Wailulu Bar & Grill is a restaurant and bar inside of the Polynesian DVC tower. The restaurant, which opened at the end of 2024, is a casual spot that has both indoor and outdoor seating. Wailulu currently offers a 10% DVC discount but no Annual Pass discount. The spot is also a part of the Disney Dining Plan as one table service credit. Notably, Wailulu Bar & Grill is all walk up seating, no reservations, as of August 2025. In this post, we’ll review the restaurant’s atmosphere, cuisine and value.

The new DVC Polynesian Island Tower is not for me. Adding the largely generic building, at least from the outward aesthetic, to one of Disney World’s most immersive and creative resorts was a disappointing move. It’s not just a Polynesian Resort problem, as many of the recent Disney World hotel additions have felt bland to me. You know what can help redeem the disappointing additions though? Wonderful restaurants! That’s exactly what has happened with Wailulu Bar & Grill.

For all of the Island Tower’s faults, location is not one of them. Wailulu Bar & Grill takes full advantage of that, being on the ground floor of the new tower and looking out across Seven Seas Lagoon. There’s a few beautiful water features connected to the restaurant and bar, making the area feel even more connected to the lagoon.

That location has us giving a rare Disney World dining recommendation – sit outside! Generally, we are wimps when it comes to the Floridian heat and always prefer the air conditioning. But the view from Wailulu’s outdoor seating leads to an exceptional atmosphere and a relaxed setting. We ate here on an especially sweltering day and didn’t feel overly hot thanks to the ceiling fans and shaded seating. I’d say anything under 90 degrees and you’re pretty safe dining outside here. Even under 100 is worth considering. In that same vein, dining here after the sun goes down with a chance to watch the fireworks and Electrical Water Pageant would be great!

There aren’t any frills added to that outside seating because the view is the star. Depending on your seat, you can seen Magic Kingdom’s castle off in the distance. There’s also the Grand Floridian to look at or the surrounding Polynesian Resort theme. Plant life and a textured floor do give off island vibes. Those stretch from the restaurant section to the rounded bar. If you’re exhausted from an afternoon in Magic Kingdom, this is a great place to take a load off.

While we prefer the outside seating, inside is no slouch. Wailulu Bar & Grill feels modern and airy, with huge windows to still show off that view. There are island photos on the walls and sea life overhead that look almost like pinatas! I mean that as a compliment, as we as a society are not utilizing pinatas enough. Not to be confused, the fish and rays overhead do not look cheap at all.

Wailulu Bar & Grill’s atmosphere is really well done, not trying to do too much but also dressing up the restaurant enough to make it feel immersive. There’s a real Hawaiian (or pick your favorite island vacation spot) feel to this spot. Despite not liking the Island Tower, I think the theme and aesthetic here is really well done.

Moving to the food, here’s a look at the menu. The restaurant is open as a table-service spot for lunch and dinner and a grab-and-go spot for breakfast, although I do think the seating is open once you get your food. More of a grab-and-stay spot then? I digress. We’ll stick to reviewing lunch and dinner options, which have a wide range of prices. We went all over the menu, sharing a few different things and would recommend going that route unless you’re interested in one of the more expensive entrees like the fish or Short Rib Loco Moco.

Here is the Musubi consisting of Glazed Spam, Crispy Rice Pearls, Furikake and Sriracha-Honey. I thought this was a nice upscale play on a classic quick dish. The Glazed Spam was excellent, having a great sweet flavor that was complimented by the Sriracha-Honey. The Furikake and Crispy Rice Pearls added some texture and salt. We both really enjoyed this appetizer, although Melissa liked it a little more than I did. At $12, I found this to be a decent value.

Melissa liked the Musubi more than I did but I liked the Ahi Tuna Crisps more than her. The dish consists of Marinated Ahi Tuna, Avocado Crema, Sriracha-Aïoli, and Soy Glaze on top of Crispy Fried Wontons. The Soy Glaze was the prominent flavor, adding a lot of sweetness to the Wontons. A healthy portion of Ahi Tuna was on top and it tasted very fresh. This is a larger portion and a good deal for $17. Both of those appetizers are nice on a hot day.

The star of the show is the Wayfinder Burger which includes Two Pressed Patties, American Cheese, Onion Jam, Volcano Sauce, Sweet Bun. This rivals Steakhouse 71 for best burger in Disney World. They’re pretty comparable too! The smash patties here are excellent, providing the salt to mix with the sweeter Volcano Sauce and Onion Jam. I prefer this one to the Steakhouse 71 option and think it’s well worth the $23.

We tried both sides at Wailulu. The Sweet Potato Fries were delicious, far better than the usual Walt Disney World attempt at French Fries. If Mac Salad is more of your thing, this was a pretty good one! It didn’t blow me away like other menu items did but it was still a nice side.

While already full, we persevered for you, gentle reader. Or maybe it was because we read the description of the Chocolate Cake? Who’s to say. This incredible cake also had Salted Caramel Ganache and Coffee-infused Chantilly Cream. I could take down about 4 of these bad boys right now, all by myself. The Salted Caramel added just a touch of something different to the Chocolate taste. We both enjoyed the Coffee-infused Chantilly Cream which is a surprise because Melissa’s not a big fan of coffee or whipped cream. That should tell you how good we thought this was! At $11, I thought this was a decadent way to end a largely finger food meal.

Along the way, I ordered a Banana Old Fashioned consisting of Michter’s Single Barrel Rye Whiskey, Tempus Fugit Spirits Crème de Banane, Appleton Estate 8 yr Reserve Rum, St. Elizabeth Allspice Dram Liqueur and Angostura Bitters. I love Old Fashioneds and this was no different, even with this being on the sweeter side. The Banana flavor was evident but not overpowering. It’s not the best drink I’ve had at Disney World but it’s very good!

In the time since our meal, we’ve routinely talked about going back to Wailulu Bar & Grill. The restaurant is going to creep up our favorites list at Walt Disney World thanks to the food, value and relaxed setting. I’m hoping that they stick to walk up availability here, as it makes this a convenient and spontaneous spot while visiting Magic Kingdom. Assuming the quality stays close to the same, Wailulu Bar & Grill will be one of the best places to eat in WDW for years to come!

Have you been to Wailulu Bar & Grill? Let us know your thoughts or any questions you might have in the comments below. Planning a trip to Walt Disney World? Check out our Disney World Trip Planning Guide to help you out. Looking for discount tickets? Check out this site! If you enjoy what you are reading here on Wandering in Disney please share this post with your friends, as well as like our social media pages. You can also subscribe to the blog via WordPress or email. All of those links are on the right side of this page. Thank you for reading, we really appreciate it!