Is Fantasmic preferred seating worth the $$?

[kimsews]

I'm planning on seeing Fantasmic 2/25 at the early show. My 6 year old won't likely be able to just hang out for an hour or so for a good place to view and I really want him to see it. Last time, 2 years ago, he fell asleep just before it started. The preferred seating is expensive - $110 for the two of us, but is it really the way to go?

[Malcon10t]

You are going to find there are two groups of people. Those of us that say "Absolutely" and those that say "No way." We do the preferred seating once a trip or so. We stay off property and other things like that that are not as important to us, so we can pay for things like Fantasmic! that are important to us.

Regardless, he will have to wait. You do need to line up at about 730p to get seats. AT 8, they will have you select your seats, then you come back at 830 to be seated, fireworks at 845 and Fantasmic! right after. There will be a LOT of goodies in the dessert boxes. Bring ziplocks if you decide to do it to take everything back (the boxes aren't that stable.)

[jcatron243]

I think it was the most amazing way to see it. My kiddos were 2 and 5 when we did it, and we didn't have to worry about people standing in front of us. We are thinking about doing it again this year!

[chris001]

We are in the camp of it totally being worth it. The show is so much better when you have a great view and a decent seat. The dessert boxes were full of so much good stuff we were able to snack on them for several days.

[fairestoneofall]

We prefer to get the premium viewing, but it's a once a year treat for us. We're at the DLR twice a month, but our kids are little and rarely make it until 830. We have 'camped out' for a spot with them and it's just no fun. I'd much rather pay the money for it as a special treat.

[Drince88]

My BIL was a little concerned with the cost as well. I said if you want to be SURE that we'll see the show, we need to do it. I don't do well with crowds, and the last couple of times we've tried to do it without seating, I couldn't stick around - there were just too many people. I just don't do well trying to manuever with a lot of people - or have them manuever past me, or whatever. If it were something other than just a mosh pit, I would be fine with the NUMBER of people. The times that we have stayed to watch it, we weren't over tired, and we were able to find a spot up against a railing that they'd only let 1-2 people deep stand at, and it helped A LOT! (And then when the show started, we had kids that were behind us, stand in front of us so they could see - AND made sure they made it back to their parents safely at the end!) I think they may have made some of those locations, though - walkway only - since then. (We were over in the general vicinity of the Haunted Mansion.)

[DebT]

In Nov 2009, my DS (then 7) made it clear he had wanted to see Fantasmic. In all our trips I had never watched it not having the patience for the crowds and not wanting to pay the cash for premium seating. Since the funds were not in the budget for seating, I brought a blanket, kept it in a locker until we decided to stake out a place two hours before Fantasmic. We found a place in the center by the fence so no one would be in front of us.

To help deal with the two hour wait, my husband and son went and grabbed food while I saved our spot and we ate dinner on our blanket. After eating, my husband saved the spot while DS and I rode Haunted Mansion (20 minute wait). This worked well for us and broke up the wait for DS.

I wouldn't want to do this every visit and would love the preferred seating option, but all the waiting was well worth it as DS thoroughly enjoyed Fantasmic and so did I

[ogold72]

We have only done the premium seating and have loved it everytime. For us, the $ is worth having a guaranteed seat, a good view, and not having to wait 2 hours in a mass of people in order to do it. On top of that you get that extra bit of service and attention.

The dessert box is delectible, but we have always eaten before the show, so we cant hardly finish it. We have normally taken it to back to our room and nibble on the chocolates over the next day or so.

[AJDerrick]

In Nov 2009, my DS (then 7) made it clear he had wanted to see Fantasmic. In all our trips I had never watched it not having the patience for the crowds and not wanting to pay the cash for premium seating. Since the funds were not in the budget for seating, I brought a blanket, kept it in a locker until we decided to stake out a place two hours before Fantasmic. We found a place in the center by the fence so no one would be in front of us.

To help deal with the two hour wait, my husband and son went and grabbed food while I saved our spot and we ate dinner on our blanket. After eating, my husband saved the spot while DS and I rode Haunted Mansion (20 minute wait). This worked well for us and broke up the wait for DS.

I wouldn't want to do this every visit and would love the preferred seating option, but all the waiting was well worth it as DS thoroughly enjoyed Fantasmic and so did I

This is normally how we do it, too. Sometimes when it's just DH and me on our own we'll do preferred seating, which is lovely, but if we're with a group we take shifts saving a spot and we have a picnic. The ducks really like french fries.

Even doing preferred seating we find ourselves waiting for an hour or so to get the best seats we possibly can. We figure if we're spending that much then we want our view to be perfect. So either way there's a wait. Although my DH claims he'd spend the $ for the chair alone!

[Sansarc]

We did preferred seating once, and probably would do it again rather than cope (or NOT cope with, more accurately) the enormous summer crowds for Fantasmic. I can't tolerate crowds like that -- it was just a massive crush of people. But the preferred seats allowed us to relax, and escape from that. The dessert box was fun. It kind of reminded me of being at the Hollywood Bowl! The view was great, even though we were not in the very front row of the preferred area. It didn't matter. We could still the show well. But it IS expensive. With that said -- if my son or friends of ours REALLY wanted to see Fantasmic, this is the only way I would do it. Like Malcon10t, we cut back on other things during that trip that weren't as important to us so that we were able to have these seats and see the show. It was a special thing.

[bennette]

Unless it just turns out to be a spur of the moment thing where we walk up and see what we can see, we only do Fantasmic with the seating.

I cannot do the laying on the ground thing there (I can manage waiting for fireworks if I get just the right spotnext to the crowd control staff!but not Fantasmic).

As others have said, there is still a wait involved. You've got to check in for tickets and you'll probably want to head over early or stay in the area to avoid the mob. (The CM's will give you tips). I just want to repeat this because if your son can't stay awake for an hour or will want be in another area of the park until RIGHT before and you'll be disappointed if he doesn't get the full experience, it might be something to save for the next trip.

We almost never eat anything in the dessert box although we are in the majority there. We are paying for the chair, the guest service, and the smaller crowd. It's totally worth it for us. I don't think I had seen the show in almost a decade until we learned about the preferred seating.

[PurpleCat284]

Is it going to be that crowded on Feb. 25 that Preferred Seating is necessary? I remember June crowds for the show are INSANE and would justify $110 for good seats. Are the crowds on a Friday night in February really going to be that busy?

That's a big chunk of change for me. I could justify it for an anniversary date or special occasion. I guess part of it would depend on how often you make it to the park and whether the money would be wasted on a sleepy child.

Our first visit to DL as a family was a few months before my older dd turned 6 and it was one of her favorite parts of the trip. We previewed it on Youtube and read about it in a guidebook before the trip and it was one of her Must See items. I wonder if it would have been as magical an experience for her if we had been buried in a crowd where she couldn't see most of the show. We got to sit in the wheelchair area because Grandma was with us but Grandma won't be there for our next trip. She's always been a night bird though so I wasn't worried she'd sleep through it.

[kimsews]

Thanks for all the info folks-I sure appreciate it. I am going to spend the $. We are going the total budget route on everything else. I now understand that there is waiting involved with the preferred seating, oh yes, but not the long wait sitting on the ground along with everyone else. It's just me and my son this time, so trading off to ride rides, get a snack, or go potty while waiting for the show to start isn't an option.

I know he'll be awake for it this time and I can't wait to watch him watch Fantasmic!.