Has anyone done the Brown Derby Fantasmic viewing

[Disfan454]

Hello, I was wondering if anyone can tell me how the Brown Derby Fantasmic viewing dinner works at HS? I have never done any kind of ADR where viewing a show was an option outside of Hoopy Doo which was easy to get. We have a 3:30 dinner reservation and it says it allows for the first viewing of Fantasmic. Do they give you a pass to head over to the show? Do you get certain preferred seating? Any information would be helpful. Thanks in advance.

 

[rwdavis2]

Yes, they give you a paper pass that can't be replaced if you lose it. You do get preferred seating as long as you don't get there too late. 30 minutes prior is usually safe enough for the best seats.

If I have anything wrong I'm sure someone will chime in.

 

[TinkSassy]

All above is correct - just note, when they say how many minutes prior to showtime on the pass that is a hard number. If the area is not full at that point they will start filling from standby.

 

[Robo]

Hello, I was wondering if anyone can tell me how the Brown Derby Fantasmic viewing dinner works at HS? I have never done any kind of ADR where viewing a show was an option outside of Hoopy Doo which was easy to get. We have a 3:30 dinner reservation and it says it allows for the first viewing of Fantasmic. Do they give you a pass to head over to the show? Do you get certain preferred seating? Any information would be helpful. Thanks in advance.

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What a Dining Package for F! offers is opportunity for "center" seating.
What a FP+ for F! offers is more CHOICE in seating.

If you DO get a F! FP+, you can choose to sit in either the FP section (virtually the entire left half of the theater) or the Standby section (virtually the entire right half of the theater.)
So, whatever section has the better seating at the time you arrive, you can go there.
Without a FP, you can only choose a seat in the Standby section.

There is a very good chance that you can get a FP+ for F! as a 4th or 5th FP of the day because they issue SO MANY of them (enough to cover nearly the entire left half of the seating.) On many nights, it is possible that you can gat a FP+ for F! as you are walking to the theater.

As to when to arrive at the theater, I'd get to there 45-60 minutes before the show-time.
Even WITH having a FP or Dining Pkg. reservation, don't wait too late.

On busy nights, the CMs can stop holding the reserved sections within 20-30 minutes before show-time, and turn over any available seats to waiting walk-in guests.

Guests who learn how to take advantage of the various available "tools" and timing strategies will be able to take more control over their WDW experiences.
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Map Below-
Arrows indicate the center of the seating.
Shaded areas:
(First or Only F! performance of the evening)
Cyan= Standby (walk-in) seating
Red= Dining Package Reserved
Blue= FP+ Reserved
Purple= Can be either FP+ or Dining Plan Reserved, depending on needs.

(Second or Third F! performance of the evening)
Cyan= Standby (walk-in) seating
Red, Purple, Blue= FP+ Reserved
(Although much of the outer Blue will likely be used for Standby.)

 

[Disfan454]

Thank you everyone for the information. It is very helpful. How is Brown Derby?

 

[Araminta18]

I did it last March--it's exactly what everyone is saying. As far as the food, we love it. The Cobb salad is yummy, great entrees...I didn't care for the dessert trio, but I love the rest of it (butter with pink salt and the rolls...so yummy!). Highly recommend!

 

[Gehrig1B]

Thank you everyone for the information. It is very helpful. How is Brown Derby?

I think you will be very pleased with the food and quality of service at the Hollywood Brown Derby. One of our favorite in park restaurants. I can recommend the filet, the duck, and the salmon. Shrimp and grits on the lunch menu is excellent as well. Can't remember what your choices are with the package. Been a while since we had the Fantasmic dining package. Enjoy...

 

[DisneyMaleficent50]

Its okay. We usually do mama melrose

 

[kniquy]

how the Brown Derby Fantasmic viewing dinner works at HS?

Sounds like PP gave you all the info you need on this. The only down side to doing the package is that you do have to pick a lunch or fairly early dinner time. You do still want to show up at least 20 minutes ahead so that you still get good choice of seats, but really any of the section they put you in is great. I would avoid being right in the very front. If you are midway or a little higher i feel that it gives you a better view, less likely to get wet too.

How is Brown Derby?

Amazing! 5 out of 6 adults in my party ordered the filet. IT was by far the best filet we have ever eaten. We keep talking about it and our trip was in April. We even had dinner at a very upscale restaurant for our area and I had the filet -- not even close. BD has spoiled me for what filet should be.

 

[jbehr12]

Thank you everyone for the information. It is very helpful. How is Brown Derby?

Keep in mind doing this is a fixed price of I think $65/person. My girlfriend and I did this mid August and to be honest our service was pretty lousy. Also you have to get the most expensive thing on the menu to even begin to get your monies worth. The seats for Fantasmic were actually pretty good but again not worth the price when there are fast passes available.

We won’t be doing another dining package. Heck after the service we got last time they’d be lucky if we went back to Brown Derby at all.

 

[gharter]

We have done the HBD Fantasmic package. We enjoy their food and have never had a bad meal.
Unless they have changed things, Fantasmic will have 2 lines, standby and FP/Package. There may not be much difference in the length, so get in line early. The FP/Package line tends to move faster IMHO..
Once inside the FP and Package groups diverge to their reserved areas. Again, be sure to be there at least 30 minutes early.
Also, you don't want to be too close to the front as there is a splash zone and they mean it.