Need Tips for Mickey's Backyard BBQ

[twoolle]

Hello! Our family has Category 2 seating booked on Tuesday, March 6 (show is at 5:30). After reading a review of what Category 1 offers, I was hoping we could upgrade but right now there is none available. I will keep checking. But if we end up with Category 2 I need some tips:

1) How early should we be there to get in line? Our kids are 8, 6, 4 and 2. Because of their ages we would like to sit near the stage so we can see them dancing on the floor from our seats.

2) I know with Cat 1 seating you get in an hour early and the characters are available for meet and greet. What happens with Cat 2 seating? Do the characters do meet and greets during the show or is it dancing only? I saw a review where they do a meet and greet after the show, but the line can be up to 30 minutes. We were hoping to avoid this as we want to head to Epcot evening EMH after the show.

I already know that MBYBBQ gets mixed reviews, but honestly the food (and dessert) looks really appealing to us country folks, and so does the music and dancing (and Yuengling)! Plus my kids are the perfect age for it. We did HDDR a couple years ago and they didn't "get" the humor yet.

We rarely splurge on an extras at Disney and this will be our first trip without "free dining" so we are only doing a couple TS and I really want to do what we can to enjoy this one.

Thanks all!

 

[Barbydoll8]

Did this a few years back. It was a one and done for us but here you go....

1) How early should we be there to get in line? Our kids are 8, 6, 4 and 2. Because of their ages we would like to sit near the stage so we can see them dancing on the floor from our seats.
At least 1 hour. There is a meet and greet with the characters you will also miss if you are not in line early. There is a playground nearby if the kids need to blow off steam.

2) I know with Cat 1 seating you get in an hour early and the characters are available for meet and greet. What happens with Cat 2 seating? Do the characters do meet and greets during the show or is it dancing only? I saw a review where they do a meet and greet after the show, but the line can be up to 30 minutes. We were hoping to avoid this as we want to head to Epcot evening EMH after the show.

During the show there is a meet and greet but during the show the characters DO NOT come to your table. You MUST get up and go to them. So the kids that are super shy might miss out on some character interaction. There are usually one or two characters in the center dancing, then one on each end of the pavillion during the dance times. During the rest of the show, they have the characters stationed outside the pavillion for additional meets. The lines are long.

It is loud in there. We sat very close to the stage and it was good but loud so be prepared for that. The food is the same that they serve in Trails End so if you like it there, you should be ok. It can get a bit chaotic at the food lines so if you get in early, get a plate early and wait a bit until everyone has had a first pass for 2nds if you can. They have several lines for the buffet.

It was fun and crazy but unless I had kids 8 or under, I don't think I'd do it again. Unless people in my party (visitors, as I'm local) really, really wanted to do it.

 

[twoolle]

Thanks @Barbydoll8 for the help!

 

[Ds4angels]

Josh over at easywdw.com has a good review on this from pretty recent with a lot of great tips for when to eat and when to see the characters

 

[twoolle]

Josh over at easywdw.com has a good review on this from pretty recent with a lot of great tips for when to eat and when to see the characters

Yes! This is the review I read that convinced me we should do Cat 1!

I'm curious to hear from others that have done the Cat 2 seating to see how it was.

 

[Ds4angels]

Ok I thought he did have some hints for Cat 2 as well. Sorry I can't be anymore help

 

[twoolle]

Ok I thought he did have some hints for Cat 2 as well. Sorry I can't be anymore help

I reread it and you are right he did have some Cat 2 tips, so thanks!

 

[Vala]

We had Category 1, so I am not 100 percent sure I can help.

I did notice the first people outside milling about 20 minutes after we got in. The meet and greet mentioned before the show is for category 1 only. It was inside after you checked in - Mickey and Minnie in front of the stage and Goofy with Chip and Dale in a meet area to the right side of the stage.

Maybe I missed something, but during our show the characters were either dancing or meeting. No characters meeting while others were on the dancefloor. I didn't check closely because we had plenty of playtime with them during our extra hour, but I didn't see them at the "inside meet areas", and I am pretty sure I recall the announcers saying the characters would be outside.

I read the mixed reviews too, but me being the character crazy person I am of course still went. The food of course isn't fine dining, but I thought for a BBQ with so many people attending it was very good. We very much enjoyed it, and I am sure with your kids being the ages they are you'll enjoy it too.

One thing I want to add though is that you may have to accompany them to the dance floor. I am not sure if it is like this every night, but for our night all seats at the dance floor were category 1. You would have a hard time watching them if you are not with them.

 

[kboo]

We went in 2016 when ODD was 4.5. We got there late, the show had already started (YDD had a longish nap), and we sat in the back near the buffet. By the time we got there, there was no line for food. @Barbydoll8 has good tips.

I would def recommend hearing protection, it is loud. When we were there, it was only kids on the dance floor and the grownups were sitting down, so we had a pretty good view of ODD from our table and occasionally one of us would just go stand somewhere where we could see her, and where we weren't blocking others' view.

Mickey and Minnie (I think?) were waiting to meet some kids at the end, and we got at the end of a long line telling ODD that they might have to leave before we got there; they didn't. Then as we were taking our time walking out we ran into the the rope tricks guy, and he was nice enough to stop for a picture and chat with us a little. So all in all, we saw what we wanted to see, ODD met some but not all of the characters, and it was fun. But like others, I think we are one and done unless YDD has a compelling desire to do it.

 

[Becky Mouse]

Is this a show (like Hoop Dee Doo) that you need to pay full price to reserve? Also, how far out does this book up? Do I need to be concerned that I'll be trying to get an ADR on our first day, 180 days in advance?

 

[twoolle]

Is this a show (like Hoop Dee Doo) that you need to pay full price to reserve? Also, how far out does this book up? Do I need to be concerned that I'll be trying to get an ADR on our first day, 180 days in advance?

You do need to pay in advance. If you want Cat 1 seating (recommended for little ones so they can meet characters without waits), then you should book at 180. Cat 2 isn't a rush. We booked about 90 days out and Cat 1 opened up 2 days before!

 

[Becky Mouse]

You do need to pay in advance. If you want Cat 1 seating (recommended for little ones so they can meet characters without waits), then you should book at 180. Cat 2 isn't a rush. We booked about 90 days out and Cat 1 opened up 2 days before!

Perfect! I'll book first day and hopefully get cat 1. I heard mixed answers about whether or not you can use the dining plan for cat 1. Here's hoping!