Review: ‘All Things ‘Ohana
‘Ohana means family….style meals. And also noodles.
‘Ohana has long been a guest favorite restaurant in Disney World. It’s always in our top five most requested character meals and the only one featuring Lilo and Stitch so you will definitely need an advance reservation and we can help with that.
The Setting
You’ll find ‘Ohana on the second level of the Great Ceremonial House inside Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort in the Magic Kingdom area of Disney World. That’s just the official name of the main building of the resort.
When you enter from the monorail station, the restaurant is toward the back left. But you actually want to go to the right, past the shops if you need to check in at the desk. We recommend just checking in via the mobile app when you arrive at the resort.
The food and decor are Polynesian-inspired, as fits the location. The servers are all your “cousins,” and there’s often live ukulele music being played. The big open kitchen design is a central feature of ‘Ohana but really gets overshadowed by the views. The Polynesian resort is on the shore of Seven Seas Lagoon and ‘Ohana is nearly all windows so no matter where you sit there’s tons of light and a view of the beach, lagoon or Cinderella’s Castle. It’s great spot to enjoy the Magic Kingdom Fireworks from or watch the Elecrtical Water Pageant go by.
The atmosphere is very laid back as you’d expect from the Polynesian Resort – even during the character breakfast.
Characters
The characters you’ll see here are Mickey, Pluto, Lilo, and Stitch. No offense to the main mouse and his pal, but there are lots of other places you can have a chance to meet them. This is the only place that you’ll get to meet Lilo and Stitch.
Like most character dining experiences, this one can take a bit longer than a standard meal, so budget your time accordingly. At one point in the meal, you’ll also get to experience the ‘Ohana Aloha Parade where the characters around the room to “Hawaiian Roller Coaster Ride” from Lilo and Stitch. It’s a fun little experience and adds a sense of liveliness to the restaurant as a whole. Like most character dining locations, your meal will take a bit longer if you want to meet every character, so budget your time accordingly.
This is one of our favorite character meals because it manages to avoid the overwhelming chaotic energy that comes with most other character dining experiences. We’ll just assume it’s a special mix of Disney Magic and Polynesian Vibes that pull this off.
The Cost
This is a fixed price Character/Unique Themed Dining experience that currently offers only breakfast and dinner services. An Adult Breakfast costs $45 and Dinner costs $59. Kids’ Breakfast is $29 dollars and Dinner is $38. Be aware that the fixed prices do not include tax, gratuity, or alcoholic beverages so budget accordingly. ‘Ohana is on the Disney Dining Plan and costs 1 Table Service credit per person. They also offer the 10% Annual Passholder discount.
Comparatively, the character breakfast is actually a bit cheaper and (in our opinion) better than Chef Mickey’s. You still get to meet Mickey and Pluto with the added bonus of two rare characters, so win-win.
The Food
The menu at ‘Ohana is American-Polynesian fusion and is served all-you-can-eat family style. The ‘Ohana noodles have a cult-level following and bread pudding is famous. The breakfast menu is less iconic but just as tasty. Both the breakfast and dinner menus are well balanced so there’s plenty of Polynesian flavors as well as the familiar American options for the picky eaters ‘of a party.
Let’s start with breakfast. ‘Ohana actually has one of our favorite character breakfast menus. Breakfast at ‘Ohana includes fresh fruit, freshly made pineapple-coconut breakfast bread, and the ‘Ohana breakfast skillet that has scrambled eggs, breakfast sausage links, hawaiian-style ham topped with pineapple compote, fried island-style potatoes, mickey-shaped waffles and biscuits biscuits.
The pineapple-coconut breakfast bread is a fan favorite with fresh chunks of pineapple baked in, and we love the Hawaiian-style ham topped with the pineapple compote. Seriously, ask for extra pineapple compote. You can thank us later. Everyone always says “don’t fill up on bread” but you should totally ignore that advice here. You can also get plant-based breakfast as well as allergy friendly options.
While basic drinks like coffee, juice and soft drinks are included in the meal, you can also purchase specialty drinks to go with your breakfast. There are non-alcoholic specialties and alcoholic drinks to pick from. But none of that matters because you can get POG Juice here and POG Juice is all you need.
Moving on to the dinner menu. The family style ‘Ohana dinner menu includes the signature ‘Ohana bread, a mixed green salad, pork dumplings, and the ‘Ohana Dinner Skillet that come with grilled teriyaki beef, spicy shrimp, grilled chicken with Polynesian-inspired chimichurri sauce, ‘Ohana noodles, and roasted seasonal vegetables. Dessert is the famous ‘Ohana bread pudding a la mode with homemade caramel sauce.
Dinner winners are obviously the ‘Ohana Noodles and Ohana Bread Pudding but the Grilled Chicken with Chimichurri Sauce should not be overlooked.
Same as breakfast, basic drinks like coffee, juice and soft drinks are included in the meal with non-alcoholic specialties and alcoholic drinks available at an additional cost. you can also get plant-based breakfast as well as allergy friendly menu options.
Both breakfast and dinner at ‘Ohana are served family style, so you are always welcome to ask for more. Pro tip: Mix and match your skillets. If there’s an item listed in the breakfast or dinner skillets that you know no one in your party will enjoy, you can request that it be left out or replaced with a second helping of another item.
The Takeaway
Like I said before, it’s always in our top five most requested character meals so an advanced reservation is the only guarantee for a meal at ‘Ohana – especially the character breakfast. There will of course be same-day cancellations so you may get lucky with the standby list, but we definitely recommend setting up a MouseWatcher alert for ‘Ohana. We’ll do the constant searching for you and send you a text and/or email notification as soon as we find an opening.
All things considered, I would probably rank ‘Probably ‘Ohana as my second favorite character dining experience. It’s just so hard to beat Topolino’s Terrace. The character breakfast is actually a bit cheaper and (in our opinion) better than Chef Mickey’s, with the added bonus of being the only place you can meet both Lilo and Stitch.
The catch is that characters only appear during breakfast. Which I actually think is a good thing, for the same reason this formula works at Topolino’s Terrace. If you don’t offer a chance to meet characters at all mealtimes, your food has to be good enough to draw guests in on its own. Topolino’s definitely does that and so does ‘Ohana. I’ll still always choose Topolino’s over ‘Ohana because, fine dining… but when we stay at the Polynesian Village Resort, I do like knowing those same views and vibe are available to me for a quiet, character-free dinner at the end of a busy park day.
It’s a fine line to walk – balancing food quality and character experience and some restaurants do it better than others. ‘Ohana is one of those and we definitely recommend both the character breakfast and the non-character dinner.
Setup a MouseWatcher alert today!
For more on the ‘Ohana character breakfast, check out our friend Kristen’s review at Wright Down Main Street.