Fantasmic or WOC -- which would you pick, if you could only do 1? (more)

[the_princess]

After seeing both: WOC, no doubt!!!!!

 

[jodeja]

It floors me how many people will pay $60 for a seat at F! Maybe I'm missing something. We always show up maybe 30-60 mins. before the show and it's been fine. I guess I'm a cheapskate but it's a 25 min. show and it's on free twice a night.

Our spot would have been better if the 10 or so other people didn't squeeze their way in by us 10 minutes before the show.

The people who squeeze in front of you 10 minutes before the show is the exact reason why I purchased the dessert seating this year. I have two kids, age 9 and 11, who are not able to see over the sea of grown ups. Since the OP is also traveling with young ones, I would suggest the dessert seating or just skip the show altogether.
Last year, we staked out great spots and hour and a half before showtime. We sat next to a family who had been there about an hour and a half before we showed up. I thought the time spent waiting was well worth it until 10 minutes before the show when the deluge of people came squishing in and neither of my kids could see.

I am with you on this one - I don't understand why people pay so much - how can you eat that many cakes anyway - maybe I just don't have a sweet tooth but myself and DH would eat one dessert each at the most. I would much prefer a picnic type meal here similar to the ones at WOC probably. We'll take our chance and go for the second show instead

Disclaimer: I DO have a sweet tooth
I had read on these boards that the dessert box was quite large and people would take them back to their rooms and snack on them throughout the rest of their trip. With that in mind, I booked our F! dessert seating for our first night there. I liked the desserts, but they were so sweet that I only ate 2 things during the show (plus I was drinking hot chocolate). Like a PP mentioned, the desserts were a little too fancy for my kids and they didn't really like anything in the box other than the cheese. So, we took all 3 boxes back to our room and I stored the contents in the fridge. Whenever we'd go back to the room during the next 5 days I would have 1 or maybe 2 of the items (they are all quite small, except for the raspberry filled cookie). I didn't buy any sweets for myself in the park because I knew I had my desserts waiting for me in the room. I didn't eat everything over the 6 days we were there, but most of it; and I bought less food in the parks because I had it.

To the OP: We did both the F! dessert seating and the WOC preferred dining package on our trip (F! on 6/17 and WOC on 6/18).
While both shows were spectacular, the viewing experience for the kids was unbeatable with F! and disappointing and stressful with WOC. For F! we had front row seats. Easy and relaxing and the bonus of being able to sit in our seats for the fireworks as well.
I was disappointed that even though I did the most expensive option for WOC, my kids were still not able to see over the grownups standing in front of them. The grownups standing behind me could barely see over me (I'm 5'4", but the women standing behind me were about 5'2" and 5'0").
The food value of the WOC package was of course far better than F! but my reason for doing either of them was for the viewing and the food was secondary.
It is ridiculous that even after you pay the high price for the F! dessert pkg you still have to line up early to get a good spot. But, we didn't line up earlier for that than we did for WOC. We actually waited about 20 minutes longer for WOC. And after we checked in for F! we were able to ride POTC and then come back (of course that will only work if you can find a ride with a short line or have a fastpass for a ride in the area).

With shorties in the group I would go for F! dessert pkg for a guaranteed good view instead of chancing it with WOC where they might be able to see or might not...

I hope you have a magical vacation whatever you end up doing

 

[franandaj]

Having had a terrible experience at WoC two nights ago, I would reccomend that unless your entire party is over 6ft tall, forget WoC. I had the highest expecations and that was a mistake. Some idiot had to put his kid on his shoulders making them an over 10ft tall person that blocked my view completely. I would have said something, but he was over 30 ft away in another standing area, and still blocked the view. This is how ill thought out this area is. They tell you that the tiered viewing area gives everyone a premium view, but only as long as you are substantially taller than the folks in the area below yours.

At either show you are packed in like sardines and so much happens at ground level that unless you can see over the whole crowd, you don't see much. It's not like fireworks where most everything happens above, you need to be able to see straight forward. If you're not tall enough, you don't see the show, just the top 1/3. I would say take the package with guaranteed seating.

 

[Mike_M]

Just got back from a week in DL and can honestly say that I easily decided to skip WoC this trip. FastPass Lines were too long for my taste and I got a glimpse of the show while leaving PP one of the nights and have to say that I'm not sure I was impressed with the concept. It looked to be just water, lights and projections. You get all that with F! as well as live action, both ships and of course the dragon. Yeah it's an old show but I think it's still the better one.

I'll check out WoC once the hype and the lines have diminished.

 

[Mary09]

The people who squeeze in front of you 10 minutes before the show is the exact reason why I purchased the dessert seating this year.

I'm not sure if you're implying I'm one of those who shows up at the last minute and squeezes my family in for a great view, but I assure you I'm not and I hate that as much as anyone.

 

[jodeja]

I'm not sure if you're implying I'm one of those who shows up at the last minute and squeezes my family in for a great view, but I assure you I'm not and I hate that as much as anyone.

Oh dear! No, I certainly was not implying anything towards you personally or anyone else on these boards. I love this DIS-family of Disney enthusiasts! It's my assumption that DISers would be among the most courteous in the parks.
I was just relaying my personal past experience where we camped out for an hour and a half to get a spot for Fantasmic and then 10 minutes before the show, not 1/2 an hour before the show which would have given us time to try to move, a massive crowd descended on our area crowding us and everyone around us.
I'm so sorry if my post seemed offensive and/or targeted at anyone here

 

[Funball]

i HAVE MAPS!!!!


7 FROM DLR AND 7 FROM DCA!!

MINT CONDITION, NO KID SLOBBER.. NOT A SINGLE WRINKLE! PM ME YOUR ADDRESS!

 

[Mary09]

Oh dear! No, I certainly was not implying anything towards you personally or anyone else on these boards. I love this DIS-family of Disney enthusiasts! It's my assumption that DISers would be among the most courteous in the parks.
I was just relaying my personal past experience where we camped out for an hour and a half to get a spot for Fantasmic and then 10 minutes before the show, not 1/2 an hour before the show which would have given us time to try to move, a massive crowd descended on our area crowding us and everyone around us.
I'm so sorry if my post seemed offensive and/or targeted at anyone here

Ok, phew, thanks for clarifying! I hate line cutters and last-minute-crowd-up-to-the-front viewers!

 

[Funball]

Oh dear! No, I certainly was not implying anything towards you personally or anyone else on these boards. I love this DIS-family of Disney enthusiasts! It's my assumption that DISers would be among the most courteous in the parks.
I was just relaying my personal past experience where we camped out for an hour and a half to get a spot for Fantasmic and then 10 minutes before the show, not 1/2 an hour before the show which would have given us time to try to move, a massive crowd descended on our area crowding us and everyone around us.
I'm so sorry if my post seemed offensive and/or targeted at anyone here

IF YOU GET THE LIME green mickey head paint chip samples from home depot , in alien green and then peel them off the backs and then stick them together , laminate them and put your screen name or just "diser" on it, it's easy to identify who is a diser in the park! soo shh! don't tell anyone, and yes it has to be alien green--that is the colors we(disers) use just hole punch them and stick them to your park bag!

 

[klexen]

Having seen both, I would pick WoC over Fantasmic. Especially if you have not yet seen WoC... The show is so amazing and beautiful! I have yet to see Fantasmic since it has been upgraded, so I'm excited to do that... But I think WoC is still better.

 

[franandaj]

i HAVE MAPS!!!!


7 FROM DLR AND 7 FROM DCA!!

MINT CONDITION, NO KID SLOBBER.. NOT A SINGLE WRINKLE! PM ME YOUR ADDRESS!

What is a troller? I noticed on my email that you mentioned something about that?