Fantasmic Dinner Package Changes

[justhat]

can you tell me how you used the dde card with this promotion? I will be making my reservations soon, and this infomation would be OH SO Helpful!

We just gave our server our DDE card (along with license to prove identity and our room key to charge to) and she came back with the discounted amount charged to our room. Pretty much the same this we did at the other places we ate at/used DDE.

 

[cheerbop]

That makes ME feel a bit better...esp since I am having a hard time deciding betwen the AP and DDE and the MYW Dining (which doesn't have this on it!).
Thanks!

 

[2ofUs]

The 3 weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas have TRADITIONALLY been the very slowest for WDW. You can usually get great pricing on reservations and little to no crowds. Plus, as an added treat, they have all their great decorations up so it is beautiful.

Of course, there is no guarantee of lighter crowds, but if you plan to zig when everyone else is zagging - you should be able to get into Fantasmic without much of a wait.

Set out your day plan by taking into consideration the Early/Extra hours and the days on which Spectro will be showing. Try to hit Fantasmic on either the night BEFORE or the day AFTER an early entry/late night for MGM. You want to go to Fantasmic when everyone has either just been the night before or is planning to go the next day.

And, if that also happens to be a Spectro Parade night, even better!

As for waiting with small children, there is NO RULE that says everyone in the party has to wait in line. Put one adult in line early, then take the kids on a ride or over to shop or see characters, etc. Then you can trade off as needed. When the line begins to move (and it REALLY IS NOT NECESSARY TO BE AT THE FRONT OF THE LINE!) whoever is in line can go to and hold seat. When you show up with the kids, you can join your party wherever they are seated (you could have been on a 'potty call' for all the CM knows or cares).

The line we saw was 1/2 way down the block an hour before the show. We were given the dinner entry as a gift by our waiter at HBD, but when we went in our entrance, the initial waiting group had been let in and seated and there were TONS of great seats left. In all honesty, it seems to be better to sit closer to the top, just as it is almost always better to sit in the back of 3-CD shows.

Whatever you decide, have a great time - after all IT IS DISNEY!

 

[Minnie's Mate]

FYI, I called on 5/19 and got 5:20 FDP time at HBD on 6/10 for the 9:00 show. My original PS that I made at 90 days out was for 5:50; the latest I could get back then was something like 3:40. So I feel like I only gave up 30 minutes to get the FDP for a summer night and will be going to the first show of the evening and still have nearly 2 hours between dinner and arrival time to do other things!

 

[mar915]

If you wanted later than 5:20 did you have to go to the late show. Just wondering since the parade is at that time.

Thanks

Mary

 

[justhat]

The FDP is only for the 1st show of the night, regardless of the time of your PS.

 

[kona-kraft]

Is the Fantasmic Dinner Package really worth the cost. The only restaurant we enjoy is Prime Time, and that's not offered on the package. Do we really need to do the package in order to get decent seats for the show? MGM is my LEAST favorite park, so we'll only really go over for the show & dinner.

Any opinions on this?

 

[Minnie's Mate]

The FDP is only for the 1st show of the night, regardless of the time of your PS.

This is correct. We have seen the parade a number of times and decided to forego seeing it again. Our kids had rather see Fantasmic over the parade.

 

[justhat]

Is the Fantasmic Dinner Package really worth the cost. The only restaurant we enjoy is Prime Time, and that's not offered on the package. Do we really need to do the package in order to get decent seats for the show? MGM is my LEAST favorite park, so we'll only really go over for the show & dinner.

Any opinions on this?

Depending on where and what you eat the FDP can be a real bargain. We did it last month at Brown Derby, and spent way more on the meals than we paid with the package. It was $36.99 and here's what we each spent: crabcake ($8.49), filet ($27.99), and New Age chocolate cake ($7.99)=$45.50; crabcake, filet, and cheesecake ($7.59)=$45; crabcake, pork ($22.49), and chocolate hazelnut cake ($8.29)=$39.50. So if we had eaten there without the package we would have spent much more than the $36.99/person, so when you look at it that way it looks like a pretty good deal. We also had the DDE card, so we actually only paid $30/person, so it was really a bargain for us. Plus we left dinner and went right into the show, got really good seats and didn't have to wait in line (the day we went the show it was at 8:30pm and another show at 10 and there was a line forming by 4pm).

 

[Minnie's Mate]

Wheather you can use DDE or not depends on the CM. I have been told you can't, but I consistently see post that say people have. It just depends on the CM and perhaps how persistent you are. I'd say lucky if you can, but don't be surprised if you can't.

 

[justhat]

Wheather you can use DDE or not depends on the CM. I have been told you can't, but I consistently see post that say people have. It just depends on the CM and perhaps how persistent you are. I'd say lucky if you can, but don't be surprised if you can't.

That's true that you should check before you go if you want to be sure. We had heard something like this on the boards before our trip so we asked the manager at BD before we ate there (FDP was for our 6th park day, so we asked the 1st day we went to MGM so we'd know what to expect in advance). The manager said that you can use DDE with the FDP and didn't see why anyone said otherwise. My husband (who makes fun of me for the DIS anyway!) felt kinda stupid about even stopping in to ask, but I just wanted to know what we'd be paying, not sure why cause I wasn't going to cancel it, just for my own sake of knowing I guess. Anyway, he said you can't use the meal plan for the FDP but any discounts were fine. When the bill came, we just handed our room key (to charge), DDE letter (still haven't gotten our cards), and my husband's license to the waitress in the little black book and she came back with our discounted bill charged to the room, no questions or comments about it. So they may have changed the policy recently (this was on 4/24) to allow DDE.

 

[Minnie's Mate]

Well I'm certainly not going to argue with anyone's experiences and I'm definately going to try it for myself on 6/11 when we get there in less that three weeks.

For our family of four, that will save us about $20 on that one meal. This will put it in line with what we would have normally spent on dinner at HBD without the FDP and the DDE discount! Not to mention that it save enough to nearly pay for half the DDE membership at that one meal!

 

[justhat]

I hope it works for you. And if it doesn't, ask for the manager (sorry, don't remember his name) cause he claims it isn't a problem. We saved $21.60 on our group of 4 (#4 was our 13 month old daughter, so she didn't eat) so we paid $29.79/person for meals that cost much more! Overall with the DDE, we saved over $250, and that was after subtracting the cost of the card, so well worth it for us. And we'll be going back in December so our savings will be even higher.

 

[xmansmom]

I am new here and this will be our first WDW vacation. (I think I'm more excited than the kids) Can you tell me what what a DDE card is? We will be visiting with our 2 kids ages 2 and 9. Is fantasmic a must do and is this something we should do with a 2 yo? Thanks.

 

[pjstevens]

Can someone please explain why you can't use the dining plan for the fantasmic package if it is the same price as eating there? The few times we have been to Disney, this is the only light show that we have not seen and I've been told it is the ONE to see. I do not want to stand for hours in line (in the August heat), but with all we are putting out for this trip, paying additionally for another table meal (there are four of us age 14+) is more than I can manage.

 

[justhat]

The DDE is the Disney Dining Experience card, which saves you 20% off of your bill at most sitdown restaurants. You have to be a FL resident or AP holder to purchase the card (I think, please correct me if others can by it).

Not sure why you can't use the MYW dining plan for the FDP. Seems silly to me as I think you get the same thing on the meal plan, appetizer, entree, dessert, though I've never gotten the meal plan so maybe I'm wrong. I've heard some people have had luck using the MYW meal plan, but I think they're a minority so I wouldn't base anything off of it.

 

[Tony Toon]

I am new here and this will be our first WDW vacation. (I think I'm more excited than the kids) Can you tell me what what a DDE card is? We will be visiting with our 2 kids ages 2 and 9. Is fantasmic a must do and is this something we should do with a 2 yo? Thanks.

Although there are some who just don't seem to get Fantasmic, I believe that the majority (and certainly our family) consider the show to be unmissable. It epitomises exactly what Disney is all about, great action, both live and screened, exhilirating music, and with moments (shan't spoil it for you) that just leave a huge grin on your face (or a tear in your eye - we've experienced both).

We've just purchased our DDE card, (along with an AP, we've worked out the benefits and believe they'll pay for themselves over three weeks with a family group of 10) - can't wait now to use it . 40 days til take off .

 

[Hugpug]

I have a question. Would the DDE card pay for one person. I travel solo and like to eat at sit down places for at least 2 meals a day. I did notice that you can use it at food courts also which would mean all three meals. Just trying to cut expense where ever possible. I have ordered my AP already. Any options will be most appricated.

 

[Tony Toon]

I suspect it would be difficult to recover the cost of the DDE card with only one diner even at the AP cost of $50. Of course it would depend on how long you will be at WDW and how many meals you were to take there. Remember that the AP itself gives you 10% anyway in many restaurants I believe.

 

[vascubaguy]

Can someone please explain why you can't use the dining plan for the fantasmic package if it is the same price as eating there? The few times we have been to Disney, this is the only light show that we have not seen and I've been told it is the ONE to see. I do not want to stand for hours in line (in the August heat), but with all we are putting out for this trip, paying additionally for another table meal (there are four of us age 14+) is more than I can manage.

We just got back from WDW and used the dining plan to eat at the Brown Derby. We did not do the "fantasmic package" but our server still gave us a voucher for priority seating for the show. It was a pleasant suprise and a good end to the trip. We had already seen the show a couple of nights before, but we decided to go see it again. I'm not sure if it is a common practice, but I've read that this has happened to several other people as well.