Question about Fantasmic & GAC

[PinkyBoo]

Hello

I'm going to WDW late november/early december and I'm planning to watch Fantasmic. I have Lupus so I can't stand in the sun for long periods of time. I will be getting a GAC. But I know in order to get good seats at Fantasmic you have to get there early or have The Fantasmic Dinner Package (won't fit my current budget).

Does anyone knows if they have a shaded area that I could wait for Fantasmic ? I don't mind waiting for 2 hours in order to get a good seat but I would like to wait in a shaded area. Is this possible with the GAC? ( I know that for other rides is possible)

Thanks so much

 

[SueM in MN]

Is this possible with the GAC? ( I know that for other rides is possible)

Thanks so much

To answer your actual question, they start letting guests into the amphitheater about 2 hours before the show begins (only for the second show if there are 2 shows). If you get there before they have started letting guests in, you will be waiting in line. Once guests start going in, there isn't a waiting line; it's just a slow, steady walk in as the CMs direct people to their seats.
If there is a second show, it would be after sundown, so no problem with waiting in the sun. The line stands waiting longer though, because the CMs have to empty the guests from the 1st show out before the guests for the 2nd show can enter.
Once you are inside the amphitheater, you can get seats with your party, and then (if it's still too sunny for you to sit there), you can find a place to wait out of the sun (but you likely will have to stand). Because of the time the show begins and the trees near the queue, can get seats and you could
Most attractions have shaded lines for their actual waiting area, so you may not actually need a to use a GAC (Guest Assistance Card) for a shaded place to wait that much. The GAC for a shaded place to wait is also kind of in-exact. It says something like "a shaded place to wait when the queue is in the sun for an extended length of time."
All of those things are kind of up for interpretation (What is a "shaded place to wait"; can it be partly shaded, filtered sun or in a building? What does the "queue in the sun" mean; is it only direct sun, or does it include filtered sun? And what is "an extended length of time?)
Some of the attractions don't have a shaded place to wait, so you may not always be able to get one, even though you have a GAC. For attractions with Fastpass, all the Fastpass lines are shaded.

A lot of people with Lupus have endurance or pain concerns. If you do, you might want to consider renting an ECV. THere is a disABILITIES FAQs thread near the top of this board with information about ecvs.

 

[riu girl]

Does anyone know how the GAC handled at Fantasmic with the "alt entr " stamp?

Thanks

 

[SueM in MN]

The same as someone traveling with a wheelchair or ecv.
They pull you out to the side of the line and you will be seated in the back 2 rows (with the wheelchair/ecv parties).

 

[emilee&tylersmom]

How about with a visually impaired child?

 

[taximomfor4]

How about with a visually impaired child?

I have that exact same question. We booked a FDP just in case, but with the child-meal pricing change, now we are thinking we will have to cancel the majority of our sitdown meals, and re-plan them to NOT be AYCE or set-price meals. We too have visual impairment issue so I was wondering too. If I figure out what the accomodation there would be, I can just cancel the FDP and stick with SciFi Dine-in instead.

Anyone know? (Visual Impairment and WC entrance (no wheelchair coming into ampitheater with us, though.) You can PM me if you don't want this on the board.

Beth

 

[SueM in MN]

To find out for sure, ask at either Guest Services or the Information board (it's near the Brown Derby, just before you turn down the street to get to the area where Fantasmic is). They should be able to help you out.

I think that people with visual impairments wait in the same area as the wheelchair/ecv users to get in, which is sort of off to the side of the regular queue. So, what you would do is talk to the CM at the entrance to the queue (we've never not found one there). If you have a GAC, show it to them; if not, describe the needs (need to sit in front because of visual impairment. You will be directed to continue in the queue until a certain point, where there is a sort of waiting/holding area for people with special needs. You wait there a few minutes until a CM comes out from the seating area to lead you to a seat. This is how it works for other special needs, so I don't think it would work differently for people with visual impairment, you'd just end up in a different seating area.

One thing to be aware of that is very important........
At several points in the show, they use screens made of water mist to project pictures on. If the wind is blowing away from you, good!
If it is blowing toward you, there will be a light mist blowing on you whenever the screens are "out". It's sort of like being in a very fine shower. They sell beach towels at the show (which we wondered about the first time we saw them), but you do need something to protect yourself in case the water is blowing on you. Because it is after dark, it does get sort of chilly once you have gotten wet.

 

[taximomfor4]

So Sue,
would we have to be in line several hours early so that we are near where the wc line veers off? I would hate to be way back in the line, and then by the time we get up there, other people have taken the visual impairment seats. Happened quite a bit at AK shows! Tarzan and Pocahontas shows, they chose our seats for us before anyone else got in there, but there were not many people waiting in the WC qeueing area. They knew what each of our needs were, and planned accordingly. They didn't put wc right in the visually impaired seating until the visually impaired were there first.

By the way, we always asked if we could put just one parent and the visually impaired child in the visually impaired seating, and then put the other parent and the other 3 kids immediately behind. That way we were all together, but all the people who needed the VI seating could fit. Just an idea, for others out there. Many of the CMs seemed surprised that we wanted to do that. Made me realize that many families take up that whole section even for the members who don't really need it. Just a little something I thought I would share, we all learn so much from each other here!

Beth

 

[SueM in MN]

So Sue,
would we have to be in line several hours early so that we are near where the wc line veers off? I would hate to be way back in the line, and then by the time we get up there, other people have taken the visual impairment seats. Happened quite a bit at AK shows! Tarzan and Pocahontas shows, they chose our seats for us before anyone else got in there, but there were not many people waiting in the WC qeueing area. They knew what each of our needs were, and planned accordingly. They didn't put wc right in the visually impaired seating until the visually impaired were there first.

By the way, we always asked if we could put just one parent and the visually impaired child in the visually impaired seating, and then put the other parent and the other 3 kids immediately behind. That way we were all together, but all the people who needed the VI seating could fit. Just an idea, for others out there. Many of the CMs seemed surprised that we wanted to do that. Made me realize that many families take up that whole section even for the members who don't really need it. Just a little something I thought I would share, we all learn so much from each other here!

Beth

The wheelchair seating is primarily in the back row. There are a few seats in the front row, but they are down a steep ramp (which discourages people with wheelchairs from going down there). Plus a lot don't know they exist.
People talk about Fantasmic like they are waiting in line for a long time, but the only time people are waiting in line is before they open the amphitheater to start seating people. Once it opens, there is a steady stream of people going in to get seated. If someone comes up to the line after the "loading" of the theater has begun, they won't be waiting in line at all; it's pretty much a "keep going to a seat" line. You are not part of that line.
When you show the CM your GAC, or they see a wheelchair/ecv, they take you out of the line right away. That's because the other people in that line could sit anywhere, but those with special needs can't. You are sent to what I called the Special Needs/Wheelchair holding area almost right away when you arrive at the attraction (if they have started letting people in).
The longest we have waited in that area was about 10 minutes (and that was because some of our party wanted to use the restroom that was right nearby). You basically wait there just long anough for a CM to come back from taking the last group that he/she took to their seats.
When DH and I went (without any special needs people) last year in July, we didn't even get into line until they had started letting people in. We walked right in and got seats and ended up in the second row from the front, without trying too hard. There were already a lot of people in the theater when we arrived. Because of the possibility of getting wet, a lot of people choose to sit back a bit.
I don't think that you will have a problem getting a seat in the front, but if you ask at Guest Services or the Information Board, they can help you.

 

[SueM in MN]

By the way, we always asked if we could put just one parent and the visually impaired child in the visually impaired seating, and then put the other parent and the other 3 kids immediately behind. That way we were all together, but all the people who needed the VI seating could fit. Just an idea, for others out there. Many of the CMs seemed surprised that we wanted to do that. Made me realize that many families take up that whole section even for the members who don't really need it. Just a little something I thought I would share, we all learn so much from each other here!

Beth

I don't know how the seating for visually impaired is, but the wheelchair/ecv seating is like that for Fantasmic. The back row is mostly empty spots with an occasional one or 2 person bench for those who need someone sitting by the person in the wheelchair. The seating for the rest of the party is the 2 rows ahead of the wheelchair and they ask that you try to stay directly ahead of the person in a wheelchair you are with.

 

[kaytieeldr]

Hello

I'm going to WDW late november/early december and I'm planning to watch Fantasmic. I have Lupus so I can't stand in the sun for long periods of time. I will be getting a GAC. But I know in order to get good seats at Fantasmic you have to get there early or have The Fantasmic Dinner Package (won't fit my current budget).

Does anyone knows if they have a shaded area that I could wait for Fantasmic ?

Shade shouldn't be a problem, since at that time of year even if there are two showings of Fantasmic, the first wouldn't be until a couple of hours after sundown.