will bring the Pineapples Coconut Bread out to your table, which is delicious, and then they bring out the appetizers.
Appetizers – Pork Dumpling, chicken wings, lo mien noodles, broccoli, salad, different dipping sauces.
Pineapple Coconut Bread which is really delicious. And some hand towels are brought out as well.
Then they begin to come around with the meat. And, wow, meat meat meat. They bring it on these 
extremely long skewers and push down one or two pieces at a time. People come around with:
– Grilled Chicken
– Shrimp
– Steak (mine very well done and my husband said his was pink)
– Pork Loin
We all agreed at the table that Pork Loin was the best. They came around multiple times, which contributes to the fast pace, constant interruption and all around not-relaxing feeling, but man, the FOOD IS GREAT!
I intentionally had scheduled our Advanced Dining Reservations to be there when Wishes! fireworks at Magic Kingdom because O’hana also pipes in the music while fireworks happen. However, unlike California Grille where everybody stops and is quiet while the fireworks happen, everyone in O’hana went on as if nothing was happening at all. I couldn’t see fireworks, I couldn’t hear any of the words because EVERYBODY in the whole restaurant was still talking, so if you’re considering scheduling O’hana just so you can hear Wishes at the same time, DON’T. It wont be to the effect you hope.
There is a man who is like the “host” who brings his Ukulele out and brings everybody with a birthday to the center. He teaches everyone how to sing Happy Birthday with Hawaiian flair, but, again, few people pay attention. They also bring those having an Anniversary to sing to them.
Finally came dessert! A LARGE portion (but only one bowl and there were 6 of us at the table) of bread pudding, ice cream, and caramel sauce. It was some of the most delicious dessert I’ve ever had.
My daughter was brought a bowl of ice cream. She decided to take it over to my son to show him the mickey shaped confetti and –BAM- the ice cream bowl slipped out of her hands and broke and spilled everything in it. With as harried as things were I expected some irritation, but the manager came over and cleaned it himself, assured her it was fine, and had a brand new completely full bowl of ice cream to her in less than 3 minutes. Amazing! I was really quite happy about that.
My son said that he would like to just live here in O’hana. He loved every single bit of it and contentedly rested his head and fully tummy on the table.
Final say: O’hana is very expensive, but the food is delicious! It is not relaxing, very loud and you constantly feel hurried out, BUT the food is delicious!!! It is an excellent use of a Disney Dining credit as it is very expensive (I think I said that already!), but out of pocket, hmmm I’m not so sure.
So there’s my review. How was your experience at O’Hana?
I totally disagree with your comment about vegans/vegetarians – I am a vegetarian and ‘Ohana was my favorite meal when I went to WDW for my honeymoon. So much so that my meat-eating husband and I booked it again for our upcoming trip. The chef prepared the most amazing tofu dish for me. I can’t wait to go back in September.
After hearing about ‘Ohana for so long we finally made an ADR for our trip last September. We did not regret it and are looking forward to going again this year! Things were chaotic as you stated but I never felt that we were being rushed or hurried out.