HoopDeeDoo or Family Magic Tour?

[jzensky]

We bring my kids down to Disney once a year in the beginning of February. Each year we go we pick one thing to focus on. The first year we collected autographs from the characters. The second we collected smashed pennies, and last year we got some pins and actually made some ADR's for the first time!

This year we are trying to decide between the Hoop Dee Doo Review and the Family Magic Tour. My kids are 5,7 and 9. Should we do the tour now while they are still young and save the dinner? I don't know what the cost for the tours are yet, but I am also considering adding the behind the seeds tour at epcot if we decide to do the tour route.. anyone have any thoughts on weather that is worth it or not?


Thanks.
Danielle

[Robo]

Hoop!




The kids are all old enough to laugh themselves silly at that wonderful show!

[JoePa4Ever]

Another vote for HDDR - a very fun show!

[princess lovers mom]

I vote for the tour !

perfect ages for the family magic tour....it is to date the most fun thing we have done at Disney for the girls.....

this being said - they need to be kids who are willing to be a bit goofy, to be looked at by strangers and not care...and at the end they are made to feel VERY special by some characters....

if your kiddies are shy and don't like being "goofy" then I wouldn't suggest it - that is why I think they are good ages though - before the pre-teen peer pressure to not stand out kicks in !!!!

[PA Princess]

We have done Hoop Dee Doo several times as a family. Last time was August 2008 when our son requested it for his 13th birthday dinner.

Our last trip (12/17-12/27/2009) we did the Family Magic Tour on 12/22 and it was just a ball of fun. Our family includes dh, me, ds 15, ds14, dd9, and dd5 as well as my mom...we all really enjoyed it a great deal. It was fun, silly, and a fun family time. It was a real highlight of the trip.

Your kids a perfect ages for the tour, so even though we love Hoop, I would recommend you save that for another trip and do the tour. Cost for the tour was approximately $30 a person.

We have not done the seeds tour - we have talked about it for several trips because we love the land boat ride and always do it several times. One of these trips we will have to work that into our plans.

[swald91]

I vote for the Hoop Dee Doo. I have never done any tours-is this the tour that goes "backstage" so to speak? If it is I would say NO!!!!! I love the magic of Disney & I can't imagine seeing all the stuff that goes into a day there-the ages of your children are great & must be SO much fun-ours are 13 & 9 and each year I keep wondering when they will no longer interested....
Whatever you choose-have a great time!

[pepe of ohio]

I like to keep the behind scenes to Disney, would spoil my magic too, plus they are kind of long and takes away from park time when the parks are empty. HDDR is run later, like the second and 3rd shows the best and we always go for the best seating, Cat 1, if you're going to see a show, might as well have the best seat. We've done over 15 HDDR's so far, I was even picked to be Davey's angel, what a hoot! Food is good too and all you can drink, pop, beer and wine!

[Conan the Librarian]

HDDR. My 14 yo loved it!

[choirfarm]

Well, on our 8 day family trip to Walt Disney, it was unanimously agreed by all that HOOp de doo was the worst part of the whole trip. The show was just ok, the waiter was grumpy and the food was the worst of the whole trip of free dining. My dh was REALLY sorry he had talked me into it since it was worth 2 credits during free dining instead of doing the Coral Reef and Chef Mickeys!! so NO NO NO to Hoop de dooh. My three kids thought it was stupid as well and didn't care for the food. Boma was our favorite of the trip!

Christine

[swald91]

Originally Posted by pepe of ohio

I like to keep the behind scenes to Disney, would spoil my magic too, plus they are kind of long and takes away from park time when the parks are empty. HDDR is run later, like the second and 3rd shows the best and we always go for the best seating, Cat 1, if you're going to see a show, might as well have the best seat. We've done over 15 HDDR's so far, I was even picked to be Davey's angel, what a hoot! Food is good too and all you can drink, pop, beer and wine!

COOL!!! (on being picked to be the angel)

[loveysbydesign]

FMT...a must do before the kiddos are too old to want to participate!

[jzensky]

The family magic tour is not a behind the scenes tour. From what I understand it is a scavenger hunt through the MK itself looking to save it from a villain??? The behind the scenes stuff you can't bring kids under 16 on (I think that's the right age)

[sabrecmc]

I did the FMT with my daughter last year. As the PP said, it is not backstage. Not at all. In fact, it incorporates the Disney magic. While I understand there are slightly different stories done, ours involved Hook threatening to take over the Magic Kingdom and turn it into all pirate rides if we didn't find his lost hook. There was a treasure map, which we had to follow, with various activities to do along the way (sing When You Wish Upon a Star at the babershop, ride the Buzz Lightyear ride (via fastpasses provided by our guide), skip, take 30 giant steps, etc.). In the end, we met up with Wendy and Peter Pan, where we managed to find the hook and save the Kingdom. Go us!

It was totally cheesy, but completely fun if you have the right attitude and don't care what strangers think of you. I think my daughter, at 3, was too young to really get it, though she enjoyed it. I will say that I would never do it in the summer again. Waaaaaaay too hot. February should be great though. Your kids are great ages for it. The kids in that age range in our group had a blast with the treasure map and clues.

I haven't done HDDR, so can't compare. I'm sure both would be fun. But, my feeling is that the FMT is best enjoyed by kids under 10, while HDDR can be enjoyed at any age. I would probably do FMT this trip and HDDR next time.

[Robo]

Originally Posted by choirfarm

the waiter was grumpy

Cool!



Many folks would even pay EXTRA just to have him as a waiter.

Heigh Ho!