Is Fantasmic a Must?

[Castle crazy]

We have ADRs for H&V so we would have reserved seating for Fantasmic, but it is messing up my schedule. Question, is Fantasmic a must? We only have 4 days this trip, but DD & her family have never been. We are trying to fit everything in but Fantasmic is not working well. Your thoughts? Oh, the kids are 10 & 11 year old boys.

 

[browntrout]

Your going to get responses on both sides. Fantasmic is far and away my favorite nightime show at any disney park so to me it's a not to be missed. My 4 year old and eight year old girls far preferred it to Illuminations.

 

[Cool-Beans]

I don't like Fantasmic at all. Never did. I skip it each and every trip. I adore Wishes and love Illuminations. I try to work those in each time. But Fantasmic...blah.

That's MHO!

Good luck, whatever you do!

 

[FigmentStitch]

Does this make me the tie breaker?

Grown ups really pick Illuminations as the best nighttime show. It was a long time before I actually saw Fantasmic. I thought it was amazing.

...unless you have plans to go to Disneyland. It's much better there.

I would definitely say, don't let anything mess up your overall trip. See how you're feeling once you're there. The best time at a Disney vacation tends to be when something draws your attention away from your plans. It's a great show, but if you miss it...that's why there's youtube.

 

[gk90]

I was really looking forward to Fantasmic because of everyone's rave reviews--but it left me cold. I liked Illuminations and Wishes much better. On the other hand DH really loved it! So for him it's a "don't miss", for me it's overrated.

 

[Robo]

I would not miss any of the evening spectaculars.

I have seen them all literally dozens of times.

I rotate a different evening show (or shows) every night of every trip.

Let's do something that is more "quantitative"...

The Fantasmic! amphitheater holds 7,000 guests.
The show is performed virtually every single night of the year, sometimes twice a night.

Let's run the numbers.

If the theater is 90% full (on average) that's 6300 guests per show.
365 days = 365 performances.

That's 2,299,500 guests viewing a year...

if only one show is given per night and the theater is only 90% full.

If we add the fact that there are many times the theater is OVER-full
(Standing room only)
and many nights where there are 2 performances (the second one is usually never completely full) then we can conservatively add back the 10% (likely its much, MUCH more than that.)

That's 365 times 7,000 guests, average = 2,555,000

So, per year, over 2 and a half million guests see Fantasmic! at DHS.
This show (nearly unchanged) has run since Oct. 15, 1998.
That's over 9 years.

So, we can estimate that 22,995,000 (what the heck, 23 MILLION) guest viewings since its opening at WDW.

That must mean there are a LOT of guests who really enjoy the show to keep it going strong all these years.

Sure, I love the show, but don't take my word for it.
I have to figure that if it was not appreciated by many, Many, MANY guests,
Disney would change the show.

Over 23 Million guests have seen it.

So, what are the chances that YOU might like the show?

Seems like the odds are in favor that you will.

 

[NeilDrum]

Fantasmic is AWESOME!!!!!! Brings tears to my eyes everytime I see it.

I couldn't choose between Illuminations, Wishes & Fantasmic cause they are all amazing, so we just make sure we see them all.

Claire

 

[bicker]

Four days means you have at least three nights, meaning at least one for the Spectromagic and Wishes, one for Illuminations, and one for Fantasmic. I would highly recommend structuring your plans along those lines.

 

[SusanDK]

Yes, Fantasmic is a must! It is worth re-arranging your schedule to be sure you see it.

Frankly, I would give up the ADR and just plan to grab some hot dogs for dinner at the amphiteatre to watch it. If you're short on time, a TS restaurant is a real time waster, IMHO.

Susan

 

[bouncy54]

IMHO...since you've never seen Fantasmic, then I'd say yes..try to include it in your schedule.

I've seen both productions, at Disneyland and WDW, and prefer the DL version, but both are really good.

We're planning a trip to WDW next year and have decided not to take in Fantasmic, Illuminations or Wishes because we've seen them before and want to experience the parks while everyone else is crammed together for these events.

However, I do want to see the "Lighting of Cinderella's Castle" since we're going around the Christmas season. I saw Disneyland's version on Sleeping Beauty's Castle last year...it was so beautiful that I still get misty-eyed when I watch it on video. It was simply breath-taking.

 

[TLinden16]

I think that Fantasmic is awesome. It's very unique, and it has a neat storyline. I think 10 and 11 year old boys would absolutely love it.

 

[Uncleromulus]

It's worth seeing once.
And the stampede out of the theater is also a must see as well.

 

[KJ Luvs Pluto]

My husband and I love Fantasmic. I was going to skip it in November since we had seen it when we went quite a few years ago and he said NO. It was his favorite night time show. Since we are early risers, it was the only night show we saw since we were headed back to the room before the others started, although I would have liked to have seen all of them . But at least I did get to my the favorite.

 

[eliza61]

I never miss it. My favorites go from illuminations to Fantasmic then wishes last.
I try not to miss any thing when I'm at wdw.

 

[Robo]

Depending on the time of year and the timing of the shows, it's possible to see Fantasmic! at DHS and IllumiNations at Epcot on the same night. (Need a Hopper ticket or an AP.)

A 7pm Fantasmic! will end at 7:30pm giving you 90 minutes to exit DHS and get to World Showcase for a 9pm IllumiNations.

IllumiNations starts at 9:30pm starting Nov. 28 thru Dec. 30.

 

[jack hannah bananah]

I too think this is a must see - especially with the boys. I think this will be their favorite show. If you are going to miss one I would skip Illuminations. My kids find this a little boring - but to be honest we have never gotten great seats - just OK seats.

 

[Todd&Copper]

I watched the videos on YouTube and decided not to waste my time on it. It seemed long, kind of disjointed and just not really my cup of tea. I'd check out the You Tube videos first to get a general idea of what it is like. I would MUCH rather see Illuminations and Wishes b/c nothing beats a Disney fireworks display IMHO.

 

[monkeymama]

I am ambivalent about Fantasmic but it's my kids' favorite show. I brought up the idea of skipping it this time so we could spend more time at Osbourne lights and you would have thought I suggested canceling the whole trip!

 

[poeticdiabetic]

My old adage is this:

If you've never seen it, it's worth seeing. You can't really make a proper judgment unless you've seen it. And just because one person likes it or not will not be a litmus test as to if you will like it, so I would say go and see for yourself.

Personally, I like Fantasmic, but I've only saw it once. I've only saw Illuminations once, too. But I'm glad I did see it at least once.

 

[stemikger]

I think if you have never done Fantasmic you really should see it. It is really an amazing show.