Fantasmic Dining Package Discussion Thread

[DisneySuiteFreak]

We got dinner reservations last week at the River Belle Terrace and the Hungry Bear Restaurant in order to see Fantasmic hassle free. These are pics of the Hungry Bear Restaurant menu, ambience and food choices. My hubby didn't like the food choices, so they allowed him to substitute his food for a (gasp) burger. It was just so/so according to him. The upside is that we were seated right next to people who paid for River Belle Terrace and Blue Bayou, just EVER so slightly left of center. We had GREAT "seats" and a great view - every bit as good as when we paid for the higher priced RBT. However, the food at RBT was better than at Hungry Bear. Note also that it doesn't come with dessert, whereas RBT and BB do have dessert included in their meals. Also we are sugar free as much as possible, so they allowed us to swap their sugared offerings for drinks with a coke zero instead. Here are some pics of the menu and food at Hungry Bear. https://flic.kr/s/aHskZBDyyJ

 

[DisneySuiteFreak]

If you book a BB dinner package can you request the 2nd show of fantasmic? We only have 1 weekend night to see both the fireworks and fantasmic but would still like to be able to sit down and have a good view of the show ( espically as children will be tired by then )

If you want to see both fireworks and F! you need to do the earlier F! and stay in the area for FW. Even if they cancel FW for whatever reason, they still show a short version of the graphics on the water screens which is nice.

 

[DisneySuiteFreak]

You can't request a show time but your show time is based on your meal time. For example, I had 8:30 dinner at BB and they gave me the second show.

This is incorrect. You CAN request the showtime you want. I had dinner ressies at 4:40 at RBT and saw the 2nd show that night because I wanted to see fireworks in front of the castle. They ask you when you go in to dine which show you want.

 

[Lesley Wake]

How are you embedding your pics into posts now that photobucket charges for that? thanks

Those ones I just put them directly into the post. From the phone I did "upload a file" and then after all were loaded I inserted them into the post (there may be an easier way from the phone but since it was only a few photos that worked for me). You can do up to 10 images per post that way. From desktop you can just drag and drop, or copy/paste.

For my WDW Pre trip report I am currently using the disboard album method (again, I am not a super-user so haven't experimented with other sides and uploads). At the top of the disboard pages there is "Photobucket alternative for disboard users". That takes you to their album page where you can create a new one and upload images to it. Then each image has a BBCode available for it, which I've copied and pasted into my posts. I think other people have switched over to flickr or other photo sharing sites.

 

[DisneySuiteFreak]

I think I read that APs get the discount but I also read reports from some getting the RBT package did not get the AP discount. For those of you with APs, did you get a discount on a Fantasmic! dining package?

Yes I got the discount for RBT & HN. Couldn't get in to BB. I'm sure they get it too.

 

[DisneySuiteFreak]

I'm looking to get reservations for BB around 7.30pm and select the later show of F!, as I think most younger families will have taken advantage of the earlier shows. Not an exact science I know, but I'm hoping the later session of F! may offer a less crowded atmosphere in the viewing section.

2nd show is wide open! I did it last week.

 

[GerriS]

Thanks everyone. I'll call and try to get the later showing. I think the dinner reservations are filling up quickly in Sept since the River Belle Terrace is closed for renovation.

 

[DisneySuiteFreak]

We found our spots at 8:20 for the 9:00 show and we were dead center about three rows back. By 8:45 almost all the spots were taken. But that being said there really isn't a bad spot in the entire area. They only thing that really affects your viewing is if a tall adult sits in front of your child. But everyone is kind of staggered so you would just have to scoot over a bit to see better. I've been when the seating was a free for all and twice with the dining package. I've sat in the back against the ropes and the middle but off to the side and this last time was dead center, center row. My view was great all threee times.

I agree. In fact, I prefer further back because I don't like the rails getting in the way of m pics/videos. LOL

 

[GerriS]

No official dates have been announced yet. People have been basing timing off no reservations available!

When we called to get reservations for dinner, we were told it would be closed. We called when it stated there were no times available for the dinner package at RBT on 9/24.

 

[DisneySuiteFreak]

Those ones I just put them directly into the post. From the phone I did "upload a file" and then after all were loaded I inserted them into the post (there may be an easier way from the phone but since it was only a few photos that worked for me). You can do up to 10 images per post that way. From desktop you can just drag and drop, or copy/paste.

For my WDW Pre trip report I am currently using the disboard album method (again, I am not a super-user so haven't experimented with other sides and uploads). At the top of the disboard pages there is "Photobucket alternative for disboard users". That takes you to their album page where you can create a new one and upload images to it. Then each image has a BBCode available for it, which I've copied and pasted into my posts. I think other people have switched over to flickr or other photo sharing sites.

Thank you! I had no idea you could just drag and drop now, nor that you could upload from the phone! Gotta look into that. Thanks again!

 

[Lesley Wake]

When we called to get reservations for dinner, we were told it would be closed. We called when it stated there were no times available for the dinner package at RBT on 9/24.

Now we know that the renovation dates will be sept 5-Nov 16, based on when Cafe Orleans Fantasmic packages are available!

 

[DisneySuiteFreak]

We went yesterday (Sat 7/29) as noted in my post above, and the crowds were very reasonable. We arrived at the park at 5:00pm for our 5:30 dining reservation and had no wait for parking, no wait for security, no wait at the gate, and made it to Blue Bayou in about 5 minutes with 2 kids in tow. I checked MaxPass while waiting for our table and noted that there were still FP's avail for both Indy and Space Mtn around 7:30, which is a sure sign that the park isn't crazy.

For what it's worth, we are Signature Plus AP's and have definitely been enjoying the lower summer weekend crowds with AP blackouts and surge pricing, but a friend went on Tues 7/25 and said the park was packed.

We were there 7/23-28 and it was PACKED every day, except Friday seemed a lot slower than the rest of the week. We are blocked out on Saturdays... Maybe time to upgrade our APs! LOL

 

[DisneySuiteFreak]

No more Fantasmic! dining package update/reports? Would love to know if the BB and RBT areas are combined or separated (had been mixed reports) and what food was good or not good and how early you had to get to the area to have a good viewing of the show. I'm visiting from Colorado in about 10 days. Thanks so much for your input!

When we went last week Thursday 7/27 with RBT dining, we were mixed in with BB guests, In fact, they told us we could sit right up at the railing if we wanted to, but I prefer to be as far back as possible. My hubby and I both had the BBQ, salad, and maleficent dessert. It was good except that imo, the BBQ chicken was a little spicy for me. I'm super sensitive to spicy, peppery things. I kept asking DH how in the world Disney could serve this to kids, because kids also have BBQ chicken on their menu, and I know most young kids don't like spicy hot stuff. The server then warned me that if I was sensitive to spice I probably wouldn't like the Maleficent dessert because it has cayenne in it for extra kick. I tasted DH's dessert and it was fine. I didn't notice the cayenne pepper kick at all in it. That chicken though... LOL

 

[DisneySuiteFreak]

Pics of our food at River Belle Terrace on 7-27-17. https://www.flickr.com/gp/kristieching/YBV5Za

 

[onlyoneash]

Thanks everyone. I'll call and try to get the later showing. I think the dinner reservations are filling up quickly in Sept since the River Belle Terrace is closed for renovation.

Cafe orleans will replace RBT for F! star My Sept 5th through Nov! So you have another option now!

http://www.wdwinfo.com/news-stories/disneylands-cafe-orleans-to-add-fantasmic-dining-package

Edit: ok, just saw that a bunch of people already posted this! Pretty excited about it though!

 

[bluecruiser]

(deleted, missed that someone already answered the question)

 

[gardenrooms]

Thank you for sharing the pictures, DisneySuiteFreak. The Hungry Bear food looks pretty good. I hadn't noticed the flames on the Maleficent dessert in other pictures I've seen. Great pictures!

 

[Curlyxz]

I've gone ahead and created this map of the current seating positions for all the dining packages, along with some of the regular FP/stand by viewing locations.

1)Dining Package Entrance/Stand By Viewing Area
2)Hungry Bear Seating Area
3)Blue Bayou Seating Area
4)River Belle Terrace Seating Area
5)Regular FP Area - Only those in the blue box get to remain seated, all others are standing.
6)River Belle Terrace Premium Viewing Package

Hope this can be of assistance with anyone with questions about the area layout. While section #5 on the map may look big, there are trees in the area which limits the amount of people that can fit. All outlines are approximate and not necessarily right up to scale.

 

[minnieralyks]

I've gone ahead and created this map of the current seating positions for all the dining packages, along with some of the regular FP/stand by viewing locations.

1)Dining Package Entrance/Stand By Viewing Area
2)Hungry Bear Seating Area
3)Blue Bayou Seating Area
4)River Belle Terrace Seating Area
5)Regular FP Area - Only those in the blue box get to remain seated, all others are standing.
6)River Belle Terrace Premium Viewing Package

Hope this can be of assistance with anyone with questions about the area layout. While section #5 on the map may look big, there are trees in the area which limits the amount of people that can fit. All outlines are approximate and not necessarily right up to scale.

You're awesome! Thanks for sharing this!

 

[BriannaRuth]

The only time we've ever seen F! in a reserved area was when we did the VIP tour one year. As I recall, we were seated pretty much center on the ground in a tiered area (like on very wide steps maybe 4 rows of guests deep). Are any of the new dining package areas in that area? Or are all of the reserved dining areas where you get to seat tiered?