How long to line up for Fantasmic?

[Angeliki19]

Hi all- We are going in November and we have a dinner reservation at 5:20 at 50's Prime Time. Our plan is to skip Fantasmic in order to do the Star Wars fireworks, however, from what I understand Disney has not confirmed that these will be showing in November and if so, if they will be every night. Therefore I would like to leave the option to go to Fantasmic if there are no fireworks.

Will we have time to go from a 5:20 ADR to line up for Fantasmic (show at 7 pm?) Or should I try for an earlier ADR?

Thanks!

 

[Robo]

Hi all- We are going in November and we have a dinner reservation at 5:20 at 50's Prime Time. Our plan is to skip Fantasmic in order to do the Star Wars fireworks, however, from what I understand Disney has not confirmed that these will be showing in November and if so, if they will be every night. Therefore I would like to leave the option to go to Fantasmic if there are no fireworks.

Will we have time to go from a 5:20 ADR to line up for Fantasmic (show at 7 pm?) Or should I try for an earlier ADR?

Thanks!

If you want to see F!, move the ADR to an earlier time.

Guests don't really wait in line for the first (or only) F! performance of the evening.

The CMs open the theater an hour or more before show-time.

Guests at that time will simply walk slowly through the very long pathways to the theater and file in to find a seat.

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 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.

There is sometimes a "pre-show" (such as it is) that can help pass the last 30 minutes before show time.

-------------------------------------------------------------------
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.)

--------------------------------------

 

[trouttigger]

Robo, this was really helpful, esp. that we may be able to get FP+ on the way to the theatre.

 

[Robo]

Robo, this was really helpful, esp. that we may be able to get FP+ on the way to the theatre.

The real advantage is to arrive at the theater early.

 

[Easto]

Arrive early for a couple of reasons:

#1

Yon don't want to sit dead center. They have these huge fans of water they create and project videos onto (I hope this makes sense). These fans raise out of the water 20 feet or so, maybe higher. They are a bit offset from the centre so if you sit dead centre these fans will be an an angle and the picture isn't very clear. From the above picture I would try and sit neat the edge of Pocahontas and Maleficent. This will give you a good view of the videos. Last week I sat closer to Pocahontas and Mickey border (about 10 feet into Pocahontas) and I found the videos blurry.

#2

Light Poles

There were some seats that looked awesome, 3 rows up right on the isle of Pocahontas beside Mickey. I sat down there and had an awesome view of a huge light pole. You'll want to get there early so you can avoid a seat like this as well. I ended up moving about 10' the other way.

#3

Sit close to the water, you'll get a bit wet (barely.. a mist of water) but it's awesome for the kids. They will see almost every possible Disney character they have costumes for.

 

[Klayfish]

#3 above is a good tip. I'd also recommend getting there an hour early if you really want a good spot. While Robo is right that guest don't really wait in line per se, they will start to gather outside the entrance way. You certainly don't need to be the first one waiting, but don't show up last second expecting a good spot. Having said that, people seem to fill up the middle and back rows quicker than the very front. There are some small benches at the very, very front of the show. They seat only 4 or 5 people. We always sit there. If the wind is blowing in, you will get a little wet depending on how hard it's blowing. Sometimes we don't get a drop, other times we've gotten quite wet. But it's a great view and you'll see the characters up close.

 

[Robo]

Arrive early for a couple of reasons:
#1
Yon don't want to sit dead center.
A. They have these huge fans of water they create and project videos onto (I hope this makes sense).
B. These fans raise out of the water 20 feet or so, maybe higher.
C. They are a bit offset from the centre so if you sit dead centre these fans will be an an angle and the picture isn't very clear.

A. True.
B. True.
C. Not true. There are three water screens. One of them is dead-center.

"Center" is a great place to sit.

 

[Easto]

I was pretty close to dead centre and I found it hard to see the image on the fans.

Dead centre, Mickey, was reserved for people with Fantasmic Dining package (something like that). You needed a blue ticket to sit here is all I know.

So, possibly dead centre is a fine view, but I couldn't sit there without a Dinner pass. Next best were the two sections beside Mickey. If you sat near the border to Mickey the view of the fan screens wasn't that good. If there were 3 screens (which I am sure there was) you were directly between the middle one and a side one. You're much better sitting closer to the fan (closer to dead on) for the clearest view. They project a ton of stuff on the water fan so it's nice to be able to see it.

 

[Robo]

I was pretty close to dead centre and I found it hard to see the image on the fans.

Well, THAT is another factor, entirely.

The images on the water screens, at BEST, are not extremely clear.

They are having a lot of difficulty with similar (and much newer) technology at the evening DAK shows (Rivers of Light and/or Jungle Book.)
It's just not a foolproof way to project a razor-sharp and bright image.

 

[Boy Mom x3]

This is a great post, thank you! Can we get there an hour early, get seats, then come and go? I don't think my 2 year old will sit an hour before the show, but I could take him out and walk around while dad and 2 big kids sat to hold our seats. So if I'm clear.... we have dining package... try to sit dead center front?

 

[Robo]

1. Can we get there an hour early, get seats, then come and go?
2. I don't think my 2 year old will sit an hour before the show, but I could take him out and walk around while dad and 2 big kids sat to hold our seats.
So if I'm clear.... we have dining package...
3. try to sit dead center front?

1. You will be able to get up and walk,
but it is a VERY long walkway to get to and from the theater and the rest of DHS.
(See the map below.)
If you do walk, I'd stay within the confines of the F! walkways.
However, see ** in #2 below.

2. Yes. Within reason.
**If the crowds are heavy, do NOT leave the theater seating, itself. You might not get back in.

3. If that's what you want to do, and others have not filled those seats before you, yes!

 

[babyruth]

Reading through Robo's post I go from ok we don't need a dining package to YES WE DO...LOL The red area being dining package only, do we still need to get there an hour beforehand? I also have a 2 year old who isn't going to sit that long. The reason I wanted to do F! is for the earlier show time and guaranteed seat. She won't make it to Wishes without making us all regret it.

 

[Robo]

The red area being dining package only, do we still need to get there an hour beforehand?

Even with 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.

 

[babyruth]

Even with 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.

oh gees sorry to make you repeat yourself. thank you