Sorry to hear about a bad experience. Good to know what to expect regarding the waits past reservation times to manage expectations. If a restaurant has a lounge or bar I assume its ok to relax with a drink and wait to be called, assuming it’s not too busy.
I have Ohana booked for a late breakfast for my trip in June. How do peoples experiences of breakfast compare to dinner?
Im so excited less than 2 months to go now! 
But hoping I made decent restaurant choices!
Thanks
B
'Ohana breakfast is my youngest son’s favorite character meal. We generally do it on a non-park day (or departure day) and have never had a bad experience. Enjoy!
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Op said $250 dinner bill later said dining plan was expensive. Not sure how these relate. Also said large party, so not sure that cost was really out of line. It is unfortunate that they had a bad evening
We also did a late breakfast in Feb this year. We did have about a 30 min wait to be seated - it was the Thursday before a holiday weekend though, so they were very busy. Once seated, it was great - service friendly and food plentiful - enjoy!
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Unfortunately, my family’s experience was similar. We waited forever to be seated. When we were seated, she didn’t even wait until we got the children situated to start throwing food on our table. The meat, when it came was overcooked. The waitress was unfriendly and impatient. I felt very rushed and barely ate, so we could leave and end the experience. I ended up eating a snack later. We will never go back. I honestly think they over book the restaurant and everything is great at the beginning of the night, but if you reservation is later then the effects of running behind all night take there toll on the wait staff, and some do not handle it well. My husband suggested we get an earlier ADR, however, I think there is a lot of great restaurants at Disney, we do not need to play roulette with this one.
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I’m curious whether all of these negatives apply only to dinner. Has the food been bad lately for breakfast, too?
In all fairness I think the guests are also a lot crankier the later the reservation.
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Food was great at both breakfast and dinner during my families visit in February.
We thought the same about reservation time, so we booked our last 2 in the 5-6pm timeframe. Still waited about 40min each time to be seated and waiter was overloaded with too many tables so had to ask multiple times for butter & sauces (both nights). I really miss the atmosphere that got us hooked years ago when the wait staff actually had time to make you feel welcome & relaxed and the food arrived slowly & well-timed so you didn’t have several courses at once. They are simply overbooking and under-staffing. We still go back every trip though & food has always been great.
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I’m sorry, but whether one likes wdw or not, or whether one likes the food or not, there is zero excuse for a restaurant charging those prices to be consistently late in seating people. And 'ohana has that reputation.
To those who say that this is normal, I say, the restaurant overbooks, and that’s NOT cool. To those who say that people are staying for wishes and that that is normal, well then the restaurant ought to KNOW that it is normal and NOT overbook.
To those who say, it’s just a vacation, relax, sorry but wdw is a different kind of vacation. For those prices, to wait around for an hour when one could be doing loads of other amazingly fun things – which is the expectation – isn’t cool.
I’ll go so far as to say it is disrespectful of people’s time. Sure, there are outliers, and extraordinary circumstances. But people lingering to see wishes is NOT extraordinary; it is the norm. And the restaurant should take it into account.
A 10-15, even 20-30 minute wait can be excused in most circumstances. An hour? Sorry. Wdw being a crowded busy place doesn’t let whoever consistently overbooks 'ohana off the hook. And it’s not like this is anywhere near the first time I’ve read about super long waits and delays at 'ohana.
There are various remedies that could have been offered. At the very least, the maitre de can communicate to the customer a reasonably accurate expectation as to what the wait will be, and at the very least, allow the customer to cancel without any fee. That’s not special treatment, or asking for a freebie. It’s simply good business and common courtesy and being respectful of someone’s time.
To put up with that kind of treatment, at those prices is absurd. No matter how starry-eyed one feels about wdw.
I’m with the OP.
Thanks for the warning. Though it’s a warning I’ve read many many times about 'ohana, it’s good to see if it’s still happening, so one can make a decision not to eat there.
Would a bad restaurant experience keep me from wdw? Of course not… but it most certainly will keep me away from 'ohanas. So I appreciate the heads up from the OP, and the confirmation that this overbooking practice is still going on.
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I would have been happier if they had just told me how long the wait was, as I had 4 hungry children. An hour is too long to expect young children to wait. Had O’hana told me it would be 1 hour, I would have cancelled and gotten QS for my kids.
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I’ve lost count how many times we’ve eaten there for breakfast and dinner. Sometimes we get a great server, but most times it’s very rushed—mediocre at best. Usually food is dropped off with a cursory remark; to get any personal service we’d have to let our food go cold while waiting. Breakfast has always been a bit more relaxed…but never stellar service.
Regarding seating, once we were forgotten until the awesome barkeep at Tambu spoke to the hostess (1.5 hrs after ADR). We’ve never waited less than 30 mins. I do try to book early dinners & late breakfasts but I think they’re overbooked. Finally, when we’re a party of 3 I’ve learned to book for 4, or else they seat us at a two-top with an extra chair thrown on the side, right on the coconut-race aisle. There’s not enough room for all the dishes, then add kids running by…not pleasant at all. 
Frankly I can get better quality food and certainly superior service at Fogo de Chao, etc., BUT it’s my DS’s favorite WDW restaurant so I keep booking it. I just have my fill of wine (or mimosas if brekkie) and roll with whatever fate awaits us…
When we first started eating there (2009??) I found the atmosphere enchanting and the service fine. Remember when you’d get a lei and a photo just for eating there?
And I just paid for a watch for DS’s birthday meal. 
We ARE skipping breakfast this time…and next trip I’ve already warned him I’m not booking 'Ohana at all. There are too many other places to try!
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We last ate at 'Ohana for breakfast in October '14. We had a late breakfast ADR (10ish). The wait was about 25 minutes, which is annoying. Our server was great and the characters were great. Food was just alright. Not bad, but nothing to write home about. We went to Epcot after for a few hours, and so it was fine. I wouldn’t make an ADR there though, if you are in a rush. The wait is usually a minimum of 20 minutes.
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Update: DH & I joined friends Wednesday who had ADR for 7 at 9:30pm so I was prepared for the worst. We were all surprised & impressed with all the changes! Within seconds the buzzer went off to be seated, server was VERY friendly & not at all rushing us, and the old menu is back! The only change from old menu is no more pork (lettuce wraps gone too) but we had salad, great wings again, and chicken! I really hope this was not a one-off experience but will find out in the next few weeks (taking each dd separately).
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Update from OP–
Disney contacted me via phone recently about our experience. The service rep confirmed that they have gotten many complaints about OHana in recent months. She said she was calling me because she/they appreciated the fact that I included suggestions rather than just a complaint. She said they would be doing additional training and changes should occur.
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Glad to hear of the positive follow-up.
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