This legendary Disney spot is tucked away on the second story of the lobby of the Polynesian Village Resort. It’s hard to miss though because you will generally find a massive crowd waiting outside of it. Ohana has earned a name as one of the best places to eat at Disney World, and after dining there I don’t wonder why. Every time we dine here we thoroughly enjoyed our experience here as well as the food. So let’s dive into our Ohana dining review.
Note: This restaurant was closed for over a year in 2020 and reopened with several changes. We will cover these below and see if these changes were for the better or worse.
Quick Ohana Breakdown
- Service: Table-Service – Family Style/Buffet
- Type of Food: Steak, Chicken, Seafood, Vegetarian-Friendly, Allergy Options
- Price: $$$
- Location: Disney’s Polynesian Resort
- Disney Dining Plan: Yes, 1 Credits
- Discounts: Annual Passholder, Tables in Wonderland
- Features: Reservations, Alcohol, Full Bar
- Good For: Groups, Special Occasion Dining, View, Kids
- Menu: Official Disney Breakfast Menu | Official Disney Dinner Menu
Price of ‘Ohana Dinner
There is a fixed fee for dinner at Ohana. Ohana costs $55 per adult and $33 per child, plus tax and gratuity. If you are looking for a cheaper option check out breakfast.
A Look Around Ohana
Ohana welcomes you into their family from the second you walk in. While dining here your servers will refer to you as their cousin and make you feel like you are part of the family.
Ohana is a flat fee meal much like a buffet. Your meal will be brought to your meal and served family-style. Family style is just a fancy way of saying they are going to bring big platters of food over where you can then serve yourself. It’s all you care to eat, so if you want more of anything served all you have to do is ask.
The entire restaurant, like the rest of the Polynesian resort, has a tropical tiki-themed. There are so many great photo moments here at Ohana. Check out the giant tiki on the right of the photo above. If that wasn’t enough you can catch a glimpse of the castle here as well. This means you plan a later dinner here at Ohana you can catch the fireworks as well as the Water Pageant Parade.
This is where all the magic happens. In the center of Ohana is a grill station where all the meats are prepped for your dinner. Depending on where you are seated inside you can watch them cook throughout your entire meal. It divides the restaurant and there is seating on both sides of this center grill.
One of my favorite parts of dining at Ohana is the entertainment. While here you hear in the background lovely ukulele music and singing of tunes that pair perfectly with the tropical vibes here. Yes, you will catch Somewhere Over the Rainbow while eating here. But the important thing to note is this is a live performer who is wandering around the restaurant the entire time you dine here.
Ohana Dinner Dishes
Sweet Bread Platter
Sadly, the starter bread was switched up at Ohana. Gone is the addictive sweet coconut bread and in combination with the butter. I must say I really miss the old bread but let us take a look at the two new bread options.
‘Ohana Coconut-Papaya Scones were a delight. These scones were way closer to the previous sweet bread that started out the meal. It was nice and soft and had a sweet flavor with light tones of pineapple and coconut.
Cheddar-Bacon Biscuits were a split win for our table. I thought they were way too dry and lacking any real fun flavor. It didn’t really feel like it matches the meal. My husband on the other hand enjoyed the biscuits but said the honey butter was a must.
Mixed Greens Salad
Shortly after being seated at our table, we were given this delicious salad. It had a vinaigrette dressing on the side so you are in full control of how much dressing you put on your salad. I really am not a huge salad person but this I was chowing down on. This salad was very similar to the previous salad.
Pork Dumplings
Pork Dumplings tossed in Garlic-Ginger Sauce. The appetizer, unfortunately, no longer comes out with two dipping Peanut and Sweet-n-Sour Sauces. The story is these were pulled due to common allergy issues. I however missed something to dip these dumplings in. I would have even loved to have some soy sauce on the side for the dumplings.
Honey-Coriander Chicken Wings
These sweet and sticky wings are just like they were with the previous menu at Ohana. Get ready for a little bit of a mess with these sauces. The wings were good but the flavor is mostly all on the outside of these.
Woodfire-grilled Teriyaki Beef
The steak was packed with flavor and not overcooked. Even though the meat was no longer served on a skewer at our table it was plenty tasty and still a welcome option.
Island Shrimp Casserole
As much as a love everything here at Ohana the shrimp casserole was a hard flop. The previous shrimp was a shelled on grilled shrimp that was packed with flavor. It was a pain to deshell the shrimp but I would gladly do that that have to eat this shrimp casserole.
The shrimp casserole is in a cream sauce and had a very odd seasoning. My husband isn’t a big seafood fan, to begin with, and when he saw this he wouldn’t even attempt a try on the looks of it. I am hoping in the future they consider updating the shrimp option.
Roasted Eight-way Chicken
This skillet comes out packed with items. But the chicken here was my favorite of the meats it was packed with flavor and well worth asking for seconds.
If you are a smaller table definitely asked for more noodles they flew off the table with the little amount that was served in this skillet. The Ohana noodles are just as we remembered them before and a highlight of the experience here at Ohana. They were originally not going to be back on the new menu but I am glad that Disney changed their mind and added them back.
Kielbasa Sausage and Roasted Brocollini were also in this dish. They were also were both perfectly good. However, we missed the old mix veggies and felt that the broccolini didn’t have much excitement going on.
‘Ohana Bread Pudding
It really is true that they save the best for last! This item was left untouched and for a good reason, it’s truly the best part of the meal. If the noodles being off the menu saw an outrage I can’t imagine what would happen if Disney ever tried to take this off the menu.
All this is to say, save a little bit of room for some bread pudding at the end. It was nice for us that they slowed down the pace at the end, so we could digest a bit before this came out. You want to make sure you can enjoy plenty of the famous Ohana bread pudding.
Ohana Recommendation
We LOVED our time spent here. I couldn’t believe that by the end of the meal we look at our phones and were shocked to find that we had spent over two hours. The waiters interacted with the kid’s everyone around us was buzzing.
Throughout the meal, there was also a live singer walking around at times he also took a break and would play games with the kids. Ohana is the quintessential Disney restaurant, perfect for families and at the same time perfect for couples like my husband and me without kids. I look forward to going back again soon.
Have you dined at Ohana? Let us know your thoughts in the comment section below. Be sure to share your favorite dish with us as well! Any questions we can help you answer? Just let us know in the comment section below. If you are interested in booking a reservation for Ohana you can do so through My Disney Experience.
Want more dining tips? Check out our Best Disney World Restaurants recommendations along with Worst Disney Dining Sit Down Restaurants. If you are visiting with young ones read our Best Places to Eat with Kids at Disney World.
I have been visiting the parks annually since my parents first brought me at just a year old. Recently I was able to fulfill my life long dream of being a Florida local and moved from the wintery Northeast to the sunshine and fun of central Florida. Now I am hoping to share my Disney knowledge with you so you can have the best vacation possible!
