Are Osbournes Lights going after Fantasmic?

[lpandorf]

We are going to WDW Nov 15-19. We only have one day to spend at MGM. I checked the calendar and see Lights are 6-7 pm and Fantasmic at 7pm. It also says park closes at 7pm. Based on some replies to my last post I learned I need to get to Fantasmic ahead of time and lights are far away so should not plan on doing that before hand. Do they keep the lights going after the Fantasmic even though it says 6-7pm and park closes at 7pm?
Thanks so much!

 

[MyGoofy26]

When Fantasmic ends, they'll typically have CMs directing you towards the exit (blocking you from entering any other area of the park) The lights do stay on well after park close (did my CP at Indy/Tatooine so once we counted down drawers and closed up the shop after park close, lights would always still be on as we were leaving) but you typically can't get back there unless there's something going on that you're a part of. That time of year there are MANY special events going on back there. A LOT of companies rent out the street for their holiday parties. When I did my CP, starting in early November there would be at least a few a week. Get into December it was nearly every night. That's a very popular area for Christmas parties, so if they say it closes at a certain time you're pretty much guaranteed it'll be closed at that time so they can hurry and set up for the parties and start welcoming guests.

That time of year though, it's possible that you can show up to Fantasmic "last minute" if you're not picky about where to sit. So if you're at Osborne as soon as it starts, you could concievable make your way through and quickly head over to Fantasmic to find some seats - you just may be on the sides, towards the top. It depends on the crowds that day.

 

[Robo]

We are going to WDW Nov 15-19. We only have one day to spend at MGM. I checked the calendar and see Lights are 6-7 pm and Fantasmic at 7pm. It also says park closes at 7pm. Based on some replies to my last post I learned I need to get to Fantasmic ahead of time and lights are far away so should not plan on doing that before hand. Do they keep the lights going after the Fantasmic even though it says 6-7pm and park closes at 7pm?
Thanks so much!

Got to disagree with MyGoofy26.

The Osborne Lights attraction presented an unusual problem for MGM.
When they were "acquired" by Disney from the Osborne family (not OZZIE, BTW) there was a huge amount of national publicity about them.
Disney got a lot of "mileage" out of having them and they needed to DISPLAY them for lots of guests to see (after dark).
But...
Even in the winter months, it simply does not get really DARK in Florida until about 6pm.
So the lights can't be properly viewed until that time.
(They simply are NOT a daytime or even "regular hours" attraction).
And the MGM park usually closes (except EMH) only an hour or so after dark.

Since Disney spends a major (MAJOR) amount of time and money to set-up, promote, fund the electricity and CM's and (after the holidays) remove and store these hundreds of thousands of lights, they needed a way that guests could actually VIEW them.
(Otherwise, what's the POINT?)

So since, at sunset, MOST (up to 10,000) guests in MGM are SITTING IN THE FANTASMIC! THEATER and can't SEE the lights as it gets dark... AFTER the show, the CM's actually ENCOURAGE the exiting crowds from Fantasmic! to go over and see the Osborne Lights.
Even though the rest of the park is closed, the lights are in full glory, and there are even some concessions open for refreshments.
If Fantasmic! is at 7pm, then its over at 7:25pm, most guests are out of the theater by 7:50pm and headed to the Osborne Lights.

I'd estimate that they would keep them open for a hour-plus, so, say 9:15pm-9:30pm would be the approx. wrap-up.

 

[AStamm]

We had absolutely zero problems getting from Fantasmic over to Osbourne Lights last November. Don't stress yourself about it. You'll easily be able to do both.

 

[blessedby3]

I must say that no one was encouraging us to go see the lights after Fantasmic (as Robo is saying) last Nov. We went to see the show because from other posts I read on dis boards before I left, I was lead to believe that we would be able to walk through the lights too. Not the case for us. We tried heading down the way toward them and were stopped by CM's and we told them we wanted to see the lights and they said -Park is Closing, no one can go see them. I thought maybe they were mistaken, so headed off another way and were stopped by different CM's who coralled us straight for the park gates saying again- the Park is Closing and we cant see the lights. I was very disappointed because we didnt have park hoppers and I knew this was our only MGM day. We never saw them. Hopefully we will this year. Just letting you know our experience and to not count on getting to see them after Fantasmic. You might, but we werent allowed. They even had the main street roped off to go toward Mickeys big hat so we had to proceed to main gates.

 

[pbnjrockette]

Okay.... now that all sounds confusing...

Anyone else have experiences with seeing Osborne Lights after Fantasmic in December?

 

[Robo]

Okay.... now that all sounds confusing...

Anyone else have experiences with seeing Osborne Lights after Fantasmic in December?

Its not that difficult to understand.
Its really like everything else at Disney.
It simply changes due to the "conditions" of the particular day, every day.

There ARE "private parties" on selected nights so the OLights may not be available to all guests after Fantasmic! on those nights.

There ARE some nights when they might not have the CM staff available to cover the "after-hours" OLights.

But there ARE plenty of nights when guests are encouraged to go view the OLights after Fantasmic!

Replies here are generally, "when WE were there on "such and such" it was not that way."
Understandable, but you must consider that things often VARY, day-by-day at Disney.

So, the only way to know exactly what will happen on the day YOU are there is to check with Guest Relations THAT DAY before you make your evening decisions.

 

[sjms71]

We've also had no problem seeing the lights after fantasmic when the park was "officially" closed.

 

[Karnak]

If I were going to be at the Studios during an evening when the Christmas Lights are going to be on, and also wanted to see Fanstamick the same evening, I know what I'd do ...

I'd simply ask two or three different CMs along the way if I could see the lights after the show or not, and plan my evening accordingly. (By the way, the last time we attempted to see the show and the lights afterwards there was no problem doing so at all.)

Enjoy.

 

[KingdomHeartsFan]

Last December after Fantasmic we (and many many others) had plenty of time to enjoy the lights. There were still PhotoPass photographers around, snow falling, and holiday music playing. No one was in any hurry to usher out out of the park. Don't worry, have a great time and enjoy the holiday festivities!

But I agree with Robo, it can never hurt to check at guest relations and ask exactly how the situation will be handled on the day you are there... because we all know Disney is notorious for changing their plans at the last minute! Have fun!