Fantasmic Dining Package Problems

[AKL LOVER]

I cannot tell you how disappointed I am with Disney and how they are handling Fantasmic Dining Packages.

We just visited the first week of May and booked the Fantasmic Dining Package. We went to dinner and received our reservation "ticket". We arrived 60 minutes prior to the 8:30 show time which is what was recommended by our server and what was printed on our ticket.

We arrived only to find out there is no more separate entrance for the dining package. So we had to head over to the main gate and try and get through the mob that had congregated there. By the time I made it to the front they had already filled the stadium and told me they had filled the reserved section with people who didn't have the reserved seat tickets to begin with and that we could not see the show! The CM told me they had filled the stadium to capacity at 7:10!!

What is the point of a "reserved seat" if they are just going to fill it with anyone to begin with--and an hour before the show even starts on top of that??

Please be aware that your seat WILL NOT be held for you and you should line up 1 1/2 prior to show time JUST LIKE EVERYONE ELSE has to!

What a waste of an evening at DS--especially since quite a few of the rides/attractions we wanted to do were already closed by the time we arrived at 4. Evidently, many of them close at dusk (told to us by a CM) and Disney classifies 4 in the afternoon as dusk.

We could have overlooked the lack of attractions if we had only gotten to see Fantasmic. The crowd to get into the show was ridiculous...It's not worth it--go see Wishes or Illuminations instead. I just don't want other families to be dissapointed like we were.

On a happier note--that was the only damper on our vaca. The rest of our trip was magical!

 

[oddBotkins]

You made me feel so much better about NOT being able to get an ADR for Fantasmic. That is a shame that you were unable to get in and I feel your pain. That's not how it used to be and I'm sure that I'll never worry about a ressie for a F Package again.

 

[brendaziz]

I would have a pitched a fit! I mean- I know there's only so much you can do at that point- BUT you really should call and/or write a letter and express your concerns.
That seriously is ridiculous and i woudl be SO upset if that happened to me. I'm upset enough for you!

 

[DB&KS]

What day did you go to the show? We did the Fantasmic Package on April 30 and we arrived about 40 minutes prior and the whole section was pretty much wide open. Sorry you had such a bad experience! We would definitely do it again.

 

[disneyfantotheend]

The separate entry was done away with right after they limited the shows. Sorry you didn't read about it before your trip. I saw a lot of posts about it. I agree it is no longer worth getting the dining package. Of course, I never used the package even when there was a separate entry.

 

[AKL LOVER]

We were there on May 7th. I'm glad you guys had luck. The crowd when we were there was outragious. And not many crowds at any of the other parks the whole week we were there. Just at DS b/c of the show and the reduced show times each week.

I was beyond livid...but at that point what could I do??? I do plan on sending Disney a letter to let them know. I don't expect anything, I just want them to know their new system isn't so hot!

 

[catne]

bummer, so sorry you didn't get to see the show...I have read that some people showing up late are not getting their seats - even when they had no idea they were "late". Disney really should do a better job to make it very clear to people that the old separate gate is no more...I have seen reports like yours where they showed up at the right time, but wrong gate. And that's quite the hike from the old gate to the regular gate which then makes you late getting to the real gate. What a disappointment to hoof it over there & no seats at all.

This is the first I've read that the place was full an hour & 20 minutes before the show -- many people have reported that the ropes were dropped from the reserved section at 40-45 minutes before show, but not this far in advance. Wonder what happened that night - unruly crowd over-running the ropes? We'll be there 2 weeks from today on the package...will be curious to see what happens.

 

[Tiffa]

That happened to us in 2005! That is why we no longer book dinner packages. We were not so let down only because the night before we went to check out the show and it started pouring rain, what luck! Everyone ran for it, it stopped like 10 minutes later and then they opened up the line - We walked to the front row!! I guess I need to pray for rain again!!

Sorry I didn't finish reading the op's remarks- Waste of time at DS??!! NO WAY this is one of our favorite parks we have so much fun here, planning show times is a big part of the day but some of the biggest attractions are there!!?? Although we did not met out dinner reservation, we had a great time and LOVED the show.

 

[Cliffside]

So sorry that happened. With the reduction of performances we have stopped getting the dinner package. We even skipped Fantasmic on our President's Week trip this year. It just felt like it would take so much time and at that time of year it was getting chilly at night. We didn't want to sit out for all that time. The evening we were thinking of going to Fantasmic we walked over to the Boardwalk from the Beach Club where we were staying. We had a great time. We had never done that before because I always thought we should be at the parks doing things. It was great doing something different.

 

[g-dad66]

What a waste of an evening at DS--especially since quite a few of the rides/attractions we wanted to do were already closed by the time we arrived at 4. Evidently, many of them close at dusk (told to us by a CM) and Disney classifies 4 in the afternoon as dusk.

Wow, I've never heard of an attraction closing as early as 4:00.

What attractions were closed?

 

[vicki_c]

What a waste of an evening at DS--especially since quite a few of the rides/attractions we wanted to do were already closed by the time we arrived at 4. Evidently, many of them close at dusk (told to us by a CM) and Disney classifies 4 in the afternoon as dusk.

Sorry about Fantasmic - there have been quite a few reports here about the no separate entrance thing and how early you need to arrive now, but if you weren't looking for those before you trip, you wouldn't have known.

But this other thing - I'm confused - what time did the park close this day? Attractions don't close until the park closes and the parks have never closed at 4 PM that I ever heard of. So I'm just wondering what kind of crazy CM told you that? That just sounds odd to me. Did you actually try to ride things that were closed or just were told that by a CM somewhere?

Edited: Which reminds me - I did read yesterday (a quote from Steve Soares' site) that One Man's Dream is only open 10-4 now - maybe due to the staffing cutbacks. But that's the only thing I've heard like that.

 

[Goofy4]

Wait a second... They should know how many people are part of the dining plan yet they don't hold that many seats? How crazy is that?

 

[CarolAnnB]

I am relatively new to the boards and am just finding out that there is no separate entrance with the package. How disappointing! That is the only reason I booked the dinner package. So do you still have to wait in the line? What is the point of the package then? Or is the reserved section roped off so you will supposedly be saved a seat? So glad I saw this thread.

 

[Px4]

I am relatively new to the boards and am just finding out that there is no separate entrance with the package. How disappointing! That is the only reason I booked the dinner package. So do you still have to wait in the line? What is the point of the package then? Or is the reserved section roped off so you will supposedly be saved a seat? So glad I saw this thread.

Ditto! Is there no reserved section now at all? If they tell you to show up a hour before and you are paying for reserved seating, then you should get just that.... I can see it not being reserved after the time on the ticket. But they should not be allowed to release those seats until atleat that time. Otherwise, thats just false advertisment.

 

[DaveStroem]

I would have had someones head on a plate. I also would have gone to GR and demanded compensation and not left till I had some. I would have told them since they are saving so much money by limiting the schedule and knowingly creating this situation that they need to refund my dinner.

 

[SignMeUp]

How strange. I was also there on April 30th, did the dining package with dinner at Brown Derby and arrived at the separate entrance (yes there was one and it was open) about 45 min prior to the 8:30pm show. There were plenty of seats to choose from in the reserved section.

Are they just randomly deciding not to accomodate those with the dining package? Or has it been since May 1st that they no longer have a reserved section? If there's no reserved seating section for people who book a Fantasmic Dining Package, then what's the point? Disney needs to clarify this and make it right/consistent.

 

[mom2aandj]

We didn't have any of those problems when we did the Fantasmic Dining in March. Our server told us to go the main gate an hour before the show's start time, which we did. It was not an issue at all, there was no really no standing in line as everyone was continuously walking towards the theatre, not congregating on the path. When we got to the theatre itself (which did not take long) we showed the CM our dining ticket and they let us into the reserved section. It was kept reserved until approximately 30 mins before show time, at which time the CMs did let standby people into it.

 

[ekatiel]

Are they just randomly deciding not to accomodate those with the dining package? Or has it been since May 1st that they no longer have a reserved section? If there's no reserved seating section for people who book a Fantasmic Dining Package, then what's the point? Disney needs to clarify this and make it right/consistent.

We had the package on May 3rd, and walked in at around 45 minutes before show time with no problem. There were not a ton of seats left in the reserved section, but there were still plenty (we were a group of 6 and ended up on row Q, I think). The theater wasn't completely filled until about 30 minutes before the show. From what I've heard, it was MUCH busier on May 7th. I would have been TOTALLY upset if I hadn't gotten a seat. OP, I'm so sorry this happened to you. --Katie

 

[tjmw2727]

We used the package in late April and they told us quite a few times that the entrace was the main entrance not the separate entrance. Honestly though, IMHO the separate entrance dosen't solve the problem.

The CM's have to be vigilant about the ropes that separate the dinner seating from the general seating. We saw lots of folks try and sneak over to the dinner package side and some were unfastening the ropes. The staduim was filling up fast and it was a very difficult job for the CM's to keep track of who belonged and who snuck under. They have a separate entrance to the dinner seating once your in the staduim but they collect your ticket so after your seated there is no way to tell who should be there and who shouldn't. So if its crazy and they don't have enough CM's to monitor then the dinner section will fill up faster than it should.

TJ

 

[tink20]

Thanks for the warning, I've been going back and forth about seeing Fantasmic on this trip, I don't think I'll bother. Since they have limited the number of shows a week it sounds like a mad house. Totally not worth an 1-1/2 wait for a 25 minute show. Sorry for your troubles.