Restaurant Review - Dolly Parton's Dixie Stampede, Christmas at Dixie, 8251 Vineland Avenue, Orlando, FL

Update 1.8.08 - Dolly Parton's Orlando Dixie Stampede suddenly closed this weekend! Was the business doing badly? Was it for health inspection reasons? Nope, it was money. Apparently Dolly and her company were offered a boatload of money for the prime real estate that the Dixie Stampede sits on, with its prominent view of I-4. Reports say that the Dixie Stampede will return to Orlando, just in a new location. We'll see.

I have previously been to Dolly Parton's Dixie Stampede "regular" dinner show in Orlando so I was curious to see what the Christmas show offered. The Dixie Stampede is located across the street from the Premium Outlet Mall (not to be confused with the new Prime Outlet Mall) in a very large Southern-style mansion and was definitely dressed for Christmas with wreaths and holly and Christmas trees everywhere. We went with my husband's family and luckily we had the first show of the day so we were able to park pretty close to the main building. Dixie Stampede times their shows so that you are getting out when the people from the other show are already waiting to get in, meaning that you have to park farther out in a later show because the first group of folks aren't even out of the building yet.

Dixie Stampede's pricing is pretty expensive which, sadly, is in line with the other dinner shows in the tourist corridor. Adult prices are around $50 and kids are $25, although you can usually find AAA or Florida Resident discounts for about half that price. The admission price includes a pre-show, and then a "four-course" dinner and main show. Pepsi products and other non-alcoholic beverages are all-you-can-drink and you are also entitled to two cups of beer or wine, but only during the main dinner. You must make reservations and/or pre-pay in advance and then you can either pay or pick up your tickets when you arrive.

Dixie Stampede recommends you arrive an hour and a half before your show to allow you to find parking, check-in, get your tickets, and find a seat for the pre-show, and it really does take that long. There is a line to get your tickets, a line to get in and take a picture, and then a line to get any drinks or snacks for the pre-show. There are large signs everywhere stating that cameras and video cameras are not allowed (shhh, don't them I snuck my camera in!) so Dixie Stampede is gracious enough to take your family's photo as you arrive... and then will sell it to you later for about $30 (yes, I bought it... I've bought it every time I've come - the kids look so cute on the little horses!). You are asked how large your party is and then you are corralled into the correct photo alcove depending on your group's size. We were a family of 10 so we were escorted into one of the larger rooms with a large Christmas tree, some rocking chairs and crates to sit on and the two cute rocking horses for the kids. The photographer arranged us, snapped our picture and then we were off to the pre-show... through a path along the gift shop where my kids pleaded with me for little stuffed buffaloes or horses. We made it to The Carriage Room without having to buy anything. The Carriage Room is where the pre-show takes place and it reminds of an Old West Saloon, with lots of long narrow tables on two floors leading up to a small main stage. The Grandmas stayed with the kids while the rest of us went to the bar to get drinks and snacks. All non-alcoholic drinks, including the slushies and mixed fruit drinks, are $4 at the bar and come in a souvenir boot mug. I got myself a Sierra Mist with grenadine and then we got everyone else the strawberry slushie or the orange dreamsicle-like slushie. I also got a bowl of roasted peanuts for $2 for the kids.

The pre-show came on a little late as the kids were all getting antsy. We saw Tuey Wilson, a comic juggler. His act was very unusual with spinning balls and juggling cups and other objects but the kids really enjoyed it and ended up saying his act was their overall favorite part of the whole experience.

As soon as his act ended, we were herded (pun intended) into the main show arena. Don't know why they only have one small doorway to squeeze everyone into. For the "regular" show, you are seated on the North side or the South side of the Civil War. That's always kind of bothered me so I've always asked for the North side. The Christmas at Dixie show has a nicer theme. The premise is that Santa's toy shop has grown so big that he has expanded his operations to the South pole. So you are either representing the North Pole elves or the South Pole elves depending on where you sit. As you are seated, on hard benches in front of long tables set in rows, you meet your "elf" who will be serving you. Our elf introduced herself and then briefed us on the menu and asked what we would like to drink. I ordered a sweet iced tea, which I knew would be out of the fountain but I'm not a big fan of Pepsi products anyways. The rest of us ordered Pepsi or coffee while LB ordered water (he doesn't like soda or tea). The only "straws" at the table were really coffee stirrers; luckily, we had saved our drinks from the pre-show and ended up using those straws.

Another tip, get everyone to go to the potty before the show starts because there is no break in the show - the performers are on the whole time during dinner. The bathrooms are all at the top of the stadium and also have an Old West motif with a big trough for the sink.

The show itself is set up the same way as the non-Christmas show. The first part is all about the performers and horses and the second half is a competition between the North and the South. There is an MC and a character called Skeeter for comic relief. For the Christmas show, there were some really amazing set pieces such as the ice skating and the live nativity scene. I was pretty skeptical about the Nativity scene and thought it might be cheesy but it was very well done. The three Wise Men ride in on live camels (which was exciting in itself), but the most breath-taking was went an angel floats down from the sky with full wings. Very nicely done.

During the first half of the show, our elf was very busy serving us our food. I don't know why Dixie Stampede doesn't serve a fully plated dish - instead our elf had to serve everyone in our row the first food item and then come down the row again for the next food item. And, I still can't figure out what the "four courses" were since each item was served individually. The meal consists of a warm buttery biscuit, a bowl of warm (not hot) creamy vegetable soup, a full (small) rotisserie chicken for the adults and chicken fingers for the kids, a slice of barbecue pork loin, a half herb-crusted baked potato, and a half corn-on-the-cob. The chicken is truly tender and juicy but it is just too big of a meal for me, and a bit messy when you are trying to watch a show at the same time. I wished I could have gotten the kids' meal since the chicken fingers were also tender and looked more manageable. The creamy vegetable soup is a favorite of mine although I don't know why it is always served lukewarm. There is no spoon provided so you need to sip the soup by picking up the bowl and "drinking" it - maybe that is why the temperature is more moderate? I ate everything else except the pork loin, which I just didn't care for - I think it was too smoked or barbecued for me. LB did really good eating most of his food except for his soup (I polished it off for him). BB didn't eat anything except for the corn on the cob, because he was enthralled with the show. This can be a problem with kids - you want them to enjoy themselves and the show but you don't want them to be so mesmerized that they don't eat anything. Grandma M. wisely asked for doggie bags and our elf brought each of us one as no one had finished the full chicken.

Next, it was time for the North Pole vs. South Pole competition and dessert - a hot apple turnover. It was a little goopy instead of flaky but tasted okay. The competition is fun to watch because there is a lot of audience participation and the performers are really talented. The kids also like to see the pig races and ostrich races. As the show is coming to an end, Dolly herself appears on the large TV screen and reminds the MC that he forgot the last person in the show... Santa Claus. Santa comes out in a sled pulled by two horses and waves to everyone.

Now comes the very awkward part of the whole experience that happens every time I have ever come to Dixie Stampede - the request for the tip. Several other dinner shows in the area, most notably at Disney, will include gratuity in your ticket price so you don't have to go through this. Our elf came around and left a card on every table saying that it was a pleasure serving us and that no gratuity has been added to our bill and that excellent service is typically rewarded with 15%. Here is why this is so bizarre. In most cases (as was with ours), our tickets were already paid for several weeks ago with a credit card. Clearly the servers are not coming around with credit card readers so any tips MUST be paid in cash. Then, exactly what 15% are we supposed to calculate? Sure, an adult ticket is $50 but that doesn't mean the meal was worth $50 - I'm sure most of the cost is for the show and we are not going to paid $8 per adult and $3 per child for the tip (plus, we don't have the cash for it). So we all scrambled our cash together and came up with $20 for the 10 of us. Then our elf came to shake all of our hands and we slipped her the $20 and then ran out of there before she noticed. I really wish they would come up with a better way to do that because I'm sure the servers get left with nothing sometimes because the group doesn't have any cash left on them.

Right now, I'd say the Dixie Stampede is one of the better dinner shows, both in terms of food and definitely entertainment, in Orlando, especially along the tourist corridors of I-Drive and US 192. I'd definitely still try and use a Florida Resident or AAA discount every time, though, as then it is a much better value.