We have tickets for Spirt of Aloha on our upcoming trip. There are so many negative reviews that I’m starting to wonder if it’s worth our time and money!
I guess my thought is that it’s worth trying once so we can form our own opinion. But if it’s really awful, maybe not? Help me decide!!
Kids are 13,12, 9, 7, 5 if that makes a difference.
Kate
Well... it's certainly not bad but it's just ok, at least for us. We've been to it once, however we've been to the Hoop-Dee-Doo at least a half dozen times. Everyone has a different opinion but I think your kids would have much more fun at the HDD.
I haven’t done it since 2011, so keep that in mind, but we mostly did it because we were staying at the Poly and couldn’t get ‘Ohana. It was okay. Not bad, but we’ve never been back. We did ‘Ohana for the first time this past June, and I enjoyed that more. I’ve never done Hoop to compare that, but Hoop seems to get universally positive reviews.
Are you staying at the Poly?
Confession: I'm not a big fan of luaus generally. We did one on Oahu a few years ago, and I have no personal need to do one ever again. I have not done SOA.
However, it is a spectacle, the food is plentiful and probably not all that much different than what you'd get at most Disney restaurants, and you've never done it before. As long as you go into it with an open mind, and are not fried by the time you get there, you won't regret going. You may decide you don't need to do it again, but that's not the same thing.
I thought both the entertainment and the food were a notch (or maybe three) below Hoop Dee Doo. Our service was horrible - forget getting refills on anything, because after the servers dropped off the food they disappeared. A lot of the spectacle comes from the fire juggler who does a similar (albeit much shorter) routine as part of the Festival of the Lion King.
That said, was it "awful?" Probably not. I mean, people don't go to places like Medieval Times for the cuisine. It's a unique dinner show, and with appropriate expectations I think people can have an enjoyable evening.
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Blogging about running for fun at Disney and elsewhere with Team Shenanigans.
My husband and I were just having this debate yesterday, luau vs Hoop dee doo. We've done both. I vastly prefer Hoop. My husband likes the fire dancer enough he's willing to do the Luau again (and because transportation is more convenient). It's not awful. Have you seen Josh's review?
https://www.easywdw.com/easy/blog/sp...illage-resort/
We went March 2018 and Josh's review is very accurate and helpful, as usual. The food was slightly worse than I expected. Our server happened to be pretty good about refilling drinks. The fire dancer is the highlight.
I guess I should have said we have done Hoop Dee Doo and we absolutely loved it. We’ve also done ‘Ohana. Actually I think we’ve done every single character meal (most multiple times) other than Mickeys Backyard BBQ. So part of our thinking is that we want to try something new.
I think you’ve been helpful- it sounds like it’s worth a try and we won’t be miserable, even if it’s not our absolute favorite. Some of the reviews I read talked about walking out in the middle because kids hated it so much!! I think going into expecting that it will likely be somewhere between “okay” and “fun” we will be fine.
I did also intentionally wait on trying it until we didn’t have toddlers since I read the storyline of the show moves slowly and isn’t all bells and whistles.
I actually hadn’t seen Josh’s review. Thanks for that. His review and the comments section were helpful to me as well.
I have one more question! They told us when we purchased the tickets that they have a 48 hour cancellation policy so I will plan to cancel if it’s a high change of thunderstorms during that time.
But I’m wondering about excessive heat? We will be there in early September and some reviews mention being uncomfortable in the heat at the meal- I know it’s outdoors but it is shaded, right? And I know it will be hot since it’s September. But if it’s really hot, is it worth cancelling? Thanks!
(I feel like now I sound like I’m looking for excuses to cancel, but I actually do really want to go and give it a try!)
The seating is all covered, but it is outside. When we went, it was miserably hot in the waiting area with little shade. (I would not show up as early as they say to check in... unless others who have been more recently advise otherwise.)
In our case, a downpour started right as we were being seated, which cooled things off for the show. They pulled the tables on the edges in a little to avoid being splashed by the rain, and had us pick up our bags, as water started running down the ground toward the stage.
I realized I never came back with an update. We went and absolutely regret it. I mean, at least now we can say we tried it and we never need to do it again. So there’s that.
But my kids were all so bored. And it isn’t cheap! We probably could have done MNSSHP for just a bit more and all had a lot more fun. The show was awful. So much bad acting in between the dancing. Some of the dancing was fun to watch, but I think the good parts could easily have been condensed into a 30 minute show.
Food was fine, but not plentiful and not great.
I guess I should have trusted all the bad reviews, lol. Oh well, we still had a great trip overall of course.
Sorry you didn’t enjoy it! We’ve never been, but they lost me with the cost+outside.
Brandi
Sorry you didn't enjoy it. We've been 3 times, and although I agree the acting is bad and I would much prefer just the dancing, we didn't regret going. I guess we've always had good luck with service! We've even had servers who went out of their way to get my kids PB&J when they were little and wouldn't eat anything else. The food isn't my favorite, but I don't mind it, and we go more for the show anyway.
I wish I had seen this earlier, in time to say that both families in our traveling party will forever refer to it as "The Luau of Terror". Just...awful.Originally Posted by kate81
I had a client who brought her 8 year old daughter and they said they had a blast! I haven't done it myself but would like to check it out sometime.
Tricia
www.dreambuilderstravel.com
www.facebook.com/dreambuildertricia
We have done it as well and while it is not superb dining...we all and a nice time. This past trip we had a wonderful server and my 6 year old thought it was awesome.
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