Although we did not go to the Old Lahaina Luau last week, we went when we were on Maui in 2010 and it was excellent.
The Old Lahaina Luau seats many hundreds of guests, and I would be very surprised if Disney booked the whole luau.
When we went, upon checking in, we were assigned to a specific table. If you have a group and want to sit together, I suggest checking in as a group.
YMMV
Woody
So, VERY interesting!!
All this time, you could NOT book the Old Lahaina Luau (OLL) directly with OLL for May 5th (I checked the very first day the excursions came out). And, so I assumed, Disney had bought out the venue (despite the fact that it holds 500+ people).
NOW, you CAN book directly with Old Lahaina Luau, but ONLY the traditional seating (on a mat on the ground). You still can NOT book a reservation for May 5th if you want table and chair seating. (
https://www.oldlahainaluau.com/reservations)
The cost for the two seating options is the same: Adults (13+) are $102.08 (incl tax) and Children (3-12) are $70.83 (incl. tax). Children 2 and under are free.
DCL considers kids 10 and up adults for $196 and kids (3-9) for $129.
I just talked to the OLL folks and they weren't willing to tell me that Disney had bought them out for May 5th but now gave back some seats, BUT they did say that "they were previously sold out for that day, but had some cancellations." (You could have always booked both types of seating on any other day in May)
So, OLL is now allowing online booking for this date if you are willing to sit on traditional mats AND you book through the website as long as there is availability.
Bottom line - If you are interested in the OLL, you can now book it directly for a lot cheaper than DCL IF you are willing to sit on the traditional mats.
Hope this helps some of you who wanted the OLL luau, but didn't want to pay DCL prices! It also tells me that since "outsiders" can book OLL now, there is likely NOT to be any characters at the luau!
Stephanie
!
