Scottwdw
Photographer
- Joined
- Sep 13, 1999
Last Tuesday, October 22nd, my family and I visited Disney-MGM Studios all day. We ate a late lunch at 3pm at Sci-Fi Dine-In Theater. Our plan was to attend Fantasmic! that evening and eat dinner back at our resort.
We figured it wouldn't be too crowded being in the middle of the week and late October. Boy, were we wrong! People started streaming to the queue area at 6pm. By 6:45pm when we started walking up Sunset Blvd., CMs were telling people Standing Room Only was all that was left.
My DDs and I decided we'd much rather ride Rock'n Roller Coaster and Tower of Terror instead of standing for the next hour and a half. My DW, SIL and 4 year old nephew went in because my SIL would not get another chance to see it.
On Thursday morning, I called WDW Dining from our room and made Fantasmic! Dinner Package PS for 7 at Hollywood & Vine for Saturday. Had no problems but was told H&V does not have characters for dinner. That was fine. They needed a credit card to hold the reservation which came to around $169 and included tax and tip. About $24 a person for an All-You-Can-Eat Buffet plus guaranteed seating at Fantasmic!.
Our PS was for 5:40 PM. Upon getting seated, our server handed us a voucher for the Fantasmic! seating. He signed it after we paid our bill later.
BTW, Hollywood & Vine is a great buffet! I'll be reviewing it in detail on my site soon. He told us to be at the front of the park (near Oscar's gas station) around 7pm.
After some last minute shopping
, I convened our group at Oscar's a little after 7pm. There is a sign there pointing to the doors where the parade ends. CMs check the voucher and lets you through. Just before entering the Fantasmic! theater, another CM verifies the voucher and lets you in. It's a good 5 minute walk from the doors to the theater.
Seating is the last two sections (from front to back) to the right of the stage. During the show, we would miss a few key momments but all in all the seating was just fine. We were about 10 rows back from the front and had great views of the character boats as they appeared. We were misted a couple of times but that was all. And, we didn't have to wait for over an hour to get the seats! My wife and I both agreed it was worth the extra money.
Now, here's a tip for off peak travelers who want to see Fantasmic! During this time of the year, MK only has SpectroMagic and Fireworks on Saturdays. Fantasmic! didn't seem as full when we attended last Saturday and could only determine the reason was SpectroMagic. People were still finding seats available with less than 10 minutes before the show.
For peak travellers, I would highly recommend the Fantasmic! Dinner package but, unless you really like Mama Melrose's or The Brown Derby, you get your best value from Hollywood and Vine's buffet meal, IMHO.
We figured it wouldn't be too crowded being in the middle of the week and late October. Boy, were we wrong! People started streaming to the queue area at 6pm. By 6:45pm when we started walking up Sunset Blvd., CMs were telling people Standing Room Only was all that was left.
My DDs and I decided we'd much rather ride Rock'n Roller Coaster and Tower of Terror instead of standing for the next hour and a half. My DW, SIL and 4 year old nephew went in because my SIL would not get another chance to see it.
On Thursday morning, I called WDW Dining from our room and made Fantasmic! Dinner Package PS for 7 at Hollywood & Vine for Saturday. Had no problems but was told H&V does not have characters for dinner. That was fine. They needed a credit card to hold the reservation which came to around $169 and included tax and tip. About $24 a person for an All-You-Can-Eat Buffet plus guaranteed seating at Fantasmic!.
Our PS was for 5:40 PM. Upon getting seated, our server handed us a voucher for the Fantasmic! seating. He signed it after we paid our bill later.
BTW, Hollywood & Vine is a great buffet! I'll be reviewing it in detail on my site soon. He told us to be at the front of the park (near Oscar's gas station) around 7pm.After some last minute shopping
, I convened our group at Oscar's a little after 7pm. There is a sign there pointing to the doors where the parade ends. CMs check the voucher and lets you through. Just before entering the Fantasmic! theater, another CM verifies the voucher and lets you in. It's a good 5 minute walk from the doors to the theater.Seating is the last two sections (from front to back) to the right of the stage. During the show, we would miss a few key momments but all in all the seating was just fine. We were about 10 rows back from the front and had great views of the character boats as they appeared. We were misted a couple of times but that was all. And, we didn't have to wait for over an hour to get the seats! My wife and I both agreed it was worth the extra money.
Now, here's a tip for off peak travelers who want to see Fantasmic! During this time of the year, MK only has SpectroMagic and Fireworks on Saturdays. Fantasmic! didn't seem as full when we attended last Saturday and could only determine the reason was SpectroMagic. People were still finding seats available with less than 10 minutes before the show.
For peak travellers, I would highly recommend the Fantasmic! Dinner package but, unless you really like Mama Melrose's or The Brown Derby, you get your best value from Hollywood and Vine's buffet meal, IMHO.
