Fort Hays Old West Town and Dinner Show
Fort Hays Old West Town and Dinner Show
Fort Hays Old West Town and Dinner Show
4.5
7:00 AM - 6:30 PM
Monday
7:00 AM - 6:30 PM
Tuesday
7:00 AM - 6:30 PM
Wednesday
7:00 AM - 6:30 PM
Thursday
7:00 AM - 6:30 PM
Friday
7:00 AM - 6:30 PM
Saturday
7:00 AM - 6:30 PM
Sunday
7:00 AM - 6:30 PM
About
**Closed for winter months. Our doors will re-open on Mothers Day 2019. See you then!** Start your day at Fort Hays Old West Town, site of the Oscar award winning movie set, Dances with Wolves. Walk along our boardwalk and make your own brick, tin plate, gem pan or make a twine lasso rope. There is no admission fee to browse the film set & South Dakota Film Museum. See the original buildings used in this popular Wild West movie. Enjoy All-You-Can-Eat Cowboy Pancakes for 99 cents! Find the perfect souvenior at one of our three unique Gift Shops. Dinner shows are held at Fort Hays mid May through mid October.
Duration: 1-2 hours
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See what travelers are saying
- Becky M5 contributionsA fun, delicious dinner show sent in the Old WestThe elderly gentleman that owns the fort is a real hoot. He had so much history to tell. He showed us how to make rope and pressed pennys. The dinner part was run like a well oiled machine. They had the dinner stations down to a science and they had 500 people through those dinner stations in 20 minutes. The show was great - the 7 musicians played 30’s country to 90’s rock. It was a fun night.Visited October 2023Traveled with friendsWritten October 7, 2023
- Erika TKilleen, Texas6 contributionsLots of fun & Good FoodHad a blast at the Dinner Show. Was surprised with how much we liked the food and the amount they gave me you filled you up! The show was great and entertaining. They played a variety of music sure to please everyone no matter the age.Visited October 2023Traveled with friendsWritten October 8, 2023
- Gayle W72 contributionsThe Best Day of Our Vacation!Pastor Dan did a WONDERFUL job entertaining us and giving us interesting facts and history about all of the stops on the tour. Plenty of time was given at each main stop. He also made a few other quick stops at interesting points. Dan was very skilled at operating that big bus and did an expert job getting us through the Needles Eye Tunnel with the side mirrors still intact! For fun and information, this is your tour!Visited October 2023Traveled with familyWritten October 12, 2023
- Christopher JSpokane Valley, Washington4 contributionsamazing reasonably priced food with great entertainmentThis was an amazing experience. The food and dinner show were very reasonably priced. You go through the food line only once and that's because its almost impossible to eat all the food you are given. The food is awesome and some of the best food I've eaten. The show is also very entertaining. I will go again if we drive through here.Visited September 2023Traveled with familyWritten October 25, 2023
- JayBGlendale, Arizona7 contributionsSouth Dakota in a Day!If you are not staying in Rapid City long, you need to do this experience. This is a full SD experience. Chuck Wagon breakfast and dinner was well done - a lot of food! The tours are led by personable and knowledgeable people. Ken our guide was excellent. The sites are one of a kind. They showed and explained everything. The show at the end was hilarious! The musicians were very talented and the “surprise “ guests were very unexpected. Great fun for all ages.Visited June 2024Traveled with familyWritten June 11, 2024
- Jack D1 contributionFun time was had by all. Team Cicadas.The Rockin Wranglers were an amazing band . Great variety of music and what a fun show. Food was good served in a chuck wagon style while seated on picnic tables . Venue was sit up for close viewing. Only negative it was July hot and no air conditioning.Visited July 2024Traveled with familyWritten July 12, 2024
- First Baptist C... IIrvine, Kentucky4 contributionsFantastic show, must do if in the areaHands down better than any show or dinner we've ever been to in Pigeon Forge TN. This is our first visit to Rapid City. Very good food and some of the best entertainment ever. Family friendly. When we return, we will return here.Visited July 2024Traveled with familyWritten July 13, 2024
- nrichard755Mechanic Falls, Maine43 contributionsBig Thumbs upWe strongly recommend this tour and show. We have been traveling the USA, and this is one of our top 3 adventures. Great customer service by everyone, the tour has new busses that are very comfortable, the trip driver, Bill, was fantastic in information and interaction with his customers. Then you round out the day, 15 hours with traveling, with a cowboy meal and a show by the Rockin Wrangles music presentation..wowza....Visited July 2024Traveled as a coupleWritten July 16, 2024
- Ron HSpokane, Washington2 contributionsWell worth the time and money.The food was great. Plenty to eat and it was very good. The entertainment after dinner was great also. This is definitely something we will do again. The parking is a little shy but didn't deter from the great time. The coaster was a little jerky but it was fun also.Visited September 2024Traveled as a coupleWritten September 9, 2024
- JAMES W1 contributionA great experience, worth every penny!We arrived in the morning and had no problems finding a parking space. We then checked in at the office, received our tickets for the day and went to have our pancake breakfast. We sat and ate next to a lovely couple from Nebraska. Then we loaded up on the bus and we sat in the very back. There was open seats on both sides, so I was taking pictures and video from both sides of the Tour bus bouncing back-and-forth like a little kid. It was awesome. The tour through the Black Hills was great. We went through pig tail bridges and tunnels cut through the granite rock. We ate lunch where president Coolidge lived for the entire summer, which was quite a ordeal for all of the people that have to deal with the president. Of course we stopped at Mount Rushmore first and then on through the Black Hills of Custer national park. We saw mountain goats right outside the place where president Coolidge lived for the summer and as we were leaving on the tour bus we saw a Bull buffalo lying beside the road. He looked tired because he was huffing and puffing, breathing heavy. Our last stop was the crazy horse rock statue That has been worked on by the family for 75 years and it’s still not finished when finished it shows crazy horse pointing toward Black Hills. When we arrived back at Fort Hayes it wasn’t long before the dinner started and then the show started and it was fabulous. And I want to give a special shout out to our bus driver and His performances on stage, Dan Aughenbaugh.Visited September 2024Traveled with familyWritten September 25, 2024
These reviews are the subjective opinion of Tripadvisor members and not of TripAdvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
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Detailed Reviews: Reviews ordered by recency and descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as wait time, length of visit, general tips, and location information.
Popular mentions
4.5
1,120 reviews
Excellent
730
Very good
238
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99
Poor
29
Terrible
24
Memdall51
22 contributions
Aug 2021 • Family
From the website you are mislead to believe that you will be touring in a ‘newer’ coach bus. Instead, our tour was in a cramped 1980’s bus (literally a 1984/1985 bus verified by the our tour guide). Seats were uncomfortable and had little room. Our bus was very dirty when first loading for the tour. The tour spent way too much time driving on the Black Hill roads ‘trying’ to spot animals. Would have preferred just a eeing Mt Rushmore, Crazy Horse and Badlands. Many people fell asleep on the bus, due to lack of interest. We stopped to eat lunch (not included) and had only 5-10 minutes to eat a $12-15 entree. When stopping at Crazy Horse, you assume the tour includes actually being able to see the sculpture up close. However, once at the Crazy Horse location, you discover you have to pay another $4 a person to get on another bus that takes you to the actual site. Throughout the breakfast, tour and dinner, you felt like Mount Rushmore Tours was constantly up selling with extras… sitting on Faux bison…$1….roller coaster ride $15…soft drink cost extra…desserts cost extra, etc… Although our guide was nice, I would not recommended this tour.
Written August 16, 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Grace
6 contributions
Aug 2021
We enjoyed the chuckwagon dinner and show. It was a lot of fun with a good variety of music, plus a spot appearance by Willie Nelson. The Dances With Wolves set is fun to walk through and take photographs of, and there is also a nice gift shop.
We went back the next morning for the Cowboy 99 cent breakfast pancakes. By the time we added our beverage, sausage, coffee and juice the total for two people was about $16, which was a bit surprising based on the advertised price -- and the food was cold. We would do the dinner and show again, but not the breakfast!
We went back the next morning for the Cowboy 99 cent breakfast pancakes. By the time we added our beverage, sausage, coffee and juice the total for two people was about $16, which was a bit surprising based on the advertised price -- and the food was cold. We would do the dinner and show again, but not the breakfast!
Written August 31, 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Richard K
Yakima, WA319 contributions
May 2021
How much time you spend here and how much there is to do depends on what part you sign up for. The all day bus tour is phenomenal and is a must do. The dinner show and music was really great, a lot of fun and really worth doing. The Fort Hayes sight itself were the buildings they built to film the movie Dances with Wolves. They moved the buildings to this site. If you are a huge fan of that movie you will love this place. Otherwise, if you just stop to look around it should take you less than an hour. There is a gift shop and then several other old west style buildings you can go into and see. A few of them have someone making something as a demonstration. If you go to just se the old movie set, it is free to the public so if you don't enjoy it all you are out is an hour of time. They also serve a 99 cent cowboy breakfast in the morning that looked good for the price. If you are smart, sign up for the whole paqckage.
Written June 11, 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Thanks for the review! We appreciate you spending some time with us while you are here in the Black Hills. We hope you stop by and see us again sometime.
Written June 11, 2021
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
piepie222016
Illinois10 contributions
Aug 2020 • Couples
Great day with the best guide I have ever had on a tour.
His name was Bill Martin and it would be worth your while to request him. I’m sure the others are good too but he was the person that we had and he was great!
So much easier to take the tour rather than trying to get yourself to all the places and you don’t get the background and history when you do it on your own unless you do the research ahead of time.
We had a lot of fun. I would recommend skipping the breakfast it’s not good and arriving at about 815 instead of 730. Everything else was phenomenal!
His name was Bill Martin and it would be worth your while to request him. I’m sure the others are good too but he was the person that we had and he was great!
So much easier to take the tour rather than trying to get yourself to all the places and you don’t get the background and history when you do it on your own unless you do the research ahead of time.
We had a lot of fun. I would recommend skipping the breakfast it’s not good and arriving at about 815 instead of 730. Everything else was phenomenal!
Written August 27, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Lois L
1 contribution
Sep 2020
Fort Hays Old West Town and Dinner Show and the Breakfast and the Tour exceeded our expectations! The employees, band, and our tour guide (Rory) were the best. The tour was simultaneously exciting and relaxing. The destination stops were perfectly timed and Rory told us so much about the areas history as well as recommending other places to visit in the area. We are so happy to have made this reservation. The dinner was an authentic chuck wagon style experience and the show was entertaining by good musicians. Well worth the price.
Written September 7, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Missy
7 contributions
Aug 2020
If you want to do something fun and fitting for the area, this is the place to be. The "town" set was very unorganized and haphazard, but a free part of the experience so just enjoy it. The food was good. It is not high quality, but the standard you'd expect from this experience. Everything was very clean. The show was entertaining. They make it fun and easy for the whole crowd to participate- singing or shouting parts of a song. Overall, it is a fun, worthwhile experience to do while in the area.
Written August 12, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
PTPT
Louisville, KY592 contributions
Jul 2021 • Friends
We were going to go the the dinner and show but the lady to purchase tickets from wouldn’t answer our questions. She kept telling us to wait and the people behind us to wait and then she hung up in the person she was helping on the phone and told him she couldn’t hear him he would have to call back. The way I see it the worker just lost them several tickets in business. We had 6 people in our group the people behind us had 4 and no telling what the person had on the phone.
Written July 19, 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
RickL4570
Gladwin, MI48 contributions
Jun 2021
My wife and I both enjoyed the day traveling through the Black Hills and seeing Mount Rushmore. We had Ken for our bus driver/tour guide and he did a great job filling the time with his stories of local legends and lore of the area. He was a great driver also, as some of the roads we traveled were a nightmare in themselves. Switchbacks, pigs tail turns, one way tunnels, glad he was driving. I would recommend this tour to anyone, just allow for it to take up the whole day. Lunch was good too!
Written June 8, 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Noelle R
6 contributions
Jun 2020
The bus tour is worth the money! We just did the bus tour and not the dinner and show after words. If you've never visited the black hills, this is the best bang for your buck to see all the sites in one day. The staff is very friendly, we started out with the simple and inexpensive Breakfast. Super filling. Than we walked around Fort hays, lots to see and do, awesome gift shop. Reserve early, they seat in order of reservation, so you can pick your spot out. I recommend bringing a few snacks and drinks with you. The tour guide is super knowledgeable and funny. Good dad jokes! He will also take your picture! One downside, if your sensitive to politically incorrect stuff, don;t get on bus. Driver is very republican, so if you don't favor that, I will warn you , he doesn't care and says what he wants. I'm a Democrat, I just wrote his comments off, however I know many who wouldn't. He also use some old time terminology for native Americans, etc, but it's not offensive just what those parts are known for. Bring cash to tip your driver, they deserve it! I now know where I will visit and spend more time in the future because the tour is very thorough. Although we didn't do the show and dinner afterwards, I wish we would have. Many other patrons said it is worth it!!! Overall great time!
Written June 29, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Eric H
Portland, OR6 contributions
Jul 2021 • Couples
Great experience. Chris was a tremendous driver and shared constant pieces of trivia and history while engaging with all the guests on the bus. Gave a very nice holistic view of everything in the area including Mt Rushmore, Crazy Horse Monument and Museum, the State Game Lodge, and wildlife/scenery along the way.
Written August 1, 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
No pets allowed, with the exception of "Vested" service dogs.
Written September 14, 2019
Is the $17.50 for lunch worth it? Is it a buffet or do you order off a menu? Would it be better to just order when you arrive as part of the tour group? TIA.
Written August 11, 2019
In our opinion, the food is very average as well as the show. There are other attractions that are much better if watching your spending.
Written September 4, 2019
yes beer is available to purchase
Written August 13, 2019
For the tour, do people bring coolers if they want to bring their own lunch and drinks? Can you bring alchohol?
Written August 16, 2018
Sorry for the late response, but I agree with the other responses that I don't think they want alcohol there. I'm sure there could sell a lot of it after such a long day, if they offered it. I would think if you brought something in, discretely they probably wouldn't say anything. I didn't see anyone with coolers, and the seating and venue is not conducive for that.
Written December 12, 2018
There was a big thunder and lightning storm just before they let us in for the show (a highlight for me, being from Southern California - a show in itself!) I don't remember air conditioning either, but it was comfortable inside.
Written December 12, 2018
Hi I am traveling with my 84 yr old mom and 17 yr old autism spectrum daughter and family friend who is in 70s. My questions are if the bus trip allows for walking around Mt Rushmore or does it just drive by? Also, mom is hard of hearing so is the intercom on the bus loud enough for elderly without hearing aide? What are closest hotels to the Fort Hayes site?
Written June 30, 2018
Yes, you can walk around at Mt Rushmore. The intercom issue is unawerserable to me given hearing loss varies between people. There system is easily heard by people with normal hearing adaptations.
Written July 30, 2018
I read the sauces are all GF. How do you accommodate Gluten Free? Which items on the menu are Gluten Free? Do you have to call and talk to a manager?
Written June 19, 2018
I remember they said they could provide meals for vegetarians, but don't remember anything about gluten free.
Written June 21, 2018
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