Fantasmic Dining Package Discussion Thread

[Miggee]

just called in today to book my dining package, 60 days out and already BB is all booked, plus the CM on the phone told me that BB no longer offers seat cushions. I now have reservation at Cafe Orleans, which the CM will be in the same seating section as BB package.

 

[onlyoneash]

just called in today to book my dining package, 60 days out and already BB is all booked, plus the CM on the phone told me that BB no longer offers seat cushions. I now have reservation at Cafe Orleans, which the CM will be in the same seating section as BB package.

What? No cushions? That was specifically explained to me as a bonus when I was booking the BB package for Sept over the phone and one of the advantages over RBT. Plus, if F! gets weather cancelled, I thought "well at least me and my kiddos get the fun souvenir cushions"

So, they tell everyone how cute the cushions are and convince them to book an upgraded BB package and then take them away? Smells kind of dishonest/scammy to me. All the other reservations are booked up now too, so I will just have to stick with BB.

 

[jrjankowski8]

I started a thread specifically about booking Café Orleans F! Package. Just wanted to let everyone here know that I have not yet seen a single time slot to book online, but when calling they have options. Just a heads up!

 

[Winnowill]

What? No cushions? That was specifically explained to me as a bonus when I was booking the BB package for Sept over the phone and one of the advantages over RBT. Plus, if F! gets weather cancelled, I thought "well at least me and my kiddos get the fun souvenir cushions"

So, they tell everyone how cute the cushions are and convince them to book an upgraded BB package and then take them away? Smells kind of dishonest/scammy to me. All the other reservations are booked up now too, so I will just have to stick with BB.

Well, that sucks. My friend and I have already been planning our usage of the seat cushions!

 

[onlyoneash]

Don't like this one bit.....I called Disney dining and asked about my BB reservation in Sept. The CM confirmed that only the "premium" $90 per ticket BB package is getting the cushions now.

Funny that anyone would pay for that very expensive upgraded package in Sept since the MSEP is over and that one one of the only benefits for the $90 upgrade (reserved MSEP seating).

Also, she said F! will be extremely popular come Sept/Oct since it will only be showing on the weekends....so ONLY the $90 premium package BB will be allowed to sit. If there is space, regular BB F! Packages will get to sit next and then MAYBE Cafe Orleans. She said at that point, Cafe Orleans people will probably be standing only and will be actually be encouraged to be standing only (like HB). However, I think that if the first people into the Orleans section just sit and the next people sit and so on...hopefully that section will stay a seated section!

I just kept thinking, well, that went downhill fast since I booked last month...

I have a Cafe Orleans (5:10) and BB (6:00) reserved and I am weighing the pros and cons of which one to cancel. Probably the BB since I might stand with the BB or Orleans anyways, mine as well pick the cheaper option and get a Monte Cristo!!!!

Have fun talking people into $90 pp upgrade to sit on the floor cement with a $12 cushion, drink, and no MSEP package included anymore.

 

[mmmears]

I've been following along, but I'm confused. They are continuing a "premium" BB package after the parade is discontinued??? What do we get if we do book it? This is getting pretty discouraging.

We were going to try premium RBT but that's now not an option since it'll be closed. Now I have no idea what I should try to book. I think my booking window opens up tomorrow morning.

 

[onlyoneash]

I've been following along, but I'm confused. They are continuing a "premium" BB package after the parade is discontinued??? What do we get if we do book it? This is getting pretty discouraging.

That's what I thought, but I guess they are continuing it and instead of adding something else to make it worth it (Replace the MSEP) they decided to take away things from other dining packages to make it seem more worth it (cushions and seated viewing)

 

[Miggee]

That's what I thought, but I guess they are continuing it and instead of adding something else to make it worth it (Replace the MSEP) they decided to take away things from other dining packages to make it seem more worth it (cushions and seated viewing)

I will need to call again, I specifically asked the CM if there is a premium package for BB and she said no. (This is for Oct booking)

 

[Miggee]

What? No cushions? That was specifically explained to me as a bonus when I was booking the BB package for Sept over the phone and one of the advantages over RBT. Plus, if F! gets weather cancelled, I thought "well at least me and my kiddos get the fun souvenir cushions"

So, they tell everyone how cute the cushions are and convince them to book an upgraded BB package and then take them away? Smells kind of dishonest/scammy to me. All the other reservations are booked up now too, so I will just have to stick with BB.

Ya, I asked the CM three times just to be sure, she said no cushions, I then asked if maybe that its included in the premium package, she also said no, I think I will call again tomorrow to be sure

 

[Curlyxz]

Where is this news of a 'premium' BB Fantasmic package coming from? There is only one package for Fantasmic, with the option to upgrade to a MSEP pass.

 

[minnieralyks]

Ugh... this is what's kinda frustrating about planning anything - no consistency in answers. The whole point of getting the BB section (for us) was so that we didn't have to line up really early and have a seat. I'm not willing to pay the $65 pp if you're not guaranteed a seat, which is sounds like you're not. And now it sounds like CO is getting grouped with BB? Even if you ask a CM and get the answer you want, answers can change with the CMs on the day-of (not unusual, unfortuantely). I'm not sure I want to risk it.

 

[onlyoneash]

Where is this news of a 'premium' BB Fantasmic package coming from? There is only one package for Fantasmic, with the option to upgrade to a MSEP pass.

The premium BB F! + MSEP package is not online, you can only book it by calling. It is $90 per person. It included a 3 course meal, souvenir drink, F! Cushion and reserved fastpass, and a MSEP lanyard and reserved fastpass. Everyone assumed that this package would go away once the MSEP parade ended.

We were wrong.

They are continuing the premium package, but instead of replacing the MSEP portion with something else or charging a bit less, they are taking away reserved dining seating from everyone else and taking away the seat cushions from the regular BB F! people to make it seem "worth" $90.

I will need to call again, I specifically asked the CM if there is a premium package for BB and she said no. (This is for Oct booking)

It is entirely possible that my CM didn't know what she was talking about. I would definitely call again. Or perhaps the premium BB package ends in Sept when I am going so they won't have it in Oct due to all the Halloween offerings and such.

And now it sounds like CO is getting grouped with BB? Even if you ask a CM and get the answer you want, answers can change with the CMs on the day-of (not unusual, unfortuantely). I'm not sure I want to risk it.

The CM did say BB and CO had their own sections still...apparently they just have more reservations and more people to pack in those sections since it will only be on the weekends. Hence why there is a possibility of sitting, but I guess if it gets too full, they are going to make everyone stand up but the premiums?

It literally makes no sense to me. If we called every CM at Disneyland we would probably get a different answer.

 

[minnieralyks]

It literally makes no sense to me. If we called every CM at Disneyland we would probably get a different answer.

Which is the most frustrating thing out of all of it. It's not the CMs fault, it's that info isn't getting passed down correctly/thoroughly enough which creates all of the inconsistency.

Why ya gotta do me like that, Disney???? lol

 

[mmmears]

Wow. This is making me rethink the whole thing. It feels like a huge money grab, while at the same time they are offering less.

 

[tlcdoula]

Wow. This is making me rethink the whole thing. It feels like a huge money grab, while at the same time they are offering less.

Me to, its frustrating too. I don't mind paying for convenience, less wait time, better view etc but when those go down I am less inclined to book. I guess with so many people booking it doesn't matter to them though... One thing I love about Disney world is the early planning you can do lol

 

[Shelly S]

I have a BB reservation and just made a Cafe Orleans and will decide which one to cancel. I am going to wait to read first hand reports as I think some of the reservation cast members do not have all the correct information. Heck, when I called to make the Cafe Orleans reservation, the cast member could not find any of my other reservations, we ended up getting disconnected and the second cast member was able to find everything right away and it all shows up in the app.

 

[mommy2mrb]

We are going 9/30, if it's true we won't be getting the cushions anymore wouldn't disney be contacting everyone with this change? People who aren't on the DIS are going to be quite upset and the poor CM's at BB are going to get the brunt of it when everyone checks in.

While I'm not happy about this and possibility of standing after being told we sit and get the cushions. This is no different than WOC Dining FP, spending lots of $, waiting in line to get better spots and standing for show.

EDIT!!! Just spoke to a very nice CM about this. Asked her twice if dining management had specifically told them BB package is changing. Both times she said NO!!! They've had no changes told to them.

 

[Lesley Wake]

We are going 9/30, if it's true we won't be getting the cushions anymore wouldn't disney be contacting everyone with this change? People who aren't on the DIS are going to be quite upset and the poor CM's at BB are going to get the brunt of it when everyone checks in.

While I'm not happy about this and possibility of standing after being told we sit and get the cushions. This is no different than WOC Dining FP, spending lots of $, waiting in line to get better spots and standing for show.

For the cushions, it has never been something advertised and has even been a surprise for people on these boards, so they wouldn't need to do any explaining if they just stopped giving them out. The cushions are also on sale and advertises as "parade cushions". Without the MSEP package they just may decide not to do it anymore.

I doubt they would switch to standing for the dining sections. Just cause too much uproar.

 

[mommy2mrb]

For the cushions, it has never been something advertised and has even been a surprise for people on these boards, so they wouldn't need to do any explaining if they just stopped giving them out. The cushions are also on sale and advertises as "parade cushions". Without the MSEP package they just may decide not to do it anymore.

I doubt they would switch to standing for the dining sections. Just cause too much uproar.

I just added edit to my post info from CM.

 

[theluckyrabbit]

Just got off the phone with the Dine Line. Spoke with a very nice lead about this situation. She said that they don't have much information right now and that any information they do have is subject to change at any time. (Um, yes, we did notice that...) However, here is what she knows as of this morning: the BB regular F! dining package will allow guests to SIT in the BB section along with the BB premium guests. There is some uncertainty whether the premium package will stick around (or for how long) or whether it will undergo major changes since the MSEP is going away. At this time, after the MSEP goes away on the 20th, there will be no cushion offered with the regular BB package, only with the premium. But she did say that this could change (like it did when the packages were first offered in July) if enough people complain to Disney. For more information, she said to keep calling back for updates. Hope this helps clarify some things, even if it isn't everything we wanted to hear right now.