For a first class flight of imagination, when at Disney World, in Orlando, Florida, don’t miss Fantasmic, MGM Studios twenty five minute laser and light show. The show will not disappoint, unless you have an aversion to a spectacular performance of dancing lights, Disney characters, flaming water effects and fireworks. There won’t be a boring moment in the entire show, as your eyes take in the multitude of brilliant sights! The technically fantastic exhibit is distinctively Disney – good triumphs over evil, and features over twenty five of Disney’s well known cartoon personalities! When entering the Hollywood Hills Amphitheater, the feel of excitement and anticipation is tangible. You just KNOW that you are about to see something amazing. The amphitheater is huge, modeled after the Hollywood Bowl, with steel benches that seat 6,900 guests and standing room for an additional 3,000! The popularity of the show almost always packs the amphitheater despite ample seating.
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What to Expect
Featured in the Fantasmic program, along with the well known Disney characters, is the melodious Disney music that children and adults will recognize and love. Theme songs include tunes from ‘Under the Sea’, ‘The Lion King’, ‘Tarzan’, ‘Peter Pan’ and ‘Pocahantas’ among others, that appeal to everyone. On the stage, encircled by a lagoon, is a fifty nine foot mountain, housing Maleficent, the 32,000 pound dragon, providing the stage backdrop. Three water screens are used for projecting the dancing characters and stunning lights upon. The show opens with, who else, but Mickey Mouse, arriving in a stream of vanishing light. Shortly, jungle sounds are heard, and Kaa, the Jungle Book snake slithers onstage to screams from the audience, peering at the spectators with his brightly lit eyes,
Other acts include ‘Dumbo’ music featuring the Pink Elephants on Parade, as projected onto the water screens. Jiminy Cricket is seen with his friend Pinocchio, before the Pirate Ship carrying Captain Hook arrives. As the ship fades in a foggy mist, an enormous crocodile emanating the sounds of a large clock appears, following the ship away.
After the scenes of darkness come the lovely Princesses, floating in on pastel clouds, as projected onto the water screen. Slowly, the music changes as Snow White’s Evil Queen appears briefly, changing into the Sea Witch from ‘Under the Sea’. Scenes change quickly in the fast moving production, often announced with lightning and flames, as the pace and tone of the music guide us along the adventure.
With rapid light flashes, bursts of fire, resonant music, fog, mist, and brilliant characters, one is drawn into the magic of this stellar Disney production. The finale features Steamboat Willie on his boat, in good company with 26 other characters, dancing, waving flags and cheering to a concert of fireworks!
Tips for Visiting
Travel brochures and Disney web sites recommend booking seats three months in advance. I would recommend four or five months in advance, to avoid disappointment.
Expect an hour or more of waiting inside the amphitheater before the show starts. Food and drink are permitted inside, and vendors also work the seats, selling snacks and drinks, candy and souvenirs. While there are restrooms located within the arena, try to find restrooms before entering. Getting to the restrooms may prove difficult as you travel in the opposite direction as a multitude of incoming guests. One way of avoiding the long lines and seemingly interminable wait is to book the Fantasmic Dinner Package. Not only do you get dinner reservations at one of three nearby restaurants, you will have reserved seats in the first two sections (Warning, you may get a little damp from the water spray!) Even with the dinner package, try to get to your reserved seats at least 20 minutes before show time.
Without reservations, one can grab dinner at one of the various restaurants close to the Fantasmic amphitheater. While it is highly recommended you get inside the venue an hour or an hour and a half early, I must say, if the weather is poor, you can have a stroke of good luck. We went to Disney World one day, on a whim, with no previous research. We made our way to the Fantasmic show, purely by chance and got a good seat! It was drizzling a bit, which sealed out luck. The show was more than enjoyable and no one noticed the drizzle, enthralled as we were with the spectacle!
Even Disney is feeling the economy’s pinch, and has cut back on the number of shows performed. Currently shows are scheduled for Mondays and Thursdays, but check before you go. If there are two shows on a given night, and you don’t have children, opt for the less crowded second show. Speaking of children, some smaller children may be a bit scared of the more nefarious stage characters, and the booming sounds. Perhaps explaining to them before the show what they will see, and pointing out the ‘bad guys’ before the show will assuage their fears.
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