First night dinner?

[WDWOswald]

We currently have a reservation for Ohana at 7:45 pm on April 15th, which would be nice for an evening of enjoying the Polynesian and the fireworks. However, it seems that the consensus on Ohana now is that it basically sucks and is comparable food wise to Golden Corral. I haven’t been since 2018 or earlier, but I never had any complaints about the meal. For my wife, my son, and myself we are looking at $205 for the meal with tax and tip.

Are there better options- Chef Mickey? Storybook Dining? Steakhouse 71? Boma? Grand Floridian Cafe? Sebastian’s?

 

[NYCgrrl]

Golden Corral?!? Whoa that’s harsh.LOL

Boma still offers a consistent buffet, GF is hailed by many and Sebastian’s is a “hidden” gem. I’d choose which one to eat at by how close it is to your hotel.

 

[Skippyboo]

Where are you staying at?

 

[gmi3804]

Do the one that's closest to you. Things always take longer than you expect them to on the first day, and you'll be glad you made plans somewhere close by.

 

[WDWOswald]

Where are you staying at?

Wyndham Bonnet Creek- right next to Caribbean Beach and the boardwalk.

 

[DisneyDadWV]

We currently have a reservation for Ohana at 7:45 pm on April 15th, which would be nice for an evening of enjoying the Polynesian and the fireworks. However, it seems that the consensus on Ohana now is that it basically sucks and is comparable food wise to Golden Corral. I haven’t been since 2018 or earlier, but I never had any complaints about the meal. For my wife, my son, and myself we are looking at $205 for the meal with tax and tip.

Are there better options- Chef Mickey? Storybook Dining? Steakhouse 71? Boma? Grand Floridian Cafe? Sebastian’s?

We are planning a trip not long after you, and we have an ADR scheduled at 'Ohana. I wouldn't totally rely on other people's opinions to make my decision for me. We haven't been before and hopefully we enjoy the meal. If not we can say we've experienced it now and won't feel the need to return.

 

[gottalovepluto]

I wouldn’t run away from the evening you have planned without first starting a specific thread here asking if Ohana is bad now. Get some first hand DISer opinions before messing with your schedule.

 

[Skippyboo]

I didn’t like the meats when I went to ohana post Covid. The best part was the skillet with the noodles, wings, pot stickers. I liked the precovid meats on skewers better. Now you are given just some chunks of meat.

Sebastian’s was okay to me. It’s a nice family style meal with a bread pudding similar to ohana’s. Caribbean isn’t my favorite cuisine so it’s was a one and done for me but its $39 a person which is good price wise for Disney.

 

[vivigrace611]

We dined at 'Ohana in March 2023. From a pure food perspective, the meal was serviceable: the chicken and steak were seasoned well but tough, and we literally ate one shrimp. I was not bowled over by the noodles or bread pudding despite their fame. Yet, I still remember peering over the lagoon onto the sight of Cinderella's Castle and the sounds of ukulele player in the background. All in all, the ambience made it worth the visit.

I'd go off the overall experience you want for your first evening in WDW, but keeping convenience in mind. You'll have X number of Disney days ahead of you and fireworks from Poly would lengthen your evening.

Alternatively, there's Narcoossee's at the Grand Floridian - our first night pick for the next trip!

 

[erinch]

How far will,you have travelled that day?
Is a flight involved?
How old is your son?
If you have ample time to catch your breath, I’d consider Toppolinos. Much less hassle in parking.
Or Boma or Jiko, same reason.
We often do Boathouse as a first night, and wander around DS.

 

[Specter]

For about the same cost you could do California Grill. If your reservation is earlier in the evening, before fireworks, you can ride the monorail and check out the resorts, then head back for fireworks viewing. Or if your reservation is later, during fireworks, you can take a break and step outside to watch.

We have never done the fireworks viewing from California Grill but have eaten there and based on the food, I would definitely go there over Ohana.

We have been to Ohana twice. Both times were pre-covid. The first time was part of a large, multi-generation family trip. There were 12 of us from almost 4 to 80. We had great service, a table where everyone could see out the window to watch the fireworks while we ate, and the food was very enjoyable overall. The second time was just DW and I, and after the first time we were excited to go back. Everything about the experience had gone down in quality. The food was definitely not as good, we had a view of a wall, the service was much slower...we left saying that we did not care about going back.

The only caveat to that is that now that we have a daughter of our own we occasionally toy with the notion of going for breakfast because of the characters. However, DD has already been to Disney World three times and we still haven't gone so while we will now at least entertain the idea we still can't bring ourselves to actually do it.

 

[eandt]

We dined at 'Ohana in March 2023. From a pure food perspective, the meal was serviceable: the chicken and steak were seasoned well but tough, and we literally ate one shrimp. I was not bowled over by the noodles or bread pudding despite their fame. Yet, I still remember peering over the lagoon onto the sight of Cinderella's Castle and the sounds of ukulele player in the background. All in all, the ambience made it worth the visit.

I'd go off the overall experience you want for your first evening in WDW, but keeping convenience in mind. You'll have X number of Disney days ahead of you and fireworks from Poly would lengthen your evening.

Alternatively, there's Narcoossee's at the Grand Floridian - our first night pick for the next trip!

Narcoosee’s is really good. Not sure of the age of your son (adult/child) but wife and I were in at about $210 last week including a cocktail each, shared calamari app, entree each, scallop accompaniment (1) and shared dessert. Everything was top quality on every one of our visits. Time it right and you can get a good view of the MK fireworks from your table or the outside deck. Our server even asked if we would like to time the food to come after the fireworks in case we wished to go outside and watch them …. Added note we are DVC so there was a 10% discount to the food portion of our bill.

 

[kylenne]

I will say the same thing I say in every ‘Ohana thread: there is no “consensus”, it’s a deeply inconsistent restaurant even by Disney standards, and for everyone hollering about how awful it is, there is someone else who loves it. Personally I enjoyed our meal there last summer. It’s expensive, and only you can decide whether or not the cost is worth the gamble of an inconsistent restaurant.

But some of these posts are a prime example of why you shouldn’t let people on message boards dictate your plans. You have folk who haven’t eaten there in actual years opining about how bad it is. lol. It’s so unserious.

 

[NYCgrrl]

For about the same cost you could do California Grill.

What restaurant are you comparing CG to price wise?

But some of these posts are a prime example of why you shouldn’t let people on message boards dictate your plans. You have folk who haven’t eaten there in actual years opining about how bad it is. lol. It’s so unserious.

Exactly why I didn’t offer an opinion on ‘Ohana,
Strange, the outpouring of opposite feelings people have on this eatery.

 

[eandt]

What restaurant are you comparing CG to price wise?




Exactly why I didn’t offer an opinion on ‘Ohana,
Strange, the outpouring of opposite feelings people have on this eatery.

I happen to know the chef at Ohana and still haven’t gone there. Nothing to do with the food but just not interested in the style and theme of the restaurant at this point in our lives. We have enjoyed a few things like the pot stickers, wings, and noodles at the Tambu lounge next door and thought they all came out just fine.

 

[kylenne]

Exactly why I didn’t offer an opinion on ‘Ohana,
Strange, the outpouring of opposite feelings people have on this eatery.

For real and if I’m honest if I let other people’s opinions dictate where I eat I would be living off Art Smith’s underseasoned fried chicken and never would have made CRT a tradition on my trips, which is something we always look forward to. I also would have avoided Yachtsman, which was one of the highlights of that May/June 2023 trip.

Reviews can be helpful but ultimately food is so subjective and Disney dining so inconsistent that a person is really better off researching menus, watching recent-ish videos to actually see the food, and trying places out for themselves if they look/sound appealing. I’ve never had an outright terrible meal at Disney doing that. Some have definitely been better than others, but even the not so great ones were just kinda aggressively mediocre at worst and they are definitely outnumbered by the positive experiences.

 

[Genie+]

My niece wanted to eat here. None of us had tried it before. I wasn’t sure what to expect as many people say they stopped going because it’s not as good anymore. We booked it and visited mid-December 2023.

We had a great time! Part of that was our window table and ability to watch the MK fireworks from there. Service was spot on! Food? Everybody loved the chicken wings especially. The salad, noodles, ect were good. The other meats were a bit dry though we were the last seating that night. I’d return because the overall experience was solid.

 

[Marthasor]

Wyndham Bonnet Creek- right next to Caribbean Beach and the boardwalk.

If you can snag an ADR, I would go to Topolino's - much better food and a view of the EP fireworks from the terrace. You could also ride the Skyliner which is a lot of fun, IMHO.

 

[HopperFan]

Wyndham Bonnet Creek- right next to Caribbean Beach and the boardwalk.

We LOVED Sebastians. Excellent food, excellent service, smaller more intimate restaurant. Would return in a heartbeat.

Of your others I would consider BOMA or Storybook Dining. We have done Storybook 3x and enjoyed the experience and food every time.

 

[WDWOswald]

Our son is 9, turning 10 during our trip. Topolinos is glorious but not the right venue for him. Our flight direct from Detroit lands about 2 pm.

How far will,you have travelled that day?
Is a flight involved?
How old is your son?
If you have ample time to catch your breath, I’d consider Toppolinos. Much less hassle in parking.
Or Boma or Jiko, same reason.
We often do Boathouse as a first night, and wander around DS.