Which To Choose - Hoop De Doo Or Spirit Of Luau

[FLORIDA DREAMING]

We've just booked our first ever trip to WDW for Oct 06. Thinking about a dinner show WDW style and can't decide which one to go for. Anyone with any good/bad experiences of either one help me decide??? None of us are fussy with food, so we'll eat just about anything.

 

[KayleeUK]

Welcome to the DIS Florida Dreaming

I haven't been to either but if I had to pick one to try first it would be the Luau I think

 

[steve_rob]

I've been to Hoop De Doo and it is great fun. The jokes may be corny, but it makes for a great night of entertainment and the food, while nothing you exactly could call gourmet (ribs and fried chicken), is very good indeed.

Are you going with any children? Even though it was just the two of us who went (and loved it), I would say the HDD is particularly suitable for families. Most people there when we went seemed to be in large groups anyway.

 

[Miffy2003]

I have not gone to either but I am hoping to try the Hoop de Doo soon

 

[Camac]

Hi Florida Dreaming,

We spent New Year's Eve 2004 at Hoop Dee Doo and it was great fun. The actors work really hard but do seem to have a great time too. There is lots of audience participation and whilst it is a bit corny everyone joined in and had a great time. The food is OK but plentiful.

I would recommend it as a great night out.

We extended the event by having pre-Hoop Dee Doo drinks at Wilderness Lodge and then catching a boat from WL jetty which took us over to the theatre. I'm not sure if you can catch a boat back - we came back to WL by Disney bus but this was at 11.30pm just in time to see the fireworks back down at the jetty.

Go and enjoy.

Camac

 

[vernon]

I've done both and I'll be honest the both passed me by a little bit. But then I've discovered I'm not much into dinner shows.

I thought the Hoop De Doo was REALLY corney, and I just don't do that clapping, feet stomping stuff singalong stuff. If that's your bag, then I'm sure you'll have a good night out, but if it isn't I'd pass on it. The food was just pretty average.

The Luau was a bit better, although I'd been to a couple of these in Hawaii and the one at WDW wasn't as good. The food was pretty good, if a little limited in scope. We had pretty slow service which puts a damper on things when it's time limited and, at that time, I think "speciality drinks" were included in the price. IMHO 2 "free drinks" in 2 hours AIN'T ENOUGH and it wasn't because I was parking em LOL :glass:

If given the choice I'd prefer to spend the money on other things like a character meal, Cirque, Bomas or better quality meals in other restaurants.

 

[brigadoon]

Having read a few "great" reviews about the "must-see" Hoop-de-Doo we did this with our kids on our first trip in 2000. To be honest, we all felt we'd wasted $130 or whatever it was. It was like a Wild West version of the Good Old Days, if you're old enough to remember that. I didn't like that type of entertainment then and I sure as heck don't now. The food was nothing special either.

If I had to spend that money on a night out, I would probably give the dinner shows a miss and go to the Cirque du Soleil. Having said that, we're not doing anything like that this year and have made Discovery Cove our big blow-out, which I feel is going to be worth any number of pricey over-rated dinner shows.