"Tis the Season to be Eatin'" Reviews with DxDP

[Mom2m&k]

Loved your review... hope you get to do another one soon.

 

[alltwelve]

Loved your review... hope you get to do another one soon.

Thanks!

 

[Shelleyfs]

Thank you! Great reviews!

 

[richkaryn]

Sunday, December 24th
Dinner at Ohana

Still completely full after a three-hour experience at CG brunch, we were kinda dreading the dinner at Ohana as neither of us were hungry. We wanted to get a pre-drink at the Top of the World Lounge, but I wasn't sure exactly what the rules are regarding who is allowed up there. We were staying on DVC points, but the points were my parents, not ours. I figured I would explain to the CM who mans the elevator that takes you up to the TOTWL and see what they say. To my surprise, the CM working there, Sonya, looked at the two of us before we could say anything and said "hey guys! Are you back for more?" Before I could reply, she came back with a "I remember you guys from last night; go on up and have a great time!" I still am not sure what the policy is, but I wasn't about to stand there and explain, so we happily jumped in the elevator and headed upstairs. We were greeted by our server, Emily, and the other server, also named Emily, and had a wonderful chat with Emily #1. She was asking about our day and we were talking about the brunch, and she had mentioned her boyfriend works in the kitchen at CG and was there during the brunch. Since she was working the evening shift at TOTWL, they were "two ships passing in the night!" lol We then ordered our drinks: an Apple Pie Martini for me and an Angry Orchard for Greg:

Emily said the slowest times at TOTWL are during the DVC Moonlight Magic events, when all the DVC members are in the parks. After chatting some more, we paid our tab and headed to the monorail for Ohana.

It had been quite some time since I've been to Ohana, but I had a pretty good memory of it being great. We were 15 minutes late for our 7:45 PM reservation, checking in right at 8:00 PM. Then we waited... and waited... and waited...

FINALLY, around 8:50 PM our old antiquated pager went off (no text messaging here) and we were sat at a table for 3. These tables for 3 are a little odd- they're long rectangles, with a chair on each end and one in the middle. We were sat on opposite sides of the table, and pretty far away from each other. I ended up moving to the middle chair so we wouldn't have to yell to each other from across the room. Similar to the CG brunch, we were sat right by the food, in this case, where all the meat skewers were. Bread was brought out immediately by our server, who took our drink order. The bread wasn't that good- it was dry, cold and kinda hard. The butter that went with it was pretty good and sort of made up for the bread. We were then presented with the salad and the skillet of food:

The pork dumplings were really good! The noodles, though, weren't that good at all; it was like they had been sitting around for a while. The chicken wings were also pretty greasy. I ate all the water chestnuts out of the vegetables, but not much else. We both had our hearts set on the shrimp, so I was trying to save room for that. We were first offered chicken, then steak, then chicken again. I asked if we could have shrimp, to which the server holding the chicken skewer replied, "yes, we have shrimp." Finally the server came with shrimp, and it was really good! By then though, we were both pretty full and weren't feeling up to that much shrimp. During all this, the HEA fireworks were going on, and we had a really good view! It was nice to hear the music that accompanied the fireworks.

Overall, I'm not sure if I had built up Ohana in my head, but I remembered kids rolling coconuts around the restaurant, or playing with hula hoops; there was none of that going on. I wasn't sure if it had to do with the fireworks and the time of the evening or not. There was a guy strolling around playing a ukulele, but that was about it. Greg's chair kept getting repeatedly bumped by servers, no matter how much he moved his chair forward, and the whole dining experienced felt completely rushed compared to Boma and CG.

Dessert came- the bread pudding, and somehow we forced ourselves to eat it. We then boarded the monorail for BLT, but when it stopped at MK, it was a mob scene. Throngs of people from a Christmas Eve day at the park all shoved in. Fortunately, we were only one stop away from our hotel! We went right to the room, pretty disgusted with how much we had eaten in a day!

Those tables for 3 are the worst! We do 'Ohana nearly every trip (me, DH, and our son) and we went on my actual birthday in Oct '16 and were sat at one of those (first time we've ever been at one even though we've been a party of 3 on all but 2 of our trips.) It was the worst (Only bad one really) experience we've had at 'Ohana out of the 6 or 7 times we've eaten there. I felt like I was yelling at my husband all night and our server was slow and no personality. I almost didn't go back on our next trip, but glad we did because it was much better.

 

[alltwelve]

Those tables for 3 are the worst! We do 'Ohana nearly every trip (me, DH, and our son) and we went on my actual birthday in Oct '16 and were sat at one of those (first time we've ever been at one even though we've been a part of 3 on all but of our trips.) It was the worst (Only bad one really) experience we've had at 'Ohana out of the 6 or 7 times we've eaten there. I felt like I was yelling at my husband all night and our server was slow and no personality. I almost didn't go back on our next trip, but glad we did because it was much better.

Oh good- I'm not the only one who has had that experience with those tables for 3! I remember going there once years back and had the same situation, but at the time I thought it was a fluke. There were two of us sitting there on opposite ends of the table, yelling back and forth to each other, then we realized the couple at the table next to us was doing the same thing. The funny part was their table was INCHES away from ours, so we joked about how we should just push our tables together, then switch seats to where each person in a couple would be sat next to each other! That couple heard us and we all four laughed about it. We ended up having a nice chat with them, though we never swapped seats.

I just wonder if Ohana has a table for two that is an ACTUAL table for 2!

 

[princess aleya]

I really enjoyed your reviews!

 

[Niki Andiokno]

What a great holiday food report!! Now that you have started, you must do more!

I really want to do the California Grill brunch. Your report has me tempted to go there instead of the Il Mulino Bubbles Brunch in October. I am happy to hear the steak was food. Hangar steak kinda scares me. I have had very good and very bad. Did you have an upcharge for unlimited Mimosa? The online menu I saw said single drink included.

We always cook on vacation. I have some Chicago friends who transplanted to Orlando. We always get together to grill every trip.

Christmas at Hoop De Dooo Review sounds like a great tradition. You both look so handsome and happy in that picture.

Sounds and looks like you had a great holiday get away.

 

[TeresaNJ]

Enjoyed your review very much! We did the California Grill Sunday Brunch for the first time in November 2016. My husband ran the Wine & Dine Half Marathon that morning, his very first 1/2 marathon, so the brunch was his reward, lol! Oh my gosh, that brunch was so amazing! We're planning on doing it again this April, after DH runs the Dark Side 1/2 marathon! He's a glutton for punishment! Boma is also one of our favorites. Love, love, love it! We agree that 'Ohana is hit or miss, but I still enjoy it. I have a lot of nostalgic feelings for the Polynesian, as my uncle took us on our very first Disney trip there. We may do it again this upcoming trip, or maybe not. I have it booked, never the less. May cancel it. We'll see. What a great tradition to do the HDD review on Christmas day!

 

[alltwelve]

What a great holiday food report!! Now that you have started, you must do more!

I really want to do the California Grill brunch. Your report has me tempted to go there instead of the Il Mulino Bubbles Brunch in October. I am happy to hear the steak was food. Hangar steak kinda scares me. I have had very good and very bad. Did you have an upcharge for unlimited Mimosa? The online menu I saw said single drink included.

We always cook on vacation. I have some Chicago friends who transplanted to Orlando. We always get together to grill every trip.

Christmas at Hoop De Dooo Review sounds like a great tradition. You both look so handsome and happy in that picture.

Sounds and looks like you had a great holiday get away.

I didn't know Il Mulino had a brunch- I'll have to check that out! The mimosas at the CG brunch are unlimited... I think I had about 8 or 9 of them (gotta get my Vitamin C! LOL)

 

[alltwelve]

Enjoyed your review very much! We did the California Grill Sunday Brunch for the first time in November 2016. My husband ran the Wine & Dine Half Marathon that morning, his very first 1/2 marathon, so the brunch was his reward, lol! Oh my gosh, that brunch was so amazing! We're planning on doing it again this April, after DH runs the Dark Side 1/2 marathon! He's a glutton for punishment! Boma is also one of our favorites. Love, love, love it! We agree that 'Ohana is hit or miss, but I still enjoy it. I have a lot of nostalgic feelings for the Polynesian, as my uncle took us on our very first Disney trip there. We may do it again this upcoming trip, or maybe not. I have it booked, never the less. May cancel it. We'll see. What a great tradition to do the HDD review on Christmas day!

I would run a half marathon if the CG brunch was waiting for me at the finish line! LOL

 

[ksromack]

We've done the DxDDP ONCE.....and you are right, it's a TON of food! The key is spreading out the meals as far apart as possible (which is difficult when you are trying to use FPs and tour the parks) and doing what you did......planning 2 credit meals. We loved CG back and LeCellier (of course we did a late lunch so it was just 1 TS). We've never tried Boma, as a matter of fact, we've never ventured to AKL ever. Staying at BWV in October for F&W so I'm all about that.

Loved your review!

 

[alltwelve]

We've done the DxDDP ONCE.....and you are right, it's a TON of food! The key is spreading out the meals as far apart as possible (which is difficult when you are trying to use FPs and tour the parks) and doing what you did......planning 2 credit meals. We loved CG back and LeCellier (of course we did a late lunch so it was just 1 TS). We've never tried Boma, as a matter of fact, we've never ventured to AKL ever. Staying at BWV in October for F&W so I'm all about that.

Loved your review!

Thanks! Hope you guys enjoy Food and Wine!!!