Cinderumbrella said:
Come on folks- the more the merrier!
Maybe the second one won't be as crowded....... or at least I hope- we are going to be running over from Epcot after dinner at Garden Grille so it'll be close!
Relax.
The second show is never as full as the first.
Glad that they added a second show for you, because there is no direct relation between PM EMH and a second show of Fantasmic!
There are plenty of EMH nights without a second Fantasmic!
And there are nights with a second showing that are not EMH nights.
There is no real "LINE" for Fantasmic! at least for the first show.
If guests arrive nearer to show time, they get "backed up" but nobody is actually standing in a "line" (its more of a slow-moving "mob".)
For the first show (or if there is only one show that evening) the theater is "opened" about 60-90 before show-time and guests can just walk into the theater and pick a seat.
As for arrival times:
About an hour before show-time is a great "rule-of-thumb" for any time of year.
If its a BUSY park, you'll still find very good seats at that time.
If its a lower-attendance time, you'll find GREAT seats (front-row or really ANYWHERE) by an hour before.
If there's a SECOND show of the evening, if you arrive a hour early there WILL be a "line".
That's because they hold guests back from entering while the CMs clean the theater after the first show.
But don't worry, once they start letting guests enter, the theater will not be full by any means. The second show virtually never "sells out" even when the park is busy.