Frances999
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Feb 6, 2004
We did the Fantasmic Premium Seating on August 7th (last Tuesday). I tried for the balcony but Vacation Planning told me it wasn't open in August (although I swear I saw it being prepared for Fantasmic seating on the day we were booked into the premium seats 
).
At $59 each for DH and I and $49 each for our three children, I did feel it was a little steep for a 20 minute show but then I am not one to stake out seats three hours in advance. We don't have the patience! At 6pm people were already lined out in front of the fencing.
The tickets stated that the check-in would open at 7.00pm. We rushed over there and arrived outside POTC at around 6.35pm. I couldn't figure out where we were supposed to check-in, so I asked a CM and they pointed us in the right direction - the desk is beside a small set of stairs on the other side of the island, near the Cafe Orleans and next to a churro stand.
By this time it was around 6.45pm and there was already a long line of people waiting to check-in. I'd guess there were at least 4 or 5 other families in front of us. At 7.00pm they started checking us in. How they allocate the seats is simple - the earlier you check-in the better seats you get. Luckily, we managed to secure five front row seats. They weren't in the dead centre (they were off to the left a little) but they seemed okay. We were then told to come back at 8.25pm when they would begin the seating. I'd advise anyone who has got this booked to get there at around 6.15pm for the best seats in the house.
We arrived back at 8.25pm and we were sat in the order we checked-in, so we were about the fourth party to be seated. At this point we were introduced to our server and brought refreshments. The available drinks included cans of soda and coffee/tea/hot chocolate. You can have as many as you like - our kids started with a can and then got a hot chocolate just before the show began.
Once the drinks have been served the dessert boxes are given out. I was very surprised by the size of these. There was a huge array of pastries and things like cookies and chocolate covered strawberries (which were delicious). There was way too much for us to eat (you get one box each - to be honest, one box probably would have been enough for all of us!). We took the left overs back to the hotel.
Unfortunately, my pictures of the seating area and Fantasmic didn't come out at all. I thought I would experiment with my cameras "night" setting but everything just came out blurry. Next time I will just stick with "auto"! Anyhow, the view was wonderful and I was very happy with the seating. In addition, there is a great view of the Fireworks from here, and you are allowed to stay (and request more drinks) even when Fantasmic has finished. For that reason, I'd definitely advise people to reserve the 9pm show rather than the later one.
I did manage snap a photo of the dessert box when we got back to our room. Here it is -
That's with some of the stuff eaten, too! There were about three chocolate strawberries and the Mickey Mouse shaped items are rice krispy cakes with marshmallow.
Hope this review helps anyone planning on doing the premium seating package. I'd definitely recommend it - despite being hesitant at first I think it was money well spent. To have awesome seats and only have to wait half an hour (with drinks and snacks provided) for the show to start definitely makes it worthwhile in my opinion.
).At $59 each for DH and I and $49 each for our three children, I did feel it was a little steep for a 20 minute show but then I am not one to stake out seats three hours in advance. We don't have the patience! At 6pm people were already lined out in front of the fencing.
The tickets stated that the check-in would open at 7.00pm. We rushed over there and arrived outside POTC at around 6.35pm. I couldn't figure out where we were supposed to check-in, so I asked a CM and they pointed us in the right direction - the desk is beside a small set of stairs on the other side of the island, near the Cafe Orleans and next to a churro stand.
By this time it was around 6.45pm and there was already a long line of people waiting to check-in. I'd guess there were at least 4 or 5 other families in front of us. At 7.00pm they started checking us in. How they allocate the seats is simple - the earlier you check-in the better seats you get. Luckily, we managed to secure five front row seats. They weren't in the dead centre (they were off to the left a little) but they seemed okay. We were then told to come back at 8.25pm when they would begin the seating. I'd advise anyone who has got this booked to get there at around 6.15pm for the best seats in the house.
We arrived back at 8.25pm and we were sat in the order we checked-in, so we were about the fourth party to be seated. At this point we were introduced to our server and brought refreshments. The available drinks included cans of soda and coffee/tea/hot chocolate. You can have as many as you like - our kids started with a can and then got a hot chocolate just before the show began.
Once the drinks have been served the dessert boxes are given out. I was very surprised by the size of these. There was a huge array of pastries and things like cookies and chocolate covered strawberries (which were delicious). There was way too much for us to eat (you get one box each - to be honest, one box probably would have been enough for all of us!). We took the left overs back to the hotel.
Unfortunately, my pictures of the seating area and Fantasmic didn't come out at all. I thought I would experiment with my cameras "night" setting but everything just came out blurry. Next time I will just stick with "auto"! Anyhow, the view was wonderful and I was very happy with the seating. In addition, there is a great view of the Fireworks from here, and you are allowed to stay (and request more drinks) even when Fantasmic has finished. For that reason, I'd definitely advise people to reserve the 9pm show rather than the later one.
I did manage snap a photo of the dessert box when we got back to our room. Here it is -
That's with some of the stuff eaten, too! There were about three chocolate strawberries and the Mickey Mouse shaped items are rice krispy cakes with marshmallow.
Hope this review helps anyone planning on doing the premium seating package. I'd definitely recommend it - despite being hesitant at first I think it was money well spent. To have awesome seats and only have to wait half an hour (with drinks and snacks provided) for the show to start definitely makes it worthwhile in my opinion.
