Day 5 – Breakfast at ‘Ohana

Yesterday, we had an 8:30 a.m. reservation for breakfast at ‘Ohana, which is the signature restaurant at the Polynesian, where we stayed last year. It was fun to go back to the resort we loved so much.

‘Ohana does a character breakfast with Lilo & Stitch. They were there, and so were Mickey and his usual posse. They make the rounds to every table, sign autographs, give hugs, take pictures. They know the routine. Then they do a parade around the restaurant with all the kids. It’s cute.

You don’t order from a menu. Everyone gets a basket of Hawaiian sweet rolls, coffee, a mango-OJ, fresh fruit, a big community platter of scrambled eggs, sausage & potatoes, and all the Mickey-shaped waffles you can eat. This, for $100. You’re down a table service after eating here.

 

 

Dinner date

The Polynesian has a child care center called The Neverland Club. For $50, the kids would eat dinner, watch movies and do arts and crafts. To kill time before drop-off, we stopped in the cheesy arcade on the grounds because we had a voucher with our package (we also had a voucher for the Neverland Club). I wasn’t sure how the kids would react being left at the club since they’ve never had a babysitter who wasn’t family. But off they went. Magnus would follow Greta onto Space Mountain if she said it was a good idea.

Without the kids to whine and fall out of their chairs and proclaim they have to potty the minute the food arrives, we didn’t know what the hell to do with ourselves during dinner. We talked about – what else – the kids! I told Barrak it broke my heart how stone quiet Magnus was during the pirate league thing. Barrak pointed out it didn’t help that the artist was like Sofia Vergara. Mayuli was from Columbia and maybe a little hard to understand. She shrilled about Magnus, ‘He’s a serious pirate!!!’

Mag gave the attendant on our flight the same look when she reached out and poked his belly like the Pillsbury doughboy, expecting him to giggle. Instead, he gave her his Garfield impression.

Our experience at Ohana, the signature restaurant at the Polynesian, was fantastic. It was a grilled meat fest so Barrak was in hog heaven. You don’t order; everyone gets the same thing. You start with a green salad and a pan of Asian wings and potstickers with peanut-sesame and sweet tamarind dipping sauces. Next someone drops off a platter of chewy, garlicky noodles with broccoli cooked the way I love: so done, you could almost spread it on a crostini. Meanwhile, in the middle of the room, chefs are grilling long skewers of sirloin, shrimp, chicken and pork over an open oak wood fire. Servers then come around with the skewers and offer you as much as you want. The final pant-button buster is a pineapple bread pudding with vanilla ice cream. Our server, Simo, poured a warm caramel banana sauce over it and left two spoons.

After dinner, we walked around the nice gift shop in the lobby for souvenirs, then headed over to pick up the kids.

Greta gave the Neverland Club a very lukewarm review. She said they had dinner but there was hardly anything to do (parents aren’t allowed beyond the drop-off area so I didn’t get a visual on the toy situation). She said the Eagle’s Nest is more fun. Who would have guessed that Giant Eagle would beat Disney World in the child care department?

Mag in the arcade before we dropped them off at the Neverland Club.

Thinking deep thoughts. Greta actually took this picture while in the stroller.

Each kid was allowed to pick out one stuffed animal during this trip. So far, Magnus has somehow acquired three. Greta selected hers today: Duffy. Who the F is Duffy??