This fantasmic! 2 times a week STINKS!

[LMO429]

Just out of curiosity, how would you rank the various nighttime "spectaculars"? We're thinking of skipping Fantasmic. We've never seen it, and I'm just not sure I want to put all that effort into seeing it, when seeing Illuminations or Wishes is so much easier...

1. Any Hard Ticket Event Fireworks
2. Wishes
3. Illuminations
4. Spectromagic
5. Fantasic

 

[yankeefan37]

Im also a little annoyed. Im going to hs on thursday feb 5th so i would see fantasmic and i was told that on that week fantasmic isnt being shown on thursday but its being done on friday feb 6th. I guess its not the end of the world and maybe the park wont be as busy that day now that its not being shown.

 

[Bete]

that you get to sit; unless, you are really one of the late comers.

With that said, the easiest to see is Illuminations; because, you have the whole parameter of the lagoon to view it.

Spectro ususally runs the same day as Wishes and most line up for the Spectro show and stay there for the Wishes fireworks. So, it becomes a two show committment to make it worthwhile. If you see Wishes alone without Spectro showing that night you have a better chance for less crowds.

I would stay away from Friday and Saturday night viewings on anything; unless, you don't have any other times to go. Another good stategy is to stay away from the parks that are early or late extra magic hours for the special shows like Fantasmic, etc. The parks are crowded for that perk; so, it makes it even worse. You need to be very savy and flexible as to how you choose your time to go for the popular events.

Also, I would change my plans if I had park hopper and the weather was bad like it being cold or looks like rain. If you can stand it, then it's the best time to go to the more popular shows; especially, the ones showing at thelater times; because, most don't want to be in the cold, etc.

 

[Amy&Dan]

So I guess the moral of the story is that the Fantasmic Dinner Package is an oversold thing (which I always knew anyway) and that on the days F! is showing, DHS is a zoo, even in the off season and that if you love F! you have to really allow a chunk of time to seee it, and if you don't, go to DHS when its not shown.

I wish they'd at least bump it to three times a week. I know the economy is bad and I know Disney is a business and I know they have good deals like the 4/3 offer. But I still think they have cut back more on what they offer to the guest than what they should be. Ticket prices and food are still the same.

Really feel bad for people who are missing this show and I am really concerned about how we will see this with two elderly familiy members who don't do well with crowds but really want to see it.

 

[vickiea]

Im also a little annoyed. Im going to hs on thursday feb 5th so i would see fantasmic and i was told that on that week fantasmic isnt being shown on thursday but its being done on friday feb 6th. I guess its not the end of the world and maybe the park wont be as busy that day now that its not being shown.

Can I ask where you got this information? We are there that week and were planning on F on the Thursday, don't want to go through all of that if it isn't even on that night.

Thanks
Vickie

 

[Disney1976]

I wouldn't miss Fantasmic. I'd miss Illuminations without a second thought, found it kind of dull, and not "Disney." (With kids - sorry, I should say that. With kids. On our own, as a couple, I'd love to linger and watch it with a nice glass of wine. But the kids were very restless.)

Fantasmic has scary moments, for sure, but overall, it was just such a hoot to see one Disney group of characters after another pulled into the story. My kids were riveted through the whole thing, and loving it. Caroline was scared at a few points - she was six, and it was her year to be afraid of EVERYTHING, but overall, she did well and found it fascinating.

It's beautiful, it's HUGE, it's ornate....I don't like the wait, but consider it worthwhile. Pre-show entertainment is pretty lame and sad, but you're stuck on a bleacher - they're doing what they can. I'll be sure to bring something to keep them busy this time. Caroline still remembers doing the Wave and liking it, which seems really funny to me...I was pretty desperate for the show to start.

Wishes is far more sentimental, and lovely. I wouldn't want to miss out on that, either. I um....well, ok, I admit it. I cried during Wishes. Just a little overwhelmed with nostalgia, and the happiness of having my family all around me at a magical place with so much beauty and happy people all around us, all building memories with the people they loved....couldn't help it.

The pre-show at Fantasmic used to be a lot better, though this is probably going back 8-10 years. I remember when they used to have a couple of the "bellhops" from TOT come out and entertain the crowd by juggling, doing some small acrobatic stunts, etc. The crowd really seemed to enjoy it, I wish they still did that.

 

[leighe]

We will be there April 4 - 11 with a 3 year old and an 18 month old. This is definitely something we want to see bc DD3 loves all the villans (I know, I know). In the past DH and I were never interested in one of the dinner packages because we didn't think the seats were that great but waiting on bleachers for 2 hours with the girls at their ages sounds like a nightmare! Would you all suggest the dinner package? What restaurant? We've never cared for most of the DHS table service options.

 

[momof2intx]

Maybe I'm in the minority here, but I plan on parking our butts in that Fantasmic line at least 1.5 to 2 hours prior to showtime on 2/9! We've seen the show 3 times and love it, it just wouldn't be a trip to DHS without it. It's also an EMH night so hopefully we can do some more stuff after the show.

My parents are going and have never seen it...they have no problem waiting. If you are going to Disney, you have to be prepared to wait in lines....

 

[tinkyrie]

We were there for marathon weekend and were at DHS on 1/08. The park wasn't that busy during the day, but when we headed over to Fantasmic after dinner at around 6:10 it was standing room only. I'm assuming that others hopped over to DHS just for Fantasmic because there are so few showings each week. We didn't let us get us down though. Life is too short (and so was our vacation) to fret over it.

 

[eagillinois]

We love Fantasmic and will be doing the FDP in March to see it. We watched in 2003 and 2006 and I dont remember a pre-show either time!

 

[jenny-d]

As of now, UG has DHS listed as a "best park" on Monday Feb 2nd which is also a scheduled Fantasmic night. Do you think this will change d/t all the hype with it being only 2 shows per week? Or do you think people will just hop over there to see the show? I have us scheduled to be at DHS that day and will change it if everyone thinks it will be a zoo!!
also, what time do we need to get there with FDP tickets?

 

[dburg30]

As stated the park itself wasnt really that busy.

 

[yankeefan37]

Im almost sure that fantasmic was switched from thursday feb 5th to the friday feb 6th. If anyone else comes across that information please let me know. Thankyou

 

[SueM in MN]

Just to clarify, the wheelchair/ECV seating areas for Fantasmic are across the whole back row. There is space for a wheelchair/ECV to park and space for one person to sit next to them. The rest of your party will sit directly in front of those 2 people in the 1-2 rows ahead.

You get to sit right down front at Beauty in the Beast as well.

Most of the wheelchair/ECV seating for Beauty and the Beast is actually in the back row. So, if you want to sit in the front, you need to be there early. The front seating usually fills up well before the show begins.

I'm not sure about Indiana Jones

There are 2 wheelchair spots in the front at Indiana Jones, but they try to save those for people who are using wheelchairs/ECVs and also have some type of special needs that make sitting in the front very important for them.
All the other wheelchair/ECV seating is in the very last row and they do sometimes run out of those spots while there is still room for people who can walk in and go down the stairs.

the Lights, Motor, Action, but they probably have special wheelchair seating for those as well.

There is some wheelchair seating at ground level in the front row on one side.
The majority of wheelchair/ECV seating is upstairs; up an elevator. Because you need to use the elevator to get to and from the seating, it can really back up getting out (and in). We were there once when they did not do a good job of counting the wheelchair parties and ended up with 10 more wheelchairs than they had space for. So, 10 groups who were already in the theater area had to be told they could not come into the show.

For other shows at DHS, here is where the wheelchair seating is:
Sounds Dangerous (if it's open) - back row

Muppet Vision 3D - back row

Voyage of the Little Mermaid - back row

Magic of Disney Animation - back row

All the shows have limited number of wheelchair spots and it is possible that all the spots will have already been taken when you arrive, so you may need to wait for the next show. And, in most cases, there will be one companion seat per wheelchair/ECV spot, so the rest of your party will be sitting in front of you (or where ever they want to sit in the show).

 

[SueM in MN]

The pre-show at Fantasmic used to be a lot better, though this is probably going back 8-10 years. I remember when they used to have a couple of the "bellhops" from TOT come out and entertain the crowd by juggling, doing some small acrobatic stunts, etc. The crowd really seemed to enjoy it, I wish they still did that.

That was a good preshow, but I think it was only around for the first few years.

We love Fantasmic and will be doing the FDP in March to see it. We watched in 2003 and 2006 and I dont remember a pre-show either time!

The preshow since that one that Disney1976 mentioned has been gone is just Disney music played over the loudspeakers. The crowd starts doing the Wave and that is your preshow entertainment.

 

[dyna]

We too missed F last Monday the 12th not the end of the world for us I'm not willing to wait for the show more than about 20 mins or so DH and I have both seen it and are not ppl to just sit an wait for something we've already seen several times. I do think that the show should be offered more than twice a week tho but that would not have helped us Monday was our day at HS an we had trouble filling that day even with going back to the room for a break in the afternoon.

 

[Gillettes]

We are just back today and we also were at the Fantasmic show on the 12th. We had the dinner package with Mama Melrose's. We walked into the theater at 6:15 and they were already announcing standing room only. We showed our tickets from the dining package and were let in to the roped off section. The last section was EMPTY so we picked about mid way down and thought it was great. UNTIL 10 minutes later we were surrounded by people. From what I understand from the people who sat behind us, the employees couldn't hold back the crowd from going into the roped off section so they just dropped them and it was a madhouse. I bet 75% of those people were tour groups from you know where. They started chanting "brazil brazil" before the show. That is so annoying!! The show was great and it was worth the wait because we had never seen it before. But Disney had better work something out or they will have a lot of irritated people. My dh and I wonder what happened to the people who had dinner package seats that came in after they opened up the sections. Were they turned away too? That would be frustrating. So plan and plan well. Good luck!!

 

[pixiefairy]

We had juggled around our adr's and everything to try and make Fantasmic on February 15th (I believe). Once I read how you need to be there nearly 2 hours early...I changed everything back. We are only there for 5 days...alone. I don't want to stand around for that long for a show I've never seen. I'm hoping that things will be back to their regularly scheduled programming when we take all of our kids in November of 2010.....otherwise, it'll be a looong while before we go and see it.

 

[4luvofbearandmouse]

Can we bring food into the area for Fantasmic? If it starts at 7 and we should be there 1.5 to 2 hours early and we don't have dinner reservations anywhere, would we be able to bring food in and eat it there? Do they sell food or beverages inside the area?

 

[HolliePoppins]

Can we bring food into the area for Fantasmic? If it starts at 7 and we should be there 1.5 to 2 hours early and we don't have dinner reservations anywhere, would we be able to bring food in and eat it there? Do they sell food or beverages inside the area?[/QUOTE]

yes and yes. lol have fun