New Check In Policy for Ohana

[Christine]

Hmmmm...

We are staying at BLT this weekend for a little getaway and decided to go to Ohana for dinner. We are locals and rarely do the 180 day thing because it's not so easy to do in our situation. Vacations are planned. But our every day is not...does that make sense?

Anyhoo, we go to ohana about one to two times a month. We REALLY like it!
We generally get in line at the podium about 4pm and when they open we get on the standby list. Have waited anywhere from 5 minutes to 3 hours. But we know we are in for a potential waiting game and that's our choice.

Tonight we knew it would be the same thing...or so we thought! They have moved the podium over by the elevators and made 2 liines: walk in and reservations. If you are in the walk in line, you can NOT approach the podium until the entire check in line is empty. They will stop the walk in line if any reservations get in line.

Then they will seat walk ins according to party size. We were about 7th in line and got chosen first becuase we were a magic number of 3. Try walking past those other 6 groups without daggers getting ya! That was just to get us a buzzer. We stood in line for apx 1 hour 15 minutes. Waitied with a buzzer about 20 minutes. The line was to the monorail and almost at the sushi bar.

Now I don't mind the wait. Again, I expect that when I'm a walk in. WITH A BUZZER I will wait for any length of tiime. But to stand in that line and have it continually announced " you will NOT be guranteed a buzzer...it is according to party size and availibility" is rediculous.

Before I'm flamed for not having an ADR let me say, wherever you are...New York, California, Kansas...do you set your reservations at your local steakhouse that you want to visit on the weekend 180days out? It's not a habit you can really adhere to easily.

Also, lest you think this is just for the holiday weekend, I spoke with a manager named Ben Holaday about it. He said they just started it yesterday and were "testing it out". He said the main reason was that ppl with a reservation were mad to be in line to check in behind ppl who were getting on the waiting list.

He said there were more changes ahead starting in August. He didn't expand on that ???

So anyway, if you are hoping to wait out a chance to eat at Ohana, you may think twice. It's a very frustrating process! There are no gurarantees you'll even be allowed to wait.

Just fyi...

[DizneyRox]

That is how fastpass was supposed to work as well.

It is frustrating to have to wait behind a bunch of people that are hopeful, when you made your reservations, and really just want to get a load off and eat.

[Fastpasssteve]

If a restaurant is popular, it is difficult to get a reservation. If the place is wildly popular, I don't really have an expectation of getting in. (Ever heard of Le Cellier?) That a place that busy even offers the promise of a walk-up is amazing. At that point, instead of getting upset, it would be better to just say 'Thank you.'

[A Big Kid]

Aside from my last trip which we had ADRS at first seating -5:00pm, we always had to wait at least 30+ minutes past our ADR even though we check in early. If this prevents those with ADRs from waiting past their time, then I am all for it.

[VWL Mom]

Now I don't mind the wait. Again, I expect that when I'm a walk in. WITH A BUZZER I will wait for any length of tiime. But to stand in that line and have it continually announced " you will NOT be guranteed a buzzer...it is according to party size and availibility" is rediculous.

Sounds to me like they should just post a sign, "we do not take walk-ins" but they probably won't do that because they use the walk-ins to make up for no-shows.

We've never been and probably never will mostly because people commenting on excessive wait time with ADRs. IMO they need to go back and improve mgmt skills. A place that is so popular should be more on the ball and I can say that coming from a restaurant mgt background.

[Basket Mommy]

Before I'm flamed for not having an ADR let me say, wherever you are...New York, California, Kansas...do you set your reservations at your local steakhouse that you want to visit on the weekend 180days out? It's not a habit you can really adhere to easily..

No, but I don't see the two things as similar at all. If I want to eat somewhere badly enough, I make the ADR. I have 4 kids who get impatient (and hungry) if we have to wait too long. So I make the ADRs to save myself the headache.

That said, I like the changes. I hate having to wait past my ADR time, esp. if I take the time to check in early. The reservation system is there for a reason. It bothers me that more people think they don't have to use it. Last month we had lunch ADRs at Le Cellier. I cannot tell you how many people came in looking to be seated w/o an ADR. Many of them became frustrated and rude when they were told the restaurant was FULLY BOOKED not only for lunch but for dinner as well. If you know a place is popular and you want to eat there, MAKE AN ADR.

[CanadaLovesDisney]

I see how this could be frustrating and upsetting. I suppose you just have to keep in mind this is not your average restaurant and will never be because of it's location within Disney. Some restaurants in high demand can get away with this type of thing because so many people (not you and I understand why) WILL go ahead and make adr's to secure their spot. They likely market to park and hotel guests who they know should be able to make adrs. Their goal is to fill the seats and it's much easier to plan timing wise if everyone has a ADR. I know restaurants here where we are from will not even accept you without a 4-6 month prior reservation. They are so popular and profitable they do not accept walkin's because they simply don't need them. It is rare for someone to book months ahead and not show up!

But maybe this change is not going to work for them and it will go back to the way before that you liked!

[SgtTigger]

We have never had to wait for long past our ADRs. We go every trip and have never had that problem. Funny we are not going this trip since we are doing the DCL Dream after our time at WDW.

[wildernesslady]

When we were there in March we waited well past our ADR time. People were staying at their tables waiting for Wishes. We did speak to a manager and he said they may begin treating Ohana as a dinner show seating. There would be 3 seperate seatings for each night to help stop guests from staying. I wonder if this could be the change. Although, you can make ADRs now for that time frame.

[Basket Mommy]

We did speak to a manager and he said they may begin treating Ohana as a dinner show seating.

I sincerely hope that doesn't mean an increase in the # of TS credits it takes to eat at 'Ohana. The other dinner shows (HDD, Luau) currently take 2 credits.

[ElenitaB]

Christine, thanks for lettiong us know. As someone who's had a terrible time trying to get ADRs for 'Ohana, I had hoped to try to get there early and maybe get in as a walk-in. And I hear you on it not being accessible to locals. It would be crazy for me to book my favorite local steakhouse (Peter Luger) 180 days in advance (it's more like 2 weeks in advance for any day other than Saturday night for which it's more like 60 days in advance). Personally, I was happy when ADRs were made 60 days prior; 180 just seems way too far in advance. Last year, I had to postpone our vacation due to work and had the toughest time making new ADRs.

As for turning 'Ohana into a dinner show, that would be difficult, no? There's a limited number of tables with a good view of Wishes. Can you imagine trying to manage the complaints of those who weren't in the lagoon-side room? Or who were closer to the back wall than the windows?

I have no idea what the solution is to the 'Ohana dilemma. That's one job I'm glad not to have!

[Basket Mommy]

Something else that might help is Disney eliminating the ability to double book ADRs. Not sure when that will go into affect (if it hasn't already), but that should cut down on the inability to get restaurants you want. Used to be that you could book 2 (or more?) restaurants at the same time on the same day - online. The system would ask you if you wanted to cancel the conflicting one, but you could choose no. I suspect that people double booked a lot just in case they weren't sure which park they were doing which day.

[Christine]

1). I did say thank you

2). The old line never moved that slowly. we have been in it MANY times with & without ADRs
But it did need to be moved away from kona & where they gather for the luau. That part was smart.

3). The whole reason walk ups are successful (as we have found to be consistently true) is because people are notorious for booking ADRs and not showing. There's no reason to not allow walk ups. That's how they fill up the tables.

But I digress.

[awaggett]

I am always curious what percent of Disney visitors make ADRs? I think planning-type folks that visit these boards have the know-how and use it (if they want--there seems to be a lot of folks on here that also do not like ADRs). However, I think there are a lot of folks that go to Disney that know nothing about ADRs--I hear folks at work and around talking about their upcoming trips and I'll ask about their ADRs/dinner plans and they look at me like I am crazy. I think people think they can walk in anywhere--even the castle. I think a lot of walk-up folks have no idea about the ADR system and the 180 day rule, so walk-ins will never go away and Disney has to keep that in mind and in their plans.

And to the OP---I hear ya, can't imagine know 180 days out that I want to eat at my local favs--unless it is for a celebration of some-sort!

[Pop Centurion]

I can understand the frustration of locals having to wait while ADR holders get priority but you have to understand that this is a huge vacation resort. I know I'd be unhappy if I made an ADR & was bumped by a walk in.
But as far as order for walk in's, they should be seated in order of availability just like any restaurant. If a table that holds 4 becomes available then the first party of 4 or less should get it. It would be unfair if a walk in party of 2 had been waiting for 2 hours and a table that seats 4 was given to a walk in party of 4 that had only been there 10 minutes. I understand Disney doesn't like to waste seats but fair is fair.

[HoosierDisneyFan]

We have eaten at Ohana many times (always with ADRs). The line to the check-in counter always amazed me. Not sure how to solve the situation but it is a problem. I generally have ADRs right when it opens. Seems like you have to line up 30 minutes ahead of your ADR time just to get a buzzer.

I understand the frustration for locals. I would not make a resturant reservation 180 days in advance in my hometown. That said, I would not expect to be seated at this very popular resturant without an ADR either. Maybe I would go ahead and make the ADRs 180 days in advance and cancel closer to the scheduled date if it did not work out with my schedule.

[ransam]

"Before I'm flamed for not having an ADR let me say, wherever you are...New York, California, Kansas...do you set your reservations at your local steakhouse that you want to visit on the weekend 180days out? It's not a habit you can really adhere to easily.."

The difference is that those resturants in Kansas, even most in California, and New york are not part of a tourist attraction, much less the most popular tourist attraction in the world....and you're talking about maybe the most popular resturant in the most popular tourist attraction in the world.

[Fastpasssteve]

Disney is not your "local" anything. It is not meant to be a favorite hangout for locals, for WDW draws people from around the globe. It seems like there is a sense of entitlement at work here.

A walk up line makes sense to fill empty tables...unless there ARE no empty tables.

I don't know about all of you, but I carefully plan where our meals will be and what times, carefully coordinated with park plans that day, when Fantasmic is or isn't going to be performed, EMH at which parks...all of these things are taken into consideration and part o the formula. Anyone who doubts me should take a look at my color coded Excel spreadsheet. On a recent trip when I wanted to get into Le Cellier, I called at 7:59 am on the 180 day mark to get the time I wanted. Planning, persistence. For some people, that is far too much planning...but for me, planning is part of my anticipation of the trip.

[Christine]

That's awesome- I like your planning method!

Wishing you many magical delicious trips!

And you dont know me, but I can assure you I'm not self entitled by any means- I'm actually a quite pleasant person
And while there are a many local who do enjoy hanging out at Disney- it's not "our" Disney and we know it


So as I said on the other thread regarding this- I have failed to communicate my tone properly- & have raised more hostility than I ever expected, which was certainly not my intent

So apologies and thanks for all the feedback.

[mouseketeer mom]

That's awesome- I like your planning method!

Wishing you many magical delicious trips!

And you dont know me, but I can assure you I'm not self entitled by any means- I'm actually a quite pleasant person
And while there are a many local who do enjoy hanging out at Disney- it's not "our" Disney and we know it


So as I said on the other thread regarding this- I have failed to communicate my tone properly- & have raised more hostility than I ever expected, which was certainly not my intent

So apologies and thanks for all the feedback.

I don't understand the hostility! It's everybody's Disney, and I thought your story was such a pleasant one, of rolling with the changes and making it work for not only yourself, but some others around you in line. I loved it. Like I said, I would join you, I love happy endings, and you created one that night!