Mickey's Backyard BBQ help

[Doombuggy13]

Hello everyone,
We are planning on going to Mickey's Backyard BBQ when we go in Sept.
The day we plan on going, Thurs, Sept 11, we are planning on spending the day at Typhoon Lagoon returning to POFQ then on to Fort Wilderness for the BBQ which starts at 6:30 p.m.

What would be the best way to get there? Should we take the bus to MK and then transfer to the FW bus, or is there some other form of transportation to get you there?

 

[Soundstage'95CP]

...or take the boat to FW from MK

 

[Sunshine8]

Take a taxi

We were there exactly one year ago. I tried the "train, plane, automobile route" in a prior year and ended up being 1/2 late. We are not late people so we were pretty upset. Last year, there were 8 of us so we took two taxi's. We were staying at POR. They said it would cost around $20 each. The taxi ride was only $6 or $7. We each gave the driver $10. It was great. Once you get there, you still have to ride their internal system. When we left, we took the boat to MK and then the bus. I would never do it another way. Have a great time- wish it were me. :wave:

 

[Nansafan]

That's always been a running family joke, "you can't get there from here". I second the taxi route. We have a car this year just for that purpose, to make some of our resort ADR's.

 

[Laura]

I dunno, taking a Taxi seems a little excessive. It's very, very easy to get to all of the Fort Wilderness restaurants and shows from any resort. You just take a bus to the Magic Kingdom (always readily available) and hop on a boat over to Fort Wilderness.

 

[kimmychad]

I would think taking a taxi for anything other than an early morning breakfast at another resort but be excessive.

 

[Doombuggy13]

I dunno, taking a Taxi seems a little excessive. It's very, very easy to get to all of the Fort Wilderness restaurants and shows from any resort. You just take a bus to the Magic Kingdom (always readily available) and hop on a boat over to Fort Wilderness.

Thanks everyone for the input. Where do you get the boat to FW from the MK?

 

[RiversideBunny]

Thanks everyone for the input. Where do you get the boat to FW from the MK?

Right out front. You will see a boat dock with two loading sections. Look for FW/Wilderness Lodge.

We did Mickey's Backyard BBQ on Thanksgiving Day a few years ago.
It was fun.

 

[Michael Hall]

I Second That

I dunno, taking a Taxi seems a little excessive. It's very, very easy to get to all of the Fort Wilderness restaurants and shows from any resort. You just take a bus to the Magic Kingdom (always readily available) and hop on a boat over to Fort Wilderness.

We did the same thing last September it works great . But I must tell you that we were really disappointed with this show . Not worth 2 table credits in my opinion . We werent the only ones leaveing early . However we did get a great picture of our family for about $35.00

 

[autigger]

BIGGEST TIP: Get to the Backyard Barbecue EARLY.

Here are my thoughts on the BBQ (from a review I posted on allearsnet.com):

My wife and I took our two kids (ages 4 and 2.5) on September 27 and it was a big highlight of our trip. The food and entertainment were great and the kids had a ton of character interaction. This event is very well run and very high energy. We were told to arrive early and I am glad that we did. I would suggest arriving before the listed start time and to allow plenty of travel time. Because we arrived early we had a great seat. It is important to note that the seating is first-come-first-served at large picnic tables. My wife and I were hesitant about the event after reading some lukewarm reviews, but were very pleased.


It is also important to note that this set-up is different from other character meals we have attended. The difference is that the characters do not have a specific set aside photo opportunity, nor do they make their rounds to the different tables. Instead, they come out and dance with everyone on the dance floor. This makes it much more incumbent upon attendees to seek the characters. Our kids had no problem with this and enjoyed every minute of dancing, along with many other children, with the various characters. We did the backyard barbecue on the final night of our trip and I think that this proved to be helpful because our kids were rather comfortable with the characters by this point. However, had this been our first night, the kids would have been much more timid.

I believe that a pretty good frame of reference for this event might be a large wedding reception (meaning a buffet, dancing and if you want speak to the bride you need to take some initiative). If your kids do well in this type of setting, they would do well at the backyard barbecue. This character experience is also different because the characters were rather active, especially Goofy who can really cut a rug!


We also found the food to be quite good. Early in our trip we had some bad barbecue chicken and ribs at Cosmic Ray's Starlight Café in Tomorrowland and were concerned that this was what we would get at the backyard barbecue. However, not to fear, the food at the backyard barbecue was far better (and I am pretty picky on barbecue). The drink selection, including beer and wine, was also good and the kids loved the Mickey Ice cream bars for dessert.