Our first big group meal was at ‘Ohana. We had made the reservation pretty late, at 9:45pm so everyone could enjoy their day. Luke and his family, along with my Dad took a Minnie Van from Old Key West to the Polynesian. This was back when the prices were actually fairly similar, and with five of them it just made sense to order a van. Luke actually doesn’t remember any of this, he was exhausted – but we looked at his Lyft ride history and found that they had called their ride at 8:14pm.
Since they were there so early, they headed outside to the Tiki Terrace for a drink, and they watched the Electrical Water Pageant. Luke had… this to drink? I’m assuming it’s the Spikey Pineapple – Barbancourt Pango Rhum blended with Pineapple Soft-serve. He seems to recall my Dad buying it for him? Look – I’m writing this almost 4 years after it happened so the little details are a bit blurry haha.
Enjoy a single blurry photo of the Electrical Water Pageant haha –
Devin and Larissa arrived separately, after spending a few hours at Hollywood Studios that afternoon they had gone back to their room at All Star Music to freshen up before catching an Uber to the Polynesian. I arrived with Lauren, Steph and Ryan, the four of us took the monorail over from Magic Kingdom. And my best friend Ashley and her husband Mike took an Uber from Old Key West. This was actually the first time I got to see Ashley in Florida (I was at her house the day before we had flown down, she was the one who watched our dogs for the first 3-4 days of our trip). Ashley and Mike had spent the day at Universal Studios and Universal Islands of Adventure so they could see the Harry Potter land – I can claim responsibility for getting Ashley hooked on the Harry Potter books years prior haha.
I believe we had originally made this reservation for 20 – at the 180 day mark when we made our ADR’s, we didn’t have a 100% accurate guest count, or know the exact dates/times of everyone’s flights. When we checked in, we just let them know we were actually a group of 13 – this happened numerous times over the next few days, and it was never an issue that we showed up with fewer than expected.
Since it was so late, the restaurant was not 100% full, but it was still fairly busy. They weren’t able to sit all 13 of us at one table, but they were able to get us tables side by side – Luke’s table had 6 (Luke, Laura, Cathy, Jill, Devin and Larissa), while my table had 7 (Lauren, Steph, Ryan, Dad, Ashley, Mike and I).
This was an easy meal with a large group, since it’s a set menu that is served family style. We did have it noted on our reservation that Larissa was vegan, and one of the chefs came over to talk to her. She gave them complete control and told them to make whatever they’d like for her – I didn’t see it or take pictures of it, but they apparently brought her a giant stir-fry filled with lots of veggies and tofu, and she said it was delicious. So never be afraid of any Disney restaurants if you have a special diet – the chefs will always take great care of you!
Almost everyone at Luke’s table just went with the soft drinks included in the cost of the meal, but my table went fancy haha. I can’t remember exactly who had what, but someone (I think Lauren) ordered a Lapu Lapu – Plantation Original Dark Rum and Tropical Fruit Juices served in a fresh Pineapple topped with Bacardi 151 Rum, $14.25 (I just checked, and this same drink now costs $18 as of October 2021). There was also a Whiskey Breeze – Jim Beam Black Extra-aged Bourbon, Cointreau, and Lime Juice with flavors of Guava and Mango, $11.25 ($14 as of October 2021), and a bottle of Stella, $8.25 (I believe that was Ryan’s), and a bottle of Coors Light, $5.25 (sounds like my Dad’s order). Two people decided they wanted Frozen Pina Colada’s, $9.25 – but they wanted it served in a pineapple. Turns out this is something they can do, it’s just a $5/pineapple upcharge! I was really exciting and ordered a Coke. As for pictures of the drinks – I have this single blurry odd-angled one which you can kind of see a pineapple…
On to the food! This was difficult, I hadn’t conditioned everyone to let me take pictures first, so as soon as the platters were placed on our table everyone started digging right in haha. This meal starts with the Pineapple Coconut Bread – which I always find to be really dry, and not even butter can help it. Don’t waste valuable stomach space on this! The appetizer salad is nice – nothing special but I appreciate some vegetables while in Disney since I never eat enough healthy things on vacation.
I took a photo of my sad looking plate for some reason? A single chicken wing, a single potsticker, some dry bread, one piece of broccoli and a small pile of noodles – I guess I was on a diet to make sure my wedding dress fit? I must have ate more than this…
They did bring us out a second main platter, and I managed to get a decent picture of it before everyone started digging in – Honey Coriander Chicken Wings, Pork Dumplings, Teriyaki Noodles and mixed vegetables –
The stand-out item for me are the noodles.
The servers also came around skewers of chicken thighs, steak and shrimp – I probably passed on all of them. I don’t eat seafood, the steak is typically cooked around medium and I’m not a fan of dark meat chicken. Basically – this meal really isn’t worth it for me (but I’ve ate there 3 times now for supper…)
Of course, the meal finishes with the amazing ‘Ohana bread pudding – this is my favourite part of the entire meal haha. The caramel sauce is so good – I believe Jill was loving it over at Luke’s table too.
I think everyone really liked this meal – at least we didn’t hear any complaints, and my table finished off two of the main platters haha. Lauren actually returned to WDW the following year with her Mom and sister, and they ate supper at ‘Ohana twice that week haha.
I had let the server know at the beginning of the meal that I had a Tables in Wonderland card, which was supposed to give a 20% food and beverage discount for up to 10 people. When they brought me the bill, they had actually applied the TIW discount to all 13 of us! This was awesome! I paid for the meal, and everyone just gave Luke or I some cash over the next few days.
This was by far the largest restaurant bill I’ve ever paid for haha –
Tables in Wonderland original cost: $150 Break Even Point Before this meal: $34.11 Savings this Meal: $125.40 Total Saved: Full cost of card + $91.29
Predicted food budget: $2631.67 (does not include tip) Estimated Cost of this meal: $91.60 Actual Cost: $73.27 (just Luke and I counted here) Over/Under: Under by $18.33 Remaining: $1145.90