Return of Hoop-Dee-Doo Revue Does Not Disappoint

 by Beth Keating

Review

DisneyBizJournal.com

July 13, 2022

 

Two years ago, when COVID arrived in town, the Pioneer Hall Players were forced to park their stagecoach as Disney temporarily shuttered the doors at their parks. Now, Claire de Lune, Johnny Ringo, Dolly Drew, Six Bits Slocum, Flora Long and Jim Handy are back at Fort Wilderness’s Pioneer Hall, bells a-ringing and feet a-stompin’ to announce their arrival. 

The show originally opened at Disney World in 1974, and for nearly five decades, the Hoop-Dee-Doo Musical Revue was one of the longest continually running dinner shows in America. 

 

The hour-and-a-half show is a mash-up of Wild West and vaudeville comedy routines, and has returned largely as guests remember, with spruced up scenery, new lighting, and a few script updates. It’s a wonderfully energetic and funny show with its cornball routines and audience participation. We were able to catch one of the late shows this past weekend.

While the production is back and even better than remembered, the same can’t be said of the food. The menu has changed only slightly, but the service was rushed, and despite the fact that the menu is advertised as all you all-you-can-eat old-time fare, the next courses were arriving on the table before our diners had the opportunity to finish the previous course. Definitely not enough time to request a refill on anything. We were gobbling quickly to get our first plate finished. 

Which was probably alright, since the ribs and chicken were a little on the dry side and definitely needed the addition of the bowl of barbecue sauce.  The highlight was the newly added mac-and-cheese, a slightly sweet bowl of cheesy goodness that we assuredly would have asked for more of if there had been time. 

 

The menu itself offered up fried chicken, smoked BBQ pork ribs, tossed green “Hoop” salad with white cheddar cheese, coleslaw, baked beans, fresh-baked loaves of cornbread, and the famous strawberry shortcake, which even gets its own song in the performance.  Guests 21 and older can also enjoy unlimited beer, wine and sangria, and soft drinks are also included.

While the tickets are on the pricey side, and need to be paid in advance, Claire, Six Bits and the troupe will undoubtedly be the highlight of your trip to Disney. And if you’re a local, drop by and grab a washboard and a checkered napkin. It’ll be the most fun you’ll have all week!

 

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Beth Keating is a theme parks, restaurant and entertainment reporter for DisneyBizJournal.

 

Please support the efforts of DisneyBizJournal.com to bring news, analysis and commentary on Disney to readers such as yourself. Make a contribution right here via PayPal. Thanks!

 

Hoop-Dee-Doo Musical Revue To Return to Disney World This Summer

 by Beth Keating

News/Review

DisneyBizJournal.com

March 31, 2022

 

It’s been more than two years since the Pioneer Players hopped off the stagecoach and descended on Fort Wilderness’s Pioneer Hall, bells a-ringing to announce their arrival.  For nearly five decades, in one of the longest continually running dinner shows in America, Claire de Lune, Johnny Ringo, Dolly Drew, Six Bits Slocum, Flora Long and Jim Handy have brought their brand of corny, slapstick comedy to appreciative audiences at the Hoop-Dee-Doo Musical Revue at Disney World. The show originally opened in 1974.

A mash-up of Wild West and vaudeville comedy routines, the Hoop-Dee-Doo Musical Revue went dark with Disney’s COVID closures in 2020, but this week Disney announced that the Pioneer Players will be bringing the Hoop-Dee-Doo back to the Fort Wilderness Resort & Campground. Shows will begin June 23, 2022, but guests can begin booking dining reservations starting May 26th.

Claire, Johnny and the troupe will be singing and dancing their way through a two-hour long show while guests chow down on all-you-can-eat old time fare like (delicious!) buckets of fried chicken, smoked BBQ pork ribs, tossed green salad, baked beans, fresh-baked cornbread, and the famous strawberry shortcake, which even gets its own song in the performance.  Guests 21 and older can also enjoy unlimited beer, wine and sangria, and soft drinks are also included.

Celebrating a special occasion?  The Pioneer Players will make that part of the song-and-dance routine, and we have brought public embarrassment to a few family members over the years with birthday and anniversary announcements. (Ahem, as Dolly sang to one of our sons, “He’s from New York… he knows how to use his fork!”)   

 

And speaking of embarrassing moments, audience participation has been a staple of the evening, with everything from kiddos playing washboards and spoons, and diners twirling their red and white checkered napkins high in the air, to lucky guests being pulled up on stage to help re-enact the “Ballad of Davy Crockett.”  (We can speak from personal experience… our Christmas card one year featured a photo of my husband, dressed in full tutu, wings and wand, on stage assisting as “Davy Crockett’s angel.”) Hoop-Dee-Doo is not just a spectator show. You will find yourself singing along and stomping your feet, and maybe even getting your own personal spotlight.  Just sayin’.  You’ve been warned. And you will undoubtedly enjoy it immensely!

Hoop-Dee-Doo has been one of our family’s favorite spots in Disney World for years, and the site of many a family celebration.  It is often the dining spot that we book for our first night in Disney, and it has been a cherished, if somewhat raucous, beginning to our vacations.

Disney has said that while the show will be returning largely as guests remember, there have been a few scenery and script updates. New ticket prices have not yet been posted. In the past, tickets have been based on the time of the show, as well as the location of different tiers of seating.

 

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Beth Keating is a theme parks, restaurant and entertainment reporter for DisneyBizJournal.

 

Please support the efforts of DisneyBizJournal.com to bring news, analysis and commentary on Disney to readers such as yourself. Make a contribution right here via PayPal. Thanks!

 

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