Fantasmic?

[cupcake]

I am just full of questions today!! I saw on Deb's WDW site that Disney is running test Fantasmic packages that have dinner (Brown Derby, Mama Melrose, or Hollywood & Vine) & reserved seats. We've never seen Fantasmic. In the Unofficial Guide, it says that it's well worth seeing, that the packages generally have rather poor seats, and that unless you were planning on eating at these places anyway, it is better to get there way ahead and not do the reserved seats.

Does anyone know whether this is also true for the handicapped seats? We were kind of already thinking of Mama Melroses or the Brown Derby bc our MGM day will be our last night. But if the seats are really bad we could time things to get there early and do non-reserved seats.

Did I mention that it's 12 days to our trip?

Cupcake

 

[Talking Hands]

If you are in a wheelchair you will get the same seats whether you get the dining plan or not. There are not special seats designated for it as far as handicapped is concerned.

 

[SueM in MN]

I'm not sure what Deb Wills site is exactly talking about and calling "new" because there have been dinner packages with seating in a reserved area for 3 years or more.
I wouldn't really consider any of the seats "rather poor" at any rate. Some are not exactly at the center, but there is a lot of action going on all around and there are several "screens" that they show movies on arranged so everyone has a view.

We have gotten there in as little as 15 minutes before the show began and still got good seats in the wheelchair viewing area. I'm not suggesting this - we had gotten to the park late one day and were just going to check if there were any seats left and we were lucky. You can ask at the information/update board, located at on the corner near the Hollywood Brown Derby. The CMs there can give you an idea about early you should arrive to get good seats. They usually have a good idea about how things are running.

 

[Puffy2]

Sue , what a good idea about the CM at the tip board - I never thought to ask them. I might just do this next time.

I had the dinner package last Jan. and it worked well. Our seats were far up on the right hand side but I don't feel like they were "bad" seats - you could see just fine and getting out of the park was easier from this location. The handicapped seating was two rows behind us (last seats in the back ) - this is so you can sit in your ECV or WC if you need to . Like I said, it is far up but the show was fine from there (most of it takes place on and across a small lake anyway so it's not like anyone is sitting "right up front". Do you agree Sue ? Does this sound right?

by the way, there is a new system with the packages -they are prepaid and fix price for adults and children and you can book anytime now for dates until Dec. 16 or 19the (can't remember which) call 407 WDW DINE for the reservations. It is EXPENSIVE!! The cheapest is Hollywood and Vine at about $22.95 for adults . (a normal buffet dinner there is something like $18.00... can't remember exact price ,,,sorry!)Mama Melrose is about $32.00 per adult and Brown Derby $39.00 or so per adult .

 

[SueM in MN]

Thanks, Puffy. I was really puzzled about what they could do to the Dinner package to make it new. That answers it.
We've gotten a lot of good tips from those CMs. Since they are posting wait times all day, they usually have a good idea about when you are less likely to find a crowd. We've seen one hour waits for rides sometimes (we've gone over Spring break the last 6 years), but with info from those tips CMs, we knew when to come back for a 15 minute wait.
I think all the seats in the theater are pretty good. I'll try to explain the setting as well as I can.
The "stage" is a rocky area in the center of the ampitheater, with about 25 feet of water between the "stage" and the audience. Everything is curved in a little, the "stage" the waterway and the seating area. The seats are arranged stadium style with steps, so that the top rows are higher and you can see over the audience in front of you quite well. There are some wheelchair accessible spots at the front of the ampitheater (we haven't sat there) and the rest are in the back two rows of the seating area. Behind the seating area there is a walkway. That used to be used for Standing Room Only (SRO) viewing, but when we were there in March, they were keeping the area clear as a fire exit and the SRO viewing was behind the walkway behind a rail.
Some of the action takes place on the stage, but they spread things out so that the action moves around the whole stage pretty well. There are also movies projected on screens of water (which will get you wet if you are near the front and the wind is blowing at you). There are 3 identical screens, each facing part of the audience, so everyone has an equal view of that. At certain points, there are boats on the water. They travel from one side to the other, so everyone gets to see them the same, just not all at the same time.
We have been seated right in the middle, at far left and a little right of the middle in the wheelchair viewing area. I would not say that any of the areas were dramatically worse than the others, so I think where ever you end up, it is a good show.