Fantasmic w/ or w/o Reserved Seating???

[3happydancers]

We have done Fantasmic in the past using DDP but it has been a few years. This year we are pop and on a tight budget (like everyone else). We will be there between Aug 20th and 30th (during free dining). I called D. Dining and they quoted me $40 pp to get preferred seating at Hollywood and Vine. Without preferred seating, the price is 35.00pp. There are 4 of us, so $20.00 extra for preferred seating. Here is the thing: If by chance the show is cancelled (and last year it was, others talked about their experience while in the world), we are out the $20.00. (Honestly, I don't agree that anyone should be charged for seating if the show is cancelled since that is what the extra charge is for.)

So my other choice is to use the standby line.

My question: Is the standby line TERRIBLE? I know as of now Fantasmic is running everyday. I think the past 2 years Disney had cut back to twice a week and many complained about the extremely long lines and being shut out of the show. I am thinking now that Disney increased the number of shows, the lines should be more managable. Has anyone been to Fantasmic recently and used standby? If so, what was your experience? Also, would it be frowned upon for me and dh to stand in line and let the DD and DN teens do a few rides to keep them occupied?

 

[hollywoodprincess91]

If there are 2 showings in one night, the second one will be easier to get a seat. Arrive atleast an hour early to stand in line. The children joining the line later might be frowned upon and it might be difficult for them to meet up with you.

 

[TwiddleDeeTwiddleDum]

Just a thought but if everyone has a cell phone, if you're comfortable with them doing this, as long as they get in line soon enough to get into the theatre, they could call to find you. That would avoid them trying to cut forward into the line while you're waiting to get in. I'm sure you & DH could find a seat & leave enough room between you to fit them in if they aren't trying to come in 1 minute before the show starts

If you decide to do the fantasmic package, most likely everyone will have to enter together.

 

[OKW Lover]

I've never thought the Fantasmic package to be worth it. Its not like the reserved seats are really great seats since they are all over on the right side of the stadium. Also, this place is pretty big so I don't think there is usually a problem with everybody getting in if you don't have a package.

 

[DixieBelle]

Another thought...attendance starts to fall at the end of August. You really may not need to buy a package at all.

 

[shannonstar]

Having gone in June (Star Wars Weekend), August, and Thanksgiving, I will tell you that of the times I did not get reserved seating, I sure wish I had. There is a big difference between seating with your antsy child for around 20 minutes vs over an hour.
Are the reserved spots off to the side... yes. Is it better than being in almost the last row in the non-reserved or having to stand... yes.

 

[3happydancers]

Just a thought but if everyone has a cell phone, if you're comfortable with them doing this, as long as they get in line soon enough to get into the theatre, they could call to find you. That would avoid them trying to cut forward into the line while you're waiting to get in. I'm sure you & DH could find a seat & leave enough room between you to fit them in if they aren't trying to come in 1 minute before the show starts

If you decide to do the fantasmic package, most likely everyone will have to enter together.

I hadn't thought of using the cell phone. The kids are 14 and 16 so I think as long as they stick together, this might work. DH and I can enter and just save 2 seats and definitely better than cutting in (which can be looked at as the same as cutting a ride line). I would only let them go to RR and Tower of Terror, so they would not be going far.

I did check and as of now, they only have one show a night, so going to the later show is not an option. Otherwise, like another post stated, they are usually less crowed. Maybe between now and then, they will add another one.

Thanks for everyones thoughts.

 

[3happydancers]

Just a thought but if everyone has a cell phone, if you're comfortable with them doing this, as long as they get in line soon enough to get into the theatre, they could call to find you. That would avoid them trying to cut forward into the line while you're waiting to get in. I'm sure you & DH could find a seat & leave enough room between you to fit them in if they aren't trying to come in 1 minute before the show starts

If you decide to do the fantasmic package, most likely everyone will have to enter together.

I hadn't thought of using the cell phone. The kids are 14 and 16 so I think as long as they stick together, this might work. DH and I can enter and just save 2 seats and definitely better than cutting in (which can be looked at as the same as cutting a ride line). I would only let them go to RR and Tower of Terror, so they would not be going far.

I did check and as of now, they only have one show a night, so going to the later show is not an option. Otherwise, like another post stated, they are usually less crowed. Maybe between now and then, they will add another one.

Thanks for everyones thoughts.

 

[minnie mum]

DH and I always get the FD package precisely because we hate waiting in the hot sun for over an hour. And we've been lucky in that we've never encountered a cancelled show. I won't advocate for or against the FD package though, since you feel it isn't worth the cost for your family.

But I will give you an example of what can happen, even on a low crowd day. We were there at the end of Sept, with a TP crowd level of 4 and not an EMH night (so, not bad at all). The theatre closed due to capacity with over 30 min. to go before show time. SRO completely full. Fantasmic is shown daily, and sometimes twice daily when crowd levels are high but that doesn't seem to have shrunk the number of people who want to see the show.

The reason I cited our latest experience was because of your thought of letting your children go on rides and hold places for them once you get into the theatre. If the crowds are big, you might face the situation of being seated in the theatre and your children being too far back in the line to get in at all. At a certain point, if there are really big crowds, the CMs won't let you hold seats, either. Just something else to think about.

 

[chartle]

The reason I cited our latest experience was because of your thought of letting your children go on rides and hold places for them once you get into the theatre. If the crowds are big, you might face the situation of being seated in the theatre and your children being too far back in the line to get in at all. At a certain point, if there are really big crowds, the CMs won't let you hold seats, either. Just something else to think about.

Yes when they say the theater is full no one is let in, even with saved seats.

I don't know if they do this anymore but I remember them once asking everyone to squeeze in and fill all available space.

 

[3happydancers]

DH and I always get the FD package precisely because we hate waiting in the hot sun for over an hour. And we've been lucky in that we've never encountered a cancelled show. I won't advocate for or against the FD package though, since you feel it isn't worth the cost for your family.

But I will give you an example of what can happen, even on a low crowd day. We were there at the end of Sept, with a TP crowd level of 4 and not an EMH night (so, not bad at all). The theatre closed due to capacity with over 30 min. to go before show time. SRO completely full. Fantasmic is shown daily, and sometimes twice daily when crowd levels are high but that doesn't seem to have shrunk the number of people who want to see the show.

The reason I cited our latest experience was because of your thought of letting your children go on rides and hold places for them once you get into the theatre. If the crowds are big, you might face the situation of being seated in the theatre and your children being too far back in the line to get in at all. At a certain point, if there are really big crowds, the CMs won't let you hold seats, either. Just something else to think about.

Yes when they say the theater is full no one is let in, even with saved seats.

I don't know if they do this anymore but I remember them once asking everyone to squeeze in and fill all available space.

Very good point; one I had not thought of. Maybe I will scrap the phone idea and just go for the reserved seating or at the very least ask the teens if they are willing to stand in line, and line up early (I doubt they will do this).

As for the added cost, it is not that I don't feel it is worth it but: 1: we are on a tight budget and I am trying to find ways to cut cost (20 here and 20 there can soon add up to a 100 plus dollars and 2: I don't like paying money for something that I might not receive, especially since we are on a tight budget). Of course, taking into consideration your input, I would definitely look elsewhere to cut cost. And thanks for letting me know this. This was why I asked the Disboard members. I figured you would all guide me in the right direction!!!

 

[TiggerTrigger]

We've only done the F! dining/preferred seating once, but we saw enough in that one experience to determine that we'd never dream of trying F! w/o the preferred seating unless it was a night with 2 showings and a week w/multiple showings as well.

When we did it, it was a lvl 5 crowd day at DHS. There was only one showing that night and it was a week when there weren't a ton of F! showings. When we got there for preferred seating the rest of the theater was already filled to capacity including SRO. I had to leave for a few minutes to take one of my girls to the bathroom and we saw tons of people being turned away including parents and older children who were attempting to join the rest of their family in the theater.

On the flip side, I have a friend who waited for hours to ensure she and her family got in. They all coordinated on cell phones and met up with her as the line was being let into the theater. She said she'd never do that again. As she put it- "while my family got their $s worth, for what it costs to go to WDW, I got robbed by wasting hours just waiting on line."

We also have younger children and there's no way they'd ever tolerate that kind of a wait nor would I want DH or myself to have to wait alone while the other tries to entertain and keep track of both kids for the wait time. It just sounds like a nightmare scenario. The preferred seating was just soooooo easy and made for a much nicer experience.

 

[3pletprincesses]

we went last august (I think the 25 to be exact) and we were glad to have reserved seating. I'm pretty sure many people didn't ge to see the second show that night as the first show got filled within maybe 15 minutes and when we got out of that show the line was even longer for the second show. Some of those people had been waiting for the first show to give you an idea of the waiting time. With kids, reserved sitting is the only way to go unless it's the very low season

 

[3happydancers]

We've only done the F! dining/preferred seating once, but we saw enough in that one experience to determine that we'd never dream of trying F! w/o the preferred seating unless it was a night with 2 showings and a week w/multiple showings as well.

When we did it, it was a lvl 5 crowd day at DHS. There was only one showing that night and it was a week when there weren't a ton of F! showings. When we got there for preferred seating the rest of the theater was already filled to capacity including SRO. I had to leave for a few minutes to take one of my girls to the bathroom and we saw tons of people being turned away including parents and older children who were attempting to join the rest of their family in the theater.

On the flip side, I have a friend who waited for hours to ensure she and her family got in. They all coordinated on cell phones and met up with her as the line was being let into the theater. She said she'd never do that again. As she put it- "while my family got their $s worth, for what it costs to go to WDW, I got robbed by wasting hours just waiting on line."

We also have younger children and there's no way they'd ever tolerate that kind of a wait nor would I want DH or myself to have to wait alone while the other tries to entertain and keep track of both kids for the wait time. It just sounds like a nightmare scenario. The preferred seating was just soooooo easy and made for a much nicer experience.

we went last august (I think the 25 to be exact) and we were glad to have reserved seating. I'm pretty sure many people didn't ge to see the second show that night as the first show got filled within maybe 15 minutes and when we got out of that show the line was even longer for the second show. Some of those people had been waiting for the first show to give you an idea of the waiting time. With kids, reserved sitting is the only way to go unless it's the very low season

As I get more and more feedback, the more I am convinced that F w/reserved seating is the way to go. The last thing I want to do is to waste park time on an endless line in the heat.

As always, my Disboard friends did not let me down!!! Thanks to all