Fantasmic!

[M&M'sMom]

Anyone with info re: Fantasmic? We booked the dinner Fantasmic pkg at mama melrose for sat. 1/22 @ 4:20. But now with the new magic hours MGM is open late on Sunday 1/23 and PS is all filled for that day. My question is does it really pay off to go with the dinner package to get a seat vs. waiting for 2 hours like I've read in all the books. Also any feedback on the Fantasmic! show? It's the first time seeing it for us.... Thanks!

 

[Immelman]

the dinner package seating is OK. it's on the right hand side of the arena. I'm seriously doubting at that time of the year you're going to need to camp out 2 hours to get a good seat. fantasmic itself is our favorite of all of the nighttime shows. we sometimes drive over just to have dinner, ride TOT a couple of times, and watch fantasmic. it's a wonderful show.

 

[dthogue]

We are going in March and there are 2 Fantasmic shows each night - 7:30 and 9pm. What time do people usually start lining up for the 9pm show? If we arrive by 8pm, do you think we'll get in??

 

[debbiedoo]

If you going in March, this is spring break time, which means high level of crowds. I would definitlely keep my fantismic dinner package. Duriing busy times can fill up very quickly!!!!

 

[mickeyfanmom]

Feedback on the Fantasmic show- excellent, awesome, totally cool, dazzling...(can you tell that I love this show?!)

This is our entire family's favorite show- so unique and incredible!

I would keep your dinner show package- being in a prime location enhances the experience considerably!! JMHO!

 

[PKS44]

We went to the second Fantasmic in AUGUST 2004 -one of the busiest summers on record..we waited maybe 10 or 15 minutes and got good seats. It was at 10:20pm so maybe a 9pm show might be busier..I dunno...but what I really want to know is how necessary it is to line up in January...a very slow time of year...

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

We are going to try to skate into Fantasmic next Thursday about 6:30 - no dinner package, no other plan. Just show up, walk in, hope for a spot (even if we have to stand). I'll let you know how it works! The 7:00 is the only show that night.

 

[arizonacolbys]

I don't think I'd go with the Fantasmic package in January. We always see Fantasmic at least once a trip, and we generally go during slow times. We'll be there later this month, too, but aren't getting the package. It's more money & food than the 2 of us would need on a dinner there. we've never showed up more than 30 minutes early, and never had a problem getting a seat. I don't think anyone in January needs to show up 2 hours early (unless maybe over the holiday weekend.)

Hope this helps!

 

[tjkraz]

We are going in March and there are 2 Fantasmic shows each night - 7:30 and 9pm. What time do people usually start lining up for the 9pm show? If we arrive by 8pm, do you think we'll get in??

Assuming those are the correct times, the 7:30 show won't even be over until 7:55pm. Then it takes 15min or so to clear the theater. I can't imagine they would even be letting people in before 8:15.

To those asking about the meal plan, personally I think the seats are crappy. We've seen the show from the middle sections and from the reserved seating, and found that our enjoyment was reduced substantially when sitting in the meal package seats.

 

[officer tigger]

Back in April we went and had a dinner package. I was glad we did because people were lining up two hours before the show.

We also had an early dinner around 4:30. Afterwards we went on some more rides while people waited in line for the show.

We walked in 20 minutes before the show and had a great seat. The other side was packed!! Standing room was the only part open at that time.

That is with one show a night.

 

[Tony Toon]

Preview
Quote:
Originally Posted by tjkraz
To those asking about the meal plan, personally I think the seats are crappy. We've seen the show from the middle sections and from the reserved seating, and found that our enjoyment was reduced substantially when sitting in the meal package seats.



I couldn't possibly allow this quote to pass without comment from personal experience. Fantasmic is my favourite Disney show bar non and we could never imagine a trip to WDW without experiencing the unique magic of this show. We have seen the show from most vantage points in the auditorium and for sure there are seats which aren't so good, even BAD, but the seats for the dinner package customers are not among them. You have a great view of everything and is possibly the best option other than taking the risk of hoping to get a seat completely centre stage and directly in front of one of the water screens - completely pot luck and not worth the risk IMO. Dinner package customers are guaranteed an excellent seat. At busy times - which is when I tend to visit unfortunately - I think the DP option is definitely worth it. Also for your first time I wouldn't take the risk of being unfortunate enough to find yourself in one of the seats midway between the screens. My inlaws did this and had to be cajoled into giving the show a second chance - now they love it as much as we do.

Enjoy the show!

Tony (It seems to have been raining here in Scotland for ever )

 

[MarkLem]

We just did the show and dinner package 2 nights ago. Fixed price of $36.95 per adult at the Brown Derby, and we got to choose items off the menu that totalled well above that price. The other restaurants that offer dinner package are not as expensive.

We got to the theater at 6:30 PM for the 7:00 PM show. The reserved section was maybe 50% full. I would say that the other non-reserved seating sections were filled 95%, with the only visible seats left well, well off to the side.. To get the equivalent seats that we had in the non-reserved you would have to have gotten there at least an hour before we did (my estimate).

So if you are going to eat dinner and you want to see the show, it's a real time saver. We easily spent an extra hour in the park instead of sitting in a seat, and with 3 kids ages 9, 7, 3, that was time WELL SPENT!

If you get the better of the reserved seats (which means you are closest to center), the seats are fine. This is coming from someone who only buys local concert/show tickets from ticket scalpers companies (at tremedously high premiums) so that we can sit in the first few rows for stage shows, as otherwise my wife can't see the show well. She was fine with the seats for Fantasmic. Again, just an opinion. You have to judge your own personal situation as to whether to do the dinner package or go earlier to get an equivalent seat.

 

[tjkraz]

Allow me to elaborate on my comments.

First, you have to understand that one of the core beliefs in Walt Disney's vision of a theme park is that "Show" is paramount. All of Walt Disney World was designed to be an elaborate production, providing as high-quality an experience as possible for each and every guest.

When viewing Fantasmic from the reserved seating, several things stood out to me:

- Backstage areas were visible, which provided us a view of the performers moving around while off-stage. Bad show.
- Fantasmic happened to start at the same time as Illuminations at Epcot. Illuminations is a bit shorter than Fantasmic. As the finale to Illuminations began, we could clearly see the firework bursts in the sky during the latter part of Fantasmic. Bad show.
- Without giving too much away, there is a portion of Fantasmic in which a ship moves across the lagoon, and there are pyrotechnics attached to the vehicle. The boat begins in the backstage area near the reserved seating, and was clearly visible (pyrotechnics included) about 20-30 seconds before it was actually on stage. Bad show.

I don't mean to imply that these are the worst seats in the house. Nor am I going to definitively say that arriving 2 hours early is better or worse than booking the dinner package. I'm just sharing my experiences so that others can make their own decisions.

My own personal experience was that the dinner package seats provided a less fulfilling experience than the times we used the general admission seating.

 

[jaysmom4285]

I agree with MarkLem and Tony Toon - we had dinner package seats in December and found them to be very good. There are actually two reserved sections on the right side (two sets of bleachers separated by an aisle) and we sat on the left side of the left section, as close to the center as possible. We were directly in front of a water screen and had a good view of the characters performing. I can see that, if you were to sit on the extreme right of the reserved section, you may be able to see more of the backstage action, but where we were, it wasn't apparent. We arrived about 30 minutes prior to the show, and the general seating section was very full, and people were being seated on the extreme left side, or standing in back. I guess my suggestion would be that, if you do get the dinner package, try to sit as far to the left of the reserved section as possible, and you'll have very good seats.

 

[QuickGold]

I'd advise against the package, especially since you're going in late January, a time of the year where it's not as necessary to take advantage of the program.

You may find this page helpful: http://www.mgmstudios.org/food/fantasmic.html

 

[rkrivas]

I agree with the other posters that it depends upon the crowd size and the size of your party. When we visited in Aug '03, there were 10 of us (4 kids and 2 seniors), so doing the Fantasmic Dinner Package was definitely worth it to not have to stand in line for a long time. However, just the four of us are going on February 17th and aren't doing the package.

 

[tommygirl79]

My family is going to WDW February 10-15. Are there any certain days during that time period that you all would suggest be better for Fantasmic than others. I'm sure there's no change of reservations for dinner now even if we wanted them but during this time of year would there be a long wait to get in??? I haven't been to Disney since November 1999 and am not familiar with this attraction (which seems odd for me giving the fact that in the 1990s we went almost every year and I'm not used to being out of the loop on such things...

Thanks!