Fantasmic without FP+

[Fabooliss]

Can someone give me a rundown on the best way to do this?
We will be arriving at HS just after lunch tomorrow and have a FP+ for Toy Story, but I suspect we may be out of luck getting Fantasmic FP+ afterwards.
Our plan was to pickup a CS meal about 6pm and head over to Fantasmic standby to eat it while we wait. Can someone give me some specifics? Will we be standing in line waiting, or just walking in and sitting and waiting? Is there decent CS close enough to Fantasmic to make this feasible?
Thanks for your help!

 

[BrianL]

Getting a FP for Fantasmic! is not that hard as there are so many available (about one half of the entire seating area is allocated to FP guests). Really though, having an FP for Fantasmic doesn't mean you can show up later, it just lets you sit on the FP side which will start filling up once they open the gate. FP though does give you the option of sitting on either side, so if there are better seats in the Standby section, just go for those. Robo always explains this very well with maps and such. If your seats aren't that important to you the advantage of an FP is minimal.

 

[yulilin3]

I was at DHS this past Saturday and if you don't get a fp you should still try standby. By the beginning of the show the far right area was not filled. I think it will be easy since a lot of people choose to go to MK that night since it doesn't have a party and a lot of people choose to watch JBJB
As for counter services you have,Catalina Eddie, Rosie All American,Fairfax Fare and inside the actual Fantasmic theater they have concession stands

 

[Robo]

Guests don't really wait in line for the first (or only) F! performance of the evening.

The CMs open the theater an hour or more before show-time.
Guests at that time will simply walk slowly through the very long pathways to the theater and file in to find a seat.

What a FP+ for F! offers is more CHOICE in seating.
If you DO get a F! FP+, you can choose to sit in either the FP section (virtually the entire left half of the theater) or the Standby section (virtually the entire right half of the theater.)
So, whatever section has the better seating at the time you arrive, you can go there.
Without a FP, you can only choose a seat in the Standby section.

There is a very good chance that you can get a FP+ for F! as a 4th or 5th FP of the day because they issue SO MANY of them (enough to cover nearly the entire left half of the seating.) On many nights, it is possible that you can gat a FP+ for F! as you are walking to the theater.

As to when to arrive at the theater, I'd get to there 45-60 minutes before the show-time.
Even with a FP or Dining Pkg. reservation, don't wait too late.

On busy nights, the CMs can stop holding the reserved sections within 20-30 minutes before show-time, and turn over any available seats to waiting walk-in guests.
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Map Below-

Arrows indicate the center of the seating.
Shaded areas:
(First or Only F! performance of the evening)
Cyan= Standby (walk-in) seating
Red= Dining Package Reserved
Blue= FP+ Reserved
Purple= Can be either FP+ or Dining Plan Reserved, depending on needs.

(Second or Third F! performance of the evening)
Cyan= Standby (walk-in) seating
Red, Purple, Blue= FP+ Reserved
(Although much of the outer Blue will likely be used for Standby.)

 

[BrianL]

There it is. That's exactly what you need to know, from Robo.

 

[Fabooliss]

Thanks everyone, and here is my take on it, in case anyone finds my question and is thinking about eating while they wait. (touring plans predicted crowd level 6)
We started in the path at 6:30 for the 7pm show, no FP+, they were available but we snagged one for Star Tours for 8pm. We had our choice of seats in Ursula (close to Sebastian side). There was lots of room when we arrived, filled up in the next 5-10 minutes. Perfect view of the screen and action, would not have wanted to sit any closer, we got a bit damp. Could have chosen farther back, we just didn't.


We were glad we decided eat first instead of eating as we waited, as it is such a long way in and it would have been awkward to carry food/been cold.