Spirit of Aloha Dinnner Show?

[Sugar Jones]

Has anyone done this?

I was going to book dinner at Ohana for our anniversary night, but then my sister mentioned the dinner show. She said the kids would love it. We want to stick with the Hawaiian theme since that's where we went for our honeymoon 10 years ago

I don't mind using two table service credits since we will have some extra's since we won't be arriving until late in the evening our first day and leaving early on our last day.

 

[disney_bob]

We went to it last September. The food was amazing (though the dessert lacking). The show itself wasn't bad. The fire dancing person was pretty neat otherwise it was a semi-corny event but still entertaining.

I'm glad we did it once but I'm not sure I'd do it anytime again soon (except for the food). I've been told that it might even be better than a real Hawaiian Luau.

 

[Sugar Jones]

I have to say we went to a real Hawaiian Luau on our honeymoon with traditional luau food and it wasn't great. The atmosphere and show were spectacular, but the smoked pork, poi (sp?) and other foods were not my style. The menu for the dinner show looked much better

Do you think it would hold the interest of a 3, 6 & 8 year old? I know they would enjoy the Hoop-dee Review better, but we are doing many character dinners for them and this is the "thing" for us kwim?

 

[angdbinkc]

I know the luau gets a lot of mixed reviews on here, but we went this past September and really enjoyed it. Yes the first half of the "show" is a little corny, but the second half made up for it. Not only that but during the first half we were also preoccupied eating our meal, etc so it didn't bother us. I say give it a shot!

 

[bleeps]

We did it a few years ago. While we felt that the "wrap around story" of the luau was a bit corny (seemed to have been designed to get some Lilo and Stitch music into the show), we did enjoy all of the "traditional" dancing and the fire guy was indeed incredible. (We've never been to Hawaii so can't judge first-hand about what is and isn't traditional dancing, but we're interested and so we've watched a lot of travel shows and films about Polynesia -- so when I'm saying "traditional" dancing was good, that's what I'm basing my opinion on.)

We made our ADRs on the first day it was possible to do so and were seated right in the front row of tables (we were right up to the stage). When we were being shown to the table and my husband said, "gee honey, how did you manage to score front row seats?!", the CM turned around and said, "she must have booked this a looooong time ago!" I say this because it gave me the impression that the earlier you book, the better seats you get (although I don't know that for a fact, just based on our experience). I'm not sure we would have enjoyed the experience as much if we'd been seated at the very back....

They gave everyone a lei (not positive they still do?) so it did kind of feel special and Hawaiian -- since you have the credits to spare, I'd say go for it!

 

[Dani C]

We went to the SOA in December. They do still give out the leis. Everyone in my party liked the show (can't say the same for HDD), though it was a bit silly in places. There were some smaller children sitting near us and they loved it so don't worry. It isn't all featured around Hawaii. They incorporate Tahiti, etc. through the dances as well.

Please note though that it is not entirely enclosed and does cancel for weather.

 

[Disney Fan Katt]

We went to the Luau last Feb with our extended family (12 in all) and there was something for everyone. The food was very good, the show was fun, and the kids got up on stage. I had a couple of glasses of 'mystery merlot' with my dinner and enjoyed myself.

Yes, the show is a little silly at times, but it is still entertaining. I have been to a Luau in Hawaii and actually had more fun at this one.

The ages of our crowd ranged from 2.5yrs to 78 years.

I hope you enjoy it!

 

[ssawka]

We made our ADRs on the first day it was possible to do so and were seated right in the front row of tables (we were right up to the stage). When we were being shown to the table and my husband said, "gee honey, how did you manage to score front row seats?!", the CM turned around and said, "she must have booked this a looooong time ago!" I say this because it gave me the impression that the earlier you book, the better seats you get (although I don't know that for a fact, just based on our experience). I'm not sure we would have enjoyed the experience as much if we'd been seated at the very back....

Yes, you are seated according to the tier you paid for and when you made reservations. For our trip in January, I called the first day I could. I guess there isn't a big demand for the Luau in January, because we had the best seat in the house (front row, center).

DD really enjoyed the show as did DW since she had never been to a Luau. I remember going back in the 80's and the show was much better then (you got better leis too!) As OPs have said, it was fun to do once, but I'm not sure I'd do it again.

One hint, when Disney tells you to be at a dinner show a half hour before it starts, don't believe them! You don't want to wait 'til the last minute, but you will stand around a while waiting for them to let you in, but (surprise! surprise!) there is a bar open that is happy to take your $.

 

[arcticdisneylovers]

We went in late January and loved it The food and service were great The show was a bit hokey but we enjoyed it. DD5 loved learning to hula dance but she slept though the after dinner portion of the show