Fantasmic! Viewing Area Locations

[figment_jii]

1. Are the first FP's distributed the best FP seating?

They distribute the yellow FPs first, then the green, then the blue. There are outstanding viewing areas in all three color and there are poor viewing areas in all three. My general sense is that yellow has more good viewing areas than blue, but if you get a blue, you still have a chance of having a great view.

2. Is there any seating in the FP area? Even on concrete steps?

Yes and no...there is no gauranteed ground seating viewing areas in any of the FP areas. However, generally, it sounds like the areas closest to the river tend to be ground seating. They won't promise you this if you ask, but it seems fairly consistent. Otherwise, all of the FP viewing areas are standing only.

3. How early do we need to arrive?

I think this one varies depending on when you're going...but I would plan on being there before the time listed on your FP, but just note they may not allow guests to line up early.

 

[momof4fans]

Thank you figment_jii!

 

[SuzanneSLO]

Is there any option for guaranteed standing? My DH had a knee replacement and can't sit on the ground. Thanks. -- Suzanne

 

[EDS19]

First off thanks to the previous comments on this board. We went on a Family Trip to Disneyland last week and this info really helped. Here are some observations. We saw Fantasmic twice. Tuesday Night was a very smooth experience, and I was wondering why anyone would complain about this new system, Thursday Night it was crazy town. What was the difference? The cast members. Tuesday and Thursday we were in the yellow section. Tuesday Night we arrived at 7:45 at the yellow viewing entrance. The Cast member told us they would line us up in the Mark Twain dock, and then take us to the viewing area at 8. There were 3 cast members in the Mark Twain area explaining what was going to happen, answering questions and getting the group to cheer, tell Disney jokes, etc. Right at 8 they let us out of the Mark Twain area, we quickly walked over to the viewing area. We handed over our fastpasses and were able to sit down right next to the Dinner Package seating area. The back of the yellow seating area was saved for those in Wheel Chairs, etc. Once that area was full they directed everyone else to standing only areas. (Although if you wanted standing only areas you could have gone there first and skipped the seating. Our seats were great. We were able to get the same seats Thursday night... But it was a very stressful experience. None of the cast members were helping to organize the group waiting to get into the Mark Twain area. Once we got into the Mark Twain area the 3 cast members that appeared to be assigned to that area walked off a bit so no one could ask questions. 8 p.m. came and our cast members were still chatting as we saw the dinner package and blue groups move into their areas. This start to cause panic with everyone in the yellow group. Then at about 8:05 the opened the gates but didn't explain what was going on so some people went in a dead run trying to find where they should go. My family got to the yellow section and sat down, but then a cast member noticed the other cast members hadn't put up all the ropes so the area we were sitting in was an aisle. We were able to quickly move and find another spot, but I felt bad for the family that was first in line and first seated... They sat down in what appeared to be the yellow area but then the cast member put up the additional ropes and said they would have to find some where else. By that time all the yellow seating area was full and they wouldn't let them sit in the dinning area.

I don't mean to be a downer. Over all the system works, but the cast members have to be proactive. We walked by the next night and it was the same cast members and it was 8:10 and yellow still hadn't let anyone in and a large crowd was growing and getting a little stressed.

One thing I couldn't figure out with the blue section. It appears they also have a seating area next to the dining packages and right against the water but each night the cast members didn't direct people there first rather they had everyone go to the areas behind first. Anyone know why this would be?

Overall it works good. I would shoot for yellow and arrive 15 minutes before the return time. Make sure you have looked at the map in previous posts so you have an idea where you are aiming for.

 

[LacyBelle]

The light tower is a FP area (blue).

An update regarding the viewing areas...in general, I do think it sounds like the area themselves have begun to settle into a "final" configuration (although that can change tomorrow). Unless someone walks the entire viewing area, it's going to be tough to figure out where exactly each viewing are begins and ends. I think it might be easier at this point, to just go with generalized descriptions.

• Blue FP - To the left of the RBT viewing area. It includes some water side area (from roughly the boat dock, I think) and then extends backwards to the raised section close to the restaurants (Cafe Orleans and French Market)
• Yellow FP - To the right of the Blue Bayou viewing area and behind. It extends (I think) from the petrified tree to the BB viewing area, then behind that to beyond the anchor and again back to the raised section close the restaurants. I think it still includes the Central Light Tower.

I'm trying to get an idea of which FP color includes the central light tower (you know, as of present day since I know things are subject to change and fluid since this process started). The quotes above both reference the central light tower, but one says blue and the other yellow.

Any recent experience? That has been our go-to spot for years and we like the location and view from there. We'd like to continue viewing the show from there under the new FP system and need to plan accordingly.

I also find it confusing F! is distributed yellow, green, blue when WOC is blue, yellow.
Are they trying to trip us up?

Thanks for your help.

 

[elaine amj]

I found it all a little confusing too. We had yellow for the 2nd show (10:45pm). We watched PTN and firerworks from Main St. After that was over, we shot straight to F! getting to the Mark Twain dock around 9:50/9:55pm. We squished into the dock area, there were about 30-40 ppl ahead of us. When they let us through (a very tiny narrow funnel - awful!), my kids moved their way through the crowd as it moved towards the viewing areas. My daughter snagged us a railing spot right near the dining seating. She had a hard time holding it with just her body (she was stretched out as far as she could reach when we walked up 30 seconds later) and we had to stack up behind each other. We quickly put out a blanket, which helped to maintain our spot. great view although the railing got in the way. I appreciated being seated though I missed WDW's F!'s stadium seating. It's also a little crazy there but way more sane than being squished into the tiny boat dock then funneled through the narrow opening.

 

[figment_jii]

Is there any option for guaranteed standing? My DH had a knee replacement and can't sit on the ground. Thanks. -- Suzanne

You can do the dining packages and choose to stand behind the ECVs/wheelchairs or most of the FP viewing areas are standing room only (very limited ground seating in the FP areas), so as long as you don't head to one of the water side areas, you'll be in a standing room only area.

 

[Geemo]

Is the color coded map on page one still accurate?
I believe I had read somewhere the RBT and BB sections had been combined.
Does that alter the map?

Going in October and plan to reserve a BB dinner Fantasmic! package.

Thanks
Geemo

 

[figment_jii]

Is the color coded map on page one still accurate?
I believe I had read somewhere the RBT and BB sections had been combined.
Does that alter the map?

I haven't been able to get a really good sense of where the different areas are specifically located (especially where the blue and yellow FP boundaries are located). BB and RBT have been combined (according to most of the recent reports), but it sounds like the viewing area is still front and center. The green PotC area is pretty much unchanged. The yellow and blue FP boundaries seem to be moving slightly, and the standby area is on the Frontierland side of the viewing area only.

I wrote up my notes from my March trip when I tried to map out the boundaries (to some degree):
http://www.disboards.com/threads/fantasmic-viewing-area-locations.3381412/page-7#post-53739733

 

[DisneyWillow1975]

Thanks so much for all your work on gathering this information. I'm planning for a December trip with friends and my twin 3 year olds, and this makes it so much easier!

 

[j2thomason]

We got FP for the blue section last night. We got in line about 7:55 and the line was already big. When we were allowed to find a spot we headed up to the top section in the back middle because my daughter and I are both short and can't see over other people. We had picked up some food to eat while we were waiting. We sat against the railing and ate our food. Then when the show began we stood up and had a great view.

I preferred our RBT viewing that we had a few nights before though. The food was excellent and the seating was so much better. Definitely worth the money!

 

[jennilouwho]

I'm trying to get an idea of which FP color includes the central light tower (you know, as of present day since I know things are subject to change and fluid since this process started). The quotes above both reference the central light tower, but one says blue and the other yellow.

Any recent experience? That has been our go-to spot for years and we like the location and view from there. We'd like to continue viewing the show from there under the new FP system and need to plan accordingly.

I also find it confusing F! is distributed yellow, green, blue when WOC is blue, yellow.
Are they trying to trip us up?

Thanks for your help.

I want to know this as well. I also love this spot as it makes it easy for the kids to see. Is it yellow then? When they let the color in, can we just walk to that spot?

 

[j2thomason]

I want to know this as well. I also love this spot as it makes it easy for the kids to see. Is it yellow then? When they let the color in, can we just walk to that spot?

When we got blue FP the other night we were in the section with the center light tower. We were directly behind it to the left if you are looking at Tom Sawyer island. We picked up our fast passes around 1:00 that day.

 

[jennilouwho]

When we got blue FP the other night we were in the section with the center light tower. We were directly behind it to the left if you are looking at Tom Sawyer island. We picked up our fast passes around 1:00 that day.

Thanks for the info!

 

[bellebookworm9]

I read that RBT allows you to request a show time no matter the time of your reservation. Is this confirmed to be the case or is like BB where if you want a late F! showing, you need to eat later?

Any confirmation for this? We have a 6pm ADR at RBT on Sunday, 9/27. I'd prefer the later show so we can do the earlier paint the night, fireworks on main street, then later Fantasmic. Or what is the earliest dining time that would get the 10:45 show?

 

[j2thomason]

Any confirmation for this? We have a 6pm ADR at RBT on Sunday, 9/27. I'd prefer the later show so we can do the earlier paint the night, fireworks on main street, then later Fantasmic. Or what is the earliest dining time that would get the 10:45 show?

When we ate there a couple of weeks ago we had a 4:30 reservation and were offered a choice of the 9:00 show or 10:45. We chose 9:00 because we had just flown into Anaheim that afternoon and knew we might not have the energy to last through the 10:45 show. We got to the fast pass line about 15 minutes before the stated start time and were able to get seats front and center. It was a great night! And RBT ended up being our favorite meal of the trip. We did the reverse of what you want to do though. We did Fantasmic, watched fireworks from our Fantasmic seats and then found a curb seat by the town square flag pole for PTN.

 

[lvdis]

When we ate there a couple of weeks ago we had a 4:30 reservation and were offered a choice of the 9:00 show or 10:45. We chose 9:00 because we had just flown into Anaheim that afternoon and knew we might not have the energy to last through the 10:45 show. We got to the fast pass line about 15 minutes before the stated start time and were able to get seats front and center. It was a great night! And RBT ended up being our favorite meal of the trip. We did the reverse of what you want to do though. We did Fantasmic, watched fireworks from our Fantasmic seats and then found a curb seat by the town square flag pole for PTN.

This is so good to hear! We want to do this when we are there, but I'm trying to decide between eating at BB or RBT. What did you get for your main entree? I'm glad to know you thought it was your favorite meal!

 

[bellebookworm9]

When we ate there a couple of weeks ago we had a 4:30 reservation and were offered a choice of the 9:00 show or 10:45. We chose 9:00 because we had just flown into Anaheim that afternoon and knew we might not have the energy to last through the 10:45 show. We got to the fast pass line about 15 minutes before the stated start time and were able to get seats front and center. It was a great night! And RBT ended up being our favorite meal of the trip. We did the reverse of what you want to do though. We did Fantasmic, watched fireworks from our Fantasmic seats and then found a curb seat by the town square flag pole for PTN.

Great, thanks for the info! I'm glad to hear you liked it so much!

 

[j2thomason]

This is so good to hear! We want to do this when we are there, but I'm trying to decide between eating at BB or RBT. What did you get for your main entree? I'm glad to know you thought it was your favorite meal!

I got the New York strip with the shrimp skewer, with the salad and caramel apple strudel. The bread was really good, too. The cast members really made the meal enjoyable, too. They were very nice and personable.

 

[wendyt_ca]

How quickly do the fast passes normally go in October? The schedule isn't out yet so I can't fully plan what strategy to use for our trip. I looked at the dining packages and I am a very picky eater and don't like anything on these menus. I considered the dessert package but it doesn't look like they still offer this? And Fantasmic tends to only be on the weekend in Oct so if this is the case we need to add a day onto our tickets and go the day we arrive. We don't land until 3pm so it would likely be 5pm before we get to the park. Not sure if this will be too late.