German American Society of Central Florida, Inc. — Local services in Casselberry

We’ve been to the German American Society many times in the past for Oktoberfest and always had a great time. We saw the luau on Eventbrite/FB, so we thought it’d be a fun event for a friend’s bday. The event itself was lackluster. There were Hawaiian decorations and dancers at the end of the night, however, the behavior and attitude of the members killed the evening. They don’t have to worry about us returning to any events held by this society.

Preface- we had a large group – 2 tables of adults & 1 table of kids (ranging 4-12 y/o). We’re not college kids looking to get drunk (nothing wrong with that), but we’re all young professionals which consisted of: teacher, police officer, hospitality manager, lawyer, IT professional, Air Force Veteran of 15+ years, health care professional, transportation specialist – you get the idea. We’re not a rowdy group. We figured this was a fun family event. We checked the event page, which clearly stated “$10 per youth member or guest (12-18 years) and FREE for Children 11 and younger.”

Once the music started, we definitely did not feel welcomed at all. The kids wanted to go dance, so they did as we watched them. Now, if this was a problem – which apparently it was, the members could have easily spoke to the parents with RESPECT and voiced their concerns in a normal tone (e.g. concerns of kids running into people or people tripping and falling over kids). Instead the members yelled at the parents to get the kids off the dance floor because they were not allowed. We didn’t make a fuss over it, we understood and had the kids go to the back of the room by our tables & they were perfectly content on their tablets.

That was the 1st instance, the 2nd instance was one of the kids (older – 11) walked up the 2 steps to the stage and stood there. She was not by the equipment or running around. Again, instead of just talking to us – an elderly woman with a nametag turned around to yell at the parents’ table to get the kid off the stage because kids were not allowed bc there was a lot of expensive equipment and they didn’t want the kids to damage it. Understandable, we made sure the kid got off the stage and it wasn’t an issue again. Could it have been handled better? Yes. Should the kid not have been on there to begin with? Yes. Kids are kids & at no time were we disrespectful to any of the members there. Was it necessary for the members to directly yell AT the child? No. One of the parents tried to talk to a member to discuss the issues and deescalate as it was obvious we weren’t welcomed based on their tone and an apparent entitlement to yell at us. If they didn’t want this to be a family event, they shouldn’t have included kid pricing. I don’t buy the excuse that they didn’t think kids were coming since it was inside the clubhouse. Not sure of how many adults would come for nuggets and fries to a Hawaiian event.

Now food. Yes, we’re in Florida and not Hawaii, but I’ve visited the island many times and it was NOT better than Hawaiian food from the island as I saw in a prior review, at best, food was mediocre.

My main gripe is the lack of respect by the members, which entirely contradicts the motto on their page "Enter, Here You Are Among Friends". There was absolutely no reason for the tone and disrespect to our party when we were looking to have a fun evening out. Kindness goes a long way and in today’s day and age, we could all use a little more kindness. I can only assume most of these members are parents/grandparents and would be appalled if someone spoke to them/their kids like that when it wasn’t warranted, but merely just out of annoyance because there were kids at an elderly event. The fact that there are now subsequent “good reviews” after a bad review, goes to show the attempt for damage control. If you’re looking at an event from this society, I’d stick with Oktoberfest. That’s outside and the crowd has a mix attendance, including kids – which is a night and day experience...

Edit: thank you for the response. Kind of sad not to hear an apology in the reply… but it is what it is I guess at this point. I do not spend a whole bunch of time writing reviews everywhere I go, but this situation stood out to me too much not to say something on behalf of the group. I used to work in the car business for 13 years for Honda & by far my least favorite thing to do was having to read & reply to negative online reviewers. Not a fun task. But we ALWAYS started out with an apology.

My friend was looking for something new/different to do for her birthday with friends. We have all been here many times for Oktoberfest Spring/Fall (which has been SUCH a fun event for all) but this Luau night was a nightmare. False advertising in the event notes & several times we did not feel welcome at the event. Not sure, but perhaps the GAS of Central FL prefers older folks, not adults with kids… whom are just being kids. Several times kids and/or parents were yelled at with NO warning or nice conversation—BY THE HOST HIMSELF! The food was far from “authentic Polynesian” & the portion sizes were too small for the money spent. Not a great experience. Probably will not be returning. There were nearly 20 of us present. We represented in excess of $500 spent + all the additional purchase desserts & beverages some opted in for that evening. Really really disappointing. The traditional Hawaiian dancer duo was the highlight. They had some real talent. Clearly not associated with the German American...

Oktoberfest 2023 - The outdoor Biergarten was a very nice and large area with some shade and umbrellas, but much of the seating, food and beer lines were exposed to the sun, making it brutally hot during the afternoon hours. The Orlando Big Band Orchestra was playing German music. We chose to sit inside which was cooler, but a big disappointment. The (very old) Bavarians were playing and they sounded like the group was put together last week. I mean, they were way past their prime and I think the accordion player might have been asleep. His fingers never moved over the buttons and there was no squeezing of the squeezebox. It was a sad representation of German music. The wait for a beer inside the club was 40 minutes due to the credit card terminal working only intermittently and the kegs dispensing only foam. Sauerbraten and schnitzel entrees did not look very appetizing. Freshly grilled Brats available outside looked more appetizing. We were so disappointed, we stayed only a few hours and had the rest of our drink and meal tickets refunded. I had expectations of a more authentic and professionally managed event. I will be looking for a better Oktoberfest...