We are always looking for new things to do at Disney World. Although the Hoop Dee Doo Revue is not new, it's "new to us". We have known about this dinner show at Disney's Fort Wilderness campground for forever, but kept putting it off for other dinner/ entertainment options ( like Spirit of Aloha, so sorry to have seen this show end).
Purchasing Tickets: We purchased tickets for this show ahead of time. There are 3 show times a day, 4:00 pm, 6:15 pm, and 8:30 pm. We chose the 4:00 pm show because there were some things we wanted to do later in the evening. Picking the show time was the easy part, selecting the seats was the hard part. There are three seating sections, all with different price points. Section 1 was Main floor, Section 2 was balcony directly looking at the stage, and Section 3 was balcony on the side of the stage. I generally like to sit in the balcony section at shows because I think it offers the best views. However, I had read that in this balcony you had to turn your chair around when it was time to see the show. I had never been inside Pioneer Hall before so I did not know what the set up was like, or how far back the balcony was from the stage. I tried to find some other blogs that had reviewed this show but I still could not find much information about seating arrangements. I even texted a friend that had been to the show before but she couldn't remember where she sat, but she did remember it was a good seat!
This is the diagram from the Disney World website.
I decided to purchase tickets for Section 1, Main Floor. I'll share more about the seating arrangements later. ( Discounts are available for Annual Passholders and Disney Visa cardholders)
Getting There: We were staying at Disney's Contemporary Resort, so we were able to take a boat directly to Fort Wilderness from the marina at the Contemporary. Be sure to check the times for the marina. During our stay, the boats did not start running until 3:00 pm. Also, there are two boats that run from this marina. One goes to Wilderness Lodge. Make sure you get on the correct boat!
If you are staying at another Disney resort you may need to get a ride share. If you don't want to pay for transportation you can always take a bus to Magic Kingdom and then get a boat to Fort Wilderness from there. 
When we arrived, we made our way to the Check In station. It was just 3:30 pm, so we explored Fort Wilderness for a bit before returning back at 4:00 pm.
The Dinner: We were let in Pioneer Hall at 4:00 pm and we were pleasantly surprised at where our table was.
We were right in the middle of the stage and had a great view. If you are wondering why seating was so important to us, it's because we are both on the "shorter" side and when we go to shows, more times than not, we end up sitting behind taller people and we can not see. This set up worked out great for us.
We did end up taking our Minnie Ears off so we wouldn't obstruct views for any guests behind us.
When we got to our table, it was already set with our plates, silverware and first course. The first course was salad, cornbread, and coleslaw.
Our server then came by and took our drink order. "Spirited" beverages such as beer, wine, and Sangria are included. We both got a glass of water and then I got an apple juice and Lacey got a Sangria. Our drinks were served in Mason jars which went with the theme of the dinner.
Neither of us require a special diet, so we had what the traditional offerings are. ( You can order a vegetarian meal or meals for other dietary needs)
The main meal featured fried chicken, mashed potatoes, macaroni and cheese, baked beans, and smoked barbecued pork ribs. Neither of us had the ribs, but everything else tasted fine. It was all you care to enjoy, so the servers would bring you more of anything you wanted. This was very filling food so we did not ask for anything more. However, we did see the table next to us had some green beans, so we did ask if we could have some of those ( because we didn't have a hot vegetable with our meal), and we were surprised that the server told us that they were not available. The food was not bad, but it's definitely not why people come here. The food was similar to what you would get at any Old Country Buffet or Golden Corral.
Dessert was Strawberry Shortcake with a whipped cream topping. This was pretty good and similar to the Strawberry Shortcake at Garden Grill restaurant in Epcot. The cake was moist, which made it good.
The timing was perfect. They would perform, then give us time to eat, and then perform some more. There was a lot of audience interaction which was nice.
The performers didn't just perform on stage, they danced around the dining room and talked to the guests as well. I think there was a little improv here as well.
At one point they even selected some guests to perform on stage with them. This was a great comedy routine.
Near the end of the show, they brought out washboards for us to make music with
The whole experience lasted about 2 hours.
They do have another show coming in so you really can't linger around too long after the show is over. Lacey had a pretty full glass of Sangria she wanted to finish up and the cast member allowed her to take it out of Pioneer Hall as long as we stayed near the building.
We went right next door to Crocket's Tavern and sat on the rocking chairs on the porch. Lacey enjoyed her Sangria while I watched the horse an carriages go by. We relaxed here for a bit until it was time to go to our next event.
There are so many things to do here at Fort Wilderness that you could really make an entire afternoon /evening out of being here!
Oh, and as we were leaving Crocket's Tavern, we ran into the cast of the show "The Hoop Dee Doo Players" as they were getting ready to arrive for the next show time. They thanked us for coming and complimented me on my dress. We chatted for a bit and then got this photo!
What a neat experience this was!
Till next time! ~ M and L
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Fairytales and Fitness is a personal blog authored and edited by us, Meranda and Lacey. The thoughts expressed here represent only our own and are not meant to be taken as professional advice. Please note that our thoughts and opinions change from time to time. We consider this a necessary consequence of having an open mind in an ever changing society. Any thoughts and opinions expressed within our out-of-date posts may not be the same, nor even similar, to those we may express today. Some links may contain affiliate links. Some links are just to pages we'd like to share.