Fantasmic- FP, Dinner Package, or Neither

[aprilbabes]

At this point, we're having difficulty getting dinner package for the show and I'm not sure I want to use a fast pass on it since that means I'd only get to use three FP that day. How much more difficult is it to get into the show with neither the package or FP? Will we wait significantly longer? I don't care about sitting too close since my kids are little and I think the closer they are the more frightened they might become. TIA!

 

[jollygreen]

When I was there in December, I had my 3 FPs for MK in the morning/early afternoon, and then hopped to HS and got a 4th FP for Fantasmic, and that was probably close to 4-5pm.

 

[aprilbabes]

When I was there in December, I had my 3 FPs for MK in the morning/early afternoon, and then hopped to HS and got a 4th FP for Fantasmic, and that was probably close to 4-5pm.

Wow! Didn't think it would be that easy to get a FP for it later in the day. Was this an off week in December??

 

[ArielSRL]

I've read that it's fairly easy to get F! as an additional FP.

 

[mesaboy2]

Wow! Didn't think it would be that easy to get a FP for it later in the day. Was this an off week in December??

Fantasmic FP is not hard to get at all. Many days they last well into late afternoon, if not later.

 

[AtlantaDisneyDreamer]

I have read many posts on this board about how hard it is to get a seat at Fantasmic and that the dinner package or a FP is necessary, but we have never found either one of them necessary if we get there 30 minutes or so before showtime.

We have been Thanksgiving week, several times in July, President's Day week, and several times in September. Each time there was plenty of seating for everyone (and we never arrived more than 30 minutes ahead of showtime).

We have used the dinner package a couple of times and the seats are more centrally located, but we have gotten good seats as walk ups.

 

[Robo]

What a FP+ for F! offers is more CHOICE in seating.



If you DO get a F! FP+, you can choose to sit in either the FP section (virtually the entire left half of the theater) or the Standby section (virtually the entire right half of the theater.)

So, whatever section has the better seating at the time you arrive, you can go there.

Without a FP, you can only choose a seat in the Standby section.



There is a very good chance that you can get a FP+ for F! as a 4th or 5th FP of the day because they issue SO MANY of them (enough to cover nearly the entire left half of the seating.) On many nights, it is possible that you can gat a FP+ for F! as you are walking to the theater.



As to when to arrive at the theater, I'd get to there 45-60 minutes before the show-time.

Even with a FP or Dining Pkg. reservation, don't wait too late.



On busy nights, the CMs can stop holding the reserved sections within 20-30 minutes before show-time, and turn over any available seats to waiting walk-in guests.



There is sometimes a "pre-show" (such as it is) that can help pass the last 30 minutes before show time.

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Map Below-

Arrows indicate the center of the seating.

Shaded areas:

(First or Only F! performance of the evening)

Cyan= Standby (walk-in) seating

Red= Dining Package Reserved

Blue= FP+ Reserved

Purple= Can be either FP+ or Dining Plan Reserved, depending on needs.



(Second or Third F! performance of the evening)

Cyan= Standby (walk-in) seating

Red, Purple, Blue= FP+ Reserved

(Although much of the outer Blue will likely be used for Standby.)

--------------------------------------

 

[CAS239]

FP for Fantasmic is easy to get in the afternoon. We've gotten it an hour before showtime before.

This is my outlook:
Dining package- If you're already planning on eating inside the park and want to see the show
FP- if you don't have plans to eat at a restaurant in the park and want to see it. It's easy to get in with a FP or standby so dining package isn't needed at all.

No matter what route you take to watch the show, I definitely recommend showing up 45min-1 hour prior to start time to have a full selection of seats.

 

[jollygreen]

Was this an off week in December??

It was Dec. 11. HS was actually fairly crowded that day too, more busy than earlier in the week. But like others have said, it's pretty easy to get FP for it the day of. And I would also show up early, my friend and I only showed up 20-30 minutes early and a lot of the seats were gone, but since it was just us two, we managed to get decent seats about halfway up the Pocahontas section.

 

[Jfsag123]

Last year during mid-March spring break when booking our 5th FP for the day, we saw availability for Fantasmic for a party of 4 at 7pm for an 8:30 show.

 

[cassie58]

We also hopped over from Epcot around 4:00 in December for Minnie's Holiday Dinner, and got a 4th FP for Fantasmic for that night. This was the week before Christmas.

cassie58