Hoop Dee Doo =X

[Colson39]

Yea, I have the same problem, I can't take a nap at Disney because I'm too afraid I might miss something...lol

 

[auntie]

My daughter even at age 9 would have been fast a sleep in her plate at a 9:30 pm show. On the other hand her younger brother could be up all night and still be up at 7 am the next morning. Each child is different. I know the 9:30 wouldn't have worked for us..because we would have been carrying the older out! My babies aren't babies any more...and the youngest is 15 going on 16..so we are wearing out WAY before he is! In any case, we went to the Mickey's BackYard BBQ about 7 years ago. I know the youngest was about 8 at the time and thought he was getting too old for it...he had a BALL! If you like country music, they had a good band. They taught some line dancing. Characters..including Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, came out several times during the show and there was more than enough time for autographs and photos. By the end of the evening they were dancing amongst the crowd. It was good family fun. The food was about the same as HDDR..and also hot dogs and hamburgers..corn on the cob and the like. Not great..but not bad either..what you'd expect. I think it's much better suited to young families than the HDDR. You sit family style at picnic tables, and little ones aren't confined to their seats. It's not an issue if they want to get up and walk around..as that's what everyone is doing. Teens will probably find it lame..but for younger families it was a good alternative. At the time it was less expensive than HDDR. I know it's not offered at all times of the year. As it is outside in a screened in pavillion. We went in May and were very comfortable.

 

[Colson39]

GREAT idea, for those that aren't interested or can't make the Hoop Dee Doo, Mickey's Backyard BBQ is a great alternative!

I've never been personally, but I've heard nothing but good things about it, and I've walked by the pavilion quite a few times.

And yea, each kid is different, some can stay up late, others can't. It's kind of hard to make guidelines based of something as finicky as that though...heh

Edit:

I looked up some more info for TellNoTails and others that might be interested. It's not as inexpensive as I had thought, but it's still a nice alternative to the Hoop Dee Doo:

Mickey's Backyard BBQ,
a buffet dinner and dance featuring entertainment and character experiences.


DATES:
Thursdays and Saturdays
March 1 - December 29, 2007



TIME:
6:30 to 9:30 p.m.

PLACE:
The Outdoor Pavilion at Fort Wilderness


PRICE:
$44.99 Guest ages 10 and up, tax and gratuity included
$26.99 Guest ages 3-9, tax and gratuity included

Full payment is required for Mickey's Backyard BBQ at the time of booking. As long as you cancel up to 48 hours in advance, you will receive a full refund.


All-You-Can-Eat Buffet:

Tossed Garden Salad

Fresh Herb Potatos Salad
Creamy Cole Slaw, Cornbread

Smoked BBQ Chicken
BBQ Pork Ribs
Cheeseburgers
Steamed Hot Dogs

Cowboy Beans
Macaroni and Cheese
Corn on the Cob

Watermelon
Ice Cream Bars
Itzadadoozie Bars
Strawberry Bars

Lemonade, Ice Tea, Beer and Wine

Reservations Available through (407) WDW-DINE, (407) 939-3463
Booked by seats, not tables. No seat assignments, guests are seated as they arrive.

 

[tellnotails]

Perhaps you should start a mbbbq thread...........


I think we are getting some good info for the OP but I dont see were mbbbq is an alternative to hddr....not even close.....

You bring good opinions for the young couples and newlyweds

 

[Colson39]

Perhaps you should start a mbbbq thread...........


I think we are getting some good info for the OP but I dont see were mbbbq is an alternative to hddr....not even close.....

You bring good opinions for the young couples and newlyweds

Well I guess then you're not happy with any dinner show at Fort Wilderness, hopefully you can find an alternative somewhere. Let's just move on.

P.S. I've been going to Disney a lot longer than I have been a newlywed, so I would hope that my opinion is good for anyone. I don't judge people or their opinions based on their backgrounds

 

[proudmomof4]

I don't think there is alot of families with kids 0-9 attending the 9:30pm show...

My family did, maybe this is not for your family but other families may be able to be more flexible time wise when they are on vacation.

You can't judge all families on what your family will or won't or can or can't do.

 

[proudmomof4]

No fifty lashes with the wet noodle here but..let me ask this... We have quite a few relatives living in Fl. Quite possibly someone already has one. Would I be able to use one of their cards?

I have used mine for other family members, recently, for my brother's intimate wedding reception at a Disney resort restaurant, they let me use it for him and I saved him over $100.00.

 

[tellnotails]

My family did, maybe this is not for your family but other families may be able to be more flexible time wise when they are on vacation.

You can't judge all families on what your family will or won't or can or can't do.

Could you share your experience with us on taking a young family to the 9:30 hddr.......what was the age of the kids...what did you do to prepare them for the late hour.....how did the following morning go behavior wise.....

 

[AllesonWonderland]

We just got back from our first trip to WDW and saw the HDDR. Everyone loved it!! The kids 6 and 9 gobbled up all their food. (Mom and dad had plenty too.) I tried the sangria, but didn't really care for it, so I couldn't take advantage of the 'all you can drink' aspect. Again, I loved the show. I'm a theatre gal, so I don't know if that jades me at all. My 6 year old son was laughing really loud though. We already looked on Youtube and found some clips of the performances. We had a table right in the middle, one row back from the stage. The view was great. Yes, I called 180 days in advance and yes it was pricey. But, since they charge your credit card upfront I had it paid off long ago. I added it into our final food budget and didn't think we did too bad. It was a splurge that we enjoyed. We went to the 5pm show.

 

[Colson39]

I tried the sangria, but didn't really care for it

Strangely, it seems (at least in what I've heard) that this is normal. I don't know if it's because people aren't used to drinking it (I personally can't stand it), or if it's a bad brand that they have, but I rarely ever hear someone raving about the Sangria at the Hoop Dee Doo.

I understand it's probably cheaper to use Sangria than actual wine, especially for all you can drink, but Sangria to me has always been kind of an "exotic" type drink that takes a personal taste bud to enjoy.

 

[GreatLakes5]

Keeping kids up for the 9:30 HDDR would be no different than keeping them up for the late campfire followed by movie - puncutated by the sugar of countless marshmallows. Either you have kids that can handle it or kids that crash and burn early. I have a mix - we tend to split up come night fall so we personally would not do the late Hoop Dee Doo until they are all a bit older. Until that time, if we really want to go, we use the DDP to cover it earlier or splurge and pay cash to get a time that works.

 

[tellnotails]

Keeping kids up for the 9:30 HDDR would be no different than keeping them up for the late campfire followed by movie - puncutated by the sugar of countless marshmallows. Either you have kids that can handle it or kids that crash and burn early. I have a mix - we tend to split up come night fall so we personally would not do the late Hoop Dee Doo until they are all a bit older. Until that time, if we really want to go, we use the DDP to cover it earlier or splurge and pay cash to get a time that works.

9:30 is the only hddr show that offers any $ break......

 

[Colson39]

She's talking about using the Disney Dining Plan, not the DDE. She's not asking for a money break (aka she doesn't care about the 9:30 show), she's simply saying that they either use the DDP to go earlier, or if they need to and can't use the DDP, they pay cash.

 

[tellnotails]

Greatlakes......bankrupt....Our elected officials will surely save us

 

[tellnotails]

$58 for adults is steep..... until they see a dropoff in attendance, they will continue to charge the fees.....

Is any one seeing any empty tables.......

I saw several when we were there in feb. at the 5:00 and 7:00 shows.....

Perhaps they could offer families standby for a discount....

 

[Colson39]

One night of empty tables really doesn't mean anything. The Hoop Dee Doo is still one of the hardest dinner shows in all of Walt Disney World to get reservations for (speaking in general). That being said, it is the longest running dinner show, so it probably isn't near at the peak of it's attendance, since people have already seen it, want to see something different, etc...

In February (and other more "dead" times at Disney), chances are you'll see some empty tables here and there, simply because there isn't the population to support full shows all week long. Someone could have cancelled, there are a number of reasons there could be an empty table. Now if the shows were constantly only filling halfway up, then Disney might have to do something, but that isn't even close to being true right now.

Why would they offer standby at a discount? If you get to see the show, you should pay the same price as everyone else, just because you were on a standby list doesn't mean you should pay less.

 

[GreatLakes5]

I'm with you - it's like standby for baseball tickets or anything else....just because I get lucky and something's available doesn't mean I'll be paying less.

I think it comes down to either you want to see it bad enough to pay the price, or you want to spend money other places. Disney is not cheap in general so it's not really all that shocking that a dinner show is costly.

If you want to save the money try the late night - no one knows your kids like you do! If you want to go this year perhaps there are other areas you don't mind skimping on to simply purchase your tickets to this.

 

[tellnotails]

Jeesh sorry I asked

 

[F4disneyfan]

Is any one seeing any empty tables.......

I saw several when we were there in feb. at the 5:00 and 7:00 shows.....

Perhaps they could offer families standby for a discount....

This past Dec which is a slow time at Disney we attended the HDDR and the place was packed and we went to the 7 PM show there was no empty seats anyplace in the building not even on the balcony.

 

[tellnotails]

This past Dec which is a slow time at Disney we attended the HDDR and the place was packed and we went to the 7 PM show there was no empty seats anyplace in the building not even on the balcony.

Was that on the weekends?

When we were there the weekdays looked slow with no 9:30 show available...