Tell me about night time entertainment

[westie55]

I am a WDW veteran. I am unfamiliar with DL and am excited to take my family in August. We have 3 young children and will be visiting mid week Mon-Fri.

How necessary is it to book dining packages, dessert parties etc for evening entertainment if we don't want to wait forever holding a spot? Is it possible to get a good view of the fireworks, World of Color, Fantasmic, or the first MSEP with relatively little wait mid-week? Any suggestions for best viewing locations?

I need to book dining packages in a couple of days so I'm trying to determine what is and isn't worth the money. THANK YOU!

 

[Lesley Wake]

I am a WDW veteran. I am unfamiliar with DL and am excited to take my family in August. We have 3 young children and will be visiting mid week Mon-Fri.

How necessary is it to book dining packages, dessert parties etc for evening entertainment if we don't want to wait forever holding a spot? Is it possible to get a good view of the fireworks, World of Color, Fantasmic, or the first MSEP with relatively little wait mid-week? Any suggestions for best viewing locations?

I need to book dining packages in a couple of days so I'm trying to determine what is and isn't worth the money. THANK YOU!

For the shows, the best plan to avoid crowds is going to the later show of each. However, with 3 young kids I'm not sure if you are able/willing to do that. So these tips are for the first show:

Fantasmic - definitely get a dining package. It's the only way you can sit down during the show (albeit you are sitting on the ground, but it's better than standing for hours).
World of Color - I still recommend getting a dining package so you aren't stressed about trying to get a spot with the Virtual Queue. It's not as essential as Fantasmic, but still extremely helpful. Dessert Party is a possibility but it's very pricey.
Parade - Getting a dining package will again be very helpful. It will allow you to have a good view without camping out for hours. But that one is very hard to get since it is limited capacity (also if you get the package, it is at the very end of the parade route, so you probably won't get a great fireworks view if you attempt to see it after the parade.) If you cannot get a dining package, then you will prob need to devote at least 1 hr, preferably 2 to getting a spot. Curb spaces along Main Street will fill up closer to 3 hours but you can at least get a second row spot (curb remains seated, everyone else is supposed to stand).
Fireworks - No dining packages available. If you get a main street parade spot then just move into the street for fireworks. Of course that is assuming they will still do mid-week fireworks in August (you will need to keep track of that because they may just be doing them F-Sun at that time). Not going to lie, it can be chaotic in the moments after the parade. People grab their stuff and rush into the street to get a good view. I personally prefer to be around the clock (by Penny Arcade), as there are projections on all the buildings. But there is a special effect on the Matterhorn, so if you can see that, it is also good.

So in order of preference:
1- Fantasmic. (Blue Bayou is the best view and bets food IMHO, though it isn't doing reservations yet. Your mileage will vary for River Belle Terrace food and view isn't as good as BB, but its not as crowded as Hungry Bear.)
2- MSEP (for the convenience)
3- World of Color

 

[gelatoni fan]

For Fantasmic, it's pretty easy to get a spot on the bridge or off to the left towards Haunted Mansion with standby. I've been getting 2nd row spots in those areas by going over right when fireworks end. 1st show will take a bit more time. The seated standby section for Fantasmic in front of River Belle Terrace fills up super fast. In my opinion, the River Belle Terrace package is absolutely not worth it. If you want the best seated view that is dead center, go with the Blue Bayou and if you want a more reasonably priced package ($35), go with Hungry Bear.

I think the Electric Parade is not worth it if you can watch the second parade. On most days, you can get a 2nd row spot for the 2nd show with minimal waits. If you must watch the first show, then the package is good for the convenience.

Because of the virtual queue for World of Color, I think that this dining package is the most worth it. If you are willing to wait a bit and stand during the show, then the actual dining package spots are in my opinion the best. If you want to sit at a chair and eat desserts, there's also the dessert party which has spots in the back.

If you want to pay a lot of money for the ability to sit, then do the Dessert Party, Blue Bayou or Hungry Bear Fantasmic Package and the Parade package ranked in that order. If you are OK to stand, then consider the World of Color package if you are concerned about the virtual queue, the Blue Bayou or Hungry Bear package for a better view especially for 1st show and skip the parade package.

Just to let you know, people start waiting in line for the dining package spots over 2 hours before the shows. So if your goal is to just walk up to the show less than 30 minutes before and get the best spot, it's still not completely possible with dining packages except maybe 2nd Fantasmic.

 

[foolish_mortals]

This is all great! I do want to add that the Tomorrowland Terrace is sort of like a dining package for the fireworks. You get a meal with a dessert and unlimited (non-alcoholic) drinks and you can watch fireworks from there. They even have board games and blankets.

The downside is the view is just okay since you won’t really see any projections and you can’t see any other show from there.

Just wanted to throw that out side it looked nice for younger kids since they had stuff to do while waiting and nice for parent since you get an actual table and chairs.

 

[confetti]

We just got back yesterday. I decided not to book any dining packages for the shows. I just didn't feel like it was worth the money for us. We managed to see all the shows, here's what we did:

Sun 6/12:
World of Color: got virtual queue for 9:00 show. We arrived about 30 min before, there were a lot of people already there, but we got a decent viewing spot. Not amazing, but good enough for us and not much wait.

Wed 6/15 (we decided to do a marathon show night):

Electrical Parade (1st show): got a spot on main street near Jolly Holiday about 6:45ish. Was a long time to wait and we normally wouldn't spend that kind of time, but we had 4 day hopper tickets and we didn't feel like it was a waste to use the time for shows. If we only had 1 or 2 days in the parks, there's no way I'd spend this much time waiting for a parade. Got dole whip and churros and enjoyed talking with other people around us. Good view of parade, worth the wait.

Fireworks:
After the parade, moved into main street behind Walt statue for fireworks. Pretty good view, castle was farther away than I would have preferred. But still happy with our spot.

Fantasmic (2nd show):
After fireworks, moved over to Fantasmic area, got a spot maybe 3 people deep to right side of viewing area. Probably could have gotten better spot more centered, but we just grabbed the first open area we saw since there were so many people moving that way from the fireworks show. Still a good view and right in front of one of the water projection areas.

I probably would never do all 3 DL shows in one night again, but it was fun to get them all done. I'm glad I didn't do the packages. I'd read on here that people were lining up 1-2 hours before the shows even with a dining package. I didn't feel like I wanted to pay that much AND have to wait a long time. If we ever do it again, I think I'd pay for the dessert package for World of Color so we could sit. That show was our favorite.

 

[FeistyDisneyMom]

Just back from a trip, and we saw all of the shows.

WoC we did the Dessert Party for the first time, and I loved sitting but also really liked the different, broader perspective sitting in that section gives you. We have also done dining packages, but have lined up early for those - 90-120 minutes once when we got VERY good position. For the Dessert Party, I lined up nearly an hour early while DH watched kids, and they joined me about 40 minutes before the seating opened to get checked in.

MSEP we didn't do a package and had planned on getting a spot near iasw after riding, but on our way there almost all decent spots were already taken at 7 for a 8:45 show. We went ahead and grabbed a spot and it was the hardest wait we had of the trip. I enjoyed the show, and loved the reactions from my kids, but DH was eyeballing the seats and really wishing I had grabbed a package. We saw people taking front row of seated section about 45-60 minutes before the show, so even with a package if you want front row of seats you need to line up early.

F! we did Hungry Bear package, and I attempted to line up over 90 minutes early, but got in the BB line on accident (they are NOT well marked at all when we were there). By the time we got inside the viewing area, the front 2 rows were taken but that was ok, because I wanted a spot as far to the right of the viewing area as possible, and DH likes to be in the back where he can stand longer. We got a spot 3 & 4 back (all 7 of us squeezed onto 2 small blankets). It was the hardest wait for DH, who once again eyed the chairs reserved for VIP seating (not part of a package but reserved for people doing the VIP tour I believe). BB people came much more slowly, and there were still excellent spots available 45 minutes before the show. Things filled up quickly between 45 and 30 minutes though.

Fireworks: we watched the first time from our spot at F! and were happy with that. They don't fully line up, but you can see projections in the same spot as the F! projections and they have the music going. We also had plenty of space as most of the people watching first F! rushed out of the section. We watched a second time from Main St in front of Gibson Girl, and had no problem at all getting a spot 15 minutes before hand when we got our ice cream. Things didn't get crowded until RIGHT before the fireworks started, and a family of 4 managed to snag space near us, with only a little crowding, right after they started. I loved being able to see the projections on the castle and tinkerbell and other characters flying by, but my 5 yr old could not see and I didn't have the energy to hold her (it was our last night).