Fantasmic and Rivers of Light Question

[lovethesun12]

Hello!

We really want to do Fantasmic & ROL. We go during Easter week, and for our park days, we usually arrive early (7am), have FP+ at 9, 10 & 11am; leave at lunch, nap, then return for the night show.

We have the dining packages booked, but we have too many ADR's (especially buffet's) and I'd like to cancel at least one if not both. We have kids ages 2 and 4 and don't really want to wait in line for an hour.

While I know this will vary, I'm just wondering if anyone has experience trying to book a FP+ for Fantasmic and ROL late morning or early afternoon during a busier season? If it is about as easy to book as Dumbo, IASW type thing I'll take a risk and cancel the package.

TIA!!!

 

[Robo]

We have kids ages 2 and 4 and don't really want to wait in line for an hour.

Guests don't really wait in line for the first (or only) F! performance of the evening.
The CMs open the theater an hour or more before show-time.
Guests at that time will simply walk slowly through the very long pathways to the theater and file in to find a seat.

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 having 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.

Guests who learn how to take advantage of the various available "tools" and timing strategies will be able to take more control over their WDW experiences.
-------------------------------------------------------------------

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.)

 

[CAS239]

Like robo said, you won't be waiting in line, you'll go and sit down. The only way you'll be waiting in line for either show is if you want to show up like 2 hours prior. They usually open up both arenas about 90 min prior to showtime

Whether you're standby, FP, or dining package...I recommend showing up at least 45 min or more before showtime.

Both Fantasmic and RoL are usually very easy to get as an extra FP

 

[lovethesun12]

Guests don't really wait in line for the first (or only) F! performance of the evening.
The CMs open the theater an hour or more before show-time.
Guests at that time will simply walk slowly through the very long pathways to the theater and file in to find a seat.

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 having 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.

Guests who learn how to take advantage of the various available "tools" and timing strategies will be able to take more control over their WDW experiences.
-------------------------------------------------------------------

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.)

Thanks!!! That was so informative I have a much better understanding of how this works.

 

[lovethesun12]

I think we'll definitely skip the dining package in that case and bring a counter service meal in with us instead of eating it in the counter service area.

Sounds like ROL is a bit more tricky. I think I'll keep that reservation =)

 

[CAS239]

I think we'll definitely skip the dining package in that case and bring a counter service meal in with us instead of eating it in the counter service area.

Sounds like ROL is a bit more tricky. I think I'll keep that reservation =)

You can definitely bring in a meal with you but there's also 2 big concession stands inside Fantasmic as well in case you want to get drinks in there or popcorn, beer, nachos, etc

 

[WaterLinds]

I think we'll definitely skip the dining package in that case and bring a counter service meal in with us instead of eating it in the counter service area.

Sounds like ROL is a bit more tricky. I think I'll keep that reservation =)

I think it really depends on crowd levels. Prior to our trip I'd been reading lots of people saying ROL wasn't too hard to get into anymore. I had a dining reservation and actually kind of forgot about it until the night before, by which point our plans had all shifted (park hours changed last minute, grabbed different FPs, etc)--I had been planning on cancelling it, but with our changes in plans it actually made more sense to keep it.

In the end I was very grateful for it--that day turned into a CL10 day, with a midday extension of hours (after they had already extended morning and evening hours not long before), and insanity everywhere. Then two of us got stuck on FOP, so we were running way later than planned, etc. Having reserved seating was very much worth it in those circumstances--but we still had a slightly obstructed view, because we were late enough to not have much choice.

If you don't have all those things crop up, then getting a seat without the dining package might not be a problem at all. But Easter week I'm guessing crowds will be crazy, and it seems like right now AK is still the park that's seeing the most insane crowds--i imagine that will even out once toy story land opens, but for now it seems wise to plan on AK being worse than forecast. (Predictions at AK were 7-8 every day of our trip, and actual crowds turned out to be 9-10 for every day)

 

[lovethesun12]

I think it really depends on crowd levels. Prior to our trip I'd been reading lots of people saying ROL wasn't too hard to get into anymore. I had a dining reservation and actually kind of forgot about it until the night before, by which point our plans had all shifted (park hours changed last minute, grabbed different FPs, etc)--I had been planning on cancelling it, but with our changes in plans it actually made more sense to keep it.

In the end I was very grateful for it--that day turned into a CL10 day, with a midday extension of hours (after they had already extended morning and evening hours not long before), and insanity everywhere. Then two of us got stuck on FOP, so we were running way later than planned, etc. Having reserved seating was very much worth it in those circumstances--but we still had a slightly obstructed view, because we were late enough to not have much choice.

If you don't have all those things crop up, then getting a seat without the dining package might not be a problem at all. But Easter week I'm guessing crowds will be crazy, and it seems like right now AK is still the park that's seeing the most insane crowds--i imagine that will even out once toy story land opens, but for now it seems wise to plan on AK being worse than forecast. (Predictions at AK were 7-8 every day of our trip, and actual crowds turned out to be 9-10 for every day)

Thanks! I do think I'll keep the ROL Tusker House reservation because more and more it seems that is the one that is a little trickier. May I ask what time of year you were at AK? Christmas?

I've been at Disney World the past 2 Easters and the crowds are usually 7-8. I haven't found AK too bad BUT Pandora wasn't open our last trip. However, ROL had only been opened a few months at that point. So I don't know what to expect! At least if I keep the reservation we get to see Safari Mickey too

 

[WaterLinds]

Thanks! I do think I'll keep the ROL Tusker House reservation because more and more it seems that is the one that is a little trickier. May I ask what time of year you were at AK? Christmas?

I've been at Disney World the past 2 Easters and the crowds are usually 7-8. I haven't found AK too bad BUT Pandora wasn't open our last trip. However, ROL had only been opened a few months at that point. So I don't know what to expect! At least if I keep the reservation we get to see Safari Mickey too

We were there in February. It seems like right now AK is routinely 1-3 levels higher than the prediction every day. We found things were manageable in the morning, but by evening you really couldn't move. Hoping that eases as crowds head to DHS!

 

[vicb]

I think we'll definitely skip the dining package in that case and bring a counter service meal in with us instead of eating it in the counter service area.

Sounds like ROL is a bit more tricky. I think I'll keep that reservation =)

This was going to be my exact suggestion. Many years ago when our kids were young and seeing F! was important we did exactly this. We got in plenty early, made sure the kids had their gameboys (see I'm really dating myself here ) and we had food we bought outside along that area by ToT. It was also cold-ish when we were there and we had brought in a backpack with extra warm clothes and left it in a locker for the night time. You can also bring your own glowsticks which is fun for the kids.

 

[lovethesun12]

This was going to be my exact suggestion. Many years ago when our kids were young and seeing F! was important we did exactly this. We got in plenty early, made sure the kids had their gameboys (see I'm really dating myself here ) and we had food we bought outside along that area by ToT. It was also cold-ish when we were there and we had brought in a backpack with extra warm clothes and left it in a locker for the night time. You can also bring your own glowsticks which is fun for the kids.

LOL'ed at the gameboy comment! Bringing their devices is a great idea to keep them entertained! As well as the back packs...My son is really excited to see it because he loves Mickey

 

[Robo]

My son is really excited to see it because he loves Mickey

Mickey gets to do some very exciting and entertaining things in Fantasmic!
It's his most exciting (and magical) starring role at WDW.