Fantasmic Dinner Pkg. Questions

[sdrinon]

1) Do they charge your card at time of reservation?

2) Is it worth it to do the Dinner package? I heard the seats aren't that great?

Thanks in advance for your help!

 

[helenk]

They do not charge your credit card when you make your reservation. They take your credit card info to hold your reservation. You have to cancel within 48 hours of your date or you will be charged a fee.
We liked the seats, you sit to the right of center stage, but we were able to see everything fine. I like the package because I have no desire to wait in line for an hour or so to get a seat.

 

[sdrinon]

Thanks for the info helenk...anyone else have any experiences they would like to share?

 

[QuickGold]

For answers to frequently asked questions regarding the Fantasmic! dinner package, try http://www.mgmstudios.org/food/fantasmic.html

 

[3for Me]

We have done the package at Hollywood and Vine and thought it was great.

You need to be aware, however that the other 2 restaurants that participate are not as good of a "deal" money wise. If that is not an issue to you, then go for it, because the seat location is very good.

As you are going in a few weeks, however, check with disney dining because many on these boards have been saying (and it has been my experience lately) that the times available for the package or otherwise are very early. If that is the case, you will end up having to "kill time" in between anyway, so you may be better off without the package.

It really all depends on the crowd level and your threshold for waiting. If you don't mind sitting and people watching for a little while and it is a nice evening, then save yourself the extra money and just eat the regular dinner (not the package) then head over to Fantasmic!

We are trying this route in October as the cost was becoming prohibitive with 5 of us paying extra and not being able to get anything later than a 4:50PM reservation for a 7:30PM Fantasmic.

Whatever you decide, have a great trip!!!

 

[peasoupfan]

We did the package at The Brown Derby and it was great! The Brown Derby is sort of pricey, but the food was by far the absolute BEST dinner we had at Disney! We actually ended up arriving late for our PS and they sat us and fed us very quickly. We figured it out that we actually saved money on the dinner there doing this through the package because you are given an appetizer, an entree and a dessert (the grapefruit cake is devine!).

 

[ladyjayhawk]

During the slower times of the year (September, January or February) is the wait for Fantasmic still long? Would the dinner package still be worth it then?

 

[QuickGold]

There's always a rush to get seats, so it's not like you'd be able to walk right in 10 minutes before showtime. You'd have to get there around the same time if not earlier than if you had the Fantasmic package.

 

[gourt]

We had PS's for last Monday...got rained out! Had dinner at Hollywood and Vine. Good buffet and good price. When we got there, they gave us a card to get access to the reserved section. It was pouring rain when we had dinner. 90% of the people at H&V were also doing the package.

Everyone lingered over dinner because of the rain, and the waiters were in no rush to kick people out. We took about 1 hour and 20 minutes from start to finish....About 6:00 to 7:20.

We walked directly to Oscar's to check in for the 8:30 show and were surprised that were already a lot of package people there over an hour early. I think it was because of the rain. They kept telling us that they weren't ready to make a decision...anyway we stood out in the rain in our ponchos until we finally got word at 8:30 that the show was cancelled. Very disappointing!

The funny thing was that most everyone had already left the park. The diehards standing out in the rain were all the package people...I guess because we wanted to get our money's worth! The CM guarding the gate told us that if we got in, we could choose any seat because there were hardly any guests left in the park.

 

[luvmarypoppins]

We did the Fantasmic Pkg at Hollywood and Vine on Aug. 12. We have 3 ds 15,13 and 11 so it was a good deal for us. Our one ds has asthma so I figured that it would be good not to have him wait too much in line in the hot weather. We budget for one good meal a day and that was it. The host made an announcement at the door that no walk ups would be accepted into the restraunt for the evening. It was sold out. Our reservation was for 5:10 so we missed the stars and motorcars parade that day. The card stated you could arrived at ocscars anytime between 7 and 8:30 for the 9 p.m. show. After dinner we had time to kill and I told the Dss TOT and RNR were out after the big meal so we just walked onto Great Movie Ride and did Sounds Dangerous and then headed over and walked right into Oscars. We arrived by 7:30, (l hour early) and had our pick of seats. That night the theater was standing room only for the 1st show. They did have a 2nd show but we didnt feel like it was a waste. We felt it was well worth it.
It is a very long walk however.