Fantasmic - only once the whole week!

[Shagley]

Add me to the list of people who will be skipping Fantasmic this year. I'm scheduling around it because I don't even want to be in DS those days due to the crowds. It just isn't worth that much of my time or worth the aggravation of fighting the crowds.

 

[TillyMarigold]

I have know idea why Disney cut these shows down. I don't want to hear it's the ecomony. Look at all the ppl who are going. It makes no sense and It's not fair in my opinion.

1. Even though the DISboards are full of people who are going, park attendance *is* down. Last I looked, every single hotel had openings for almost every date during free dining.

2. Those people who are going are spending less money on food and merchandise than they have previously.

3. In order to get people into the parks, Disney is having to give away deals worth hundreds of dollars per person.

4. They have already laid off hundreds of cast members and there are a ton of complaints about the hotels not being as clean, food quality not being as good due to suppliers not being as good, more expensive items being taken off the menus, etc.

5. So, if you'd rather more CMs get fired and the food quality be worse and things be dirtier, then sure, they can afford more Fantasmic! showings.

 

[J&K'sPrincessMommy]

We went in December and tried to get in 45 minutes prior, and couldn't.

This year, It is only being shown once as well- and we are really hoping to get an ADR for Mama Melrose's Package (to complicate thing there are 11 of us for this September's trip)- which stinks b/c we LOVE Sci Fi for dinner, and with a little one who LOVES Playhouse Disney, we have breakfast in Hollywood and Vine in the am - so we really don't want to eat there twce in one day, kwim?

Once a week is terrible, for people with short stays, etc it is tough.

 

[NorweJenNY]

There's a Fantasmic show scheduled for 8pm on a Friday night that marks the beginning of F&W at Epcot, and there's also a MNSSHP at MK that night. Any chance this showing may not be quite as crowded with the other festivities happening?

 

[mommycrawford]

My husband has never seen it and my daughter LOVES it, but still we are SKIPPING IT!...

Last year I thought there was a good chance my mother would be trampled! And I'm a NY subway gal!

Disney has created a potentially disasterous situation, and I don't want my child, or any child to be in the middle of such a claustrophobic situation! I was stunned by the rudeness last year, and cannot imagine with the reduced# of shows that it has done anything but get worse!

The bus crowd at night is bad enough!

Sorry you won't be able to catch it, but you will be in good company!

 

[kristen2276]

I understand the economy and cutting back, but I think they cut that show too much. It is not even twice a week for some people-
I probably won't see it and my son would have loved it, but I can't see standing on line for something for 2 hours- I won't stand on any line for that long, unless I am meeting the Pope, President or some other very important and distinguished person.

 

[raidermatt]

Yes, attendance is down, but the decrease in Fantasmic shows is not proportional. For example, when we went in July/August 2006 and 2007, Fantasmic was performed 13 times a week (why not 14, one can only guess).

This summer, it's being performed 3 times a week most weeks.

Now, I know attendance is down, but it is not down by anywhere near that kind of percentage. FDP's are selling out early when getting one at 60 days out never used to be a problem.

I understand the need for cuts, but not of this magnitude. Clearly the guests who are there are not even getting the same chance that guests got when it was more crowded.

What's more, let's keep things in perspective. Attendance is down, but the parks are still doing fine given the economy. And I don't at all understand how having fewer Fantasmic showings could somehow save CM jobs. If there are fewer showings (and shorter hours), then CM jobs/hours HAVE been cut. Adding more showings or hours isn't going to cost more jobs, it would save them.

We've seen this before. After 9/11, cuts were accelerated and they were deep. When things returned to pre 9/11 levels and even surpassed them, not all of the cuts were rolled back. (This is a fact, as Disney touted this to investors on their earnings calls)

Unfortunately, history is repeating itself just a few years later.

Back to the FDP, the seats are fine. Yes, they are off to the side, but you still see everything. The main drawback is that if you are far enough to the right you can see the boats coming from off-stage, but that doesn't bother most people. Certainly I would take those seats and arrive 40 minutes early vs. arriving 90-120 minutes early to get closer to the middle.

It was different when there were more showings.

 

[disneyjunkie]

We love Fantasmic and try to catch it at least twice during each trip. There are 3 or 4 shows scheduled during our trip. I was able to book Hollywood and Vine for the first showing. We'll grab a snack and fight the crowds for the other showings.

Hopefully you can split your party and save seats. It would be especially ridiculous to make young children wait that long.

Hopefully this doesn't work. People who get there early and are willing to wait should get the seats.

 

[lurkernj]

We'll also be there Sept 12-18 and will be skipping the one showing of Fantasmic. We saw it twice last year and it was great, but I can't even imagine how crowded that park will be on the 13th with only one showing. We also won't have hoppers this trip as it is a budget trip, so we have to choose between pm emh or shows at both MK and DHS since they don't show spectro or F! on EMH nights.

 

[girlpenguin]

Not sure what happened to my post, but yesterday I asked if it was acceptable to have a couple members of our party of 5 wait in line (if we can't get a package) and then have the remaining 2 of us and the toddler join them closer to showtime. Is this allowed?

 

[NC State]

We will be there the same as you. We're planning to eat at Mama Melrose (call this Saturday for Fantasmic package) and then onto Fantasmic on the 13th as well. We do plan to go about 45 mins for the perfer seating; however, if it's a crowd of standing room only we will not bother with it. We have seen it serveral times and love it but it's not worth the headache.