Illumination or Fantasmic?

[suzieqinga]

Hey everyone, We are not much for parades etc, but was wanting to try one of the two shows. We are dh & two 10 year old boys. Could you please suggest a show & a viewing area.
Thanks, Suzie

 

[stonesmom]

fantasmic, it was incredible! I suggest a fantasmic dinner so you don't have along wait

 

[jcemom]

Wow, tough call! My 9 year old preferred Illuminations (we watched from Germany) and my 10 year old (both boys) preferred Fantasmic, but then he is really into Sorcerer Mickey. To me it seemed that most seats in Fantasmic were good, but I'd steer clear of the very front unless you don't mind getting a little wet.

 

[tcfdick]

I've seen both and they are wonderful, but my favorite is Fantasmic! It was awesome! Illuminations has lots of smoke at times because of the fireworks going off so close to the water and the smoke can blow in your face. Also my DS was a 10 yo. last year and he liked this show the best, in fact he said it was cool! I have to agree.

 

[McCall]

I thought Fantasmic was a complete waste of time. Love illuminations though never miss it.

 

[SCOTTOHIOCPA]

We have the same dillema coming up next week and we have seen both 2 times. I pick Fantasmic, the family DW, DD11 and DS 6 keep changing their minds. DW thinking is clouded by dreams of dining in the countries though.

 

[disneyfreakjackie]

FANTASMIC!!!

I like Illuminations, but LOVE Fantasmic!!! Go see both!! We are! And WISHES, too, don't miss that!!

I can't wait . . . 34 DAYS!!!

 

[CamColt]

Definitely Fantasmic! Its so incredibly Disney. To me Illuminations was just a nice fireworks show.

 

[disneygirl21]

Definetly Illuminations. Fantasmic was not so great as people say. If you want, do both! But I like Illuminations better. It has a story. Fantasmic has a confusing tale with it, which made it hard to follow.

 

[tjkraz]

If you don't particularly care for parades, I would suggest Illuminations. While I think Fantasmic is a wonderfully-produced show, I've always found it to be character overkill. To me, Fantasmic is like a parade on stage. We'll do it every time the kiddies are with us, but as an adult, I don't find it particularly moving.

Illuminations, on the other hand, is just a wonderful show, IMO. Great music. Great fireworks. I could watch it every day.

 

[lentesta]

I second tjkraz's comments (and I'm listening to Illuminations right now!). The music, fireworks and show effects are spectacular.

Len

 

[poohtown]

our family preferred Fantasmic. I thought the show was completely original and alot of fun. Ask yourself a couple of questions - do you prefer the fireworks over a show? do your kids get excited over the characters? My kids 9 and 15 loved all the different parts of Fantasmic (the live characters, the movie part, etc. and kept getting more excited with each new thing. At Illuminations, my 15 year old liked it but the 9 year old wanted to leave.

 

[suzieqinga]

Thanks for all the replies! You are all so helpful!

I'm leaning more towards Illuminations...mainly because I don't want to wait for an eternity to see Fantasmic or pay for the costly dinner package.

Believe are not, the characters are not a big issue for my kids. We all think it's cool when we see them (from afar), but the boys don't care to wait in line for a picture or autograph. They'd rather be riding rides. The last time we went to Disney was four years ago (when they were 6 yo), and that was the case for them even then.

As far as Wishes...is there more to it than Fireworks? We saw the evening show at MK four years ago, and other than Tinkerbell at the beginning, I don't remember anything other than standard fireworks.

We must sound like a bunch of sticks-in-the-mud to the rest of you!

 

[Hugpug]

I say Fantasmic . I have to make a choice and Fantasmic is the one I choosed. Tried to arrange for both but had no luck getting someone to share a cruise with me on the 5th of May which is the only night I have open.

 

[heart4dis]

Just don't sit right up front unless you want to get damp. Get there early enough to get a seat in the middle if you can, but no seat will be bad. We were there off-season and still had to claim seats about 45 minutes ahead. We bought vendor snacks and did fine. A group of cheerleaders started the wave and it helped pass the time!

 

[orvilleair]

Our group liked Fantasmic. Theater seating, good music and storyline.

We saw Illuminations from the entrance to World Showcase, and it had a great view. The area doesn't have the ambience of the areas further back into World Showcase. Pay attention to the wind direction to stay out of the pyrotechnics smoke.

Is it possible to see both shows???
April 2004
Fantasmic 8:30 and 10:00
Illuminations 9:00

 

[my3princes]

My family chooses Fantasmic hands down. We have seen both shows several times and my kids have Fantasmic on their top 3 must sees in all of WDW. I don't think I have ever heard of them mentioning illuminations even when telling people about previous trips. Anyone that has ever spoken to one of my DSs about WDW has heard about Fantasmic.

 

[OneMoreTry]

Personally I like Illuminations WAAAYY better.

 

[slo]

We absolutly love both Fantasmic and Illuminations.

Normally we do both, but this year we will have DD#2 with us and she will be 13months old and the thought of waiting on those bleachers for an hour to see Fantasmic gives me nightmares just thinking about it . So.....we will be seeing Illuminations only this year.

So my advice on how to chose is how much do you want to wait for Fantasmic??? If you don't want to wait an hour or maybe longer than I would choose Illuminations. If waiting is not an issue, than I would choose Fantasmic. But my ultimate advice is to do both

Have a nice trip

 

[Fooboy]

BOTH! I love them BOTH!!!!!

foobs