How much do you enjoy the Luau at the Poly? Is it worth 2TS? It's our last day at MK and we will have already eaten at our favorites in the park plus 'Ohanas, so I thought these 2 choices would be great. Any help in deciding would be appreciated. Thanks,Elisa
Help please..Luau or Kona cafe?
- Thread starter Elisa
- Start date
tink606
I have found my Peterpan and I am his Tinkerbell a
- Joined
- Dec 7, 2005
- Messages
- 406
We tried the Luau for the first time in Nov and were not impressed with it. We definitely do not think its worth 2 Ts credits. We would for sure pick Konas over luau anytime b/c the food is awesome and the service is great and also its inside our favorite resort, the poly and since u are already doing Ohana's then Kona's would definitely be our next choice.
NEVERENOUGHWDW
<font color=blue>Still Missing 20,000 Leagues Unde
- Joined
- Jan 11, 2007
- Messages
- 27,001
If you have been to the old luau I think you will be very disappointed. If you don't have kids with you it is a waste of $$$$$$$. Corny, silly, fair food at best.
NYDisGuy
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- May 22, 2006
- Messages
- 1,161
I would agree with this for the first part of the show. But the part where they are doing all their native dances gets intresting for anyone. I go every year to the luau, and I love it. They did change it from the orignal format, probably because people complained that they couldnt see past the servers. But it does suck when last call on drinks is 1 hour into the event, when theres about an hour left.
suffolkprincess
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Jun 21, 2006
- Messages
- 301
1. How old are your children?
2. Do they enjoy eating out at restaurants?
3. Does your family enjoy bbq type food (ribs, grilled saucy chicken?)
4. Does your family prefer New American/ Fusion cuisine?
5. Have you ever seen a Polynesian dinner show/ luau type show before?
6. Is someone in your family really "into" tropical/luau type stuff?
Kona is very nice. Its a bit overrated on the DIS, IMHO. Why? I think because...
a) The Menu: it isn't all that, but its got the reputation for being SO creative. Kona does have a nice, well-considered, asian-american fusion cuisine menu. It might be much more creative than you are accustomed to normally and therefore the menu will be exciting for you. We have a couple of great restaurants with a similar culinary approach in our home area, and we like that kind of food a lot, so the menu was appealing to us but not *exciting*. I am not being a snob here; until a couple of years ago we didn't have asian/fusion restaurants near where we lived and we found them much more exciting to try when we traveled because of that. As that style has become more widely used, I think that the Kona menu loses some excitement, for us. In contrast to other Disney resort offerings-- well, yes, Kona's menu might well be considered very exciting. But we personally found the choices at World Showcase more exciting simply because, for instance, we have never had the chance to try a Moroccan restaurant before-- so that was more exciting. It did not turn out to have better food than Kona, but I am glad that we did both, and if I had to eliminate one, I'd rather have kept Morocco simply because that is not something I can get at home. Fish crusted in macadamia nuts, while LOVELY, is on a lot of menus here at home.
b) The Service: We had FABULOUS service when we were there, but the table next to us had terrible service! We noticed the difference while we were dining. Their server let their drinks run out, they sat at least 10 minutes earlier than we did and their food came SIGNIFICANTLY later (and not because they had well done steak, either.) And their server gave them a hadr time about getting their desserts to go. (They heard us order ours to go when our food was brought to us because we were in a hurry to go see the water pageant on the beach and felt that, since we would be too full right away anyway, it would be faster and more fun to take our desserts with us to have picnic style or save for later.) Our server thought our to go idea was great and she very thoughtfully suggested what would go "to go" best and was lovely about it. Their server was a snot about it. My point is that you can get bad or good service at any time, anywhere. Generally, all the service at Disney World resort is very good. But I wouldn't book a restaurant because someone had a perfect waiter there one night and posted about it.
c) The Location/ Atmosphere: We stayed at the Polynesian, and loved it, but the Kona Cafe is the least atmospheric of the dining choices. This is not destination theming-- this is a hotel restaurant, and its very nicely decorated, but its not the "jewel" of the resort. The theming of Ohana is nicer as is Luau Cove. I get the definite feeling at Kona that this restaurant was planned primarily for hotel guests and not as a "destination" restaurant. It is set up similarly to a lot of other hotel "cafes" I have eaten at-- it is completely open to the lobby area of the hotel. That said, it is very comfortable and quite nice.
d) The Food: was great. It really was, and the portion sizes were very appropriate, and the food was prepared well, presented very well, and tasted great. We really liked it, all of us, and found some of the dishes to be on our "favorites" list from our week at Disney-- the crabcakes! They are special. I personally disagree with posters who call it 5 star, or compare it as an equivalent to California Grill or Citricos or other fine dining hotel restaurants (its not, say, Emerils' Delmonico or Tao at the Venetian in Vegas-- those being two really exceptional dining experiences we have had recently, whereas California Grill definitely matched that level.) But it was very good, and better than any theme park restaurant we ate in. I liked how light everything was.
e) Child Friendliness: nothing special to see or do for our DD4. It was like taking her to any other nice restaurant at home with concurrent fun and aggravations. But both Ohana and the Luau offered a LOT for her to see and do and be engaged with beyond her plate and some crayons. NOW, I don't mean to say that every meal needs to be chock full of entertainment-- but if that is what you want, its not here at Kona. That was a good thing for us when we ate there because we were burned out on all the action at the character meals and dinner shows we had attended up to that point.
OK-- we went to the Luau, and we LOVED it. No, the food is not super stellar. Its good enough, you get a lot, and they bring it promptly. We liked how festive the Luau was. It was very different from anything we have done at home and different from anything else we had done at Disney that week. The show *is* corny, but my daughter found all the colorful action engaging... until she fell asleep
. But up to that point, she really loved it and she still talks about it.
My understanding is that the Luau at Disney can't really compare with what you can get elsewhere as Luaus go-- but since we have no basis of comparison (no Polynesian theme places near us and we have never traveled to Hawaii) we liked it. We also found the dinner show format really really relaxing. Until DD fell asleep (it was a little late for her, the second show), she was enjoying herself and we had nice family time without the pressure of jumping up to do a coconut race and take a picture with a character (fun things to do, of course, but this was late in the week and we were ready to relax!), after she fell asleep DH and I just relaxed and drank our admittedly not-great but constantly refilled wine and beer, rolled our eyes at the corny jokes, and videotaped the firedancer for DD to watch at home.
It *is* a little pricey that it is 2 TS. It was worthwhile for us because we knew we didn't want to eat all that many sit-down TS meals anyway-- so we didn't mind burning some credits off there, and needing to pay oop for a dinner another time, because we knew that OOP dinner would most likely be a CS anyway, and not terribly expensive for us (my DD4 and I often shared things.)
ALL that said-- the Luau might not be ideal if you think you might want to go back to the MK for fireworks on your last night, and you don't get a good view of the fireworks during the show if you attend the second seating (you can see them from some seats if you try-- but the show is going on, and that is the focus then.) On your last night I am a BIG fan of no ADRs and just having some portable food as you catch your favorites one last time.
have fun!
2. Do they enjoy eating out at restaurants?
3. Does your family enjoy bbq type food (ribs, grilled saucy chicken?)
4. Does your family prefer New American/ Fusion cuisine?
5. Have you ever seen a Polynesian dinner show/ luau type show before?
6. Is someone in your family really "into" tropical/luau type stuff?
Kona is very nice. Its a bit overrated on the DIS, IMHO. Why? I think because...
a) The Menu: it isn't all that, but its got the reputation for being SO creative. Kona does have a nice, well-considered, asian-american fusion cuisine menu. It might be much more creative than you are accustomed to normally and therefore the menu will be exciting for you. We have a couple of great restaurants with a similar culinary approach in our home area, and we like that kind of food a lot, so the menu was appealing to us but not *exciting*. I am not being a snob here; until a couple of years ago we didn't have asian/fusion restaurants near where we lived and we found them much more exciting to try when we traveled because of that. As that style has become more widely used, I think that the Kona menu loses some excitement, for us. In contrast to other Disney resort offerings-- well, yes, Kona's menu might well be considered very exciting. But we personally found the choices at World Showcase more exciting simply because, for instance, we have never had the chance to try a Moroccan restaurant before-- so that was more exciting. It did not turn out to have better food than Kona, but I am glad that we did both, and if I had to eliminate one, I'd rather have kept Morocco simply because that is not something I can get at home. Fish crusted in macadamia nuts, while LOVELY, is on a lot of menus here at home.
b) The Service: We had FABULOUS service when we were there, but the table next to us had terrible service! We noticed the difference while we were dining. Their server let their drinks run out, they sat at least 10 minutes earlier than we did and their food came SIGNIFICANTLY later (and not because they had well done steak, either.) And their server gave them a hadr time about getting their desserts to go. (They heard us order ours to go when our food was brought to us because we were in a hurry to go see the water pageant on the beach and felt that, since we would be too full right away anyway, it would be faster and more fun to take our desserts with us to have picnic style or save for later.) Our server thought our to go idea was great and she very thoughtfully suggested what would go "to go" best and was lovely about it. Their server was a snot about it. My point is that you can get bad or good service at any time, anywhere. Generally, all the service at Disney World resort is very good. But I wouldn't book a restaurant because someone had a perfect waiter there one night and posted about it.
c) The Location/ Atmosphere: We stayed at the Polynesian, and loved it, but the Kona Cafe is the least atmospheric of the dining choices. This is not destination theming-- this is a hotel restaurant, and its very nicely decorated, but its not the "jewel" of the resort. The theming of Ohana is nicer as is Luau Cove. I get the definite feeling at Kona that this restaurant was planned primarily for hotel guests and not as a "destination" restaurant. It is set up similarly to a lot of other hotel "cafes" I have eaten at-- it is completely open to the lobby area of the hotel. That said, it is very comfortable and quite nice.
d) The Food: was great. It really was, and the portion sizes were very appropriate, and the food was prepared well, presented very well, and tasted great. We really liked it, all of us, and found some of the dishes to be on our "favorites" list from our week at Disney-- the crabcakes! They are special. I personally disagree with posters who call it 5 star, or compare it as an equivalent to California Grill or Citricos or other fine dining hotel restaurants (its not, say, Emerils' Delmonico or Tao at the Venetian in Vegas-- those being two really exceptional dining experiences we have had recently, whereas California Grill definitely matched that level.) But it was very good, and better than any theme park restaurant we ate in. I liked how light everything was.
e) Child Friendliness: nothing special to see or do for our DD4. It was like taking her to any other nice restaurant at home with concurrent fun and aggravations. But both Ohana and the Luau offered a LOT for her to see and do and be engaged with beyond her plate and some crayons. NOW, I don't mean to say that every meal needs to be chock full of entertainment-- but if that is what you want, its not here at Kona. That was a good thing for us when we ate there because we were burned out on all the action at the character meals and dinner shows we had attended up to that point.
OK-- we went to the Luau, and we LOVED it. No, the food is not super stellar. Its good enough, you get a lot, and they bring it promptly. We liked how festive the Luau was. It was very different from anything we have done at home and different from anything else we had done at Disney that week. The show *is* corny, but my daughter found all the colorful action engaging... until she fell asleep
. But up to that point, she really loved it and she still talks about it. My understanding is that the Luau at Disney can't really compare with what you can get elsewhere as Luaus go-- but since we have no basis of comparison (no Polynesian theme places near us and we have never traveled to Hawaii) we liked it. We also found the dinner show format really really relaxing. Until DD fell asleep (it was a little late for her, the second show), she was enjoying herself and we had nice family time without the pressure of jumping up to do a coconut race and take a picture with a character (fun things to do, of course, but this was late in the week and we were ready to relax!), after she fell asleep DH and I just relaxed and drank our admittedly not-great but constantly refilled wine and beer, rolled our eyes at the corny jokes, and videotaped the firedancer for DD to watch at home.
It *is* a little pricey that it is 2 TS. It was worthwhile for us because we knew we didn't want to eat all that many sit-down TS meals anyway-- so we didn't mind burning some credits off there, and needing to pay oop for a dinner another time, because we knew that OOP dinner would most likely be a CS anyway, and not terribly expensive for us (my DD4 and I often shared things.)
ALL that said-- the Luau might not be ideal if you think you might want to go back to the MK for fireworks on your last night, and you don't get a good view of the fireworks during the show if you attend the second seating (you can see them from some seats if you try-- but the show is going on, and that is the focus then.) On your last night I am a BIG fan of no ADRs and just having some portable food as you catch your favorites one last time.
have fun!
ElizabethB
<font color=teal>I have a raw meat fetish. Who kne
- Joined
- Jul 7, 2004
- Messages
- 4,389
I've been to Hawaii and done luaus there -- Paradise Cove on Oahu twice and Old Lahaina Luau on Maui once. Actually, the Poly Luau compares quite favorably we thought as far as food and show go. You get more authentic food at a luau in Hawaii, but not many people like poi anyway, so what's the difference.
It's cheaper than luaus in Hawaii, also (at least for those paying OOP). We paid $80 per person at the Old Lahaina Luau before tip (and that was 5 years ago). Of course, WDW can't replicate the sun setting on the Pacific ocean while you linger on the beach making leis! But, strictly thinking about the food and show, it was good and we enjoyed it as much as our Hawaiian luaus.
It's cheaper than luaus in Hawaii, also (at least for those paying OOP). We paid $80 per person at the Old Lahaina Luau before tip (and that was 5 years ago). Of course, WDW can't replicate the sun setting on the Pacific ocean while you linger on the beach making leis! But, strictly thinking about the food and show, it was good and we enjoyed it as much as our Hawaiian luaus.
I went to Kona Cafe in December and it was AWFUL. The service was terrible, the food was bland. I would not recommend this restaurant to anyone! I was sooo looking forward to eating there and it was a huge disappointment. I would rather do the Luau...even if it isn't worth 2 TS credits! HTH!
matysgrandma
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Apr 27, 2005
- Messages
- 380
We try to go to Kona Cafe every time we're at WDW. We have NEVER had a bad meal. Have always been impressed with menu, service and food. And if you time your dinner right, just walk onto the beach and watch the fireworks and the electric water parade. Can't beat it!!!!
Dcanoli
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- May 31, 2004
- Messages
- 3,241
I know this is OT.....BUT.....
WOW! I was just looking at your tickers!
Are you kidding me? You live in IL, and you are going three times? Amazing! How in the world do you manage it?
matysgrandma
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Apr 27, 2005
- Messages
- 380
Retired and enjoying life, Disney style!!!!!
Dcanoli
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- May 31, 2004
- Messages
- 3,241
Now, I get it! I was picturing you as a 30- or 40- something Mom w/5 kids! .....wondering how in the world you travel three times in such a short time frame with kids, school, etc. etc. etc.!
At least now, you've given me something to shoot for in my retirement years!
.....wondering how in the world you travel three times in such a short time frame with kids, school, etc. etc. etc.!At least now, you've given me something to shoot for in my retirement years!
richard_andmel
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Oct 11, 2004
- Messages
- 1,121
We love Kona Cafe. The food and service has always been good for us at breakfast and dinner. I haven't been to the luau in 15 years. We went a few times prior to that and loved it. But I understand the food and show have changed not for the better. Whenever I think about trying it, all of the other really great places to eat dissuade me from it.
Esmerelda
DVC'r 10/04/Dis Veteran
- Joined
- Aug 19, 1999
- Messages
- 1,530
We did the luau last July for the first time in 7 years. I felt if we had paid $10.00 per head it would have been too much. My boys (ages 15 and 11) thought it too be quite boring and the food was a 3 on a scale of 1-10. We felt more like we were at a Barney live show that a luau?? The storyline was really really bad. The girls and the guys were all very handsome and entertaining but this story was pathetic.
This is one Disney show (and I have been to most all) that I would never recommend to anyone. We couldn't wait to get out of there. I'm sorry, but it was the worst for us in 20 trips.
I have never had an issues with Kona Cafe or Ohana's dinner. I would think either of those could easily surpass the luau show.
Esmerelda
This is one Disney show (and I have been to most all) that I would never recommend to anyone. We couldn't wait to get out of there. I'm sorry, but it was the worst for us in 20 trips.
I have never had an issues with Kona Cafe or Ohana's dinner. I would think either of those could easily surpass the luau show.
Esmerelda
matysgrandma
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Apr 27, 2005
- Messages
- 380
Now, I get it! I was picturing you as a 30- or 40- something Mom w/5 kids!
At least now, you've given me something to shoot for in my retirement years!
Yep, it doesn't get any better than this! Thank God I've got a hubby who loves Disney as much as myself. And man, it is the best when we get to bring our little granddaughter and see the look in her eyes. Just the same look when we brought her mother. I've been blessed!!!
We ate at Kona last week and really liked it. Enough to go again. The server was from Morocco. She was prompt and very nice.
We dined at O'hana the previous year. DH liked it more than I did. Part of the reason was the 9:30 dinner we had. I don't eat that late. DH got a last minute ADR. Guess that one was my fault. The servers were very friendly. Didn't get to see the show because of the time.
We dined at O'hana the previous year. DH liked it more than I did. Part of the reason was the 9:30 dinner we had. I don't eat that late. DH got a last minute ADR. Guess that one was my fault. The servers were very friendly. Didn't get to see the show because of the time.
NEVERENOUGHWDW
<font color=blue>Still Missing 20,000 Leagues Unde
- Joined
- Jan 11, 2007
- Messages
- 27,001
48 trips here and I have agree it would be a terrible show if they let you go for free.
I'd been having computer troubles and i totally forgot about this thread until dcanoli brought it to my attention.
We decided on Kona Cafe because we had such a good meal there last time and I hadn't heard a lot of good things about the Luau. Plus we didn't want to use 2 TS for it.
Thank you to everyone who replied. I really appreciate it.
Elisa
We decided on Kona Cafe because we had such a good meal there last time and I hadn't heard a lot of good things about the Luau. Plus we didn't want to use 2 TS for it.
Thank you to everyone who replied. I really appreciate it.
Elisa-
Disney Begins Work on Former Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser
-
Meet the Pumpkin Trees Aboard Disney Cruise Ships
-
What Perks Do You Get From Renting a DVC Stay?
-
First Look at the 2025 Disney Wine & Dine Half Marathon Merch
-
Save Up to $250 Per Night on Disney World Room & Ticket Deal
-
New $250 Onboard Credit for Disney Visa Cardmembers
-
Best Character Outfit Ideas for Disney World's EPCOT
Receive up to $1,000 in Onboard Credit and a Gift Basket!
That’s right — when you book your Disney Cruise with Dreams Unlimited Travel, you’ll receive incredible shipboard credits to spend during your vacation!
CLICK HERE
That’s right — when you book your Disney Cruise with Dreams Unlimited Travel, you’ll receive incredible shipboard credits to spend during your vacation!
CLICK HERE
New Posts
- Poll
