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T&Rshep
05-17-2005, 02:28 PM
I've never been in the priority seating for fantasmic! but I want to the next time I'm at DL. Which is better? The dessert buffet in the gallery or the riverfront seating?

bradk
05-17-2005, 02:32 PM
the basic difference is this: balcony gives you a dead center view, self-serve on the buffet so you can stuff yourself silly guilt-free and, at most, 20 people or so. the main negative is that it's further away. the balcony also lets you stay to see the fireworks, but it's not a view i'd recommend for the current show anyway.

riverside gives you a much closer view, has price breaks for children, can handle more people, but it appears the desserts are usually plated and the view is off center.

Eighty8Keys
05-17-2005, 02:42 PM
We did the balcony seating last December for our first ever viewing of Fantasmic! and it was fantastic. Even being further away from the river, we could still feel the heat from the fire and the mist from the water. The view was dead center. Since we were the first to call to purchase our tickets, we were seated first in the front row of the balcony, although there didn't appear to be any seat that didn't provide an excellent view. I believe riverfront seating is based on what time you check in that evening, rather than when you purchase your tickets. We plan to do balcony seating again on trip next December when my parents will be joining us on our trip.

mystycalchyk
05-17-2005, 02:47 PM
I highly recommend the balcony seating. It's fantastic!

sediment
05-17-2005, 03:15 PM
I highly recommend the balcony seating. It's fantastic!
Don't you mean, "It's Fantasmic!"?

mystycalchyk
05-17-2005, 03:16 PM
Don't you mean, "It's Fantasmic!"?


It's Fantastic for Fantasmic :D

Terri
05-17-2005, 03:27 PM
I did the riverside seating last year and - since I couldn't get balcony seating - am doing the riverside again in 10 days.
When I did it last year, we could gouge ourselves on the desert buffet - they even brought me more yummies! We took a ton of stuff back to our room that night and had chocolate covered strawberries for breakfast. The view was great - though not perfect (probably perfect in the balcony). We saw everything we needed to see and my son (10 at the time) thought it was great. You could feel the heat from the fires and the mist from the curtains. Obviously I thought it was worth it or I wouldn't have splurged again this year...however, if my husband wasn't coming on this trip, I would have let it go by. It's one of those things you should do once, but unless you're rich it's not something I would do all the time.
I'm hoping we can see enough of the fireworks show to make it worthwhile.

I Heart Disneyland!
05-17-2005, 04:54 PM
Personally, last week my hubby and I got dessert and pulled up a seat at the RiverBelle Terrace, outdoors, and watched Fantasmic from there. We had a perfect view and we were even sitting in the back row of seats. It's a lot cheaper that way, since you don't have to pay like $50 for desserts and the seats were great. The sound system is such that you don't miss a thing!

hpagels
05-17-2005, 06:07 PM
Haven't tried Riverside seating yet, but would like to possibly on my next visit. I can absolutely vouch for Balcony seating though. It was amazing to get this personal bird's eye view of the whole show. It is rather pricey, but you have to look at it as the a very special, special opportunity it is. $50 buys the seats. The desserts are just a nice little extra perk. I will add that the desserts are very good gourmet quality selections. Not your run of the mill frozen apple pie. Have fun whatever you decide.

crazi4dlr
05-25-2005, 05:49 PM
I had to reply to this one. My DH and I are going to DL June 20-26 and we got balcony seats for fantasmic at 10:30 on the 21st. Our 9th wedding anniversary is June 1st and we will be celebrating while we are at DL so we splurged on the balcony seats. As many times as I have been to DL since they began the Fantasmic show, I have never stopped to watch it, mostly because the lines for the great rides are much shorter while the shows and the parades and the fireworks are going on. gotta love Splash Mountain with a short line :p In any case, I'm really looking forward to seeing the whole production of F from the balcony. I'll let you all know how we loved it when we get back.

got2travel
05-26-2005, 10:02 AM
I prefer the riverside seating, which I have done several times now, mainly because the balcony was always full when I called. But when I finally did score balcony seating, I felt too removed from the show. I'm glad I did it once, but will return to the riverside the next time I do preferred seating.

As for the desserts, in each one, you can fill your plate at any time and as many times as you wish. (You have real plates and silverware on the balcony, paper at riverside). But they were more relaxed about it riverside, even encouraging us to wrap items up for later. They also made sure we had drinks to go. In the balcony, they started cleaning up the table midway through the show, so there really wasn't any opportunity to take anything with you afterwards.

Either option will allow you to remain to watch the fireworks if you are attending the first show. However, with the new show, you REALLY want to be in the hub to view, otherwise you will miss much of the 'show'.