Fantasmic questions....

[NJDisneymom]

if I can't get a dining package for the nights I want can I just make an ADR to eat and then go to the show? How do you get tickets to the show or do you just have to wait on line to see if you can get in? Does the show fill up from dining package patrons?

Also, I've seen mention of an early and late show. Only thing I see for May is 9pm show times - is that the only one?

I took a 3:40 time at H&V for the 9pm show but that really isn't ideal and I heard H&V isn't that great (have only done the character breakfast there in the past). I guess I am too late in planning this stuff. We've never done this show before so want to try it at least once.

Should I just make a 5pm-ish dinner reservation separately (thinking Mama Melrose instead of H&V) and try to go to the show or should I keep the 3pm at H&V to guarantee a seat at the show???

 

[SGMCO]

We were there last early Oct and got there 1 1/2 hours before the show and it was almost filled up. We tried to spread the 3 of us out in the seating area to save some room for my DSis and BIL because they were eating at Brown Derby (they said they had 6:00pm ressies and the server was soooo slow that by the time they got out enterance to Fantasmic was blocked off because of over capacity (the show had not started) so they missed it (it was there 1st WDW trip). I would probably eat at a sit down for lunch hours and eat CS before Fantasmic it you really want to see it. Disney has cut the number of shows and nights offered and that has really made it hard to get to see it.

 

[NJDisneymom]

We were there last early Oct and got there 1 1/2 hours before the show and it was almost filled up. We tried to spread the 3 of us out in the seating area to save some room for my DSis and BIL because they were eating at Brown Derby (they said they had 6:00pm ressies and the server was soooo slow that by the time they got out enterance to Fantasmic was blocked off because of over capacity (the show had not started) so they missed it (it was there 1st WDW trip). I would probably eat at a sit down for lunch hours and eat CS before Fantasmic it you really want to see it.

so you did not have the dining package? If we had the package and arrive an hour before show time we get in but 2 hours before show time and no tickets you don't get in??

Just trying to understand how it works.

 

[2010_Bride]

This March DH and I have booked the F! dinner package. Where we eat dinner at 4:50pm and then we are handed a pass that allows us access from the side of the building to a section that is reserved for package holders.

You do not need a package deal to see the show - you just get in line and wait to be let in like any other show. The reason we did this, is we were there in July and the day we were there, people were lined up more than 2 hours in advance and we weren't prepared to do that!

 

[mommystieg]

There are no tickets - you just line up at least 45 minutes prior to showtime. During busier times they will often add another showing at 10:30 which is much easier to get into. IMHO, the seats for the dining package are not ideal but you do get to avoid waiting and the very un-Disney experience of getting into the theatre with the thundering herd

 

[NJDisneymom]

ok, I think maybe I found a solution...... I didn't want a 3:40 dinner with the show being at 9pm. I don't like dinner that early and it was just late enough that we wouldn't be hungry enough to eat again before getting in line for the show. Ideally I would have liked a 5-6pm dinner.
BUT in doing some checking I can get a Mama Melrose ADR for 1:30pm - yes, earlier instead of later but this will be better for us to grab some counter service before getting in line for the show and we will still have the dining package seating.

Does that make sense?? Now, if we have the package when do we need to get on line, is an hour before ok?

 

[csmommy]

ok, I think maybe I found a solution...... I didn't want a 3:40 dinner with the show being at 9pm. I don't like dinner that early and it was just late enough that we wouldn't be hungry enough to eat again before getting in line for the show. Ideally I would have liked a 5-6pm dinner.
BUT in doing some checking I can get a Mama Melrose ADR for 1:30pm - yes, earlier instead of later but this will be better for us to grab some counter service before getting in line for the show and we will still have the dining package seating.

Does that make sense?? Now, if we have the package when do we need to get on line, is an hour before ok?

That is what I would do.

According to Disney:

Restriction / Requirement

* Fantasmic! Theater Check-in Guests must arrive at the theater 30 - 45 minutes prior to the show. Entrance is via the Highlands gate -located between the Beauty and the Beast theater and the Once Upon a Time store on Sunset Blvd.

 

[SGMCO]

so you did not have the dining package? If we had the package and arrive an hour before show time we get in but 2 hours before show time and no tickets you don't get in??

Just trying to understand how it works.

We didn't have the dining package and my DSis and BIL couldn't get a package whenever they had made ressies because they were no more left.
I could not believe how crowded it was and how early it got crowded. I remember it was Sept. 26 2010 on a Sunday evening with only one Fantasmic show that evening--it was crazy!

 

[RalphinSC]

With the package there is no line to get into. There is a seperate entrance for dining package ticket holders and a seperate seating section. You get your dining package tickets during your reserved dinner time. If there's a 1:35 ADR at Mama Melrose's for the Fantasmic package, take it. Then you can grab something CS and go to your reserved seats with no wait and munch on your "sit down" dinner there. Should work out well.

I've got 2:35 ressies at Mama Melrose's on the dining package in less than two weeks. It looks like they added a second Fantasmic for us that night at 7 so we'll probably still be a bit full from our early dinner then to eat anything else.

The onyl thign to remember about the dining package is to make sure you get to your seats by 30-45 minutes prior to showtime. After that, they'll quit holding those sections in reserve and open those seats up to the mob who have been waiting patiently for much of the past hour and a half to see the show.