Paradise Cove Luau? Or do you suggest another?

[Luv2trav]

Just attended the Fia Fia luau at the Marriott Ko Olina the first week of August. We loved the Chief and had premium seats. We were at this luau three years ago, and it was still a lot of fun to experience for a second time. We took our two elderly parents so didn't want to walk from Aulani. We valet parked the car and had our ticket validated by the hostess at the restaurant next to the bar at the luau. You call the concierge at the Marriott Ko Olina 1 month in advance for reservations. Arrive early as the seating is first come-first serve. We had premium seats and definitely felt it was worth the extra charge. Had a great view of the show.

How do you buy tickets for this Luau? I have looked on line and can't find pricing or how to purchase? Thank you

 

[rochmom4]

To purchase tickets, you call the Marriott Ko Olina front desk and ask to be connected to the concierge. The concierge will give you the pricing and makes the reservation for you. The concierge took payment via credit card, and emailed a voucher to us to present at the luau check in desk. I believe we paid $120 per person for premium seats.

 

[TheHulamuffins]

We may try Fia Fia the next time we are at Aulani. We have gone to the luaus at Paradise Cove (a year ago) and at the Polynesian Cultural Center (in March), since unusual circumstances took us to Aulani twice within a year. Here are my views, to take with a grain of salt (Hawaiian salt):

The luau at Paradise Cove is very convenient, because you can just walk over. If you are not interested in the assorted games and crafts, you can go fairly close to the time that dinner is served. We wanted to skip the ceremony of "unearthing" the roast pig, because I thought my daughter would be bothered by it. The drink lines ahead of dinner are indeed pretty long, though that is not relevant for the person who raised the question about luaus originally. There are tables arranged in long lines, so you will wind up seated with a number of other people. The tables are sent to the buffet lines one or two at a time. The food? Well, it's good considering the circumstances--size of the crowd, the necessary speed of the service, the centrality of pork to a luau. I think the food at Makahiki is about three times better, personally. I would not go to most luaus for the quality of the food. The show is good. The dancers are very talented. The Paradise Cove luau has a lot of romantic and "couples" elements, which are good if you are there as part of a couple, not so good if you are there as a parent with an unattached young adult.

The luau at the Polynesian Cultural Center is similar in some regards. In my view, the food was slightly better, but the difference is not large. There is no coffee. It is more difficult to avoid the ceremony of unearthing the roast pig than at Paradise Cove. The show during the luau seemed more family-oriented, and featured some children dancing. I don't recall this at Paradise Cove, though it is possible they also had children on stage? Our view at the Polynesian Cultural Center was much better than our view at Paradise Cove, but that may have been accidental. The highlight of the Paradise Cove luau is the live theatrical show afterwards--a semi-mythical presentation with unbelievably good dancers, fire artists, and multi-media effects. I can't praise this show highly enough. It was also romantically oriented. It is located in a purpose-built theater with comfortable seating and a partial roof.

There is an excursion bus to the Polynesian Cultural Center, if you want to go there--it is in the north-eastern part of Oahu, and the trip is not too long--maybe 90 minutes or so, but they stop at the Dole Plantation along the way. This has a large gift shop with "all things pineapple," a maze with Hawaiian flowers, and a train (though the stop is not long enough to ride on the train, typically). They have some of the usual tourist items, a lot of pineapple candy of various types (including lollipops and gummy bears), and several Pick-Your-Own-Oyster stations, which I enjoyed. I got a black pearl, which connotes wisdom. Then I misplaced it. You can have the pearls set in jewelry there if you wish. They seemed somewhat disappointed that I bought the pearl only, but they were nice about it. There are also some local crafts, with tie-ins to mainland commerce. For example, I also bought a Hawaiian print dress for an American Girl doll, with a flower headband.

The Polynesian Cultural Center is run by the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints (i.e, the Mormons), and many of the staff members are students at the Hawaii branch of Brigham Young University. The center is quite large--covers a lot of ground. I would recommend going early in the day if you would like to see all of the 8 different Polynesian cultures that are represented by multiple buildings and presentations, along with crafts. I think this is well done. For a one-day trip, I would compare it (roughly) in terms of being interesting and entertaining with a day spent at Greenfield Village--maybe a bit better. There are some shows that are quite funny, though, which Greenfield Village lacks (in my experience). If you arrive at noon or later, you probably will not be able to see all of the "villages," though your tour guide will take you to some of the highlights. Lunch service at the food trucks is somewhat slow, but the food is good. We got the "Ambassador Package," which I recommend as worth the relatively small extra cost. In the mid to late afternoon, there is a water parade of the different Polynesian cultures, with dancers in canoes and music. There is also a film in a theater with special effects, just before dinner, as well as time for shopping.

I plan to go to the Polynesian Cultural Center again when I am at Aulani. Not sure about a return visit to Paradise Cove--maybe.

 

[Cinderella94]

I've just (as in, 20 minutes ago!) started researching Aulani and preparing for a one-day honeymoon trip, so this is all very new to me! Sorry for the silly question, but does all of this mean that Aulani doesn't have its own luau at the resort?

 

[M<3'sMickey]

I've just (as in, 20 minutes ago!) started researching Aulani and preparing for a one-day honeymoon trip, so this is all very new to me! Sorry for the silly question, but does all of this mean that Aulani doesn't have its own luau at the resort?

Not a luau in the traditional sense of show and food. They have the Starlit Hui which is a free show and is wonderful. It's not performed every night so you have to check your Daily 'Iwa (basically the resort itinerary) for what days they are performing it.

That being said, we did the Polynesian Cultural Center Luau. The only reason we chose that one was because it came as the bonus with our Go Oahu card. I wouldn't do it again. The food was buffet and not the best. Their show, Ha: Breath of Life, was ok. We found the second half to be much better than the first half. I just wasn't impressed with it and I'm not a picky person or a person that's hard to impress.

We just got back from our honeymoon. We stayed on Maui for 5 days and then at Aulani for a week. We had the best time. You're going to love it!