Family style meal at ‘Ohana’s
I started booking my reservations a few months before arrival and couldn’t find a single time to dine at Be Our Guest, it was fully booked!! Luckily ‘Ohana had a good amount of breakfast times available. When we arrived there was already a line at the host stand and that was for people WITH reservations! If ‘Ohana is at the top of your list (which I highly recommend going to) then definitely book your reservation in advance! If you are waiting for your table there are a few stores in the lobby of the Polynesian (just steps from ‘Ohana’s) that you can poke around in.
The Food
Breakfast at ‘Ohana is served family style, and it’s amazing! As the hostess was walking us to our table she grabbed a plate of ‘Ohana’s Hawaiian pineapple coconut bread. This bread is delicious! Think of this as the bread you would get before your meal at dinner. I’m not a big fan of fruity pastries or desserts but this was the sweetest bread with only a hint of coconut and pineapple. It may be my favorite breakfast item they served! Our server brought over a carafe of “Stitch juice”, and poured us two glasses. I don’t remember exactly what it was a mixture of but guava juice was definitely a main component.
Coconut Pineapple Bread
Our food came out pretty quickly. Remember that you don’t get menus to order, it’s just the platter of food they offer that comes out. The two of us shared a platter of fresh fruit, and a wok bowl filled with scrambled eggs, fried potato wedges, two sausage, ham with a pineapple jam on top, a Mickey waffle, a Stitch waffle and a biscuit. The food came out hot and was very filling. We were offered seconds but there was no room for any more food.
The Experience
I will admit that the Polynesian has a special place in my heart. My family and I stayed there the first and second time we went to Disney World when I was younger and I fell in LOVE with the Polynesian decor/ Hawaiian feel. It was my first time experiencing the magic of Disney and being at the Poly gives me the exact feeling I felt as a kid. Pure joy.
The location of the Polynesian is right outside of Magic Kingdom. In fact, we were sat against a window with a view of the castle while we ate our breakfast. It doesn’t get much better than that! While you are dining at ‘Ohana a few characters make their way around the room, stopping at each table for photos, autographs, and some shenanigans.
This is huge for a reason that most people don’t even think about. Character meet and greets can have long lines out in the sun, meaning you are losing valuable ride time, and energy. While waiting in these lines you typically meet one and sometimes two characters at a time. With character dining you get to sit and enjoy your breakfast while the characters come to you. We were greeted by Stitch, Lilo, Pluto, and Mickey! YES Mickey Mouse was there. I wanted one picture with Mickey while in WDW and this saved me the headache of tracking him down and waiting in line.
‘Ohana also does a family parade, which I remember vividly from years ago. “Hawaiian Rollercoaster Ride”, the GREATEST SONG EVER, plays throughout the restaurant while everyone gets in a conga line and makes a parade route through the dining room. Characters hop in so it does slow down the Character meet and greets but it’s fun to see everyone involved.
Plan Ahead!
One last thing to keep in mind is scheduling. Make the reservation at least two hours before any of your fast passes (even longer if your fast passes are not in Magic Kingdom). It took us a little over an hour from start to finish to dine here (we skipped out on meeting a few of the characters) and then about a half hour travel time to get through security and into the park. We were cutting it close with our first fast pass start time. Even though you are allotted an hour per fast pass, we had a tight schedule of rides in the morning.
What’s your favorite Character Breakfast at WDW? I’d love to explore new options next time I am there!