When will you be there? Columbus week? If so the package is probably preferable. I think you'd need to arrive at least 90 minutes prior to Fantasmic over the holiday, but they do open the seating and allow you to sit while you wait. I have never gone on a holiday and I've never done the package, though I have friends who have done both.
If it's not over the holiday you should be fine with arriving 60 minutes prior to the show. We've been during the third week of October and crowds were fairly light, very manageable. We've also been during the first week of October, a bit more crowded than the third week but still manageable. When it's not really really crowded it takes a while for the stadium to fill. The package seats are all the way to one side anyway, so what you'll get walking in without the package will be just as good if not better even if the stadium is already half full. You can take gameboy and your CS food inside, play and eat while you wait. We always do it that way. The package would save some time, but we don't want to eat at those restaurants. If they'd offer the package at Sci Fi or 50's PTC we'd do it, since we'd be eating anyway, but they don't.
