4:30 ADR @ 50's PTC before 6:30 Fantasmic

[minniebride]

We just booked at 4:30 ADR at 50's PTC a few days before Christmas. We booked the early ADR to hopefully have time to make it to a 6:30 Fantasmic.

Usually when we go to 50's PTC, we get ADR's between 5:30 and 6:30 & we end up waiting 15 minutes or so before we are called. They are always very busy when we eat there for dinner. Sometimes the food also takes a while, but we never mind because we love the atmosphere in there.

Do you think 50's PTC will be a madhouse a few days before Christmas, even at 4:30? We just want to make sure we are out of there in time to get to Fantasmic.

I'm thinking we will be fine, just wanted to get an opinion from someone who has been to 50's PTC a few days before Christmas.

Also: How far is the walk from 50's PTC to the place where Fantasmic takes place?

Thanks!

 

[Agri]

I would cancel and eat AFTER Fantasmic outside the park TBH.

Eating is going to take you about 45 minutes to an hour if service is smooth and you likely won't be seated right away. (Like sit at 4:30, leave at 5:30 isn't a good expectation to have that time of year, especially)

Even with the best of circumstances, the Fantasmic area will be filling up by 5:30 since its an hour before the performance - it will be massively crowded this time of year. Trust me.

I think you would do far better to save your money on the package and head over to the Fantasmic area about 5:00p.m., if not earlier with some snacks from Starring Rolls (or even better, eat a late lunch that day!) and wait it out with everyone else. I truly think that if you wait on the package, with the distance and congestion from the crowd on Sunset Blvd., you might end up sitting with the non-package people anyway. The package is NOT a guarantee you'll end up with seats.

I really think you'd feel a lot less stressed if you saw Fantasmic and didn't have to spend dinner looking at your watch/cell to check the time and THEN have the stress of wading through the huge crowd. Fantasmic night crowds are generally bad, but that time of year they're going to be even worse.

 

[minniebride]

Thank you!!! We just switched our ADR for 50's PTC to 7:40 instead. I was hoping for a 7:15 or 7:30, but 7:40 was what was available. I'm feeling much better about this.

If we can get an earlier ADR, do you think anywhere from 7:10-7:30 would be cutting it too close to make it on time? We were just told that the place where Fantasmic is is a little bit of a walk from 50's PTC.

Thanks again!

 

[Agri]

I think its cutting it way too close. Fantasmic is at least an hour and the seating for that area is huge and will be at capacity, baring bad weather or other freak circumstances. You'll likely want to slowly make your way out so you're not battling the mob of people who are thinking "Oooh, let's hurry to XXX ride now!"

It's really hard to describe the Christmas Fantasmic crowd, but its basically like turning the corner on a city street and seeing nothing but people's heads for the entire block. They make everyone wait out in the street who isn't in a wheelchair or part of a party with someone in a wheelchair.

I'd plan for an 8:00p.m. dinner or later. We usually see the early show then head to an Epcot resort for dinner or to Epcot itself for dinner and see the fireworks there, too.

 

[minnie mum]

I think the timing for your new ADR is just fine. Fantasmic lasts less than an hour. At a steady walk you should make it over to 50s in 10 or 15 minutes. Just don't dawdle on the way.

The crowds will probably be horrible, but I hope you have a wonderful Christmas vacation.

 

[wishicouldgomoreofte]

Just wanted to add that the theater can hold up to 10,000 people, so a quick exit is darn near impossible. And yes, the walk to 50's Prime Time will be blocked with crowds, so you can't really maintain a quick pace.