last seats on the balcony

[albianne]

I started making the calls to the fantasmic seating at 5 minutes to 8 this morning trying to reserve balcony seats, basically calling again as soon as I hung up, finally I get thru at exactly 8:00 and am put on hold for 5 minutes, only to be told that they are all sold out. When I expressed my dissapointment I was offered the second seating at 10:25 which was not even on the schedule that I printed off the disney site. The cm seemed unsure herself whether therre was a second show and kept leaving the line to ask someone questions. In the end I got the last 3 seats on the balcony which from what I have read puts me in the last row. Will we have a decent view from here, did I make a mistake, maybe I should have chosen river seating when I knew we would be in the last row of balcony. Man-o-man this is too complicated, I don't think I have ever stressed so much about a vacation in my life! Why on earth do they have cm's answering phones who are not fully informed about what they are selling, I'm sure that if I had not spent so much time on hold while she got her stories straight we wouldn't be in the last row grr!
Can someone who has experienced the balcony seating tell me what to expect for a view?

 

[albianne]

I have just checked the schedule and sure enough they are showing fantasmic twice that night but not the fireworks, which it says are at 9:25.
The cm who sold me the second seating balcony seats assure me that there would be fireworks after the show because she knew I wanted to remain seated after fantasmic to view the fireworks, does this make sense? Also the cm told me that there was no difference between the dessert selection at riverside or balcony which is not what I have read before, I'm thinking I got the worst informed cm at disney. Anyone know if they normally follow the fantasmic 2nd show with fireworks?

 

[got2travel]

Usually the fireworks are in between the 2 Fantasmic shows so I think the CM was mis-informed.

As for your view, there are only 2 rows of seats on the balcony and every time I've paid attention to it, the back row of people end up standing. The view is still fantastic because you are dead center and above the crowds. Being that you got the last seats, you may be off to the side of the balcony which could end up with a post in your way. But the CMs will let you move around for a better view. As for the desserts, they are definitely different. You do not get cheesecake, black forest cake, cheese/crackers, and fritters at the riverside seating.

 

[albianne]

I just called the reservation number again and told them about being misinformed and the cm assured me repeatedly that:

You cannot see any fireworks from the balcony or river location that you must see fireworks from main street location, her exact words "There is no point in staying in your seat because you can't see any fireworks from this position" when I told her that I have read about people doing it all the time she said that "It's all been changed and you cannot see anything" at the risk of repeating myself over and over I just let it go.

I mentioned the dessert selection differing between the river and balcony and again she was adamant that they are the same, again she said "that has all changed"???

Gosh I hope I don't get seated behind a post, standing up during the show is not an option. I have a prosthetic leg and didn't want to be standing, that's why I was purchasing the balcony seating. I guess I'll just wait and see, hopefully it will all work out. The cm also said I should do the 50th tour if I want to sit while watching the fireworks, anyone been on this tour? From what I have read it is a 4 hour walking tour which kind of negates the positive aspect of sitting during the fireworks LOL, I was trying to get away from being on my feet too long

 

[got2travel]

Well it's true that viewing the fireworks from the balcony you will miss many of the show elements, you can still see most of the blasts from that area. I'm so sorry you are not getting very good information from the CMs.

The tour is a walking tour so that wouldn't work. And the seating for the fireworks is at the train station, which again causes you to lose out on much of the show elements. But does provide seating in a much less crowded area.

You could stake out a bench on Main Street or in the 'hub' area to view the fireworks from. The only problem with that is you'd have to claim it probably 2 or more hours prior to the show. You also run the risk of having hundreds of people standing in front of you since they've made the streets standing room only because of the crowds.

Hopefully someone else can come up with some better suggestions for you.

 

[iceskatejen]

You can't see the fireworks from the Rivers of America? Then what is it I've been watching right after the first Fantasmic for the last several months? Sure looked like fireworks to me. From the spot we get for Fantasmic (front and center every time) we not only see all of the blasts (other than some pinwheels), but we can see most of Tinkerbell's flight. Talk about clueless CMs.

 

[LuvPoohNCA]

We were just there this past Saturday. We had balcony seating for the first showing of Fantasmic and we had a great view of the fireworks. We couldn't see tinkerbell, but we saw pretty much everything else.

By the way, the desserts were to die for, especially the coconut macaroons!!!!

 

[DisneyParkFan]

I was in the last row for the second showing of Fantasmic! this past July. I had called and called and called Guest Services and finally got through only to get the last balcony seating. When I arrived and was seated, I was actually in the middle of the back row. I mean dead center. The other people in the row had kids and they re-arranged themselves so I wound up with a table all to myself, no one really sitting on my left or right. Perfect view!

 

[albianne]

That's great news, all 3 of us are tall so hopefully we will be able to see over anyone in front of us even while sitting down. So if anyone call reservations and gets cm Denise, don't listen to a word of her advice she evidently has not got a clue.