Is Fantasmic worth it?

[binab]

With kids that young that are not fearless, I would skip it. I thought "how bad could it be?" last summer. Unfortunately for us, DD(6) went into complete crying / meltdown mode when the evil queen appeared. We had prepared ourselves for this possibility and immediately got up and left. We had done the F! Dinner package and so we thankfully had no wait when getting to our seats. The actual show was just too much for her sensitive nature though. We may try again in a few years, but not anytime soon.

In hindsight, I wish I'd skipped it and opted to do DHS on a non-F! night. Would have been much less crowded that day.

DD and I are going back this November, and can't wait to go to DHS, but we're definitely avoiding F! nights. We hope to get a few rides on RnRC under our belt! (She's loves thrill rides, but hates anything that is more scare and less thrill. She LOVED RnRC but HATED ToT...!)

 

[dragonye]

I could take it or leave it.... DH really wants to see it this year and I would rather be doing other things than wait for Fantasmic... Ugg the wait and the crowd for a blurry review of movie clips. We had to schedule our trip around this show!! and I am sort of put out we have to be at DHS for my birthday For this show.....<<<<stomping away in a pout>>>>>> I would rather be at any other show. p.s. I wont sit thru Indiana Jones again either...I will be out on a bench eating a ice cream...

 

[LaDonna]

we love it too, we never miss it! that being said I too think it would be very difficult for you to make it back for the show though

 

[Coach81]

We enjoyed it.. a few years ago.. we may watch it again soon... in your situation.. hmmmm tough call.. but it would not break my heart if we missed it..

 

[Pakey]

We also must have missed something. In over 20 trips, we never seemed to make it to Fantasmic so a few months ago, we went. Honestly, we could have waited another 20 vacations to see it. I was really disappointed.

 

[scubamouse]

We saw it last week and IMO it isn't worth the hassle. Our kids are 8 and 10.

We did hoppers and had an awesome light crowd day in AK then a quick pool break. We had dinner at B&C (again great) and then grabbed a boat over to DHS. We got there at 7:00 for an 8:30 show and were urged to go to the theatre ASAP. We were hoping to sneak in another trip on RnR before heading in.

We got into the theatre at 7:15 and it was already 75% filled, again this was a pretty low day in the parks. By 7:45 the place was full. We had an hour and 15 minutes to kill before the show started. All DH and I could think about was how to beat the crowd out. We ended up watching the very end of the show standing in the back and headed out of there.

We all agreed it's really good but given how long we had to wait in our seats it just wasn't worth it. Plus the kids were wiped out on the trip back.

If it was just DH and me, we'd have fun but trying to keep the kids happy with all that pre-show sitting was too much.

 

[SciGirl]

Thank you for all the responses, even the snarky one lol. It is funny to read the vastly different opinions on F!, which range from "my absolute favorite, do not miss it" to "eh, could have skipped it" LOL. I guess it really is a personal taste thing.

I think that based on the traveling we would have to do between DHS and CR for our ADRs, and my scraedy-cat kids, we will probably skip it this trip, knowing we will be back at some point in the next few years. I'd rather enjoy the less crowded park on a non-F! day...

thanks everyone!

 

[jjwags23]

My kids pick on me because I cry everytime I see Steamboat Mickey!!![/QUOTE]


I have seen it twice and each time I cried when Steamboat Mickey came out. I had no idea he would be appearing. What a treat. He is my favorite. I can't wait to see it again.

 

[Markstudy]

On my 4th trip we finally found a way to be in the right place at the right time. Usually Disney Studios is a half day park for us, and there isn't any restaurant that we really like to eat dinner at. But we finally made the effort to catch the show.... On a 1-10 scale I'd give it a "6". You would have more fun standing on the shore of the lake and watching the Electric Water Parade after eating at Chef Mickey's. Its a better show and you don't have to fight the crowds, wait a long time for seats, or travel a great distance.

Fantasmic gets a "6" or "D" for the following reasons-
-Movies projected onto water-mist-screen wasn't that great.
-Lots of people rowing around in boats
-Stuff happening on stage that didn't have good audio

The show was really underwhelming, and I wanted to like it, but once was more then enough for us

 

[cruella23]

It was so crowded and the waiting queue was awful! there were 2 showings the night we were there and it took forever for them to empty the seating so the second show could go in. People were pushing and shoving like crazy. We took my parents with us to Disney and that was the first night. I was afraid they were going to regret coming along after that experience. My kids (7 and 4) both fell asleep during it, and it was in November, so we were all freezing from the spray coming off the water. I see why people like it, I really do, but I wouldn't make the effort to see it again.

 

[hannahryan]

It was so crowded and the waiting queue was awful! there were 2 showings the night we were there and it took forever for them to empty the seating so the second show could go in. People were pushing and shoving like crazy. We took my parents with us to Disney and that was the first night. I was afraid they were going to regret coming along after that experience. My kids (7 and 4) both fell asleep during it, and it was in November, so we were all freezing from the spray coming off the water. I see why people like it, I really do, but I wouldn't make the effort to see it again.

True; the wait, the crowds, the water spray when it's cool...just not worth it. The show is pretty good, but not worth the effort. I would see it again with low crowds, but my husband says he'll never see it again. He however loves Illuminations and Wishes.

 

[twokids0204]

I am struggling with this. I have never seen Fanstasmic, but feel like I should, as this is our 3rd Disney trip. But we don't have park hoppers and would only have the one day at DHS (Thursday with 2 Fantasmic shows that day). Also, we would have to leave for dinner at Chef Mickey's (6:30, the only ADR I could get), and come back for the 9:30 show.

My kids are 4 and 7, and are not the most fearless kids either. They might be a little scared.

Is Fantasmic worth the hassle (the extra crowds all day and the wait in line and the back and forth)? Doesn't seem like it right now. If we decide to skip it, we would do DHS on a diff day that would probably be much less crowded.

I am sure someone will tell me that Fantasmic is so awesome that it can't be missed lol...

Fantasmic is so awesome that it can't be missed

 

[disneysophie]

The absolute worst part of Fantasmic is the HUGE crowd to get into the show and the HUGE mob coming out of the show!!!!! Not to mention the long long long lines to catch your bus back to your resort. The show, however, is good but I've only gone once ( during "low" season) and have avoided it ever since b/c of the crowd experience! Everyone should try it....but the hassle of it is truly tormenting!

 

[stitch34]

I say no, not worth it. If haven't done it yet, it IS nice to experience it though and decide for yourself... if you have the time to spare for it.
We find it's a big waster of time. We've had the dining package, and still arrived there 45 minutes before the show... then we sit there and sit there and wait. Time better used going on rides I think.
Show starts and we enjoy it... for a couple minutes. Then we find it pretty boring. A few parts we enjoy of it, but for us, just not worth the aggravation when we enjoy maybe only 7 minutes let's say of the entire show. Really we find majority of it looking at the water screen to be boring... and still not sure what that one scene is supposed to be? Pirates? Just we sit there and can't wait till that's over with.
But between getting there and then waiting, and the length of the show... you're talking up to an hour and a half of time - more if get there earlier.

First time we saw it, dd was 6 and was terrified of it. Second time we saw it, I was alone with three kids, sat there forever waiting... and of course, 20 minutes before show started someone needed the restroom. Got up, of course lost our seats and had to hunt for new ones when we returned.

I have one daughter who did enjoy it and wants to do it again... I keep saying next trip we'll try to fit it in, but never manage to. Just so much other stuff we end up rather doing with our time.

 

[hellokittiemama]

hadn't seen fantasmic that I remember but had heard so much warning about the intensity of it and with kids (one has autism) we have skipped it the past few trips. Well, we decided to get the fantasmic pkg this time and give it a try and honestly because of touring plans I thought about skipping it. Wondering - would it still be too much? What am I missing out on?

I decided to do what we did with many a WDW attraction and look it up on youtube. You can find people who have video of the entire show (be sure to check to make sure its DHS and not the DL show) and I sat down with my son and we watched it. My son was mesmorized by it and is really excited to go and see it now. So we are keeping our pkg.

I would say check it out on YouTube and see what you think?

 

[g-dad66]

I am sure someone will tell me that Fantasmic is so awesome that it can't be missed lol...

Fantasmic is so awesome that it can't be missed

 

[Lumiere Lover]

The first time my family saw fantasmic, we couldn't stop talking about it. The movies playing on the screens of water are incredible.

We are leaving one week from today, and our entire trip was planned around the fansasmic show, so we knew we would be at Holloywood studios to see it. I highly recommend going to this show. It is FANTASTIC!!!

 

[twokids0204]

Good eye g-dad.

 

[kathy884]

I only saw Fatasmic once (Dec. 2008). It was a perfectly nice show, but not something that I think is a must see. If it was just me, I'd go to DHS on a less busy day when Fatasmic is not showing, and even if it were showing I'd skip it (too long a line and too crowded). This is just my opinion, of course. I've never had the interest in doing / paying for one of those dinner packages either -- just doesn't seem like a good value to me.

In trip planning, though, (going in March 2011 -- busy spring break week). Fatasmic is on DS's list as one of the things he really want to do, so we'll be doing DHS on a busier day (We don't have hoppers and are just doing two Disney parks on the trip on two different days) and lining up for the show. I was quite surprised with how much he loved this show (A trip highlight for him). He's even planning on buying the DVD. I'll bring a picnic dinner we can eat while waiting for the show to start.

 

[MommyJack]

I too have been to Disney 3 times and have never seen F!. We are going the 1st week of October and I decided we had to see it. I tried to get the dinner package, but could not get reservations. What we plan on doing is going to lunch at 50's Prime for our TS that day. Then back to our resort for rest, pool and cs dinner. We will head back to HS around 6 to get in line for F!.

HS also has EMH this day, so I started to worry about crowds. Checking on Touring Plans, they have this day as a 1 and are recommending MK as the park to stay away from because of MNSSHP.

Now my plan hasn't been tested yet, but I think not having a dinner ressie and going back to rest will make for a smoother experience especially for my kids.