Fantasmic Package ?

[aljack33]

Can anyone explain what this is? If I am understanding right, you eat one of the eligible restaurants, and then have preferred seating for Fantasmic? Is that correct? Anything else go with it?

Which restaurants are involved? And are any of them good?

 

[pumba]

Hollywood and Vine, Mama Melroses and Brown Derby.......at least those were the ones when we got the Fantasmic Pkg......nothing extra to be paid .....You dine at one of these restaurants and get a ticket to get in the doorway near the front of the Park......we usually do Hollywood and Vine as we like to go there to eat and get the bonus of the seating .......Hope I have explained it right..

 

[aljack33]

How is the Food at Hollywood and Vine??

 

[pumba]

alot of good choices for a buffet.......We went once with 8 people, and one was a vegetarian, one was elderly, two were on diets, two kids and two of us who would eat anything.......we had a great time and the food was delicious.....

 

[wdwdancerwannabe]

VERY worth it! The only thing to consider is that Hollywood Brown Derby is a signature restaurant, so it is more pricey....I've never been there, but I'm sure it's delicious!!

When it says "preferred seating" - don't expect out of this world seats! The seats we had were still way back towards the back - and we got there early. The Fantasmic Package just insures you a seat and while avoiding standing in line....I've heard that the line for Fantasmic can be horrible and then you can end up standing. We didn't wait in line - and we got a seat. The show is such a huge scale, that you don't realize how far back you are once the show starts.

 

[monami7]

HW & V is not signature dining. Hollywood Brown Derby is. It is confusing. Hollywood and Vine is a buffett.

 

[jhryb]

Personally I REALLY enjoy Mama Melroses. My Fav restaurant at MGM is 50's Prime Time, But my Fav that is part of the Fantasmic is definitely Mama Melroses ( It actually beat out Mama Melroses on my last trip!)

 

[amery]

Reserved yes, preferred no IMHO.

You get your choice of 3 places; Hollywood & Vine, The Brown Derby and Mama Melrose. H&V is a buffet while the other 2 or TS.

Through the package, you get to enter the theater through a special entrance abotu 30 minutes prior to show time and get a designated section to sit. The issue there is that there area is nowhere near the best seats so the real value add is that you get to get in before everyone else.

If you are trying to get better seats than I would suggest to nix the package and get to the gate 60-90 minutes prior to show time. If you do opt for the package, you might get lucky enough to jump out of the reserved area and get better seats.

 

[aljack33]

Thank you all for the information. I think I am going to think about it. looking at the menus, I think Hollywood and Vine would probably be the best choice for our family. But, DD5 HATES fireworks and loud noises, so I don't think she will want to see Fantasmic. By Husband and DD13, really want to see it. We missed it last trip because I knew DD4 would not be able to handle it. I Don't know if it would be worth it then. Lots to thing about though. THank you all!

 

[JRLINK3]

We did the Fantasmic Dinner Package in December 2004. We also went to Hollywood and Vine since we figured that a buffet would fit everyones tastes. I didn't like Hollywood and Vine at all. Even with ressies we had to wait a horribly long time because no one wanted to clean off the tables so that other customers could come in. We waited at least 45 minutes to get in and when we did, they weren't even filled to compacity. There were plenty of tables left open! We had to complain twice to the hostess about not being seated. Unfortunately, she couldn't care less. She was too busy chatting up with other employees. The food was really mediocre at best. I will never go there again!

Once we got into our reserved seating at Fantasmic we found that there were much better seats to be had in the non-reserved section. I felt like we were rather put off to the side. It was definitely not the best view. We actually felt conned. Conned by the incentive of great seating by visiting a non-popular (rather yucky) restaurant. We surely didn't get that great seating!

This year we skipped the dinner package and we are just going to take our chances. We'll be there during the slowest time of the year, so hopefully that will work out for us.

 

[wdwdancerwannabe]

Fantasmic IS quite loud - even though the fireworks aren't til the end, the whole show is quite "tense" off and on....

and I do have to agree w/ the previous poster. We went in July of 2005 to the HW&V Buffet and in our 10 day trip we probably waited the longest for it - even though we had ADR's.

 

[thea611]

We dined at H&V in mid-september as part of the Fantasmic "package". We're vegetarians, and we LOVED the buffet, it was the best dining experience of our whole week at WDW. It saved the day really, because Fantasmic ended up being rained out; we sat there in the rain and lightening listening to the recording ("tonight's show may be cancelled or delayed") over and over until 8:35, when they finally cancelled. Not too many happy people that night!!!! But at least we'd had a great dinner!

 

[Doc Goofy]

We had a wonderful relaxing meal at the Brown Derby with our Fantasmic package several years ago. Subdued lighting, a piano playing, tables not too close together. Our filets were excellent. And we had a small child with us. It felt like a little bit of sanity...

We liked it so much that I made an ADR there for this December despite there being no Fantasmic packages available.

 

[klwdisney]

I wouldn't waste your time. We went one year without a package and got a GREAT seat in the middle section. The next trip we booked the package and had an ok buffet meal at H&V and then saw that the VIP seats or whatever are WAY over to the right and we had a hard time seeing. You're better off just showing up an hour or so early and sitting in the regular section.