DiningWalt Disney World (FL)

‘Ohana Character Breakfast

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‘Ohana Best Friends Breakfast featuring Lilo & Stitch remains one of the most popular character meals on Disney World property, but does that mean it’s worth the money?

The Basics

‘Ohana is located on the 2nd floor of Disney’s Polynesian Resort. If you have a reservation for dining, you’ll be able to park at the resort. On the date of this post, a portion of the parking lot is under construction, but there are still many spots open while construction is underway. You can also travel over from the Magic Kingdom or Ticket and Transportation Center by boat, Resort monorail, or walking path.

‘Ohana breakfast is family style and all-you-care-to-enjoy. Breakfast runs from 7:30 am – 12:15 pm daily, and reservations are all but compulsory. Adults are $53 each + tax & tip, and kids ages 3-9 are $33 each + tax and tip. On the Disney Dining Plan, this is a 1-credit meal. Coffee, POG (pineapple, orange, guava) juice, and fountain drinks are included with your meal. Specialty coffees, shakes, and alcoholic beverages are available for an extra charge. It’s not edible, but guests will also receive a card autographed by each of the four characters that appear at the meal.

There are allergy-friendly and plant-based menu options available. You’ll have an opportunity to make note of allergy needs when you check in for your reservation on the My Disney Experience app, or you can alert the host if you check in once you arrive at the Polynesian. Because of the fast-paced hustle at this location, it’s a good idea to remind your server of allergy issues and then check again as each course comes out. This is a very busy location, and there are dedicated Cast Members who run certain food items. For example, we observed that one CM just ran waffles the entire time we were there.

The Food

You’ll be seated with a plate of warm Pineapple-Coconut Breakfast Bread that the host will grab as they pass the kitchen window on the way to your table. Next up is a bowl of fruit, and you’ll be asked if everyone at the table wants POG juice and coffee.

This was our first indication that this was going to be a rapid-fire meal. I started to ask for a Diet Coke and was quickly told that our CM was just asking about coffee and juice at this time, and then poof, he was gone! No problem. POG juice it is. We didn’t eat the fruit because it looked like it was a few days past the “best by” date, but I imagine it tasted as it should.

The Breakfast Skillet arrived next, and while it wasn’t exactly hot, it was warm and tasty. The skillet included Scrambled Eggs, Pork Breakfast Sausage Links, Hawaiian-style Ham topped with Pineapple Compote, Fried Island-style Potatoes, Mickey and Stitch-shaped Waffles, and Biscuits.

Standard ‘Ohana Breakfast Skillet. Allergy-friendly and Plant-based options available.

With the exception of the pineapple compote (which you can ask for on the side or omit altogether), this was a solid, decent meal. The sausages were nicely browned, the biscuits were fluffy, and we were given all of the usual condiments like butter, jelly, hot sauce, and syrup.

It’s important to note that this meal truly is all-you-care-to-enjoy. If you want three servings of ham and two rounds of waffles and sausage, that’s exactly what they’ll bring you because that’s what you paid for.

The Friends

Lilo, Stitch, Mickey, and Pluto are the real stars of this meal, and they work hard the entire time! Our favorite part was the precious dancing parade around the restaurant. The characters lined up close to our table, and we were able to see Stitch kick things off with a very Elvis-inspired shimmy. You can see the full video on our TikTok or Instagram. It’s squee-worthy.

A triptych of Lilo, Mickey and Pluto holding hands, and Stitch

The parade is the only thing that takes the characters away from their main focus, which is the table-to-table Meet & Greets. I’m not new to the Disney character meal meet and greet. My fantastic job has allowed me to visit every single dining location in Walt Disney World and every character meal multiple times. I’m not so great with the human 1-1 talking, but years of practice and a genuine love of Disney and appreciation of the joy the characters bring have honed my chat skills over the years.

While my child is always the one getting the hugs, I’m in charge of the pictures, video, and conversation with the characters that can easily be responded to in hand signals or dances. FWIW, it’s super easy to get Donald to shake a tail feather, which is why he’s the GOAT. All that blather to say that I have the cadence down pat. I know what a normal interaction feels like and how long it should take.

Can you tell that you’re being prepped for the “but” to this tale? Good. Here it comes. Yes, I know this is a super popular location. It was packed! There wasn’t an empty inch of space on the day of our visit. Maybe there was a scheduling/reservation issue or something else that threw off the staff, but this was the most rushed character meal I have ever experienced.

This isn’t hate or shade to the characters. They worked hard and were super charming for the few seconds that we saw them. But the whole vibe from the second we sat down to the wait staff zipping past was just not good. The entire location felt like the last seconds of Supermarket Sweep when you’re screaming at Linda to grab the inflatable toothpaste and run back over the line! Except you aren’t trying to win a prize, and the whole tizzy is going to cost you a ton of cash. I have time stamps to illustrate:

  • 9:46 am Seated with bread
  • 9:52 am Fruit, coffee, POG juice
  • 9:52 am Breakfast skillet
  • 9:55 am Mickey & Stitch waffles
  • 9:57 am Character parade
  • 10:07 am Lilo
  • 10:08 am Paid check
  • 10:18 Pluto
  • 10:19 am Mickey
  • 10:21 Stitch

We absolutely could have drawn out our meal and refused to be rushed. We could have lingered and savored. Sure. But we didn’t, and that’s because the atmosphere was like that episode of Seinfeld where Jerry and Elaine are waiting for Kramer to pick them up from a party at 2 am, and the wife wants them to get the heck out of her house. (Note to self  –read a dang book and stop watching old TV shows.)

Sadly, TouringPlans Subscribers (I heart Liners) agree with this assessment. You can find rank and ratings for every single Disney World dining location on our website, and the stats for ‘Ohana, above, aren’t great.

Have you had breakfast at ‘Ohana recently? What did you think? Please drop a note to let us know which character meal you want us to review next! 

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Christina Harrison

Room and Park research. See that lady standing in front of Seven Dwarfs Mine Train for 3 hours looking like she's counting people? She is. She is me. Say hello!

2 thoughts on “‘Ohana Character Breakfast

  • Absolutely loved ‘Ohana breakfast the first time we went in October 2023 – it was for our honeymoon. And they brought us a lovely little congratulatory dessert trio that said “congratulations” in chocolate on the plate. Totally unexpected and lovely touch that elevated the experience for us! Also, it wasn’t rushed, and we got to meet everyone except for Mickey. Some other guest came and rushed Mickey over to their table because he missed it… I don’t know when guests were given the authority to became character handlers…but oh well. We met Mickey later in MK.

    The following year we went again to the ‘Ohana character breakfast. We thought “why not” as we had booked a stay at the Polynesian for a couple nights through renting DVC points. It was for around the 10am mark. We were a party of 2, and seated at the window. Granted, apparently these seats are in high demand and few supply…so that might be why this experience felt rushed, awkward, uncomfortable and completely different from the year before. I remember having asked the head server (I think that’s who he was) if I could borrow a Sharpie, because I had lost mine. He watched me like a hawk to make sure I didn’t steal it. And even told the character handler to make sure he got it back, loudly, in front of us. He brought us our cheque before we were really even done too. We were still waiting because Lilo hadn’t come by the table yet, and we were looking forward to an autograph from both her and Stitch as we hadn’t realized the year before that they did them. So when the Sharpie-waiter-guy noticed we weren’t hurrying out of the place, he came over to ask why we hadn’t left. Umm… sorta awkward? So I explained that we had one more character to meet – Lilo. So he went and found her character handler and led us towards the exit, because she was at a table near there. Trouble was, he made the character handler interrupt Lilo, who was with another party’s table, so that we could get her autograph. I was a little more than embarrassed at this point! Quick autograph and then I gave the Sharpie to the handler and told her the other guy was expecting it back. And we left. And I felt sort of deflated, icky. awkward, and still embarrassed over the whole thing. Nowhere in Disney have I ever felt weird about being an adult couple meeting characters (I don’t do a lot of meet and greets, unless they mean something to me, because it can kind of feel awkward even if the cast members usually go out of their way to make you not feel that way) but I did after that breakfast. I would like to go back to see if it was just an off-day… but for the cost (plus added cost of the exchange rate for us non-US folks) I’m nervous it will be a similar experience. I will just have to remember our first visit and keep that experience in my core memories instead!

    Reply
    • Hi Amber, I’m so sorry you had a not great experience. It sounds like we had a similar feeling. I’ll be going back as soon as I can get a 7:30am reservation. I’m wondering if getting there before they have a chance to get behind – and project all of the stress that we felt – will help? Have you thought about 1900 Park Fare, Akershus Royal Banquet Hall, or Story Book Dining at Artist Point with Snow White? Although it’s not the same food value as before, I have also never felt rushed at Topolino’s breakfast. Please report back after your next visit – I’d love to hear about your experience. Thanks for the note!

      Reply

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