Taryn's Mad Hatter Adventures

This day was so jam packed, that I have to dedicate a third blog post to it.  I think I forgot to mention that today was my birthday!  Right before we disembarked the ship, we were treated to lunch at Cabana’s, which is the ship’s buffet.  The variety of food that is available here is amazing!  There’s something for everyone.  After lunch, we sadly had to get off the ship, and head back to our resort.  My roommates and I had plans for tonight, so we all took a little rest before grabbing an Uber to Fort Wilderness.

I think I’ve mentioned this before, but Ubering is SO EASY in Disney!  Our destination was Pioneer Hall at Fort Wilderness, which is where the Hoop-Dee-Doo Musical Revue is located.  Using Disney transportation, we would have had to board a bus to Magic Kingdom, then taken a boat to Fort Wilderness.  This would have easily taken 45 minutes to an hour.  Instead…we Ubered and were at Fort Wilderness in about 7 minutes.  Now, Fort Wilderness is tricky because it’s a campground.  There’s a front gate and the bus depot.  In order to get back to Pioneer Hall, you have to change buses and take the internal bus.  Uber drivers cannot drive beyond the original bus depot.  So we got out and hopped on the internal bus.  Now I have heard the Minnie Vans CAN drive all the way back.  (Minnie Vans are $25 flat fee no matter where you go on Disney property.  Uber is standard Uber pricing.)  This was not a big deal for us, and the internal buses are frequent, at least in my experience.

We made it!!

If you are not familiar with the Hoop-Dee-Doo Musical Revue, let me give you a little summary. 

• It’s a dinner show with three available seating times available.
• Prepayment is required.  Tickets may be picked up at any Walt Disney World Resort Concierge or Pioneer Hall.
• You can make reservations online or by calling.
• Here is the current (June 2018) seating chart with corresponding pricing.  (snipped directly from official WDW site)  The balcony goes all along the perimeter of the seating area below.
• If you have an Annual Pass, you can get 10% off (as of June 2018).  They also accept Tables in Wonderland.
• It’s a 2 hour singing, dancing, comedy show that is somewhat corny, but we love it!  This is the 4th time I’ve been here.
• Did I mention that unlimited beer, wine and sangria are included?

Before going into the restaurant, we had some time to browse around the grounds.  There really is so much to see here!  There’s a really awesome playground right next to the building.  And plenty of horses to see.

There are also Photopass photographers here to take pictures for you!

It was time to enter!  To enter, you will check in at a “hostess stand” located in the middle of the walkway.  They will tell you where to line up.  There are two different doors you can enter.  The tables are numbered and assigned, and your number will be on your ticket.  You will know by what category you purchased, the general area you will need to head towards. 

As soon as you sit down, your waiter/waitress will come over to greet you and take your drink order.  Then the food starts coming!

I love this meal!  The salad is very good, with dressing that is super light.  The cornbread is AMAZING.  So amazing that I could eat both of these loaves by myself…but I didn’t.

Food is served in buckets.  Yes buckets people!  You are at a hoe down of sorts.

Reallllllly good fried chicken and mashed potatoes!

Your food will be served in between show parts.

There are some surprises for a grand finale, and some audience participation.  After the show, when we were stuffed to the gills, we headed outside and found our way to the boat dock to Magic Kingdom.

I love, love, love being in the Magic Kingdom at night!  We still worked on some of our scavenger hunt pictures, and just hopped on some quick rides that had no wait.

Up Next…Day 5!