"Who Done It?" at Sleuths Mystery Dinner Theatre in Orlando, Florida, USA
Written: Sep 02 '02 (Updated Jan 21 '03)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: A fun evening at a good price.
Cons: You can get a seat with your back to the stage.
The Bottom Line: This is a decent night out if you are in the area and are looking for an inexpensive dinner/show for your family.
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| jo.com's Full Review: Sleuths Mystery Dinner Theatre |
We spent Thanksgiving week in the Walt Disney World area and wanted to do something that would appeal to our 3 adult children and one adult boyfriend, ages 21-27. We chose Sleuths Mystery Dinner Theater figuring that it was diverse enough to appeal to all of us.
What is it?
Sleuths is a combination of a play and a dinner. The Sleuth plays are all murder mysteries but there are 8 different plays they put on at different times.
My sense is that they are pretty much the same – either a wedding – which is what we saw - or a class reunion, or some other type of celebration where someone gets killed.
"The “object” of the evening is to figure out who “done” it while eating." Each person gets a card that can be filled out so you can remember clues that the actors may give during the show and put down who you think did it and why. You can make notes also to help you remember.
The play itself is about 45 minutes long but with dinner the evening will be closer to 2 1/2 hours.
Before the show even starts the actors mingle with the dinner guests so you can get to know who they are. We didn’t get much mingling but it just depends on where you are sitting and what actors come to talk to you. You also can write down questions you want to ask the actors after the play is over to help you figure out who did murder the victim.
Sleuths Mystery Dinner is located at Republic Square 7508 Universal Blvd. Orlando, Florida. It is set in a mall-type plaza so there is plenty of free parking. The show times vary a bit, but the one we saw and most of them start at 7:30pm. You will want to get there early for one reason and this is an important one:
Unless you have a large party you will sit with other people. We sat with 3 strangers, which I don’t like to do, but had no choice. On top of that they got there before we did and took the seats, of course, facing the stage. That meant that a few in my family had to turn slightly or a lot, depending on where at the table we were, in order to see the stage.
Price and menu:
Adults cost $39.95 and children 3-11 are $23.95. That really is a great deal. It not only includes the show but a complete dinner with unlimited beer, wine, soft drinks and desert. There are group discounts for 15 people or more. You can call or e-mail them for more information. Their e-mail address is info@sleuths.com and their phone numbers are 407-363-1985 or 1-800-393-1985.
If you are going to this area you will get a lot of discount books. We found a $4.00 off each ticket in one of the books so look for discounts. They are everywhere, in fact you can get the coupon at this url: http://www.sleuths.com/Coupons.html
You have a choice of a main meal which is either Cornish hen, vegetable or meat lasagna or prime rib. Before the show you get a salad, rolls, and cheese and crackers.
We had a couple of choices for desert – I chose the carrot cake. How was the food? It was actually quite good. Each of the entrees was ordered by someone in our family. (I had the veggie lasagna) and everyone liked their various meals. There was plenty of food, that is for sure and what is very nice is that you do not watch the show while eating. You have the entrée, for example, and then there is more of the show. Then you eat dessert and while you are eating dessert you try to figure out who the murderer is.
You are asked by raising your hands who you thought the murderer was. It is really on an honor system because once you find out, you are then asked to put your name in a hat and those who won get a small token prize (such as a keychain).
About the show:
I felt as if there was some adlibbing going on but it didn’t detract from the play. It is a comedy in spite of the murder that happens and some parts are funny. I found it a bit hard to follow and really wasn’t even close to guessing who the killer was.
Although there were children there, I don’t feel it is something that a child under 8 would enjoy at all. Even at 8, they may not understand some of what is going on, but it did seem the children around that age were enjoying it.
Actors change according to plays so you may love one of the actors and want to see him or her again, but he may not be in the next one you see so keep that it mind.
Reservations are necessary and you pick them up in, naturally, the gift shop, which is incredibly overpriced so don’t buy anything in it!…in my opinion.
You have a table reserved for you so the earlier you make the reservation the better the table you should get. Of course, if you don’t want to sit right in front of the actors ask for a table a bit back. The facility isn’t large so anywhere you sit is a good seat. (Except if you have your back to the stage!) There is audience participation and sitting in the back doesn’t ensure that you won’t get picked. You can always say no if you are picked to go on stage or be part of the show in any way.
The theater is simple but comfortable and there is plenty of room around the tables to get to the rest rooms, for example. Although the facility isn’t large, I never got a sense that we were crammed into every nook and cranny. This was the third mystery dinner show I have been to and the third murder mystery/audience participation show to which I have been and enjoy them although it isn’t something I would do more than occasionally because I would find it boring if I went too often.
My final thoughts:
I am rating Sleuths Mystery Dinner a 3 for average although I do recommend it. I can’t rate it above average because I didn’t come out raving about it or saying it was superb. But it was good. The price is great for what you get and it has a wide appeal for a variety of ages and people. There was no swearing – they advertise it as a family show, although there are special shows for children which you can find out about at the website: http://www.sleuths.com/index.htm
If you have any questions feel free to e-mail me or leave a comment.
The links below are to many of my Orlando/WDW reviews:
Islands of Adventure
Going to Disney World? Orlando? Need a Place to Stay? Look No Further"
Sleuths Myster Dinner Theater
Fantasmic at MGM
Boston Lobster Feast in Orlando
Fantasia Gardens-a golfing fantasy
Honey I Shrunk the Audience at Epcot
Recommended:
Yes
Best Time to Travel Here: Anytime
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