Fantasmic Dessert Buffet - Worth the money?

[SweetSpot]

We will only be at DL for 2 nights before a cruise and are trying to see as much as possible in a little bit of time. We are considering booking the dessert buffet to avoid wasting time waiting in a good spot to see the show. We are a family of 5 so I am having a hard time deciding if it's worth $300 for us to see a 20 minute show. If you go to the early show can you stay in the area to see the fireworks and is it a good location to see the fireworks. Also, we are going in August and my kids are older so we could stay to see the 10:30 show if necessary. If we chose to see the 10:30 show is this show usually less crowded which makes the dessert buffet booking unnecessary?

Are there any other secret bookings out there that are widely known? I stumbled upon this and when I tried to find information on the DL site I found nothing. How do people do Disney without the DIS?

 

[Avery's mom]

My personal opinion is that there is no way I would pay $300 for a show that is free. I know you are paying for the desserts and the seats, but the show itself is free. If money were no object, then I might think about it. However, since you are amenable to going to the 10:30 show, please do it. You will have a lot more time to spend touring and more money in your pocket. If you go to the 10:30 show, you can still get good spots about 1/2 hour ahead of time. I think it's just enough time to send a runner for Dole Whips

 

[stacymomof2]

I read about the VIP seating and am really tempted. I think my DH would FLIP if I told him what it cost....

I don't know...I probably won't (and it's probably too late for me anyways, which helps make the decision easy!) but it would be nice to not have to stand around for an hour or 2 to see a short show.

Good luck with your decision!

 

[DevilDuckie]

We have never had difficulty getting a good spot for the late showing. We have also never arrived more than 15 minutes ahead of time.

 

[bluegrizzlies1]

Im doing the seating the end of the month so I will have to get back to you.

We seen the show in aug and went to the late show and yes we got up front.

But people shoving pushing it felt like I was at a concert in genral addmission. I figured I got a free check from work bonus check so Im really not out much so I booked it.

 

[SweetSpot]

I'm really not a crowd person and the thought of standing around for 2 hours for a 20 minute show seems terrible which is the only reason we were considering the seating. We live in NJ and probably will never get back to DL so trying to get every experience into 2 days also makes me wonder if it's worth the price.

If we did the early seating and were able to stay to see the fireworks would we be able to get on rides easier after the fireworks?

 

[stacymomof2]

We have never had difficulty getting a good spot for the late showing. We have also never arrived more than 15 minutes ahead of time.

So the secret to saving money is stay up late!! I'm hoping we will be so excited we are in Disneyland that staying up for the late show is no biggie!!

Thanks for the tip!

 

[bluegrizzlies1]

sweetspot when you going to disneyland ?

 

[avalon451]

Hi, Sweet, here's a thread from about a month ago that discusses pros and cons of the F! seating. There's also a link in there with a picture of the dessert box (it's the Electrical Parade dessert box, but they are exactly the same at Fantasmic). There's a lot of opinions on whether or not it's worth it and why. I found this thread pretty helpful.
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1780147

We did it in March and were really glad we did. But then, we have younger kids who wouldn't make it to the 10:30 show.

Hope that helps!

 

[SweetSpot]

bluegrizzlies1: We will be there in August before the Magic's repo cruise.

avalon451: Thank you! I did a search and found nothing up to date.

 

[bluegrizzlies1]

bluegrizzlies1: We will be there in August before the Magic's repo cruise.

i went to the late show in aug 07 if you like pushing and shoving have at it they can keep it.

Im doing the reserved seat this month I guess it pays to have peace, expensive yes but will I do this every time nope so in the end it will be worth it.

 

[JadeDarkstar]

im doing it in oct but my family is a huge melifcent fan and well the kids (DH and DS would go nuts if we dont go again) i promised last time since we didnt get to see it we would do the desert seatting and my family of three think its a grate extra.

 

[motherofallfans]

Fantasmic is one of my favourite parts of Disneyland. I have done the dessert buffet twice. If you choose to go this route you should know:
CHECK-IN EARLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You can check-in at a certain time then come back closer to show time. Seats are allocated based on "check-in time".
The last time I did it, we got stuck in the THIRD ROW of seats. So sure we had no crowds pushing past you and there was full access to the buffet, but for $300 I don't want two rows of people seated in front of me.

 

[TravelinGal]

First - it is NOT a buffet anymore. It is a SMALL box of snacks.

Second - for $300 for your family, I'd say no, it's not worth it! Just do the 10:30 show. If the kids are tired, take an afternoon rest and then go back later on.

DL was open until midnight this past Fri/Sat and both nights Fantasyland was still packed during F! - as were other rides/areas. I would not count on that time for shorter lines. You may luck out, but don't count on it.

 

[ChasRN]

I've done it twice when I was able to get seating in the Disney Gallery balcony. And it had a full dessert buffet. It was great experience! Since they don't have the balcony seating anymore, I probably wouldn't do it. The riverside seating just doesn't seem special enough to justify the price.

Chas

 

[avalon451]

First - it is NOT a buffet anymore. It is a SMALL box of snacks.

First-- it is not a small box of snacks, it's a HUGE box of snacks. It was wonderful, and there was no way we could have finished them. We took ours back to the hotel, stuck them in the fridge and enjoyed the yummies over the next several days. See the picture in the above thread I posted.

Second-- I wouldn't judge it as "not worth it" automatically. Just about everybody I've seen on these boards who has actually done it, has really liked it and thought it was totally worth it. It was worth it for us, since it was our first trip ever, and since we have small kids who would not be able to stay up for the second show (at least, without waking up sick the next morning ) no matter how long an afternoon nap they'd taken.

To me, what was worth it was being able to stroll up, pick seats, then get away and go ride rides and shop until 8:30. Then fight through the incredible crowds to a blessedly uncrowded spot, be led to our own chairs, have drinks brought to us and delicious treats, refills offered... watch the show... another drink refill offered, watch fireworks from a great viewing spot... while on the other side of the ropes, people stood squished like sardines. Now, that was totally worth it to us!

Not everybody can afford it. We happened to have a small reserve "mad money" acct. that paid for this and a couple other special extras. But I can sure understand the budget conscious! Some people really enjoy the "stakeout" plan-- spread a blanket, get some dinner to eat, read, people-watch, play games while they wait-- if you can spare the time, I can see how that would work out just fine, too!

To each their own, eh?

 

[TravelinGal]

The OP asked for opinions. I stand by MY OPINIONS. It is a SMALL box of snacks - when compared to a whole dessert buffet as it once was and it is not worth $300 - not in my book. IF it was still a dessert buffet where you had a choice of what you wanted to eat (and how much or little you personally wanted) and IF it was still on the balcony, then yeah, maybe it might be worth that cost. 1 or 2 people isn't that steep, but obviously the OP has a larger family and is concerned about the price. Which means that money is a concern on the entire trip, most likely. (heck, I know how darn expensive it was for just ONE person when I was there this past week! YIKES!)

We went from Plaza Inn after the fireworks to a prime spot in front of F! and did not have any problems. We were not there 2 hours before (in fact, I think it was only 20 minutes before) and we did not waste any time waiting for F!. Know the park and where you need to be at what times and you can do it - especially with the 10:30 F! show.

To each their own. Some can budget $300 for a chair and a box of snacks. Others can't.

ETA - I have done it - when it was still a real dessert buffet - and the entire riverside space was reserved solely for our little group.

 

[lurkyloo]

So.... I'm still curious about the OP's question regarding the ability to stay in your overpriced seats from the 9pm Fantasmic! to watch the 9:25 fireworks.... anyone?

 

[avalon451]

yup, they encourage you to stay in your overpriced seats . I think they even announce something like, "For safety reasons, we encourage you to stay in the Rivers of America area for an excellent view of the fireworks" blah blah blah... cause it's so crowded getting out of there, they'd rather everybody just stay put rather than try to trample over and get a better vantage point on an already crowded hub area. When you're in the reserved seating, the nice CMs ask if you want a refill on your drink before the fireworks start.

It's a pretty good view from there; of course you can't see the projections on the castle and stuff, and you miss some of the low stuff, but you can see most of it. And they pipe in the music and narration, so you're hearing the same thing. You can even see a little bit of Tink flying around. We enjoyed it from there.

 

[Queenbillabong]

I agree - it was so worth it for us (two people) this past Friday. Check in at 7 p.m. on the dot (they don't even have the podium before then), go away and do whatever you want until 8:30 p.m., come back and get seated, have drinks (great hot chocolate), and a nice variety of snacks (which we ended up bringing back to the hotel anyway because it was too much to eat). For us, the price of the seat and not having to wait too long or be crunched in was so worth it. To each his own, but for us it was definitely the way to go (and what we will do when we go again - it was THAT good!). And you have the seats for the fireworks after - which is a nice bonus. Obviously a lot of people also enjoy not doing it this way - whatever works for you is great. The best thing is that you do have options and you can choose what you would like to do.