Question about River Belle & Hungry Bear Fantasmic Packages

It's not really an unknown, RB opens for lunch at 11am. As long as you do lunch it's practically guaranteed to get in, at what time is your lunch? We went at 2 and both shows were wide open.
My lunch is at 1:05pm
I just got off a chat with a cast member. According to them, the standard RBT F! package can only be reserved the day of and not in advance. Only the premium has the ability to book in advance.
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She also suggested checking in at the podium the day of for to request the package sooner.
Yes I know and that’s why I’m concerned. It seems very silly to me to do it this way and leave people hanging.
Just allow it to be booked like the rest of them 🤷🏻‍♀️
 
My lunch is at 1:05pm

Yes I know and that’s why I’m concerned. It seems very silly to me to do it this way and leave people hanging.
Just allow it to be booked like the rest of them 🤷🏻‍♀️
You will be fine, I get the stress of not having it secure now, but from experience, I promise you will be more than fine at 1pm. Second show has even more availability than the first one, I'm not sure which one you are interested in.
 
You will be fine, I get the stress of not having it secure now, but from experience, I promise you will be more than fine at 1pm. Second show has even more availability than the first one, I'm not sure which one you are interested in.
100% the first one, my kids are young and won't wait up to see the second showing.
 
I can tell you are nervous OP. But paying for Hungry Bear and tossing the food is such a waste and very unlikely to be necessary.

If I were you, I’d keep River Belle and as you get closer to your day try to modify the reservation to get an earlier seating so you have more peace of mind that Fantasmic first show won’t sell out. It *probably* won’t sell out at 1:05pm, but it will make you feel more comfortable. River Belle reservations are frequently available in the days leading up to the date you want.

You can also try for Hungry Bear for a later day in your trip as a backup, then cancel after you see Fantasmic with your River Belle reservation. Hungry Bear frequently pops up a few days before as people cancel.

Even if you liked the Hungry Bear food, the River Belle package is only slightly more money but MUCH more food and you get a relaxing lunch in the air conditioning (if you prefer). It is a huge amount of food, we only had snacks for dinner that night and it was perfect.
 
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Are 4:30 reservations too late to get it? I have the same issue where I have some hunger bear but I don't enjoy that food and would rather have River Belle but fantasmic seats are what's most important.
 
Are 4:30 reservations too late to get it? I have the same issue where I have some hunger bear but I don't enjoy that food and would rather have River Belle but fantasmic seats are what's most important.
I think it would be highly likely that the first show might be gone by that time but the second might still be available. But it can vary day by day.
 
I can tell you are nervous OP. But paying for Hungry Bear and tossing the food is such a waste and very unlikely to be necessary.

If I were you, I’d keep River Belle and as you get closer to your day try to modify the reservation to get an earlier seating so you have more peace of mind that Fantasmic first show won’t sell out. It *probably* won’t sell out at 1:05pm, but it will make you feel more comfortable. River Belle reservations are frequently available in the days leading up to the date you want.

You can also try for Hungry Bear for a later day in your trip as a backup, then cancel after you see Fantasmic with your River Belle reservation. Hungry Bear frequently pops up a few days before as people cancel.

Even if you liked the Hungry Bear food, the River Belle package is only slightly more money but MUCH more food and you get a relaxing lunch in the air conditioning (if you prefer). It is a huge amount of food, we only had snacks for dinner that night and it was perfect.
You don't literally have to "toss" the food. You can just pay for the cheapest possible items and tell them you don't actually want to buy them; you still pay but the items will not be prepared for you so are not wasted. I had no regrets doing this to have the security of the reserved viewing area, which is actually very good.
 


Ok, so I can see on Mouse Dining there is earlier availability at 11am but of course the site is "down for maintenance" so I have to wait.
I'm correct in thinking that if I def secure the 11am dining I will get this package by just having a regular lunch dining reservation and telling them when I get there I want the fantasmic one? I am really terrified of making a mistake and not having a seated area.
 
I can tell you are nervous OP. But paying for Hungry Bear and tossing the food is such a waste and very unlikely to be necessary.

If I were you, I’d keep River Belle and as you get closer to your day try to modify the reservation to get an earlier seating so you have more peace of mind that Fantasmic first show won’t sell out. It *probably* won’t sell out at 1:05pm, but it will make you feel more comfortable. River Belle reservations are frequently available in the days leading up to the date you want.

You can also try for Hungry Bear for a later day in your trip as a backup, then cancel after you see Fantasmic with your River Belle reservation. Hungry Bear frequently pops up a few days before as people cancel.

Even if you liked the Hungry Bear food, the River Belle package is only slightly more money but MUCH more food and you get a relaxing lunch in the air conditioning (if you prefer). It is a huge amount of food, we only had snacks for dinner that night and it was perfect.
Are you allowed to take anything you didn't finish with you?
 
Wow, RBT premium must go crazy fast. I was on right when everything was released this morning, and when I clicked on RBT there were already no times available. It was just a test run for me- but didnt know it could be gone that quickly. When I tried Blue Bayou Fantasmic and all other dining ressies- they were available.
 
Ok, so I can see on Mouse Dining there is earlier availability at 11am but of course the site is "down for maintenance" so I have to wait.
I'm correct in thinking that if I def secure the 11am dining I will get this package by just having a regular lunch dining reservation and telling them when I get there I want the fantasmic one? I am really terrified of making a mistake and not having a seated area.
Yup. During Fantasmic you will be sitting on the floor, only Premium dining have chairs.
Are you allowed to take anything you didn't finish with you?
And yup, I took half my meal one time, and the dessert another time. Both were awesome on the plane home.
 
I hear you OP...

I hate to say it because I know there is not availability for our date, but I am holding a hungry bear and riverbelle lunch(11am). I KNOW folks say not to be nervous but there is something about seeing the actual fantasmic reservation vs the regular reservation on our plans.. The food at hungry bear doesn't stand out to us, and we aren't big fans of the time we got either (340).. It hard not to feel like you will be the one time you show up and they say "oh we aren't offering the upgrade today.." which is really just my anxiety talking...
 
Ok, so I can see on Mouse Dining there is earlier availability at 11am but of course the site is "down for maintenance" so I have to wait.
I'm correct in thinking that if I def secure the 11am dining I will get this package by just having a regular lunch dining reservation and telling them when I get there I want the fantasmic one? I am really terrified of making a mistake and not having a seated area.
Yes, this is how it works at River Belle. You only need a regular reservation. It will not say Fantasmic. When you are seated, you just let your server know you want the Fantasmic package. In fact, they will offer it to you if you don’t bring it up yourself.
 
I hear you OP...

I hate to say it because I know there is not availability for our date, but I am holding a hungry bear and riverbelle lunch(11am). I KNOW folks say not to be nervous but there is something about seeing the actual fantasmic reservation vs the regular reservation on our plans.. The food at hungry bear doesn't stand out to us, and we aren't big fans of the time we got either (340).. It hard not to feel like you will be the one time you show up and they say "oh we aren't offering the upgrade today.." which is really just my anxiety talking...
That is not going to happen, so please don’t worry. An 11am lunch at River Belle guarantees that you will get the Fantasmic show time you want.
 
Wow, RBT premium must go crazy fast. I was on right when everything was released this morning, and when I clicked on RBT there were already no times available. It was just a test run for me- but didnt know it could be gone that quickly. When I tried Blue Bayou Fantasmic and all other dining ressies- they were available.
Yup! I've been trying to get a RBT Premium time to even just show up as available right at 6am for months. It's only happened once, and by the time I clicked on the 7:15pm time slot, it was gone (a second or two later). A lot of people have reported that they are gaining access to reservations at 3am, and with such little availability, I'm pretty sure the spots are snagged by them and gone before the 6am release.
 
OK, so I went on the app last night and there was availability at 11am on my date, so I have now changed it from 1:05pm to 11:00am and I feel much better about it.
So I think I will go ahead and cancel my hungry bear ADR because I am sure at 11:00am I will be able to get the Fantasmic Package.
 
OK, so I went on the app last night and there was availability at 11am on my date, so I have now changed it from 1:05pm to 11:00am and I feel much better about it.
So I think I will go ahead and cancel my hungry bear ADR because I am sure at 11:00am I will be able to get the Fantasmic Package.
Glad it worked out for you!
 
Yup. During Fantasmic you will be sitting on the floor, only Premium dining have chairs.

And yup, I took half my meal one time, and the dessert another time. Both were awesome on the plane home.
Haha I took half my sandwich and tater tots so I could eat the dessert there (the berry cobbler with ice cream was wonderful but I knew it wouldn't travel well lol).
 
Can someone now assure me that you sit on the ground no matter which package you get (except for the premium RB one)
On the website it says "standing room only"
I'm assuming this just means, as it's not actual assigned chairs, but wanted to double check!
I have someone on Facebook telling me you don't sit and still have to stand - I said no you 100% sit on the ground - they still don't believe me.
 
Can someone now assure me that you sit on the ground no matter which package you get (except for the premium RB one)
On the website it says "standing room only"
I'm assuming this just means, as it's not actual assigned chairs, but wanted to double check!
I have someone on Facebook telling me you don't sit and still have to stand - I said no you 100% sit on the ground - they still don't believe me.
You 100% sit on the ground. I guess you could stand in the back if you wanted but you are told to sit.
 

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