Menehune Mischief

Hi. Has anyone been to the character dinner at Aulani? I can't seem to find any reviews on the character interactions etc. On the website it says dinner is from 5:15 - 6pm. Do they kick you out at 6pm, or can you stay longer? My son takes 'forever' to eat a normal meal at home without any singing or interruptions.

We have over Christmas and would recommend it!

As you know from the website, Menehune Mischief happens on Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday evenings. Make reservations early because it does fill up! (We tried to get in the week of our visit, and it took two days of trying with Dining to get us a reservation.) The show may run from 5:15 PM to 6:00 PM, but you can get seating for the dinner and show as early as 4:30 PM. Dinner with Menehune Mischief costs a little more (Adults $49.00, Children 3-9 $24.00) than the regular price (Adults $47.00, Children $21.00), but you get the extra experience and I'd say it's worth it.

When you arrive, you are greeted by Donald Duck in an Aloha shirt and straw hat, with whom you can take pictures. A photographer will take pictures that a cast member will later bring around to show you on an iPad with the option to purchase a package, but they'll also take pictures with your own phone or camera. The buffet line has the same offerings as dinner without the show. I don't think the regular dinner offers any characters. We had an early seating and got our food before the characters came out. With Menehune Mischief, you'll always see Stitch and we also got Goofy (although I've seen some pictures online with Chip and Dale). The two characters go table to table and interact with the guests. Because they're Disney's more silly or mischievous characters, the exchange is really fun and we felt like the characters spent a good amount of time playing and taking pictures at our table and every other. If a character missed your table, or anyone in your party missed the characters (because they were getting food or otherwise away), a cast member did come around to inquire if we met all the characters towards the end of our meal and presumably would've sent the characters our way if we missed them.

Later in the evening, Uncle comes out with a magical book and tells the story of the mischievous menehune. The restaurant can be pretty loud, so we had a hard time hearing what Uncle was saying, but hijinks ensue and Stitch and Goofy get in on the act. Much like the breakfast buffet with Aunty, Uncle calls on the keiki (children) to help and the characters lead the kids in a sort of conga-line around the restaurant. Our DD preferred to eat and didn't join in the fun, so I can't really write more about this. You can stay as long as you'd like. We have a toddler who is a difficult eater, but never felt any pressure to leave.

Nickola said:

On the website it says dinner is from 5:15 - 6pm. Do they kick you out at 6pm, or can you stay longer?

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You can definitely stay longer and finish up. The show just ends at that time, and the upcharge for the character dinner ends at that time as well. I believe the first seating for those not attending the character meal is 6:30pm, so they have a little bit of a buffer as well. But you won't be rushed.

Thanks for your replies. We have been to the character breakfast at Aulani a few years ago and really enjoyed it (it was our first taste of Disney). We are trying to decide if we will enjoy the character dinner in Aulani just as much as our first visit, now that we have been to Disneyland and Disneyland Paris.

Nickola said:

Thanks for your replies. We have been to the character breakfast at Aulani a few years ago and really enjoyed it (it was our first taste of Disney). We are trying to decide if we will enjoy the character dinner in Aulani just as much as our first visit, now that we have been to Disneyland and Disneyland Paris.

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We did Aulani's character breakfast and enjoyed it. It was on par with the character breakfasts we've been to at WDW and enjoyed it just the same. We did not do the character dinner, but we did eat at the regular dinner buffet and loved it. It was a touch pricey, but the atmosphere and food were great and we really enjoyed it. The only difference with the character dinner buffet (aside from characters) is that it's a couple bucks more per person. So not much to lose, especially if you're interested in dinner at Makahiki anyway.

where can you make reservations?

JJJD said:

where can you make reservations?

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Right on the Aulani web site - https://resorts.disney.go.com/aulani-hawaii-resort/dining

I don't see it. I only see the one for Ama Ama and Makahiki. The link you provided lands me to the page for dining options but doesn't seem to have that particular one.

JJJD said:

I don't see it. I only see the one for Ama Ama and Makahiki. The link you provided lands me to the page for dining options but doesn't seem to have that particular one.

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There isn't a separate reservation link for Menehune Mischief. You have to just make a reservation at Makahiki for when Menehune Mischief is going on, so Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday between 4:30 PM and 5:15 PM. You might be able to squeak by with as late as a 5:30 PM reservation. Have fun!

I went to the Menehune Mischief dinner when it was first being offered. While I thought the character interaction was great, the food was just ok. It was tasty and enough variety but I wasn't bowled over. It does get hard to go up and get food when the parade around the restaurant happens. Also, it was hard to follow the story with so much going on. I don't know if it has improved since my trip.