Allocated seating trial at Fantasmic***Now with another new twist, see page 15, #288***

[ArwenMarie]

I had brought this up much earlier in the thread. Think about Animal Kingdom and where in the heck they would hold 10,000 people until the show seating opens up. It's going to be ugly and it's one of the reasons why the best Imagineering teams passed on the project and Disney had to assign the "B" team (according to Jim Hill). Disney wants to let people wander around right up until show time otherwise it's going to be a nightmare.

Wow. Yeah, that's going to be a gigantic mess especially the way AK is laid out.

 

[ArwenMarie]

Yeah, I had brought this up towards the beginning of this thread. RoL certainly presents a challenge for Ops and they know that. For starters, they know/want it to be popular but they're unsure just how many people they're going to be actually dealing with. Right now, attendance numbers for DAK that late are either tiny and will be irrelevant (because most guests duck out of that park around 3pm) or nonexistent because the park is closed, so they're trying to estimate how big of a draw this will be. Will this keep the majority of guests in the park that late? Will only some stay for the show? How late would they be willing to stay if there's not enough room in the first show? Answers to these questions are, at this point, all speculation and projections, so it would help to have specific numbers locked in in advance for these shows to help with these dilemmas. Further complicating things is when AVATAR comes online in 2017, which will definitely bring in more people to DAK after dark. You add complicated seating areas to this and it's a tough situation. And they're hoping this will be big (expect two to three shows a night), so they're planning for high attendance right now, which is why they're considering using the DI trails as a potential holding area for shows. All of these F! tests seem to be more about fine tuning a system for RoL than increasing guest spending at DHS, though if they find success with this at RoL, I wouldn't be surprised to see it at Fantasmic!

Sounds like it will be FP+ only. Even then, sounds like a mess.

 

[Planogirl]

I can shop with the best of them. But pushing people back into generic shops can only do so much. How much of the same thing will people buy? Also, expecting people to eat more is odd too. How much can people eat particularly in DHS?

These tests seem so counterproductive.

 

[SureAsLiz]

So this is a little off topic, but if the above is true, then is the reason there are no F! FPs available for my trip Aug26-30th because they have taken them out of the system to prep for this test?

That is the most likely explanation.

With the first round of tests, I did not see any notice that they would run that far into August (mid-August was the latest date), but they may have extended it a week or two from what was originally announced.

 

[123SA]

Hmmm...the Dibb is showing my dates , 9/1 and 9/8, have available FP+. However, when I went into MDE to change my FP to F!, there was no availability for either of my dates. The Dibb is also showing FP+ for F! available on Aug 26., so I guess it is wrong.

 

[Sailormoon2]

The Dibb is also showing FP+ for F! available on Aug 26., so I guess it is wrong

I stand completely corrected...I'm an idiot and forgot about the Tier system. Yes! There are still F! FPs available!!!

 

[123SA]

Oh! I forgot about that too. That would be why I can't see it on MDE but can see on the DIBB

 

[nuzmom]

I get that. And the shopping thing could be successful to a certain point. But it's getting borderline ridiculous how little there is to do in this park these days. There reaches a point where any degree of extra time wandering fails to produce any additional result.

I know what result it's produced in my family: we give up and leave the park. It's just not worth the wait!

I can shop with the best of them. But pushing people back into generic shops can only do so much. How much of the same thing will people buy? Also, expecting people to eat more is odd too. How much can people eat particularly in DHS?

These tests seem so counterproductive.

I so agree!!! If there were so many things to do at DHS that it was hard to get them all in, I would really like the reserved seating (if the seats are wide enough). But, I feel like so much has been done to "encourage" shopping that I am totally defensive any time I hear of something being tested. My first thought is always, "what's in it for Disney?"

Granted, I don't like waiting in line, but I also get really freaked out by people touching me. So much so that it's hard to enjoy stadium events. However, I have always enjoyed F! because I don't squish up again others. I don't leave a bunch of space where one would consider it rude, but I don't have my leg up smashed up against a strangers.

 

[larryz]

I'm going to say it again, but with color and larger font:

OPEN THE THEATER TWO HOURS BEFORE THE SHOW AND LET PEOPLE GO IN AND WAIT!!!!

It ties up CMs having to babysit the crowd. Think "reduced manning."

 

[challada]

1. No.

2. 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.

There is sometimes a "pre-show" (such as it is) that can help pass the last 30 minutes before show time.

-------------------------------------------------------------------
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.)

Thank you for the map and explanation! We will hang on to our dining reservations.