Taste of Disney

It had been more than 7 years since our last dinner at ‘Ohana so I thought this family trip would be a great time to revisit this restaurant at the Polynesian Resort. Afterall, ‘Ohana does mean FAMILY!

But being a group of 7 it was not easy to get a reservation for dinner at this popular Disney World restaurant. The only available time they had on our Magic Kingdom day was at 3:30, which is when the restaurant starts serving dinner. So to prepare for this very early dinner and its large amount of food, we skipped breakfast and had a quick service lunch as soon as that restaurant opened at 10:30.

But when we were seated and presented with this menu, I became doubtful that our appetites we were sufficiently prepared for this All-You-Care-To-Enjoy Family-style Feast that was about to be brought to our table.

NOTE: The price of this meal was $62.00 per person plus tax and gratuity. Since we were a party of 6 or more an 18% gratuity was automatically added to our bill. (As of January 2025 the price of this meal is now $65.)

The feast began with these Appetizers…

Mixed Greens Salad with Citrus Vinaigrette and Signature ‘Ohana Bread with Butter topped with Honey

The salad was fine, though not really remarkable in any way. The citrus vinaigrette tasted like a combination of citrus juices (probably orange, lemon, and lime), vinegar and Dijon mustard. Knowing that so much good food was soon coming our way, the desire to fill up on salad was just not there. Everyone rated the salad as average, or a 3. I believe the last time we dined at ‘Ohana we were served one large loaf of their signature pineapple-coconut bread but this time we got a plate filled with small loaves. However, from what I can remember, the bread tasted pretty much the same. It was still very good, especially with the addition of the sweet honey butter. Unlike the salad, this was hard to hold off on. The bread received ratings of 4 and 4 1/2 from our group.

Because of her gluten sensitivity, Emily was not able to have the ‘Ohana bread so this was what they brought her instead…

And yes, this slice of Gluten-free bread was as “pathetic” (Emily’s one word description) as it looked. But in the interest of full disclosure, she was told that they were temporarily out of the Gluten-free rolls that they normally serve. But anyway, Emily gave her bread the rating of 1 that it no doubt deserved.

I’m going to break away from the food now for just a bit to talk about our beverages. Though soda, coffee, and tea were included with our meal, we all chose to splurge and have a cocktail…

Pictured from left to right are:

1. White Sangria (Opici Family White Sangria made in La Mancha, Spain from Airen grapes and has flavors of banana, pineapple, and grapefruit with a hint of ginger) for $13.00.
2. Rum Swizzle (Mount Gay Eclipse Rum with Tropical Juices and flavors of Guava and Mango) for $15.00. (Price as of January 2025 is $15.50)
3. Pina CoLAVA (Bacardi Raspberry Rum blended with flavors of Coconut, Pineapple, and Raspberry Puree) for $16.00 (Price as January 2023 is $16.50)

Jake, Andrew, and Becca all gave their cocktails a rating of 3 1/2.

Don and I chose these cocktails…

I had the Bahama Mama (pictured on the left), which had Parrot Bay Rum, Plantation Original Dark Rum, Bols Creme de Banana, and Tropical Juices. NOTE: This was priced at $15.00 then but as of January 2025 it is now $15.50. I’ve previously enjoyed the Bahama Mama cocktail at various places around Disney World and I again enjoyed it at ‘Ohana. If you like sweet, fruity rum drinks then I would recommend this one. I gave it a rating of 4 1/2.

My husband had the other cocktail pictured above. This was a Polynesian Mai Tai and it had Plantation Original Dark Rum, Bacardi Superior Rum, Bols Orange Curacao, Lime Juice, Orgeat (Almond), and Pure Cane Sugar. I was quite surprised when he chose this as he really doesn’t like rum or sweet, fruity cocktails…the opposite of me, lol. But, again to my surprise, he liked the Mai Tai and gave it a rating of 4. He said it reminded him of his trips to Hawaii. NOTE: This was priced at $16.00 but as of January 2025 it is now $16.50.

Like me, Emily also had a Bahama Mama…

She thought it was good but gave it only a rating of 3 1/2.

And that leaves Bryan, who got the famous Lapu Lapu…

Lapu Lapu – Plantation Original Dark Rum and Tropical Fruit Juices served in a fresh Pineapple and topped with Gosling’s 151 Rum – $20.00 (Price as of January 2025 is $21.00)

It’s that 151 proof rum topper that gives this an extra kick. I’ve had this before and thought the rum was a bit overpowering. Bryan seemed to enjoy it though and gave it a rating of 4, partly because of the presentation.

Now let’s get back to the food. We were next brought these platters…

These platters included: Honey-Coriander Chicken Wings, ‘Ohana Noodles, Pork Dumplings Tossed in Garlic-Chili Sauce, and Stir-fried Broccoli.

While I’m not generally a fan of chicken wings (unless they are boneless, but then I guess they are chicken nuggets, lol), but I thought these were a bit better than average. The honey-coriander sauce tasted like sweet teriyaki and I liked the flavor. I wish the wings would have had a little more sauce on them though. I gave the wings a rating of 3 1/2 but others gave them only a 3.

Next up are the noodles. While these are basically just lo mein noodles, there is something special about them. They are soooo good! We agreed on a rating of 4 1/2 for the ‘Ohana Noodles.

There was a difference of opinion though regarding the Pork Dumplings (aka Potstickers). While I loved them and rated them 4 1/2, a few others gave them only a 3 1/2.

The Stir-fried Broccoli was fine. If you like broccoli it was good broccoli.

Emily received a Gluten-free version of this platter…

This platter had the same Honey-Coriander Chicken Wings plus Stir-fried Vegetables and Steamed Rice. In other words, it was missing the two best things from our platter…the noodles and pork dumplings.

She thought this was pretty lackluster and gave it all a rating of 2.

Next up was the…

Peel-n-Eat Shrimp coated with ‘Ohana Seasoning

The ‘Ohana seasoning to me tasted a lot like Old Bay seasoning so if you like that flavor then you would probably like this shrimp. Those of us in the group that like shrimp, enjoyed this shrimp and rated it a 4.

We didn’t completely agree though on the other two meats. Emily’s favorite was the…

Grilled Chicken with Guava-Pineapple Glaze

Emily, Don and I all really liked the grilled flavor of the chicken and the sweet, fruity glaze and gave the chicken a rating of 4 1/2. A few others of our group weren’t quite as impressed with the chicken and gave it a lower rating of 3 1/2.

For Don and I, our favorite of the meats was the…

Wood-fire Grilled Teriyaki Beef

This was a little more rare than we usually prefer but Don and I really enjoyed it. The teriyaki flavor was delicious. We both gave the Beef a perfect rating of 5. The others though rated it 3 1/2 or 4.

And then the finale…

‘Ohana Bread Pudding A la mode with Homemade Caramel Sauce

The bread pudding itself is moist and tasty but when you top it with ice cream and delicious caramel sauce it takes this dessert to the next level. Ratings of 4 and 4 1/2 were given to the ‘Ohana Bread Pudding.

And that just leaves Emily’s Gluten-free dessert…

Emily said this Gluten-free version of the Bread Pudding topped with pineapple and served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream was better than she had expected. She gave it a rating of 3 1/2.

The Bread Pudding dessert was a great ending to a pretty great meal. Overall this was voted by the group as one of the best meals of our trip!

One note to add, since this is an AYCTE meal we were asked by our server if we wanted more of anything and received additional generous portions of a few of our favorites, including the beef. So my advice is to come to this meal starving in order to get the most bang for your buck.