'Ohana means family, literally, and that makes it a great name for the Hawaiian inspired restaurant at Disney's Polynesian Resort.

This is a great restaurant to bring your family and it handles large groups well if you are travelling with a larger family gathering.  Here everyone eats family style from the fixed menu meal that is brought to your table.

The meal is considered "all-you-care-to-eat" so you can ask for more of any item that is brought to the table if you need more.  Being family style, the dishes are brought to the table in a large bowl or serving platter and you need to pass the items around the table for each person to be served.

A mixed green salad with honey-lime dressing, Honey-Coriander Chicken Wings, & Pork Dumplings with Sweet and Sour Sauce are brought out to start you off.

The main entrees are cooked on skewers over an 18 foot oak fire pit near the center of the restaurant. 

On the skewers you will find:

•Asian Barbequed Pork Loin Skewers

The servers bring the skewers tableside and ask each guest if they would like some of the meat from the skewer that they have.  They continue to come to the table at intervals a few minutes apart.  Again, you may have as much as you care to eat.  This really makes for a fun dining experience.

The side dishes of Lo mein Noodles, tossed in a Teriyaki sauce with fresh vegetables, and Stir-fried Vegetables are brought to your table as the skewers are being served.

At different intervals throughout the evening there is live entertainment for the whole family.  For the kids they may get to participate in the 'Ohana Coconut Race, where each child pushes a coconut with a broom in a loop around the restaurant.  There is singing, ukelele playing, and storytelling to entertain and immerse you in the Hawaiian culture during your meal.  Also each guest is presented with a lei to remember their visit.

The dinner is capped off with the famous 'Ohana bread pudding served a la mode with Bananas and Caramel Sauce.  Make sure you save room for this dessert because it is wonderful and a reason in itself to dine at 'Ohana.

If you time your dining time properly, the restaurant has a great view of the Magic Kingdom and you can see the Wishes fireworks show.  During Wishes they dim the lights in the restaurant and pipe in the music for the show.   The makes a wonderful finish to the dining experience.

Tip: Don't worry if you finish your dinner a little early before Wishes, you can go down to the Polynesian Resort Beach to catch Wishes, even if you are not staying at the Polynesian Resort.

'Ohana is very popular and rightfully so.  Expect to have to make reservations well in advance, and you may have a wait, so make sure that you show up a little prior to your reservation time to check in.

If you are spending your day in the Magic Kingdom, strongly consider 'Ohana to dine at ahead of the table service locations within the Magic Kingdom.  The food and the dining experience are better and it is easily accessible by taking the resort monorail to and from the Magic Kingdom.

'Ohana is definitely considered one of the top restaurants on the Disney Dining Plan (that only requires one credit).  The food is very good and the atmosphere is fun, family friendly, and accomodates large groups well.

We would highly recommend 'Ohana as a restaurant to experience during your next Disney World vacation.