Luau at poly

[mymickeymouse]

We are considering going to the luau at poly. For those who hav been,is it worth the extra expense? Is the food good? Is the experience really fun? Dd's idea,never been.

[TinkerbellT421]

Eh, it's one of those love it or hate it places. It was fun to experience but the whole overall experience was a little ridiculous. Haven't been in a few year so don't know if it has changed and if so how much. But you check in at the podium, we checked in about an hour prior to the start of the "reservation time" which I think they recommend getting there about a half hour before your time. Then everyone just willy nilly waits around for that whole time. Then they escort everybody out in a cattle herd to the show building where you wait in line again. Then everybody is brought in via said cattle herd and brought to your tables. I found the seating to be awful if you are not on the first floor in front of the stage. We were on the second tier which sits the tables where you have to sit facing each other but in order to watch the show you have to eat with your neck and head cranked to the side the whole time to watch. The show was eh, again fun to see once, but we are good for quite a long time to ever get the urge to ever have to go again. The coolest part was the "fire" guy but other than that it was 'eh'. The food is all sweet. Pretty much everything is flavored with fruits, pineapples and such. Which some things were good some were ew with the sweetness. But it's worth to try once and judge from there. I have a feeling you might get a lot of mixed reviews on this one. Seems to be the general consensus that people either loved it or hated it lol

[DizneyRox]

Hated it... Left a really bad taste in my mouth, literally and figuratively.

[ginger19]

I think the food was average, the entertainment was ok and it is something that I'm glad that we did once but I don't really plan to do it again.

[Tygger7]

One thing to keep in mind: the show is dependent on the weather. If the weather is nice, no problem. I believe they will cancel the show if the weather is too bad, and I don't think you get a refund...but I'm not sure. Definitely something to ask before booking though.

[DizneyRox]

If they cancel, you are not charged, but it's a rare occurance that it is cancelled. I don't believe it is cancelled just due to rain, it would need to be more significant than that.

[DVC2004]

We like it. My kids really enjoy it. I think the food was just OK, but the entertainment was fun.

[joonyer]

The Hoop-dee-doo revue is a lot more fun, and I enjoyed the food more, too. It's a better bang for your buck, if you want to do a dinner show.

[lyall]

Have not done it in a while. The food was just average. The wait was not fun. The show was good, but not as good as it was the first time we went.

[buzznwoodysmom]

We did the Luau once, enjoyed it for what it is, but probably won't do it again. In my opinion it was not worth the cost. I sort of knew we'd probably only do it that one time, so I opted for the most expensive tickets. We had a great table, front and center, and I'm glad I did it because I was right, we won't be doing it again. This was our first time staying at the Poly and I wanted the whole experience. We arrived right before we were seated so I don't know much about the wait. It seems everyone was just standing around waiting from what I could tell. The food was nothing to write home about. My son loved the ribs, but honestly, I don't really remember what else was served. The show was OK, nice to see once, but like I (and others) said, nothing I need to do again.

[Tinkerbella16]

The Hoop-dee-doo revue is a lot more fun, and I enjoyed the food more, too. It's a better bang for your buck, if you want to do a dinner show.

I was going to also suggest the HDDR. I have never been to the HDDR, but I am going in September and judging from the rave and excellent reviews I've read everywhere.. that is the show to go to. From the food to the show itself, its supposedly amazing and a lot of fun for the whole family! I cannot wait to go for the first time.

Now, I have been to the Luau twice, but I cannot really give my review because I was 6 years old the first time and 9 years old the second time.. I do remember the second time we went though. It was one of those things that you just don't forget. My mom, older sister and I were heading to the frontdesk of our resort to get our tickets and somehow our reservation for the luau was deleted and this made us late on top of things.. we got to the Poly and they were so so nice and because of the mess up, they made us a table right in the front of the stage, eventhough our seating was originally in the back. I just always remembered that even now at 26 years old lol.

I do remember loving that particular show though.. I am not sure how different it is now, but they had the kids go up and dance like the hula dancers.. it was really fun.

[LandFan]

Luau =
Sorry - just feeling extra dramatic today

But - really - we didn't enjoy the experience much. The food was blah and the entertainment was purely commercialized lilo and stitch type stuff.

[musicteacher]

We had free dining for our last trip in January 2011, so we did this and enjoyed it. It was a little chilly (January!) but we enjoyed the food and the show. The show was a little corny, but our kids, ages 13 and 11 at the time, enjoyed it. I don't think we'd go again. It's sort of a one-time thing, but I'm glad we did it.

Betsy in PA

[Fastpasssteve]

It is worth doing it once. I really enjoyed it (especially the sangria). The food was fine, but it is a one of a kind experience.

[minnie-mouse]

It is a fun experience. The food is pretty good but it's the experience you are paying for. I say try it once, you might really enjoy it. We went several years ago and plan to go on our next trip because our DDs want to. We had a nice time.

[Davy Crockett]

To confirm a previous post, WDW will refund your prepaid reservations IF and ONLY IF they cancel due to inclement, no refunds for no shows.

Here is our story - We booked the luau with our 80 year old Aunt and Uncle in 09'. We were all staying at the WL and there was a monsoon happening that day over 5 inches of rain fell. There is no easy way to get to the Poly from the WL in the rain with 2 older family members SO we started contacting the Spirit of Aloha CM's every 30 mins from 4:00pm up to 30 mins before the actual show time and each time we were reassured that the show would happen and to be on time. We even had our concierge make one last call before taking the family in the rain to be told YES show up. Well a boat ride to the Contemporary in the rain and then the Monorail over to the Poly 20 mins later we arrive walk in and were immediately told OH the show is cancelled. I think that was the first time I could have chewed steel and spit nails while being at the WDW resort. No apology or what can we do to help you and your family, just a no. We then went back to the WL and worked once again with the Concierge who felt terrible for what we went though to find a back up dinning location. He found and set us reservations at Fulton's and arranged for a taxi to take us to Downtown Disney and the resort paid for it (taxi ride that is).

We (against my DW better judgement) have set up to go to the luau this trip as I think it is worth trying once and we have done the Hoop-de-doo review and it was wonderful... BUT we have alternate dining plans JUST IN CASE. Being an outdoor dinner show in Florida has it issues....

[tjstrike]

We didn't like it either, I also suggest that you try the HDDR if you haven't done that yet. Much more worth the money.

[biodtl]

I think it's a "do it once" kind of thing. Having seen the old version several times as a child, I think the newer version/storyline is less appealing.

The food is fine - nothing to rave about, but tasty & we enjoyed it. Or server was wonderful, which always makes a dining experience more pleasant. My kids enjoyed it and my daughter loved that she got to dance for the birthday month.

I doubt we'll go again (unlike HDDR, which we would), but it was nice to do once.

The only complaint I had were the bugs in the waiting area - they ate us alive. once we got to the luau area, we didn't have a problem.

[AdventurerKim]

We went and it was one of the overall worst Disney dining experiences ever. Food & service were not good at all. We should have gone to a real luau in Hawaii. We will never go back. The show was pretty good.