Dining Review: Ohana Character Breakfast

Stitch didn't molest her but will you be so lucky?

Disney has a number of character dining locations. Some, like Chef Mickey’s, have almost become a rite of passage. Overall character meals are one of the best ways to interact with the characters.


Most people might not think of Ohana when they are looking for a character meal. In some ways I can understand that. If you have the choice between Chef Mickey’s and the seeing the fab five or going to Ohana and seeing Stitch and friends most people would lean towards Chef Mickey’s.

Here is why you should lean towards Ohana.

The Food: The food is typical Disney breakfast food. You are not going to find anything amazing but you will get decent breakfast food. So why would Ohana get a leg up here? While they offer fewer options when compared to Chef Mickey’s, you don’t have to deal with a buffet. The food here is delivered to your table. It’s in a family style format.

The Service: The service is a little better than Chef Mickey’s. Your server interacts with you more and it seems like they have fewer tables they have to deal with.

The Characters: The description says “Lilo and Stitch” but that’s a little deceptive. Lilo and Stitch will be there but they will be joined by Mickey, Minnie, and some other characters. You will see Lilo and Stitch and some other characters but the others could be mixed. One thing I will warn you about – Stitch tends to molest women. If you are just a couple and Stitch comes up he will try to kiss the girl. I don’t mean kiss her hand. I mean full on grab her and try to make out with her. I wish I had caught this on video because it seemed a little extreme.

The Atmosphere: The atmosphere at Chef Mickey’s can be hit or miss it really depends on where they stick you. The atmosphere at Ohana is very nice. The south seas feel is great and you get some nice views out the large windows. Overall Ohana beats Chef Mickey’s in this area.

Cost: At the time of this publication Chef Mickey’s cost $4 more than Ohana. You get a better selection of food at Chef Mickey’s but nothing else is better than what you get at Ohana. That being said take a chance on Ohana. You’ll save money and have a great character experience.

Dining Review: Breakfast at the Kona Cafe

Kona Café is the open air table service dining location found in the main lobby of the Polynesian resort. It’s on the second floor across from Ohana. Most people of think of Ohana when they think of dining at the Polynesian. After all Ohana has the character breakfast, it’s a much larger location, and the options at Ohana are a little more diverse.


Does this mean you should skip Kona and just head over to Ohana? No way!

The Food:

Kona has one of the best if not the best breakfasts you’ll find in all of Disney World. If you are the kind of person who likes to stuff themselves senseless first thing in the morning before heading out to ride amusement park rides than this is the place for you.

Kona has some really off the wall options. Sure they have some normal breakfast options but this is Disney World. Who wants normal? We don’t want normal we want TONGA TOAST!

Tonga Toast is multiple slices of French toast, stuffed with bananas, rolled in cinnamon sugar, and covered in strawberry compote. If that doesn’t sound fattening enough it comes with your choice of meat. I have eaten this thing twice and both times I thought I was going to burst after.

If you like coffee than you have to go to Kona. It’s one of the few places in Disney World that actually serves coffee (not that awful liquid poo in a cup you find throughout Disney World). They have a French press pot they will deliver to your table.

The Atmosphere:

Kona is an open air restaurant which means there are no walls between the dining floor and resort lobby. This can lead to some noise issues but it’s by no means a loud restaurant. Beyond that there are only a few things to really point out. The fans are one of those things. It’s not often you would point out a ceiling fan but the ones at Kona are something else. Imagine a bunch of wide fan blades bolted to a tube that spins vertically instead of horizontally. It sounds odd but it works.

The Service:

The service at Kona is up to Disney standards. Nothing really stood out but nothing detracted either. Our server was prompt and friendly. Our order was delivered in a timely manner and we did not feel rushed. This is important when it comes to breakfast. Sometimes the desire to turn over the table becomes very apparent. This was not the case at Kona.

The Price:

I normally avoid cost unless it has a positive or negative impact on the restaurant. In this case it’s a positive. When compared to typical Disney prices Kona is cheap. Considering the fact that you might have to waddle out of the restaurant after eating the Tonga Toast you’d think Disney would set you back $20 for it. It only costs $13. Granted that is expensive when compared to non-Disney prices but for a gut busting meal on Disney property it’s cheap.

Overall the Kona Café is a must do if you are staying at the Polynesian. If you are not staying there but want to do a breakfast on a day you are going to the Magic Kingdom it’s one of the best choices you can make. It’s hard to find many places in Disney World that offer more bang for your dollar.

Dining Review: Princess Storybook Dining

I'm not a fan the whole princess fad.  Then again I think it would be disturbing if I was.  A guy in his 30's who loves the princesses is just creepy.

So why did I go to the Princess Storybook Dining in Norway?  For a couple reasons.  This is a very popular breakfast, a lot of people who are considering a Disney vacation and have young children might want some info on this,  and I didn't go alone I brought my wife and 21 year old niece.

Since this is a character breakfast and has a fixed price I'll cover this one a little differently than usual.

First - What do you get?

You get a photo of you and your party taken with one of the princesses.  The price of the photo is included in the price. You also get a half buffet style meal which consists mainly of generic breakfast food items.  The last thing is the interaction with the princesses.

Now I say it's a half buffet because the hot food items are delivered to your table family style while the rest of the food is available at a buffet.  Like the other Disney buffets you also get juice or coffee.

Next - The food

The food is really generic.  If you have been to one Disney breakfast buffet you have been to this one.  The typical bacon, eggs, Mickey waffles, and pancakes are here.  The only exception to the norm, and the only Norway connection I could find, was the fish offering.  To be honest if you just want breakfast DO NOT GO HERE.  The food is not worth the money.

The Atmosphere

The atmosphere is ok.  It's nothing special.  There are some nice wood accents and some fireplaces that are not accentually burning wood.  Don't get me wrong there is nothing wrong with the atmosphere.  I guess the best way to put is that it's a normal Disney atmosphere.  It's not boring but it's not top notch like the San Angel Inn.

The Princesses

The princesses are decent.  I really tried to put aside my feelings about the Princesses and try to think about how a kid would react to their interaction.  What they typically do is approach the table, refer to all of the girls (and women) at the table as fellow princesses, and they might refer to some of the men at the table as kings or princes.   Keep in mind all of the princesses are totally in character so Ariel will mention having her legs instead of a tail, Aurora might mention being woken up with a kiss, and Snow White might talk about the the seven dwarfs.  While this is nice they really do not do anything that really makes them stand out.  None of the princes really went above and beyond while we were there.

I will say one thing.  One would think that Disney would almost have their choice when it came picking their princesses.  It seems like there should be enough people who want to be princesses to really be selective.  Now don't get me wrong, all of the princesses were nice and tried to stay in character.  However,  I could understand why a prince would fight for the Cinderella and Ariel that came to our table.  However if Snow White or Aurora had to rely on their looks alone to get their princes to wake them up....they might have had to wait quite a while.   I'm not saying they were ugly but they were not what I'd call a princess.

To be honest the Aurora that came to our table looked a little psychotic.  I thought at any minute she could lose it and start stabbing people.  The Snow White looked like she just woke up in an ally and Disney stuffed her into a princess outfit and tossed her out there.

You might have noticed that I didn't mention Belle.  That's because she was being used for the formal photos that Disney was taking.  There was a reason for this.  The lady playing Belle was extremely nice and stunningly beautiful.  She was a near perfect Belle.  You will not see a photo of her because Disney technically owns the rights to that photo and also because I'm in it and there is not a single photo of me anywhere online.

The Service

There really isn't much to mention here.  It's typical buffet style service.  Our server was nice.  I actually felt bad for her.  It can't be easy to work somewhere like this.  The price is basically fixed and you are not the center of attention.  It's almost like no matter what you are going to get what you get and nothing more.

The Value

If your children are REALLY into the princesses then you might find this experience to be a good value.  If you or your children are not into the princesses then you're better off skipping this because it's insanely expensive for a breakfast never mind a buffet breakfast.