Hi,

I have been lurking here for quite awhile, and have gotten some great information which I appreciate. I may be leaving this question til a little late in the game, but we are leaving for HI the end of next week, and still trying to decide about going to the Polynesian Cultural Center.

Our situation is that it will myself, my wife, our two children (12 and 8) and my mother-in-law. It is the first trip to HI for everyone except my MIL (none of us have been to PCC). It seems as though the PCC has a great diversity of opinion as to how people feel about it. My question is: would you recommend it for a family like mine, and if so, do we need reservations for the evening show? If you're not sold on the PCC, do you have an alternative suggestion for a "must-see" evening or luau show?

BTW - we have the Entertainment book with the discount coupon for the PCC (getting that was a great idea I got on here!)

Thanks in advance.

It's very expensive, very hot, very spread out, and very overrated... almost any hotel can book you for a similar show, with or without food, but most of the places offer buffet style with samples of Island foods as well as fruits, and BBQ... we saw the free show at Hilton Hawaiian Village on Friday night and it featured the PCC performers and fireworks... good luck!

I second the fireworks at HHV. Great setting. We stayed at the military hotel next door: Hale Koa. They had a buffet/ Polynesian revue that was nice.

Polynesian Cultural Center has the best Polynesian show in all of Hawaii. It is their evening show, 'Horizons'. 'Horizons' is a production with a cast of over 100. There is no show in all of Hawaii that even comes close to 'Horizons'.

It is not expensive. A $50 ticket includes 'Horizons', seven villages each with their own show/demonstration, a canoe pageant, canoe rides and IMAX.

The Ali'i Luau package includes everything above plus the 5pm dinner/show. It also includes a lei greeting and upgraded seats for 'Horizons'.

For the same price as any other luau (less $$ if you get the $50 ticket) there are 10 shows at PCC.

The sooner you make reservations, the better the seats for 'Horizons' are.

www.polynesia.com

I like the Friday night show at HHV. But, it is just a sample of what you will see at PCC.

My point is simple... for PCC its $400 minimum for the 5 of you... For free see the HHV show and stop later for a Plate Special...

We are on Maui - right now so if you or anyone else has any questions - we will be here til the 26th.

The HHV show is only a fragment of what PCC is, and they DO charge, though much cheaper than PCC, of course. I think it was $12 pp last June.

PCC for 5 people at $50 each is $250 - $36 coupon = $214. With the kids, it will be cheaper than that.

They do have an optional buffet (no entertainment) for $15 that runs the same time as the Ali'i Luau. The food is better at the buffet than at the luau.