‘Ohana is one of our all-time favorite restaurants in Disney World (and it has been for a while), but that doesn’t mean that it’s completely perfect. In fact, when we go there to eat, we frequently run into these unfortunate problems!

This restaurant at Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort serves Hawaiian-inspired cuisine family-style, and you might even see Stitch and Mickey while you’re there (or you might not — but more on that later). Before you go, we’ve got to warn you about these potential issues that you might face when you get there. 

‘Ohana is just a short Monorail ride away from Magic Kingdom, at the Polynesian Village Resort. It’s a table service meal, so you do need reservations to dine there. It serves both breakfast and dinner.

Breakfast is a character meal, and you’ll be joined by Mickey, Pluto, Lilo, and Stitch. The menu (which is served family-style) includes fresh fruit, scrambled eggs, pork breakfast sausage links, Hawaiian-style ham topped with pineapple compote, fried island-style potatoes, Mickey-shaped waffles, biscuits, and (our favorite) freshly made pineapple-coconut breakfast bread. There’s also a plant-based skillet option.

There are no characters at dinner. The dinner menu includes a mixed greens salad with a citrus vinaigrette, signature ‘Ohana bread with honey butter, honey-coriander chicken wings, pork dumplings in a garlic-chili sauce, wood-fire grilled teriyaki beef, spicy peel-n-eat shrimp, grilled chicken with Polynesian-inspired Chimichurri sauce, ‘Ohana noodles, roasted seasonal vegetables, and ‘Ohana bread pudding served with ice cream and a homemade caramel sauce.

Everything sounds pretty amazing, right? A lot of people agree! That’s why we frequently encounter this problem:

Pre-Problem: We Can’t Get a Reservation

‘Ohana is a popular restaurant, and lots of people prioritize it during their trip! On more than one occasion, we’ve tried to get a dining reservation as early as possible (60 days before our trip) and found that they were already sold out.

If you’re not able to get an ‘Ohana dining reservation right away, make sure you keep checking back in case anyone else cancels their reservation and some space opens up. But even if nothing ever opens up, you’re not quite out of luck!

You can always join the restaurant’s walk-up waitlist, which is available on the My Disney Experience app. Just search for ‘Ohana and locate the “Join Walk-Up List” button. Note that you’ll need to be pretty close to the restaurant in order to join the list. You’ll put in the number of people in your party, and you’ll be added to the list! You will receive an estimated wait time. Once it’s your turn to go in, Disney will text you and let you know.

If the reservation plan falls through and the walk-up waitlist is unavailable when you visit, there’s even a Plan C! You can head to the Tambu Lounge, which is located right next to ‘Ohana. This lounge does not accept reservations. On the menu, you can find lots of our favorite ‘Ohana dishes, like ‘Ohana noodles, pot stickers, and chicken wings. If you ask nicely, you can even order the famous ‘Ohana bread pudding here!

So although we frequently find ourselves reservation-less when we want to eat at ‘Ohana, it’s nice to know that there are a couple of back-up plans available so we can still get those beloved noodles.

Check out our full guide to Disney World dining reservations here.

We Fill Up on Noodles

By now, you’ve probably caught on to the fact that we’re obsessed with the ‘Ohana noodles. It’s actually probably a problem how much we love them. But we don’t care because they’re just THAT GOOD.

The noodles are served as part of the dinner skillet, so the bread and salad come out first. But as soon as that plate piled high with noodles hits the table, we get tunnel vision. It’s noodles, noodles, and more noodles. Chicken wings who? What even is a pork dumpling? Roasted Veggies? We don’t know her. We don’t care — we’re there for the NOODS.

So here’s the problem: The rest of the food at ‘Ohana actually really is incredibly delicious, not just the noodles. But because of our unhealthy obsession, we fill up on noodles and forget to leave room for anything else! And since noodles are carbs, it only takes a couple of servings before we start to feel too full for anything else. (Except for that bread pudding, but that’s because dessert has its own stomach. IYKYK.)

You could make these amazing noodles at home! Get the recipe here.

We Eat Way. Too. Much.

This problem is actually very similar to the noodle problem we just talked about, just on a broader scale. Because the food at ‘Ohana is so good and because it’s served family-style and the servers will just keep bringing you more as you eat it, we always eat WAY. TOO. MUCH. 

If you’re going to run in a runDisney race during your trip, do NOT go to ‘Ohana the night before. You will regret it (we speak from experience 😅).

The partner of one of our editors had this unfortunate experience with ‘Ohana recently. He was eating there with his family and made the classic, iconic mistake of eating so much food that he was full to bursting. Then, his brother had the brilliant idea for the whole family to head back into Magic Kingdom and ride Space Mountain. 😳 Literally — physically — he could not do it. He had to wait outside the ride while everyone else went on because he’d eaten too much and just the idea of going on Space Mountain after that was nauseating.

When you pay that much for the meal, and when the food is that good, you want to eat as much as possible to get your money’s worth and also enjoy every single dish. It’s a dangerous, slippery slope, because you might not feel great for the rest of the day if you’re not careful.

If you ate too much at ‘Ohana, you should NOT go on these Disney World rides.

Our Dining Budget Is Blown on One Meal

Some of these problems are kind of funny and most of them are our own fault, but this one is a little more real. ‘Ohana is not a cheap dining experience. For breakfast, it costs $49 per adult and $30 per child, and dinner is $62 per adult and $40 per child. That means if you have a group of four adults, dinner will cost $248 (plus tax and tip).

Now, does the food and service live up to the price? In our opinion, it does. But that doesn’t mean we come here every time we’re in Disney World. We tend to save ‘Ohana for special occasions and stick to quick service meals (which are usually $10 to $20 per adult) the rest of the time to balance out the budget.

‘Ohana is by no means the most expensive restaurant in Disney Word (that spot is reserved for places like Takumi Tei and Victoria & Albert’s), but it’s still something we budget for in advance to make sure we’re not shocked by that bill at the end of the meal.

Check out some of the BEST budget-friendly meals in Disney World here.

We Don’t Get a Table by the Window

This is the epitome of #FirstWorldProblems, so we know we sound a little bit ridiculous. We’re already eating at one of the best restaurants in Disney World, and we have the NERVE to complain about our table location inside the dining room?!

Sorry, we know, we know…but have you SEEN the views outside some of the windows? If you get one of the best tables in ‘Ohana, you could be sitting right next to a gorgeous landscape of Magic Kingdom, including Cinderella Castle views. Or you might get a beautiful view of the gorgeous Polynesian Village Resort grounds.

You can always request a specific table at ‘Ohana, but there are only so many available right next to the windows, so your request may not be possible, depending on how many people are at the restaurant and where they’ve been seated. Still, it never hurts to ask! Just make sure to be respectful and understanding if they’re not able to seat you exactly where you want to be.

Check out the BEST places to sit at 53 Disney World restaurants.

We Go at the Wrong Time

Is there ever a wrong time to eat ‘Ohana noodles, bread pudding, and pineapple bread? No…but there is a BEST time to do it!

If you go during Magic Kingdom’s Happily Ever After fireworks, you’ll get a pretty awesome view of the show. Noodles AND fireworks?! It doesn’t get better than that. Now, this isn’t the same thing as being right in front of Cinderella Castle, but if you’ve already had that experience, we highly recommend watching the show from ‘Ohana. They even pipe the music into the restaurant!

You’ll have to be pretty careful with the timing, though. make sure you look up what time the fireworks will be on the day you’re visiting and then plan your ‘Ohana reservations around that. It’s best to set your reservations for about a half hour before the fireworks begin so that you don’t miss them but also aren’t finished eating before they start.

These Disney World restaurants have the BEST fireworks views.

Stitch Doesn’t Come

As Disney dining pros, we haven’t actually run into this problem ourselves. But it’s one that we hear about all the time, so we had to include it! We frequently hear from people who went to ‘Ohana for dinner and expected to meet Stitch, Lilo, Mickey, and Pluto. However, you have to keep in mind that ‘Ohana is ONLY a character meal for breakfast — not for dinner.

If you go for breakfast, you will definitely see some of your favorite Disney pals. But if you’re going for dinner, they won’t be there.

There’s still some entertainment at dinner: A Cast Member usually walks around playing the ukelele and interacting with visitors! But don’t expect to meet Stitch if you’re there later in the day.

We ranked every Disney World character restaurant from worst to best!

We Have to Peel Our Own Shrimp

OK, this is a personal problem, I know. My editor wasn’t sure if we should include it, because most people don’t have this problem, but I feel strongly about it, so I’m throwing it in here at the end.

The shrimp at ‘Ohana come unpeeled, so you have to peel them yourself. And here’s the thing: I HATE peeling my own shrimp. 😬

I know that people say the shrimp stay juicier when they’re not peeled, and I know it keeps more of the flavor in. But I just don’t like it. I’m sorry. I’m a child. Literally, I feel like a child because I’ll ask a friend to peel them for me because I really love eating the shrimp, I just can’t stand actually peeling them. (Like I said, it’s a me problem, so please don’t let this deter you if you don’t have the same weird issue that I have 😂.)

Check out 5 annoying Disney World problems that actually have super simple solutions.

And that’s it! Eight unfortunate things that always happen to us at ‘Ohana. But we’ll keep going back anyway because some of the best food in Disney World can be found here, especially those amazing noodles and the delicious bread pudding. So, so worth it.

With DOZENS of places to eat at Disney World, we know it can be tough to plan your meals. That’s why we wrote the DFB Guide to Walt Disney World Dining. We have reviews, pictures, and details about every restaurant all in one digital download – along with ALL of our best tips and strategies from decades of Disney World trips. 

Stay tuned to DFB for more tips and planning advice as you get ready for your upcoming vacation!

Click here to see the HIDDEN Disney World hotel restaurant with dessert that’s even BETTER than ‘Ohana’s!

Is ‘Ohana one of your favorite restaurants in Disney World? Let us know in the comments!