1st night option decision help

[Tex]

Hello,
We arrive for our June trip at 5pm. I have a private boat reserved for a viewing of Illuminations OR we could go to the 8:30 Hoop dee Do Review. Which would you choose?? We don't have room in the schedule to do either one another night. Our group is me and my husband and our 6 kids. We are staying at the Beach Club and that is where we get the private boat from. I'm very torn with what to pick. We have been to HDDR, but not the newer show and we have done a private boat for Wishes before. We LOVE both!!

 

[GillianP1301]

Tough choice! Assuming your family enjoyed each experience equally, I would probably go with the cruise. It's your check-in day/travel day and that's always a tiring one, so it would be nice to already be where you need to be for your planned activity and not have to factor in additional time effort for travel.

 

[schoen]

I think that I might do HDDR.... The Illuminations cruise is not as nice an experience as the Wishes Cruise. The food at HDDR is great, and it is probably more interactive for your kids.

My only consideration would be how tired you will be. Obviously the Illuminations cruise will be way less hassle to get to and home from. It will also be over at 9:15 and you could be back in your room by 9:30 or so. If you go to HDDR than you will obviously get home much later, and will have to put much more effort into transportation for that experience.

This is one of those great problems to have! Your family will have an awesome night either way! Good luck!

 

[Tex]

Thanks for your replies. Now I just discovered Harambe nights is offered that night too. GRRRR. We could do that also. However, I'm not too sure we could swing it. Our plane gets in at 5pm and Harambe nights starts at 7:30. May be tight!

 

[palavra]

I would do HDDR. Good food, a fun atmosphere and time to relax after your flight sounds like a winning plan.

 

[Happyjen27]

While I love the HDDR, and I mean LOVE, I would say the boat cruise.

Getting to FW involves a lot of travel. Even if you drive your own car, you still need to take internal buses. That would not make me happy after a day of travel already.

A convenient boat to hop on right out of my resort sounds easy and relaxing.

 

[purple figment]

Thanks for your replies. Now I just discovered Harambe nights is offered that night too. GRRRR. We could do that also. However, I'm not too sure we could swing it. Our plane gets in at 5pm and Harambe nights starts at 7:30. May be tight!

Our rule of thumb is 3 hours from landing at MCO to walking into a theme park or arriving at our first activity of the trip. Sometimes it's less, but we've had a couple instances where it took even longer. Are you renting a car or taking Magical Express to the BC? Allow about 90 minutes to deplane, get to transportation and drive/ME to BC. Then there's check in as well as travel time to AK or FW.

For Harambe Night I read that there is a welcome reception with appetizers and beverages starting at 7:00 and the show is at 7:30 so I wouldn't count on doing this event. On the Disney website for this event they are recommending that you arrive 45 minutes prior to allow for parking, bag check, entry, wristbands and walking to Harambe Village.

One more thing to consider is the cancellation and refund policy for each of these events, especially since you are booking for a family of 8. I know Hoop De Doo has either a 1 or 2 day cancellation deadline and if you don't cancel in time and then miss the event you forfeit the entire cost of your tickets. I don't know the cancel policy for the cruise or Harambe Night, but based on other special events they may also have a no refund policy.

 

[RustManFan]

we had a bad experience at HDDR as both my kids got sick after eating there and my sister felt ill.....nobody else seems to have a similar experience but I would pick the cruise myself

None of us were sick already but my DD threw up Pepto Bismol all over the HM walkway the next morning and my DS stayed in the room all the day after