Fantasmic ~ Guest Assistance Card

[OneTreeHillAddict]

How does it work at Fantasmic? The little girl I'm taking has autism so the crowd is the issue for her. If anyone has used the card for the show please tell me how it works over there. Thank you.

 

[SueM in MN]

I'm going to move this to the regular disABILITIES Board that deals with WDW trips. (you posted on the disABILITIES Community Board, which is more for general advice)
Here's an answer and I think you will get more by moving the question.

For the first (or only) show, people often start waiting in line 2 hours or more before the show, so it looks pretty daunting to wait for the show.
But, for the first show, they open the gates and start letting people into the amphitheater area about 1 1/2 hours before the show. Once they do that, the line of people who were waiting disappears pretty quickly as they walk into the show. People coming once the initial 'crowd' has entered will usually not wait in a line at all. They will walk in a continually moving line with gaps. The queue is VERY wide, probably 15-20 feet wide, so there is opportunity to walk in a quieter area with no one really close by. When you get just by the stroller parking area (about halfway in) there is a CM directing traffic. At that point, a CM would usually separate those with wheelchairs, ECVs and GACs. Those groups get a CM 'escort' to be shown where to sit (other guests are just sent straight in to where ever the CM directing people to the area currently being seated go).

What happens if someone uses a GAC, without a wheelchair probably depends on a few things, like what they need and how busy it is. My youngest DD uses a wheelchair, but we have seen people with GACs who don't have wheelchairs follow the same 'procedure' as we have followed.
There are limited numbers of spaces for wheelchairs, all in the back row of the amphitheater, across the whole back row.
The 2-3 rows right in front of the back row are reserved for the rest of the people in the wheelchair parties and for people with disabilities/conditions that limit their ability to go down stairs to the further down rows.
Examples could be someone with crutches, cane, walker, etc who is not using a wheelchair. It may also be the family of someone with an invisible disability who wants to be at the back because they are not sure how the person will react. On our last trip, we had a family with a little boy who appeared to be autistic and another family with a child with Down syndrome.
Those people would have been directed to the area by showing a CM a Guest Assistance Card.

It is possible that the CMs might route someone with a GAC thru the dinner package entrance if they get there later because that would be the least congested/busy entrance.

For the second show, there are not usually as many people, but they 'hold' the guests for the second show until those from the first show have left. So, it may be more of a crowd waiting until the waiting guests have gone in.

Whichever way you go in, it is a long walk.

 

[BeckyScott]

What Sue said.

When we did Fantasmic, we sat in one of the back rows. When we entered, I showed the CM the GAC and asked her if we could sit there, just in case DS started to freak on us. (we did the same thing at Lights Camera Action and it worked great) No problem. While everyone was coming in, we were pretty much sitting in a row all by ourselves. I did notice in the next section over another family with a DD who appeared to be autistic, and they were also pretty much the only family in that row.

However. The stinky part was, after the show starts, latecomers (most of whom are intoxicated) will sit in the first available seats they see, and the CMs do not stop them from sitting in the handicap rows (the CMs I saw, once the show starts move on to other tasks, like picking up trash). So by the middle of the show, the back benches are full. And of course there were really tall adults, which blow the view completely. Also, people leave the show early to avoid the crowd and they can block your view.

Once the show starts, it would be hard to bail out. It looks like you could get up pretty easily and go to the back and then your kid could move around and scream and nobody would even notice. But. It's very very dark. I was trying to make a "plan of escape" if necessary and once the show started I looked behind me and it was just so dark back there, I'd be very hesitant to try to take DS out during the show, and just kept my fingers crossed that we wouldn't have a problem.

How we ended up, was DH and I moved to one of the short benches in the wheelchair row (there wasn't anyone in them) with the kids in our laps so they could see.

The back rows are not the best view, but they're going to be your best bet for a happy Fantasmic. Maybe you'll get lucky and not have drunk tall people come sit in front of you.

 

[OneTreeHillAddict]

What Sue said.

When we did Fantasmic, we sat in one of the back rows. When we entered, I showed the CM the GAC and asked her if we could sit there, just in case DS started to freak on us. (we did the same thing at Lights Camera Action and it worked great) No problem. While everyone was coming in, we were pretty much sitting in a row all by ourselves. I did notice in the next section over another family with a DD who appeared to be autistic, and they were also pretty much the only family in that row.

However. The stinky part was, after the show starts, latecomers (most of whom are intoxicated) will sit in the first available seats they see, and the CMs do not stop them from sitting in the handicap rows (the CMs I saw, once the show starts move on to other tasks, like picking up trash). So by the middle of the show, the back benches are full. And of course there were really tall adults, which blow the view completely. Also, people leave the show early to avoid the crowd and they can block your view.

Once the show starts, it would be hard to bail out. It looks like you could get up pretty easily and go to the back and then your kid could move around and scream and nobody would even notice. But. It's very very dark. I was trying to make a "plan of escape" if necessary and once the show started I looked behind me and it was just so dark back there, I'd be very hesitant to try to take DS out during the show, and just kept my fingers crossed that we wouldn't have a problem.

How we ended up, was DH and I moved to one of the short benches in the wheelchair row (there wasn't anyone in them) with the kids in our laps so they could see.

The back rows are not the best view, but they're going to be your best bet for a happy Fantasmic. Maybe you'll get lucky and not have drunk tall people come sit in front of you.

Oh gosh, I'm so not looking forward to it. Drunks...ugh! Not something I planned to deal with at Disney! I know those rows...they're so far back you probably can't see a thing!

 

[SueM in MN]

Oh gosh, I'm so not looking forward to it. Drunks...ugh! Not something I planned to deal with at Disney! I know those rows...they're so far back you probably can't see a thing!

We have been to Fantasmic many times over the years and have never run into that. Every time we have gone, the CMs have been good about 'policing' the rows. I'd suggest if you think you might need to get out, sit at the end of the row. If more people come, they can crawl over you, but at least you will be able to get out.
Another thing to be aware of is that the back row is mostly empty spaces for wheelchairs/ECVs intersperced with seats for a companion. Many of those seats are only a a one person bench. Some are big enough for 2 people, but you should be aware for planning that even if the companion seats are empty, you may not have room to sit there.

 

[RetroMom]

We were there in June with my son in a wheelchair. The CMs were wonderful! We did sit in the back row, but we could see everything fine. My son was in his wheelchair and I sat on a little bench beside him. My two younger sons sat right in front of us in the section reserved for handicapped and families. Every time someone tried to sit on those rows without a GAC or obvious crutches etc. they very nicely but very firmly had them move on. I was really thinking that when they let the standing room only people in they would try to fill up the seats, but they were stopped. Once the show had been under way for a while then some people moved up, but quite a few stayed back.

 

[Tinker'n'Fun]

I have a GAC card for many reason's but do not have a wheel chair. I was seated in the back rows around 30 minutes before the show started. I asked for the seat on the end. The CM's were constantly asking people who tried to sit in the area to please move and did use a firm voice a few times with those who would not listen. With that being said, my children gladly gave up their seats and moved so a guest in a wheelchair and her family could be seated. DH would also had given up his seat if needed.

So if you have a child who is autistic, my recommendation is to keep your seats but ask those in your party to be accomodating if someone with a wheelchair needs to be seated.

That was my only complaint during my last trip. There were two parties of 10-12 people sitting with one person with a disability (yes I know its true because the CM's were asking the large families to move over just a bit to accomodate a young lady and her family of 3) and they would not!

Hope you enjoy the show.