*This gluten free dining experience took place in July 2021. It includes information about dairy free options, as well as fish/shellfish, peanut, hazelnut, cabbage, and chicken & turkey allergies.
Breakfast at ‘Ohana
‘Ohana, located at Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort, has long been a favorite Disney restaurant for my family. The first time we dined there was in 2003, and it’s been a family favorite ever since. We all love the Polynesian decor and family friendly atmosphere…and, of course, the outstanding food. With the restaurant being closed since March 2020, I was very excited to hear that it would be re-opening during summer 2021. I hadn’t been to ‘Ohana for any meal since July 2019, and I was very much looking forward to heading back. However, after looking at the new updated menus, both Brandon and I decided that we would prefer to dine there at breakfast since the dinner options weren’t as appealing to us as the options on the old ‘Ohana menu were. So, breakfast it was!
The current breakfast available at ‘Ohana is $25 per adult and $14 per child and is an all-you-care-to-enjoy family style meal. ‘Ohana breakfast is typically a character meal featuring Lilo & Stitch. But, the restaurant is currently not offering character dining. So, this meal experience may be slightly different than what you might experience during a character meal.
COVID-19 & Reopening Notes
On this particular visit, we made reservations in advance when reservations opened up for ‘Ohana. We knew it would be a popular dining option, so we wanted to make sure we booked ahead of time. If you’re having a hard time finding options, we always recommend checking the My Disney Experience app a day or two ahead of when you’re interested in dining at a restaurant. We actually get a lot of last minute dining options this way, so it’s always worth checking.
When we arrived at the restaurant, we were able to check-in either through the app itself or by speaking with a cast member at the ‘Ohana check-in kiosk. Both work well, and we had no issues getting seated for our meal. However, we have had a few restaurants require us to also check-in at the restaurant with a cast member in addition to using the check-in feature on the app. So, it’s always good to double-check a restaurant’s current practice with check-in.
Once seated, we noted that the restaurant was more or less seating as it normally would. This means there was no or limited social distancing in place. If you have any concerns about seating, it’s always worth mentioning to a cast member to discuss options. We did notice that the restaurant was serving people in clusters, grouped together. We assumed this was both for the servers, as well as for cleaning. We noticed a large section of the restaurant being cleaned (with no guests in the area) during our visit.
We also recommend checking Disney’s current guidelines and recommendations. On this visit, mask rules were different than they are currently at the Disney Parks & Resorts, so it’s always worth checking before you go.
Atmosphere
‘Ohana has a decidedly Polynesian vibe to the atmosphere and decor. The restaurant itself really hasn’t changed in the almost 20 years that I’ve been going there, and I absolutely love the retro/vintage charm it has.
We’ve been to Polynesian Village Resort quite a few times this past year, and it’s always a bit sad when we pass the empty ‘Ohana restaurant. I was so excited to be taking photos of the sign and entrance when we got there knowing it was finally re-opened.
From there, you’re seated in a very large dining room. As you can see by the photos we took at the end of our breakfast (which was during the last seating of the day at noon), the restaurant is quite large and there are a lot of tables. I completely love the cushy retro chairs at ‘Ohana.
The tables themselves are rather big, and you’ll notice a lot of larger dining parties when you eat at ‘Ohana. It’s definitely all about family!
My favorite area of the restaurant to be seated is by the large windows that overlook the resort’s pool area and has direct views of the Magic Kingdom. If you eat dinner at ‘Ohana and time it right, you can even see the fireworks from the restaurant (they even pipe in the fireworks music too). There are a lot more cozy two top tables at the window, which is nice if you’re a couple.
Our only major complaint of our visit was that we were seated at a very large table for just the two of us. As you can see by this photo of Brandon, it was a lot of space. Granted, we did get a lot of food at our meal, but we both agreed that we would have much preferred some of the more smaller tables for our meal. Of course, it did make for some pretty hilarious photos that really emphasized just how large the table was!
The Food
Like most Disney owned restaurants, ‘Ohana does have an allergy-friendly menu for breakfast. On this visit, we were encouraged to view the allergy-friendly menu on the My Disney Experience app instead of getting a paper menu. Not every restaurant has their allergy-friendly menu currently updated on the app, so we always make sure to add these to the menus page here on our website so that we can easily refer to them too.
Guests with special dietary needs can also always ask to speak with a chef if you have additional questions or want to discuss options. On this visit, our server recommended speaking to a chef directly, which we did. Chef Eric was really helpful and even offered to bring us bacon which is not on the allergy-friendly menu, donuts from Erin McKenna’s Bakery NYC, and even some Bloomfield Farms rolls.
To start our breakfast, we were served POG Juice and fresh fruit. Both are gluten free and allergy-friendly. The POG Juice is made with passion fruit, orange, and guava juice and is a must when you dine at ‘Ohana. Both Brandon and I loved this, and we each had several glasses. When you haven’t had POG Juice in years, you gotta enjoy it! And, our server made sure we had plenty of POG Juice to enjoy.
The fresh fruit was just OK. I was personally a bit bummed that we did not have any pineapple in the fruit bowl — almost the entire bowl was made up of watermelon, honeydew, and cantaloupe. This was not anything special and was probably the least memorable part of the meal.
Instead of the gluten-filled bread normally offered, we were served Erin McKenna’s Bakery NYC Cinnamon Sugar donuts. While I would liked a bit of variety in donuts (the Samoa donuts made at the bakery would have been awesome at this meal), we were both really glad we had this as a breakfast option. We are both big fans of the donuts and thought these were just as tasty as ever.
As a note, if you have nut allergies, the Erin McKenna’s Bakery NYC donuts are made with Bob’s Red Mill gluten free all purpose flour. The company does process almonds, cashews, coconut, hazelnuts, macadamia nuts, pecans and walnuts in the gluten free facility but does have practices in place to minimize cross-contamination. Always use your own judgement on products like this and if this is a concern for your nut allergy and comfort level.
For our breakfast skillet, we shared a platter of scrambled eggs, pork sausage, ham with pineapple compote, and breakfast potatoes. Everything on this platter was gluten free and safe for Brandon’s special dietary needs. If you’re dairy free, the eggs were the only item that contained dairy and can be made dairy free upon request. If you have an egg allergy, they also offer the Just Egg scrambled “eggs” as an option for guests too.
Both of us really enjoyed everything in the platter. The eggs were really tasty. In fact, Brandon liked them so much he ordered a second plate of eggs because they were so good. We both thought the potatoes were really tasty, and I loved the ham with pineapple compote. While nothing on the platter was super impressive — everything was well cooked and tasted great.
Oddly, ‘Ohana does not have bacon listed on its breakfast menu. But, when we asked Chef Eric about bacon, he said he would be happy to bring us a platter of bacon. He did not disappoint, and we had ample bacon to keep us full! The bacon was pretty standard Disney bacon but tasty nonetheless.
We were also served allergy-friendly Mickey and Stitch shaped waffles. These are gluten free, dairy free, top 8 free, and vegan. Chef Eric did let us know that they were using the Bloomfield Farms gluten free pancake & waffle mix currently — which both Brandon and I like a lot. We were served 100% pure maple syrup with our waffles, and we both agreed that they were very tasty. These were a great way to end our meal.
You can also see in this photo that we were served Bloomfield Farms rolls. I enjoyed these while I ate my main meal and appreciated getting a gluten free & dairy free bread option for the breakfast too.
If you want to see more about our experience at ‘Ohana for breakfast, check out our YouTube video/vlog from our visit.
Overall
We really enjoyed the non-character dining experience at ‘Ohana. Our meal started out a little strange with some unexpected seating and a few weird things that happened, but overall, the meal shaped up to be a very solid and enjoyable one. We both felt the food, while simple, was well cooked and tasted great. For the price, you got ample food and would definitely not leave the restaurant hungry. We were especially thankful to Chef Eric who was super helpful and made sure we had a great meal. Although we would probably choose other breakfast options on Disney property, if you love ‘Ohana or are staying at the Polynesian Village Resort, this is a solid breakfast for those with special dietary needs.
Have you been to ‘Ohana? Do you prefer the character breakfast or do you plan on visiting when there aren’t characters?
