illuminations, wishes or fantasmic?

[ryan840]

hi. we have a two day park hopper pass so we can only go to two out of the three shows. any recomendations? it will be me, my husband and our 21 month old son. ive never seen any of them, and didnt know how similar/different they were. thanks!

 

[all4fun]

Hi, me again
All three shows are really different. Fantasmic is in an amphitheater with bench seating. The setting is an "island" with a "moat" around it and the show is the classic "good vs. evil" story. You see a multitude of characters and I think I read somewhere that there are over 40 Mickey's involved. It's an incredible show using pyrotechnics, water fountains that they project movies onto, fireworks, & floats, & music.

Illuminations is set on the lake at the Epcot world showcase. It also incorporates music, pyrotechnics, & fireworks. It's hard to describe. It's truly a beautiful show. This one is probably my favorite, with Fantasmic coming in a close second. Our ds loved this show and he enjoyed Fantasmic as well.

Wishes is a great show too. This is definitely an upgrade from the typical fireworks show. It's worth seeing if you're at MK already for sure. But I just have to really push for Fantasmic and Illuminations if that's all you have time for. Of course, if you can park hop, sometimes they do more than one a night and you might be able to fit two in. It just depends on when you will be there.

hth,
Cheryl

 

[ryan840]

thanks again. is fantasmic the one with the evil queens and other villians? do you think it will be too scary for him? so far nothing seems to scare him, but who knows how itll be when hes a bit older...

 

[AmoDolphin]

Fantasmic is the one with the evil villins, and witches, and it scared my ittle sister to death, and she was 5.

Out of thoose three, I would pick Illuminations, and Wishes.

 

[all4fun]

I guess every kid is different so you're probably the best judge of what will scare your ds. My ds was 20 months the last time we went and the scary stuff in Fantasmic didn't scare him at all. He is a big music lover and there is a lot of musical aspects to this show. Plus he loves the characters (when we see them he will go running right up to them if we don't hold him back). But then his newest nickname is "danger boy" lol, because he is so fearless. I don't know if there is a "age & stage" that he will go through when he will be scared of this stuff, but thankfully right now he's not. If you do decide to see fantasmic try to get a seat near the end of an aisle, that way if you must make a quick exit, it will be easier. Another tip - before the show started, while I held our seats, my dh walked ds around the amphitheater, that way by the time the show started he was more willing to sit still. He was pretty entranced by the whole thing.

hth, and have a great trip!

Cheryl

 

[Mom of Sleepy Bashful and BabyDoc]

Out of thoose three, I would pick Illuminations, and Wishes.

Same here. It's not for the scary factor really. Just because I LOVED Wishes and Illuminations I like better than Fantasmic.

These two are also the ones that don't need a "dining package" to get a good seat.

 

[GEM]

We just took my DS in December. He was 20 months old then. I just wanted to say that he really loved all three of these shows - but Illuminations was hands down his favorite. In fact, I think it was his favorite thing from the entire trip. We had great spots right on the railing and he jumped up and down the whole time and said "wow" like a million times. I've never seen him so excited! More people were watching him than the show itself. It was the highlight of his trip!

For the record, though, Fantasmic didn't scare him at all. In fact, nothing scared him on that trip - shows, rides, characters, etc.

 

[4greatboys]

I know you said you had 2 days on your hopper but will you be at Disney longer than 2 days? If so you can watch Wishes from the Poly. Its a good view from the beach or eat at Ohana's and watch it from there.

 

[720L]

Wishes and Illuminations

 

[ryan840]

we will be down there a total of four days. thanks so much for the help everyone. at least now i know not to miss illuminations im staying off site, and havent been to wdw since i was 12 (some 13 years ago...) so i dont know my way around. ohana's is a restaraunt, is poly the polynesian resort? if so, can we go there without a problem, since we are staying offsite? lastly, the beach, is that were to watch from the poly? if im way off base, im sure youre all laughing your heads off, but im trying thanks again for all your help!

 

[Lizzybee]

I just got a cruise to see Wishes for Easter night, it's a pontoon that holds up to 7 people. From what I understand you don't see the whole show (ie ground or castle stuff), but you don't have to use a pass at all. It can't hurt to try.

 

[roserae]

I would recommend Wishes and Fantasmic, but Illuminations is very good too. But for sure Wishes, and I wouldn't count seeing Wishes from the beach at the Poly a true experience. You REALLY need the music to appreciate Wishes. We've seen Wishes more time than I can count now and I still wouldn't have a trip without it. Hands down my favorite show. I think your son would like any of them, so learn about them and pick which one YOU will enjoy more. With a 21 month old, I'm assuming you will be at the Magic Kingdom on one of your days since there is the most to do there with a child that age.

 

[ryan840]

thanks to everyone for your input! i think i will see wishes for simplicities sake (we will be at mk for most of one day) and illuminations because everyone thinks its great. to my understanding, fantasmic has a somewhat of a storyline and the others dont, right? i will wait to see fantasmic until my son is older, so that he will understand whats going on. (although i dont doubt that he would love it anyways)

 

[webprinter]

When we went, we were able to go to Fantasmic and then hop over to EPCOT for Illuminations. On another night we went to Wishes. Check on the times for when you are going, you may be able to do all three. They are all worth seeing, even if you have to hurry from one to the other. Debby

 

[ryan840]

i wish we could do that. fantasmic is at 8:30 and wishes and illuminations are at 9:00. thanks for the tip though