AK to Hoop-Dee-Doo: How long will it take?

[Dismomof2boys]

Since the Animal Kingdom closes at 5:00pm on the night we will be there (in October) we were planning on going to the 6:15pm Hoop-Dee-Doo Musical Review Dinner Show. Will we have enough time to get there? I think the quickest route would be to take a bus from AK to the Contemporary Resort and then take a boat to our destination. Will we make it there in time? Especially since we have a party of 13!!! What if we all don't make it onto the same bus or boat? Does anyone have a rough estimate of how long it will take us with this route? Or is there a faster one? We could leave the park early, but we will only make it to the AK once this trip and want to stay as long as we can.

 

[ssei7802]

Why not take a Fort Wilderness bus?

 

[Dismomof2boys]

ssei7802 - That is exactly why I rely on these boards for information . For some reason, I was not thinking about Fort Wilderness Campground as a Resort. How silly of me. Thanks. We will take that bus. It's on the way back to our resort that I will have to take additional transportation because buses do not run between resorts.

 

[roomthreeseventeen]

Why not take a Fort Wilderness bus?

I actually think the fastest way to do this is to take the bus from DAK to the Magic Kingdom and then get on the Fort Wilderness boat. But either way, I think you should plan on leaving DAK before 4:30.

 

[o0quirkygirl0o]

Why not take a Fort Wilderness bus?

The boat from either the Contemporary or MK will be better/faster. They both drop you off right near Pioneer Hall. Otherwise you would still need to take a second internal bus after the first FW bus. Plus, the boat ride is really nice and relaxing.

Also, I would give yourself more than an hour to do the trip. If everything goes right, you might make it in an hour. But, with Disney transportation, things can frequently go less than perfect. I would be safe and plan at least 1.5 to 2 hours. The boat ride from MK is 20 minutes itself.

Lateness can be an actual problem with HDDR. Because it is part show, if you are too late the will not seat you. On the other hand, some nights the entire dining process can be running a bit behind and your timing is less of an issue. That happens more with the last seating of the night.

 

[*NikkiBell*]

The boat from either the Contemporary or MK will be better/faster. They both drop you off right near Pioneer Hall. Otherwise you would still need to take a second internal bus after the first FW bus. Plus, the boat ride is really nice and relaxing.

Also, I would give yourself more than an hour to do the trip. If everything goes right, you might make it in an hour. But, with Disney transportation, things can frequently go less than perfect. I would be safe and plan at least 1.5 to 2 hours. The boat ride from MK is 20 minutes itself.

Lateness can be an actual problem with HDDR. Because it is part show, if you are too late the will not seat you. On the other hand, some nights the entire dining process can be running a bit behind and your timing is less of an issue. That happens more with the last seating of the night.

I could not agree with the bolded part more. If I am remembering correctly, you need to arrive at Pioneer Hall at least 30 minutes ahead of time, if not a little bit longer. I'd suggest leaving two hours early with a group that large and to avoid having to rush. WDW transportation can be very time-consuming.

 

[EastYorkDisneyFan]

you could also take a bus to the wilderness lodge and take the boat from there.

 

[dalt01]

we have always found that the time it takes to get to this venue is the most difficult on property.............the advise about taking an MK bus and then the boat is the best. we even tried a taxi one year and still found ourselves out in front of the resort trying to figure out which bus to get on to Pioneer Hall.

 

[1Grumpy9]

I agree with everyone here that going to MK and getting the boat to FW is the best option. I know when we did HDDR in Dec, we checked in about 35 mins before they let us in to the hall. Taking the boat would get you the closest to Pioneer Hall. Plus, if you check in early, you will have your picture completed before the line is really long and you are late getting into get seated.