Getting to the Show
Please arrive 30 minutes prior to reservation time to check in. The doors open at 4:00 PM, 6:15 PM or 8:30 PM. Seating will begin immediately at these times; the show begins 20 minutes later.
Using Disney Resort Transportation
Please allow sufficient travel and transfer time, as there is no direct route between your Disney Resort hotel and Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort & Campground.
Using Your Own Vehicle
Please park at the entrance to Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort & Campground or—during major holiday periods—at a nearby satellite lot. Please allow an additional 30 minutes for bus transportation from your parking location to the event.
Taking the Ferry from Magic Kingdom Park
Allow up to one hour and 30 minutes travel time.
I find that last line to be baffling. One hour and 30 minutes to take the boat from MK to FW? HDDR is only 2 hours long, that is almost as long as the performance!!
It doesn’t say it on the page, but I read elsewhere (an article on wdwinfo a week or so ago??) that bookings won’t be open until 5/26 and the show starts running on 6/23.
I am booking on the 26th for mid/late July, but I need to figure out what a realistic travel time is for the boat launch from MK to FW. I can’t believe it would take 1.5hrs.
Don’t ever time a ride vs queue wait. Don’t. Even with LL. Just don’t.
Those ferry lines can get pretty long. I remember on an early 4:30pm Mk close day doing the 6 ish seating, and thinking “how perfect.” Guess what? With everyone else having the bright idea to go to that show, and also the ppl going back to their resorts, it took about 45 min just to get on a boat. I’d assume that for the most part, it wouldn’t take 1.5 hrs, but there can be times when the sea doesn’t part just because you show up. Sometimes it’ll be you and 500 of your closest friends all having the same idea at the same time.
No early MK closures during our trip so hopefully we can avoid that!
At this point I plan on booking the 6:15pm seating and worked up my MK touring plan to end at 4:30pm. I won’t allot 90 minutes, but will plan on starting towards the boat launches from wherever we are in the park at around 4:30…probably stopping a couple times along the way.
You could, but then you need to take a bus from the main entrance of the resort to Pioneer Hall, which is near the dock for the boat launch to MK. FW is really large and people rely on the internal bus loop or golf carts to get around.
Is it still possible to walk from Wilderness Lodge to Pioneer Hall?
Also, wonder if buses will be waiting near Pioneer Hall when HDDR lets out.
In the before times I’d allow 90 minutes travel time. Mostly if using buses. We generally try to zig when others are zagging so I just don’t recall not getting on the first boat. Tho if waiting for another boat, you can easily wait at least 20 minutes.
Used to be, Wilderness Lodge and Fort Wilderness shared a boat, but since reopening they had their own boats. This would make a difference in travel time as well.
We once took the boat from the Contemporary for the late show. There had been heavy rain earlier and it was still raining lightly. We had left plenty of time but another family were late for their show because the boats had stopped running.
The 90 minutes they quote is standard, for just such reasons. Always have a back-up plan!
The walking path to FtW was still closed in Jan 2022. There is a bus. If it’s the same route as the buses they had in the before times, it takes you right to the settlement (?) stop without the need for internal shuttle. We did that in 2018 to get to HDDR. (Even though boats were running then the staff recommended bus.)
I have a related question regarding HDDR…my youngest kiddo is a very picky eater. He lives on chicken nuggets/strips when we are at Disney. Has anyone had success in getting some kid friendly chicken at this dining location?
I’ll be eager to hear how this goes for you! I am planning to do the same during the week of Thanksgiving when Magic Kingdom closes early for a MVMCP. Figure I’ll roll out by 4:30 and head over to Pioneer Hall. Is it true you can catch a bus to your resort from Pioneer Hall after the show?
I have never been but I’m still a bit COVID conscious and this place seems to pack you in. Is it less packed in Tier 2 or 3? You don’t share tables with another party right?
