Fantasmic Thread!

[SOCALMouseMommy]

9 pm showing of F! cancelled again for tonight; the in-app notification came around 8 pm and it’s off the schedule. 10:30 pm still listed; fingers crossed it runs.

Oh my gosh, again? Ugh, that is so disappointing for people! I’m helping friends plan a first-time Disney trip and I was planning on suggesting they do a dining package to see Fantasmic but this makes me so nervous … I might recommend against it if these cancellations keep up.

 

[ShoeCello]

Oh my gosh, again? Ugh, that is so disappointing for people! I’m helping friends plan a first-time Disney trip and I was planning on suggesting they do a dining package to see Fantasmic but this makes me so nervous … I might recommend against it if these cancellations keep up.

10:30 pm F! showing ran last night, so both days the earlier showing has been cancelled, the later showing still occurred. I’m hearing people with the 9 pm dining packages from last night report that when they went to guest relations they were able to get a partial refund (the difference in cost between a “regular” meal and the dining package meal - not sure how that is calculated) and they offered to let them use their passes for the 10:30 pm showing or come back later that week to use the passes (which seems very fair). People on this board seem to have had varying experiences, so your mileage may vary if F! is cancelled.

 

[JerrodDragon89]

As someone going next week with a dinning package....this just....sucks

I hope they can figure the issues out but....the show was down for a year insane it has issue and things like the Croc isn't behind the ship

 

[LKing]

@ShoeCello , do you know if Columbia was sailing during the day?

If it were me, I would find a dining package at a restaurant were I would be happy eating regardless of the show.

I was curious about the surcharges so tried to calculate.
Blue Bayou the surcharge for Fantasmic seats looks to be around $16 (fish $40, salad $14, drink $5.25, dessert $13, bread ??).
RiverBelle, it looks like it is maybe a $3 surcharge, but that can't be right (Big Belle $26, appetizer $9, drink $5.25, dessert $12).
Zocalo is an approximation because the exact items aren't offered on the regular menu. It looks like the surcharge for Fantasmic is around $10 (tacos $14, drink $5.25, dessert $5?)

 

[SOCALMouseMommy]

10:30 pm F! showing ran last night, so both days the earlier showing has been cancelled, the later showing still occurred. I’m hearing people with the 9 pm dining packages from last night report that when they went to guest relations they were able to get a partial refund (the difference in cost between a “regular” meal and the dining package meal - not sure how that is calculated) and they offered to let them use their passes for the 10:30 pm showing or come back later that week to use the passes (which seems very fair). People on this board seem to have had varying experiences, so your mileage may vary if F! is cancelled.

Really? Wow, partial refunds on dining packages would be unprecedented. Curious where you heard this?

 

[disneychrista]

Really? Wow, partial refunds on dining packages would be unprecedented. Curious where you heard this?

Especially since I am pretty sure there is a disclaimer stating something to the effect of no refunds if the show is cancelled.

 

[JerrodDragon89]

I mean, if the show is cancelled because of weather or something I get it...but this is something on Disney end that has happened more then once

I think its only fair to pay people back, your also wasting people time and losing out on firework spots at other locations

 

[SOCALMouseMommy]

I mean, if the show is cancelled because of weather or something I get it...but this is something on Disney end that has happened more then once

I think its only fair to pay people back, your also wasting people time and losing out on firework spots at other locations

This is from the Fantasmic dining packages page:

 

[JerrodDragon89]

This is from the Fantasmic dining packages page:

View attachment 866339

I said its fair...I never said they have to

But I'm not ever going to defend a billion dollar company who has run this show for 30 years and has had a whole year to get this ready....if its something out of there control I get it...this is within there control they should have tested more or have the ship go down in the day time to get it ready to go

 

[michst8alum]

We had dinner tickets for the 9:00 Monday show was told we could use them on Wednesday. Went last night and cancelled again. Couldn’t stay for the late show. Went to guest services no compensation. Bummer, been trying to see it over the years and still haven’t gotten to see it. Would not have booked the restaurant, but for the package.

 

[JerrodDragon89]

We had dinner tickets for the 9:00 Monday show was told we could use them on Wednesday. Went last night and cancelled again. Couldn’t stay for the late show. Went to guest services no compensation. Bummer, been trying to see it over the years and still haven’t gotten to see it. Would not have booked the restaurant, but for the package.

Wait so you tried to go to two shows and both were cancelled?

 

[twodogs]

We did the BB package for last Saturday night, 9pm show. There is no way my parents could have made it for the 10:30pm show, and we planned our entire day around just having enough energy for them to do the 9pm. I would have been extremely disappointed if ours was cancelled, and I feel terribly for those that this has affected. It is not alway feasible just to come back to the later show or come another evening!

As for the “value” of the package and a partial refund, that would be very difficult to calculate. For us, we would have eaten at BB anyway, BUT we would never have ordered that much food (bread, app, main course, dessert and drink for every person (6) in our party). We usually share a main between 2 people, skip the app or share one between several people, share 1 dessert for 2-3 people, some don’t get drinks (even with the package, half of our party just ordered water), may have ordered one bread, not the 3 orders that were included in the package for our party of 6. So while you could do the calculation and say the seating for the show is “worth” around $16 pp if you ordered exactly what was included in the package for everyone, if we ate there and ordered the way we normally do, it would have meant the show seating was “worth” much more pp, and therefore the value lost for a show cancellation was higher for our type of ordering (our bill was ~$740 with 20% tip for a package for 6, one beer and one hurricane; without the package we likely would have spent about $400 by ordering only what we wanted a la carte, so then the show seating value would have been $50+ pp).

Either way, I was willing to pay the package price to have a place for the show, so the value of it was not at issue. However, if the show was cancelled, I would have felt that we lost a lot of the value of the money spent because we didn’t want that much food in the first place.

 

[SOCALMouseMommy]

We had dinner tickets for the 9:00 Monday show was told we could use them on Wednesday. Went last night and cancelled again. Couldn’t stay for the late show. Went to guest services no compensation. Bummer, been trying to see it over the years and still haven’t gotten to see it. Would not have booked the restaurant, but for the package.

Ugh!!! I am so sorry, that is just a double whammy of disappointment!

 

[ShoeCello]

@ShoeCello , do you know if Columbia was sailing during the day?

Really? Wow, partial refunds on dining packages would be unprecedented. Curious where you heard this?

@LKing : Don't know re: Columbia - I didn't get to the parks until later in the day and wasn't by Rivers of America.

In terms of partial refund, this is from another message board/Reddit; I've removed the four-letter words here:

So the dining package people are out of luck? That sucks

We had a dining package.. They refunded the premium price of the meal and let us come back for the 1030 show.

I had a dining package for the 1st show yesterday, which was also cancelled. I didn't want to stick around till 10:30pm with the possibility that the 2nd show would be cancelled as well (plus 9pm is already very late for me). and now I'm blocked out for the next 2 months so I'd like to be refunded as well. did you speak with guest services for your refund in person or over the phone?

Ah ***, I was in the same boat as you. So I got my dinning package through blue bayou for the 9 pm showing. My gf and I were getting ping pong around and honestly the fact the user was able to get refunded is surprising. I was told two different things by both cast member and guest services. They told me come back later but were told it might not happen too so were like okay then can we get it extended and they said for next today days -___-. I was like can we get it next week at least and they told me no. So we went to guest services and they told us go to blue bayou. But by then we were like **** it no one is helpful but sounds like i should have went to straight to blue bayou. But yeah for refund you had to go through whoever you got the dinning package because guest service were no help unfortunately and basically said your **** out of luck even the chat they told me **** out of luck

Monday dining group got a multiple day extension - obviously not everyone could redeem due to their plans

It seems like some people got lucky if they talked to the restaurant, rather than guest services.

 

[LKing]

@LKing : Don't know re: Columbia - I didn't get to the parks until later in the day and wasn't by Rivers of America.

In terms of partial refund, this is from another message board/Reddit; I've removed the four-letter words here:



It seems like some people got lucky if they talked to the restaurant, rather than guest services.

Am I reading it correctly? Did the first person have the RB premium and was refunded for the premium portion because they couldn't view from there for the 2nd show?

 

[LKing]

As for the “value” of the package and a partial refund, that would be very difficult to calculate

I agree 100%. There is no way we would have ordered that much food if it weren't for the package. I was more curious about the price differential if someone DID order the exact same items.

 

[LKing]

Went to guest services no compensation.

Did you receive compensation?

 

[ShoeCello]

OC Register just covered the F! cancellations on Monday and Wednesday of this week, confirming that the issue was related to the ships (underwater debris on the tracks): https://www.ocregister.com/2024/06/06/disneyland-uses-speedboat-to-fix-fantasmic-and-save-the-show/ This would explain why we saw divers in the water near Columbia, next to its docking place by Harbor Galley, on Wednesday, and how it didn't move from that dock until after fireworks on Wednesday. Thank you to the dive teams for helping clear the debris!

Both 9 PM and 10:30 PM showings of F! ran as scheduled yesterday, so hopefully they've resolved this issue. Anyone see the speedboat they discuss (and include an Instagram post of)?

Not sure how debris got on the tracks - could litter from guests cause this issue?

On a side note, I saw two pairs of people sneak into the F! dining viewing areas yesterday without getting caught (a teenage couple and a mom with her young child). A third pair (teenagers) were seen by a CM and kicked out. Obnoxious that people sneak into the viewing areas without paying; to me, it's akin to stealing at that point when someone willfully sneaks into a paid area.

 

[disneychrista]

Anyone see the speedboat they discuss (and include an Instagram post of)?

Not sure how debris got on the tracks - could litter from guests cause this issue?

On a side note, I saw two pairs of people sneak into the F! dining viewing areas yesterday without getting caught (a teenage couple and a mom with her young child). A third pair (teenagers) were seen by a CM and kicked out. Obnoxious that people sneak into the viewing areas without paying; to me, it's akin to stealing at that point when someone willfully sneaks into a paid area.

I assume this is the same one that was trailing the Columbia on opening night.

Most likely guests either dropping things off the Mark Twain or Columbia. My nephew "accidentally' dropped his hat off the Mark Twain once.

To give them the benefit of the doubt it could be that they did not know that it was reserved seating. Don't forget once upon a time there was no reserved seating and you just walked up and grabbed a spot.

 

[ShoeCello]

I assume this is the same one that was trailing the Columbia on opening night.

Most likely guests either dropping things off the Mark Twain or Columbia. My nephew "accidentally' dropped his hat off the Mark Twain once.

To give them the benefit of the doubt it could be that they did not know that it was reserved seating. Don't forget once upon a time there was no reserved seating and you just walked up and grabbed a spot.

Fair point, though I think it is unlikely in this case. There was a line to enter the area with a CM checking dining passes (along with a CM stationed by the entrance to the sections by Harbor Galley announcing that this area was for dining package seating). The CM checking dining package tickets did not notice the two pairs sneak in since she was busy collecting the dining passes and directing people to the proper seating areas. The two pairs of people that snuck in skipped this line and ducked under two sets of ropes to enter, and seemed to have timed it as well to when the CM was distracted.