Trail's End, Whispering Canyon, or Hoop de Doo

[pinkxray]

I would love to take my daughter over to Fort Wilderness to see the horse stables, pony rides and Chip and Dale campfire. Thinking about having dinner around the area. How is Trial's End buffet? Are there only kid items such as chicken nuggets? Which of the three would you pick?

[Cinderella94]

I might be wrong, and someone please correct me if I am, but I've heard that Trail's End and Hoop de Doo use the same kitchen, so I can imagine that they would have the same food. We love Hoop de Doo! Never done Trail's End. We love WCC also- but you'll get more contradicting reviews on that one than on Hoop de Doo.

[EastonCat]

I have not eaten at either, so this is based on hearsay. My family members have tried both and it sounded like they liked the food at both. My father loves Trail's End.

Hoop De Doo is widely lauded as a great experience and I haven't heard many detractors. The shows have set times and you need to plan your evening around them.

The decision between these is really based on experience and convenience. If you want to spend more unstructured time at the resort, I'd recommend Trail's End. If you want a sip of the resort and a great show, I'd recommend Hoop De Doo.

WCC is at the Wilderness Lodge, which is a little bit of a jaunt from Fort Wilderness (though not far). I have heard many detractors, but also many passionate recommenders. This place is personality-specific. If you want to spend concentrated time at Fort Wilderness, I'd leave this for another day.

[RedOnion]

Definitely "do the Doo," especially if you're already over at Fort Wilderness. My family and I stayed at WL last November, and we took the boat ride over to Fort Wilderness just for the Hoop De Doo show, and all of us had an amazing time (FYI, my kids were 7 and 4 at the time).

The food at the Hoop De Doo and Whispering Canyon Cafe are similar (Western, BBQ-type fare), especially if you go with the WCC skillet, but the food quality was far superior at the Hoop De Doo, at least on the two nights I can use for a comparison.

The antics at the WCC can be fun, and those bottomless milkshakes are tough to beat, but the Hoop De Doo show makes for a much better night out: it's a full show with a ton of laughter and audience participation. In fact, it may be the top dinner show WDW offers, and that's saying a lot.

Have fun deciding! (You really can't go wrong!)

[squirrel]

See, I thought the WCC milkshakes were the worst ones I had a WDW.

I've had milkshakes at Sci-Fi, 50's Prime Time and Le Cellier.

[sarobison]

Haven't done Trails End but the food at WCC is average at best and under-whelming on an average day IMHO. Hoop is an experience that's more than a meal and is a great one at that.

[Heidijs]

We're doing Hoop Dee Doo and WCC during our stay. Everyone raves HDD review so we're going to check it out with our DD4.

[Hopefully]

Whispering Canyon is not at Fort Wilderness, it is at the Wilderness Lodge, a different resort hotel.
It has been years since I have eaten at Trail's End, but my memory of it is that it was good for a buffet.
The Hoop Dee Doo is a western themed all you care to eat dinner show. It is a hoot and the food is really good. We were there 2 weeks ago and, once again, we loved it. I would heartily recommend it. It is however, pricey.
Good Luck with your decision.

[KatMark]

We have only done Whispering Canyon Cafe. However, after our experience there, we would recommend ANY Disney restaurant (with the exception of Hollywood & Vine) over Whisperingi Canyon Cafe whether we ate at that restaurant or not. I'd go with either Trail's End or Hoop de Doo.

[fires_grumpy]

Trails End get my vote have eatten at both places. HDDR is a show and meal Trails End is just the food. Both come from the same Kit. The chicken and ribs are soooooooo goooooood.Trails End is cheaper too. Less money out of your pocket. We have already booked Trails End for our Jan trip to WDW

[tami82]

I would go with Trails Ends. My DH & 7 year old really liked the ribs and mashed potatoes. The fried chicken is good too. I dont recall chicken nuggets but they had a variety of food, you are sure to find something for your daughter. Hoop De Do is 2 TS credits and the same food as Trails Ends for 1 credit, i would go with TE.

[limabeanmom2003]

The Hoop Dee Doo is lots of fun! You should try it!

[Must C Mickey]

We travel w/ my brother n law's family so Trails End worked out great for all of us. The kids loved all of the simple things like nuggets and pizza while we all devoured the down home cooking of ribs, green beans and mac & cheese. The dessert buffet is pretty decent as well. It's not all star food but will fill you up and leave you satisfied.

[minniebeth]

The Hoop De Doo show is great, but if your intention is to do the Campfire with Chip and Dale, the timings don't align too well. It would be hard to do both and a lot to throw in pony rides etc. with all that too. If you want to do pony rides, dinner, Chip and Dale and then fireworks/water pageant that would be an awesome day with Trail's End for a meal. Like others have said, the food is the same (and good), it's just a matter of if you want the dinner show experience with it or not.

FW is a lot of fun and a great way to spend time at WDW.
Have fun!

[91Coupe]

We ate at Trails End back in October and was surprised at how well we liked the Food. It was different from the Food you will find in the parks or other resorts. Not a lot of selection but Very Good Indeed.