Fantasmic Dinner Pkg. - can't decide

[ncbyrne]

I'm trying to decide, first do we want a Fantasmic Dinner Pkg? Then, if we do, what time should we make reservation? It will be Grandma (me) DD, 2 DGDs (7+11). With two little picky eaters, the Hollywood and Vine buffet makes the most sense. But how much time do you actually save - I mean how far in advance of the show do you need to be seated? I need to know that before we can choose a time wisely. There is only one show at 7:00 on the night we will be there.

 

[Noah122898]

I would make reservations for no later than 5:00. You need to be seated for Fantasmic 1/2 an hour before the show starts. We just did Hollywood & Vine two weeks ago and hated it. The restaurant was a mess and the service was poor. There was a nice selection of different foods but the quality of food was awful. We chose this one because it was the cheapest and made a bad mistake. Pay the few extra bucks and go with Mama Melrose or Brown Derby. You will absolutely LOVE Fantasmic, what a great show.

 

[erinch]

the big advantage to getting in to fantasmic through the package is that you avoid the huge press of the crowd waiting to get in at the main gate. There's no place to sit, and people are jampacked together, then surge through when the gates open.

 

[diathoney]

I like to do the Fantasmic Dinner package because I hate to wait in line. We've always been able to get great seats with the passes. We usually show up about 20-30 minutes before the show. Usually we find seats right down front with no problem.

I like Mama Melrose. H&V is noisy and crowded. The food and service are hit or miss. My kids (10 & 11) like the ice cream bar and all the toppings, but they usually don't eat much dinner.

At Mama Melrose you are waited on. There is a children's menu for the kids. The adults get to order any entree. An appetizer, salad, bread and dessert are included. I had the steak - it was wonderful! My kids had pizza - which is always a hit.

 

[daisax]

I would suggest that you consider doing on purpose what we ended up doing purely by accident.

We got a late start and didn't feel like lunch until late, then found we were really hungry at 3 or 4 (coincidentally the earliest time that they offered Fantasmic pkg reservations at Mama Melrose's). We found ourselves in that area of the park and decided to ask if we could move our 5 pm reservation up earlier. They had no problem with that.

What's better is that we came out just before the parade started down by the Star Tours area, so we strolled over and got good positions and enjoyed that, then continued enjoying the park until it was time to line up for Fantasmic, at which point we got ice cream cones and leisurely strolled in with them.

It was a very low key way to enjoy the meal without competing with everybody else trying to eat and get out to Fantasmic. Also, I always fantasize about strolling about on vacation enjoying a nice ice cream cone, and it never ever happens because I'm either hungry enough for a big meal or full from one. This enabled me to have that ice cream moment

 

[hulabird]

The kids will LOVE H&V, especially when it is time for dessert and they can load their ice cream with all kinds of cool toppings. The food there is also very good, it is now one of our Disney must-do's. You won't be sorry chosing H&V, especially for the price--it is well worth it.

 

[flyball]

I debated this before our recent trip and opted not to take the package, but to eat at Mama Melrose's anyway. Sorry to say that we would not return. The food wasn't horrible, it just wasn't great, and there are so many other good restaurants to choose from in DW. The reason we didn't go with the package is that we were traveling during September and knew that Fantasmic could be rained out. We didn't want to feel obligated to eat all the food that comes with the package, so we opted to go it on our own. We were able to get great seats without any wait about 30 minutes prior to show time. Keep in mind, we visited during a very slow time. For all of you who love Fantasmic, please don't be upset, but I'm glad we were able to see Fantasmic without the wait, because two of us really liked it and two of us thought it paled in comparison to Illuminations and Wishes. We ate in many sit down restaurants during our trip and Mama Melrose's is the only one we wouldn't feel compelled to try again. (Have never tried H & V or the Brown Derby, so can't offer an opinion there!)

 

[erinch]

From a service stand-point we found MM's to be the best of the 3, on a trip last summer. Our filter is that we have a DS who has anaphylactic allergies to even traces of milk products or to any nut exposure. As you mgiht guess, this requires advance prep, then extensive conversation with the server and chef on site. Brown Derby was very competent, but the server was kind of snooty about it, and trying to get a dessert he could eat, even with advance prep, was a pain.

At H & V they acted like the special care we have to take with the buffet was a royal pain the rear. The only special thing we'd asked for was either a plain baked potato or rice to available and ready when we got there and it felt like we had asked for the moon. For dessert they came up with some rice dream, which my DS absolutely hates, and made him feel (on the floor, with people watching) that he was being ungrateful, even though people who can eat normal foods often have some dessert items they like and others they don't.

But at MM's they jimmied the package to make him a special flatbread without cheese, they checked with us 3 times on ingredients; they did a special salad for him so the rest of us could eat the normal one, and they came up with a dessert which was tasty to him. It was very attentive, did not call attention to him, and he came away feeling "normal" and nurtured.

The food at BD was probably better, but MM won in service, hands-down.

 

[CAJUNWDWFAN]

My family and I did the Fantasmic dinner package last year and we chose Hollywood and Vine for dinner. It was very good food and was quick and easy and allowed us plenty of time to make it to the Fantasmic show.