PS for Fantasmic or not - need quick decision

[mlggator]

HELP - I need to make a quick decision. We are traveling back to CA to visit friends and will be doing 2 nights and 2-1/2 days at Disneyland. With as many times as we have been to both DL and WDW, we have never seen Fantasmic. I just never could justify waiting for a spot.

That still hasn't changed and with this short trip, I am sure we will still not want to wait 2 to 3 hours to get a good spot. My kids are small (4 and 6) and will be on Central time, so waiting for the 10:30 showing is out. I am thinking the only way to see this, is to fork over the $$$ for priority seating.

Should we do it? Will I be happy I did it? Or should we skip Fantasmic again?

TIA for any input. I need to make this decision ASAP to make reservations.

Michele

 

[Queenbillabong]

Hi Michele,

We did the PS for Fantasmic and felt it was very worth it for us! There were a LOT of people at the first show and it was very crowded, but we did not have to worry because we had a seat and we got drinks and snacks to boot! We stayed there to see the fireworks (seems like everybody around stayed put for the fireworks as well).

We are going again in October and my son has already said that he really wants to do this again. FYI - the snacks are huge. We got a bag and brought them back to the hotel because we could not eat them all. Had nice snacks for a couple of days! The hot chocolate is really good and you can have refills if you want.

The seats were nice - and we did not have to wait around for hours to have a seat on the ground. That's our opinion and to us it was very worth it! I would not want to stand around for the whole show and fireworks, nor would I want to have to stake out an area for hours beforehand. It is a bit pricey - but again worth it for us!

 

[WebmasterMaryJo]

Here's something to consider -- would your children be frightened of a large fire-breathing dragon & loud noise? Part of the show entails the villains taking over and loud music with pictures of Chernobog (Fantasmic demon-like being) and then Maleficent turning into a huge dragon.

My children at that age were able to watch the show w/no problem, but my nephews weren't ready at that age yet.

 

[bethy]

I've done it with small children and I think either you should get the seating or just skip Fantasmic entirely. Unless you have one family member who wants to hold a spot for a long time and you could switch off. But personally for such a short trip I would not want to spend time doing that. Fanstasmic is great but not THAT great IMHO.

 

[avalon451]

Hi, we had a similar experience to Queenbillabong. DD5 would never have made it to 10:30, and also it was the very first time to DL (or any Disney property) for any of us. So we splurged, and were very glad we did.

On many postings of opinions here, people say there's no way they'd pay for it. However, of all the postings I've seen of people who actually did it, they all said it was well worth it and they are really glad they did.

If you can swing the price, it's really fun.

 

[daisy_77]

I think you should go for it. It may be something you regret not reserving once you see the crowds. I would love to do Fantasmic, but my DD is too afraid of loud noises and fireworks.

 

[JadeDarkstar]

go for it
this is a not to miss with my family and sucked that last dec we had to miss it, but this trip comign we are doign the seating and desert package. I think for our family it will be worth it

 

[Jairy]

We just did it, on a Friday night in May, and we all loved it. Only if you can justify the $$ because it is a lot. We loved that you could stay in your seats and watch the fireworks after as well. It was funny too, trying to carry the large boxes back to the hotel. Everyone was looking and asking where we got them from. We had yummy treats for the rest of our trip between the 4 of us (much better than those stale pastries they were serving at the Carousel!)

 

[poohmomof5]

We just did it, on a Friday night in May, and we all loved it. Only if you can justify the $$ because it is a lot. We loved that you could stay in your seats and watch the fireworks after as well. It was funny too, trying to carry the large boxes back to the hotel. Everyone was looking and asking where we got them from. We had yummy treats for the rest of our trip between the 4 of us (much better than those stale pastries they were serving at the Carousel!)

How much is the Fanstasmic package? How far in advance do you need to make reservations?

We will be at DL for a few days before we go on DCL and have never seen either Fantasmic OR the Fireworks there. We have been disappointed in the past due to weather or it being off season. We are frequent WDW visitors and I am so excited that we will have 4 chances on our upcoming trip in August to see fireworks and/or Fantasmic.

Any tips or advice for us? Thanks!

PS, my party is a group of 7 with a 3yo who could go somewhere with dad or not attend with us if need be (but she has seen Fantasmic at WDW several times) and the rest of the kids are 10-16. TIA!

 

[Queenbillabong]

It is expensive - $59/adult and $49/child (3-9) - so it can add up if you have a large party.....

 

[Jairy]

It is expensive - $59/adult and $49/child (3-9) - so it can add up if you have a large party.....

Yes, a large party would be pricey. I could barely stomach the cost for the 4 of us (although definitely a trip highlight, in hindsight)

 

[avalon451]

How much is the Fanstasmic package? How far in advance do you need to make reservations?

We will be at DL for a few days before we go on DCL and have never seen either Fantasmic OR the Fireworks there. We have been disappointed in the past due to weather or it being off season. We are frequent WDW visitors and I am so excited that we will have 4 chances on our upcoming trip in August to see fireworks and/or Fantasmic.

Any tips or advice for us? Thanks!

PS, my party is a group of 7 with a 3yo who could go somewhere with dad or not attend with us if need be (but she has seen Fantasmic at WDW several times) and the rest of the kids are 10-16. TIA!

There's a thread about this from yesterday, I think it's on page 2 now, Fantasmic tips or something like that.

 

[poohmomof5]

It is expensive - $59/adult and $49/child (3-9) - so it can add up if you have a large party.....

Yikes, that is probably more than we would spend. We can tough it out, we have 5 days to spend at the 2 parks, so we can probably afford to hang out to find a good spot! Thanks for all you help everyone!

 

[PrincessIM]

We were there this past week and decided about 1 hour prior to the show that we wanted to stay and watch it. We were so glad we did. The kids 3 and 7 really enjoyed it. We were the first row right behind the seated section and it worked out great as the kids were able to see no problem. 1 hour was doable but I don't think I'd wait any longer than that.

 

[mariezp]

I agree, if you don't mind splurging it is worth getting the PS. I did not consider even watching Fantasmic at all until I was sure my DD would not be afraid of all the sights and sounds. We went last year in September with my DD-7. It was great seating. Desserts were good. And not having to stake a spot out for hours was the best part. After having done it now, I wouldn't go to watch it any other way. We'll be heading back in November!

 

[JenM]

I saw Fantasmic two nights in a row when I was there last month, and we managed to find good spots to stand about an hour before (and the first night was a very crowded Saturday). Our view was fine and we were glad we didn't pay for the seating section--it was right in front of where we were standing.

I'm sure it's great (it better be for $60), but I don't think it's absolutely necessary if you want to see Fantasmic.

 

[Jozymouse]

My sister and I will be visiting Disneyland in September 2008 (after the long weekend). From what I understand Fantasmic will only be playing during the weekends. Do you guys think that we will be able to find a good spot to sit without waiting for many hours? If so what would be a good spot?

If its not possible we might consider getting the package with the seats.... Thanks alot (again!!!) !

 

[AussieFamilyMJTS]

I think two main considerations are the amount of time you will be spending at Disneyland and the ages of any kids you may have. We just returned back to Australia yesterday after our 3 week trip of a lifetime and we decided to splurge for the Fantasmic tickets based on the fact it may be our one and only trip to Disneyland and we only had a 4 day pass to attempt to see EVERYTHING. We obviously did not want to spend time sitting around waiting for the show to start. We also figured our two kids DS3 and DS7 would be extremely tired by days end and the best way to see Fantasmic would be in the seated area at the 9pm show followed by the fireworks at 9.25. I also did not tell my family about all the details so the look on their faces when they realised we had reserved seats with the dessert boxes was well worth it. And that was before the show started. In our situation definitely worth it. A special occasion in a very special place.

 

[tink too]

I don't want to put a dampner on anyone's plans, but we did this last month, and I was less than impressed!

Fantasmic! was only showing on one evening out of our 5 night stay, so I booked the seating for the 10.30pm show. Firstly, the park was crowded so I had a bit of a problem finding the check-in podium. I must say that an absolutely awesome security cast member actually walked me to the correct location when I mentioned that this was our first visit to DL.

The check-in staff were rather dis-organised - the girl checking folks in had only said "hold on a moment" to me and the next thing I knew she was explaining to her collegue that she had looked over my tickets, allocated my seating and even told her assistant my name - which of course, was incorrect!

Finally, I got my seat allocation - 2nd row - great seats, according to her. Well, we arrived 30 minutes before the show, were taken to our "great seats" and were served drinks and our dessert boxes.

I tried to videotape the show, but this was a complete waste of time since our view consisted of a pillar to my right - I had an extremely limited view of the island and the waterway in front of it.

It was also unfortunate that the couple in front of us were both exceptionally tall and spent the time chatting to each other rather than watching the show. This meant the little piece of open viewing I had (which was between their heads) was constantly blocked by them having to lean into each other to hold a conversation over the noise of the show.

Next time, I would definately just stake out a spot an hour early, because although we still arrived 30 minutes before the show, we had a terrible view and were $$$$ out of pocket.