Since it first opened its doors, Ohana has been widely considered one of the best, if not best, restaurants in Walt Disney World.
And still to this day, Ohana Dinner is one of the more coveted reservations that most guests and even locals attempt to obtain.
We luckily were able to snag a last minute reservation for around 8:25 pm a few days ago and we were beyond excited to give Ohana another shot after a few modifications were made after it’s reopening in 2021.
But is it still worth $55 per person in 2023 in its new dining format?
I’ll break it down.
What is Ohana?
Ohana is family-style, all-you-can-eat restaurant that serves up Hawaiian-flavored, American food for dinner.
Location
Ohana is located on the second level of the Great Ceremonial House (main building) inside Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort in the Magic Kingdom area of Disney World.
This resort is easily acessible from Disney’s Monorail.
How much does Ohana cost?
Ohana Dinner costs $55 per adult and $33 per child, not including tax and gratuity.
Any Ohana discounts?
Ohana offers two discounts – Annual Passholder and Cast Member.
The annual passholder discount at Ohana is 10% off.
The Cast Member discount at Ohana is 20% off.
Making a Reservation
My wife was able to snag an ‘Ohana dinner reservation on the My Disney Experience around 3:15 pm for an 8:25 pm same-day dining time using a few of my surefire dining reservation tips.
You can make a dining reservation at any Disney World park or resort restaurant up to 60 days in advance and that’s usually the best time to find a reservation at Ohana that isn’t at 9:45 pm.
Of course, you can find some within a week of your desired date, but with a popular spot like Ohana, this is normally the best way to find one at a decent time.
Related: How to get a reservation at Ohana.
Walk Up List
The My Disney Experience app will sometimes open up Walk Up List signups for Ohana, but you need to be nearby in order to join it.
Also, you can speak with the hostess at the restaurant check-in desk around 3-3:30 pm to see if you’ll be able to squeeze in that evening.
Personally, I’ve never been able to walk-in to Ohana but it can and has been done.
Check-In
Check-In is fairly simple for Ohana mainly because it can all be done via the My Disney Experience App.
20 minutes prior, you’ll be able to check-in for dining reservation on the app. This is also where you can add or remove up to one person on your reservation as well as alert the restaurant of any dietary restrictions or if you’re celebrating anything specail like a birthday or anniversary.
We checked in a 8:05 pm for our 8:25 pm reservation and received a text at 8:20 pm that our table was ready.
Dining Room
The main focal point of Ohana’s dining room is definitely the open grill which is where all the chicken, steak, and shrimp is cooked right before your eyes.
The overall layout is pretty nice with quite a few coveted seats that face the Seven Seas Lagoon with perfect views of Cinderella Castle.
We were seated more towards the side against a window but it was nice being semi-tucked away.
Food
As soon as we were seated our, server came by to greet us and take our drink orders.
And right after, our server’s partner brought us a Mixed Green Salad with a Citrus Vinaigrette and a warm, pull apart loaf of their Signature ‘Ohana Bread served with honey butter.
I don’t care for salads in general but my wife loved it.
I was more obsessed with the warm coconut bread that tasted better than usual. Soft, fluffy, warm, and easy to pull apart. Plus dipping it in that honey butter was a match made in heaven.
Once I almost demolished that entire loaf of bread, we were brought a skillet of pork dumplings tossed in a garlic-chili sauce, honey-coriander chicken wings, broccolini, and the guest-favorite Ohana noodles.
The noodles are always first to go so you already know that I had to ask for noodle refill.
Then came the meat.
Back in the day before it closed in March 2020, ‘Ohana servers used to bring the meat on skewers straight to your table similar to Fogo de Chao.
But due to the pandemic, they had to modify that aspect of the dinner to a safer style which just consisted of individual bowls of their three meat options.
The first two items that were brought to our table were the spicy peel-n-eat shrimp and the wood-are grilled teriyaki beef.
The beef was tender and flavorful as always and it was cooked just the way I like it.
The shrimp was better than the ones I had in summer 2021 but it’s still not like the OG recipe that I’ve grown to love. Personally, I think it’s because they no longer serve that delicious sweet and sour sauce that they used to drop off at your table. But I could be wrong.
But the shrimp was still very good.
Then came the most disappointing item I ate that night – the bone-in grilled chicken with Polynesian-inspired chimichurri sauce..
I used to love the chicken at ‘Ohana. It was perfect. From the seasoning all the way to the sweet teriyaki sauce. But this new chicken was a major disappointment.
I might be spoiled with the ways it used to be but I always loved that the original Ohana chicken used to be boneless and not drowned in chimichurri. I hate to be that guy that complains, but this was a let down, especially because I had no idea they changed this up.
I was honestly pretty sad at this point and only ate a few bites of the chicken, smh.
Thankfully, the highlight of the meal was shortly on its way.
Once our server cleared our table, he then brought us one of the most popular and most mouthwatering desserts in all of Disney World, the ‘Ohana Bread Pudding.
I absolutely loved the homemade caramel sauce and I was surprised to see a fairly large amount of ice cream on top, which led to a perfect ice cream to bread pudding ratio in ever bite.
This was the perfect ending.
Final Thoughts
The service and the beginning and ending of the meal were perfect. I had absolutely zero complaints about that whatsoever.
The dumplings were to die for, the noodles never disappoint, and the dessert still lives up to the hype.
The only place where my dinner fell short was the entree portion of the meal. Even though the steak and shrimp were cooked perfectly and were very tasty, the chicken just wasn’t what I was expecting. In no way was it disgusting, but I was coming in to that dinner prepared for the normal chicken I’ve grown to love and enjoy over the years. But instead got thrown a curve ball.
It probably seems like I’m blowing things out of proportions, but honestly, that one minor aspect really put a damper on an otherwise perfect dinner.
So is it worth $55 per person?
Not yet. But it’s close. So close.
Once it returns to its former glory, then ‘Ohana will be back to being the number one restaurant in Disney World.
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