Goth Gourmande: Disney Polynesian Village Spirit of Aloha Luau, Orlando Florida

Saturday, March 26, 2016

Disney Polynesian Village Spirit of Aloha Luau, Orlando Florida

As well as multiple theme parks DisneyWorld has a number of hotels on property ranging from affordable family lodgings to high end resorts. The Polynesian Village is one of the original resorts that opened with DisneyWorld in 1971.

With no family in tow we were looking for something a little different to do for Christmas dinner and booked the Spirit of Aloha Luau. This is a theatre dinner with tropical food and Polynesian entertainment strung together with a slightly hokey Disney channel style story about a Hawaiian girl leaving her family to make it big in America.

Truly I was hoping that there would be a Character experience with Lilo and Stitch but instead we got a series of fairly authentic Polynesian dances. Many island cultures were represented including Tonga, Samoa, Maori (New Zealand) and of course Hawaii.

Costumes were based on real Polynesian national dress and the highlight of the night was an incredible fire dancing display as the finale. Some games and songs appeared during costume changes and of course songs from the soundtrack to Lilo and Stitch were highlighted.

The dinner is presented in a large tropical bungalow, prices varied based on the view of the stage but even the "cheap seats" had an excellent view. Prices per adult include all you can eat food plus basic beer, wine and sangria $64USD for Category 3 to $74USD for Category 1.

Tiki style cocktails were available for additional cost like this Pina Colada fit for a Hawaiian King at $14USD

The appetizers were reasonably healthy and included a tangy Coleslaw, Mandarin Salad, Sesame Soba noodles and chunks of sweet Hawaiian pineapple.

The main meal was a hungi / luau style barbecue meat platter including roasted chickens, ribs, pulled pork and an Asian vegetable medley. Gluten free and vegetarian alternatives were available on request.

Further platters were available on request but the servings were generous and we found we were unable to eat the platter presented to us.

A moist pineapple bread pudding with soft Hawaiian style bread was served for dessert.

The food was surprisingly good for a family all you can eat dinner and the service and show were Disney quality family entertainment. We had a great time and while it was a little cheesey it was great fun especially for the kids. The dance shows were excellent and the music and comedy were at least Dad Joke funny.

To top it all off Florida had a heat wave over the holiday break. The heat, food and families dining in tropical Hawaiian clothing made it feel just like Christmas in Australia. We had a great time and would recommend it for someone looking for a different dinner at DisneyWorld.