As I mentioned in a previous post, we always do the deluxe dining plan and and one of the many reasons is because we love to Hoop it up at the Hoop De Doo Show. The Hoop De Show is an entertaining dinner show held at Pioneer Hall located in Disney's Fort Wilderness Resort. It is not just a dinner show for us, but an entire experience. We actually love it so much that we typically do it twice a trip.
The Deluxe dining plan allows us to have this flexibility. The Hoop show uses 2 dining credits and one of the benefits of the tickets to this show is that the gratuity and alcoholic drinks (wine, sangria and draft beer) are included. So unlike at most other table credit restaurants, we do not have to worry about paying extra for the gratuity and alcoholic beverages.
We always do the 5pm show. They have 3 nightly shows, 5pm, 7:15pm and 9:30 and there are three categories of seating with a different price range.
Category 1 Adults (10 and up) $59.99 including tax and gratuity Children (3-9) $30.99 including tax and gratuity Infants (0-2) No charge and you are seated on the first floor nearest to the stage.
Category 2 Adults (10 and up) $54.99 including tax and gratuity Children (3-9) $26.99 including tax and gratuity Infants (0-2) No charge and you are seated either on the floor behind Cat 1 tables or center balcony on the second floor.
Category 3 Adults (10 and up) $50.99 including tax and gratuity Children (3-9) $25.99 including tax and gratuity Infants (0-2) No charge and you are seated on the balcony on the left or right sides.
The menu is simple and Delicious! When you are seated, you will find a delicious tossed salad with Italian style dressing and loafs of delicious bread with butter. You will be greeted by your server who will take your drink order.
A secret tip for picky children is to ask for the kid options, not listed on the menu and offered free of charge. They will bring your child a Smuckers uncrustable peanut butter and jelly sandwich and a bag of chips and an order of mac and cheese.
Next course slammed on your table in a metal bucket is a hefty serving of delicious fried chicken, BBQ ribs, mashed potatoes and baked beans, yum oh yum.
Shortly after your drink order is taken, the show begins with an arrival of the Pioneer hall players via stagecoach and they begin the slapstick comedy show.
The dessert is a delicious Strawberry Shortcake delivered to your table by your server after being paraded in a musical number on the stage.
Our children have been going to this show from infancy through the current ages of 8, 6, 4 and 1. The result is always the same. Pure joy, laughter and fun times. I will never forget when my son, age 4 at the time, literally fell off his chair from laughter. We have seen our children utterly engrossed in the romance, adventure and comedy of this show over the years.
We make the show an experience. We typically catch the relaxing boat ride from the Magic Kingdom no later than 3:30pm for the 5:00pm show. You enjoy a wonderful boat ride, listening to radio Disney and passing by the Contemporary and Wilderness Lodge on beautiful Bay Lake.
We enjoyed a special treat on our most recent boat ride. A cast member came to the back of the boat and asked us if we had ever met the hungry bear? I was intrigued and we all said no. He explained to us how the Wilderness Lodge was designed to be the body of the bear. If you look at the building from Bay Lake you can see the eyes under the two main triangles, the nose and the mouth . The wings on the side are his body. As you pass by, the eyeballs follow the boat moving from the right side to the left tracking your movement, he is the hungry bear tracking us. We were told his nostrils used to have lights at night, but no one has replaced the bulbs for a while. What an incredible insight to see his eyes tracking us and recognize meaning in a building I had been looking at for years without seeing.
We typically arrive at the beautiful and peaceful Fort Wilderness by 4pm and the kids sprint from the boat dock to the playground. A hidden secret is that a few steps away from the playground is Crocketts Tavern. The Tavern has an outdoor window from the wrap around porch that you can order drinks from. The beautiful porch with comfy rocking chairs is located steps from the playground. The porch has Connect Four games and tables for coloring so we can grab a drink and play with our kids or watch them on the playground while soaking in the relaxing ambiance of Fort Wilderness.
Before the show begins, you can be relaxing and let your children unwind and be ready to embrace the magic of the show. We often leave the show with that painful feeling in our cheeks that we have smiled too much. The entire show is interactive and filled with silly jokes and songs and slapstick comedy routines and corny jokes. You may be asked by a performer from which State you have traveled and they will then involve your table in a playful rhyming song about "Well they come from all over when they come" The players also choose participants from the audience to be on the stage in the show. The players are constantly moving through the audience asking for participation form the crowd. Participation ranges from being on stage to being involved in a song to clapping to the beat, waving your napkins above your head and rubbing your spoon against an old washboard in beat to the music.
This is a heartwarming, family loving inspired tradition that should never be missed when on vacation in Disney. The food in delicious, the show is fun and spirited and people of all ages from babies to grandparents will love this show. It is an incredible memory making experience not to be missed.
After the show you can also catch a horse drawn wagon ride around Fort Wilderness or just ride the boat back to the Magic Kingdom just in time to catch the fireworks show and the Electrical water parade.
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