Hoop-Dee-Doo Musical Revue celebrates 40 years at Walt Disney World

Hoop De Do Musical Revue 40th anniversary

Yee-haw! The Hoop-Dee-Doo Musical Revue is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year, and the popular dinner show is still going strong.

When Hoop-Dee-Doo Musical Revue launched on June 30, 1974, the high-energy dinner show at Pioneer Hall at Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort and Campground was the heyday of dinner theaters for Walt Disney World guests. The foot-stompin’, hand-clappin’ musical starred six young college intern actors and offered endless buckets of fried chicken and ribs.

“Hoop-Dee-Doo was upbeat, and guests came for the corny jokes, good food and lots of fun,” said Forrest Bahruth, show director, Disney Parks & Resorts Creative Entertainment and the original choreographer for the dinner show. “Forty years later, the heart is still in it, the energy is still there.”

As that first summer ended and guests were clamoring for more, Walt Disney World Entertainment already was auditioning a full-time cast, and Hoop-Dee-Doo Musical Revue opened as a permanent show on Sept. 5, 1974. Today, it’s one of the country’s longest-running dinner shows and has presented more than 37,000 performances. More than 10.5 million guests have seen the high-spirited show.

And while Hoop-Dee-Doo has been fine-tuned over its 40-year run, the heart of the show never has changed: a slice of Americana, old-fashioned family fun and heaping helpings of good, down-home food. “Hoop-Dee-Doo Musical Revue exemplifies everything that Disney stands for,” said show director Tom Vazzana. “It’s interactive fun for families and stellar entertainment – six performers put on a show that’s 90 minutes of pure enjoyment.”

Performers sing, dance and act their way through the timeless classic. “I love to go and hear kids squeal with delight at Six Bits, but also hear strong American ballads,” says Vazzana. “Families tell me it’s the first time they’ve seen a Broadway-style show – it’s obtainable and accessible, quintessential Disney.”

In true Disney fashion, Walt Disney Imagineers designed Pioneer Hall in authentic Wild West style with 1,283 hand-fitted pine logs from Montana and 70 tons of stones from North Carolina to re-create a look from the late 1800s. The building opened April 1, 1974.

While Hoop-Dee-Doo Musical Revue was being written and cast, a group of country-Western musicians called The Star-Spangled Washboard Band opened in Pioneer Hall, according to an historical timeline by Larry Billman, author/writer and Disney entertainment consultant, who was the author and writer of the original show.

Bob Jani, the director of Entertainment for both Disneyland Resort and Walt Disney World Resort, saw the potential for a “dinner theater show” and hired Billman. After multiple rewrites (the first version was called “We’re With You, Mother McCree!”), Hoop-Dee-Doo Musical Revue was born.

Students from the Disney World Fine Arts College Workshop program, an 11-week work experience program, auditioned for the three female and three male character performers in Hoop-Dee-Doo: Six Bits Slocum and Dolly Drew (comic relief), Jim Handy and Flora Long (the singers), and Johnny Ringo and Claire de Lune (the dancers).

“The college students sent us video auditions, and we had more than 600 applicants,” said Bahruth. The cast arrived at Walt Disney World Resort in early June for quick rehearsals, and the show opened on June 30, 1974.

Through the decades, the show saw some small revisions to songs and dance numbers, but the basic premise – a Wild West show in an old-timey music hall with a romantic leading lady and man – always remained as the guests clapped, stomped their feet and sang along, all the while sharing an all-American dinner around a communal, “please pass the cornbread” table.

There’s been just one change to the Hoop-Dee-Doo menu since 1974 – the strawberry shortcake for dessert. When the show opened it served apple pie, but changed to shortcake in 1979.

Today, servers dish up about 900 pounds of fried chicken every night, and cooks spend about six hours each day just breading the chicken. Add 400 pounds of pork ribs, slow cooked starting at 11 a.m. daily on a big outdoor smoker. For sides, there’s 120 pounds of corn, 400 pounds of potatoes to be mashed and 30 gallons of baked beans. It takes 15 gallons of strawberries and 12 gallons of whipped cream to make dessert.

Servers are part of the show, happily slamming all-you-care-to-eat buckets of ribs and chicken on the tables as they sing and dance their way through the dining room. Beer, wine, sangria and soft drinks are part of the menu.

With three shows nightly at 4 p.m., 6:15 p.m. and 8:30 p.m., guests can select from three different seating options based on floor or balcony tables (Price includes tax and gratuity):
Category 1 – $66.99 (Ages 10 and older), $35.99 (Age 3 to 9)
Category 2 – $61.99 (Ages 10 and older), $30.99 (Age 3 to 9)
Category 3 – $56.99 (Ages 10 and older), $29.99 (Age 3 to 9)

Category 1 is first-floor level with tables nearest the stage. Category 2 is either a table on the first floor behind the Category 1 seating below the balcony or in the center of the balcony. Category 3 tables are on the right or left side of the balcony on the second floor.

For reservations, book online or call (407) WDW-DINE up to 180 days prior to your visit.

See our coverage of the Hoop-Dee-Doo Musical Revue on the Sept. 4, 2014 episode of Orlando Attractions Magazine: The Show below:

Attractions - The Show - Hoop-Dee-Doo Revue; Dog Days at Magic Kingdom; latest news - Sept. 4, 2014
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