O'hana

I have 3 favorite restaurants in Disney.  I try to get to all of them every time I go but sometimes the fam gets a little tired of eating all "my" restaurants and wants something different.  But no matter what, I have to get my O'Hana fix every time I'm at Disney.  

O'Hana is located in Disney's Polynesian Resort and is open for both breakfast and dinner.  Breakfast is a character breakfast with Lilo and Stitch, and Mickey and Pluto.  I've never been to the breakfast, but I can tell you that dinner is amazing.  

O'Hana means "Family" in Hawaiian so dinner is served family style featuring steak, turkey, pork, and shrimp that is roasted over an open fire pit that is located in the middle of the restaurant.  

But first a mixed green salad with honey-lime dressing and pineapple-coconut bread is served.  None of that sounds good to me, nor would I eat it if I knew ahead of time what it was, but I assure you that both are to die for!  

The 2nd course is Honey Coriander Chicken Wings and Pork Fried Dumplings, accompanied by 3 yummy sauces: Peanut Sauce, Chimichurri Sauce, and Sweet & Sour Sauce.  I could eat the Peanut Sauce with a spoon it is so good! 

But the main event is the meats on the skewers with stir-fried vegetables and noodles in peanut sauce.  The meal is all-you-can eat, so the meats on the giant skewers keep coming as long as you allow!  And I'll tell you, that you will want to keep it coming!  

These were the remnants from our last outing to O'Hana - can you tell we love it?  But don't eat to much because you will want to save room for dessert which is a Banana-Caramel Bread Pudding.  

From start to finish, O'Hana's has amazing food.  But it also has a very relaxed, family atmosphere.  During the meal, you will be serenaded by a Hawaiian playing the ukelele and kids will have pineapple races.  And if your lucky you just might have a view of Cinderella's Castle!  

If you are a little weary of meaty food or you are a vegetarian, as my best friend, Toot is, don't be scared. Toot, our friend Laurelee, and I went during the Christmas season and Toot had a meal specifically cooked just for her.  The chef came to our table, asked her what she liked to eat and made her appetizers,  this huge entree, and even a special dessert!  We joked that she had a "Sugar Daddy!"  And after the meal he came to check and make sure that everything tasted up to her standards.  Talk about service!!

Dinner is about $32.99 a person for adults and $15.99 for children (if you're on the Dining Plan, it is one Table Service).  Dinner is served from 5:00 pm to 10:00 pm.  But if you think you are going to be able to walk up and get in, think again.  O'Hana usually is booked up months in advance, so if you want to go, I suggest get a reservation as soon as you book your rooms.  It's one of the most popular places to eat on property!  

DDP - Don't Leave Home Without It

My Mom is in Disney World for 2 days for a meeting - I mean, is that even fair?  She went out last night to a restaurant and she reminded me how nice it is to go to Disney restaurants and have the Disney Dining Plan.  DDP is one of the best things that Disney has implemented in the last couple years and I recommend that it is part of your vacation package.  

The Disney Dining Plan is basically pre-paying for your meals.  It is about $38.99 a day per person.  Now up front this may seem like a lot of money, but I guarantee that it is a deal.  Food is very expensive in WDW - I'm talking $10 - $12 for a hamburger and fries.  So the Dining Plan allows you to budget exactly how much money your family will be spending on food.  

Here's a quick run down of how it works.  First of all, you have to be staying in a Disney Resort to even have this option.  But if you are staying on-property and do choose the Dining Plan, you will get meals for every night of your stay for every person (over the age of 3) in your party.  For each night, you will get one (1) table service meal, one (1) quick service meal, and one (1) snack.  So if you are a family of four, staying four nights, you would have 16 Table Service (TS) meals, 16 quick services, and 16 snacks on your "Key to the World" card - aka your room card.  

So what is a Table Service, Quick Service, and Snack?  A Table Service is a restaurant where you will be seated and waited on for the meal.  Quick Service is a place where you order from a Counter. Both quick service and table service meals cover an entree, dessert, and non-alcoholic drink.  Snacks can be many different things ranging from Popcorn, to a 20 oz drink, ice cream, etc.  There are over a 100 participating restaurants, so it is easy to find something to chose.  

Our family usually uses the Quick Service for our lunches and then the Table Service for our dinners.  There are restaurants - that happen to be some of my favs - that are a little nicer than the normal Table Service.  You can still eat there with the DDP, however some of the nicer restaurants are labeled 2 TS because eating there will require two of your Table Service meals. 

While it may sound a little overwhelming, it really isn't.  What you need to do is plan where you want to eat your TS meals and make advanced dining reservations (ADRs) as far in advance as you can - 120 days out is the limit.  Once you check-in at your hotel, they will give you the card that will have everything preloaded.  At your meal, when you would pay, you just give them the Key to the World card and they will swipe it like a credit card and the meals will be deducted off your card.  The receipt will give you the remaining balance of meals left.  

Since Disney has implemented the DDP, I have only gone one time and not had it and boy did I regret it because I spent so much more money on food than I would have needed to.  But in order to get the plan, you have to book it before you arrive in WDW.  

I will be blogging about some of my favorite restaurants in the next couple of blogs, so get hungry!  

"There's an App for That!"

If you are headed to Disney anytime in the near future, I would recommend Undercover Tourist.com's "Disney World Wait Times" app.  I have it on my Blackberry, but I think the Apple version is a little bit better.  But either way, it has pretty accurate up-to-date wait times for all the rides.  I still use it everyday to see what the crowds look like on particular days.  (Today, it looks quite busy since its a holiday weekend ;)

You can plan your day around what the app says, that way you can maximize the most of your day.