Fantasmic - Is it worth staying for if it means tired, cranky kids?

[friedela]

Our first day is HS, we have a Sci Fi res for 6:20 which I am trying to change so we can make it to Fantasmic however our initial plan was to have dinner then get out of the park to get kids home to bed at a decent time since our biggest day is MK the following day and we want to be there at around 7:00 AM which means EARLY wake time for the kiddos. We are also staying off-site so that adds another 30, 45 minutes before they are home and in bed. They are 6 and 7, so not toddlers - they don't have meltdowns ever (never have) although I am wondering if staying for Fantasmic is pushing their limits.

So my question is, is Fantasmic SO GREAT that it's worth risking tired, cranky kids the next day? Or would you skip it?

 

[bumbershoot]

I’ve only seen it at Disneyland, and I think most people like it better there. It wouldn’t be worth exhausted kids even at DL.

 

[Jessirip]

I would say no, though I know it is favorite of many. We are also choosing to skip it in April. I watched it again on You Tube recently and think our kids (3 and 6) would be way to cranky to really enjoy it. It's one of those "we can't do it all" things for us. ☺

 

[wishicouldgomoreofte]

No. MK will be a big day, and you will want, need that restful sleep.
And leaving HS, and travel back to your offsite hotel may take longer and be more stressful than you expect.
You say HS is first day. Is it also a travel day as well, so that added stress and tiredness?
You say this is your first trip. How long are you there?
Have a great time, and savor and enjoy what you do, and don't worry or regret what you don't get to.
There is so much to do, and your family is the gold in the experience.

 

[Eoywin]

No - not with MK the next day. It is a wonderful show but it's not worth tired, cranky kids.

 

[Disneylover99]

While I love Fantasmic, tired, cranky kids are never fun. I would make it an early night (for myself and family) if I planned to be at MK by 7am the next morning.

 

[twoplustwins]

My kids at ages 7 and 4 hated it, in fact, they cried. They didn't like it any better any time we went over the following few years.

 

[Magpie]

You're on vacation. Sleep is always a priority!

Our first visit to WDW, our kids were 7 and 9. We showed up at rope drop and left the parks every day before 5pm, missing every single nighttime show.

And it was still a great trip! We didn't feel we'd missed out. Our days felt jam-packed.

Yes, your kids might love Fantasmic. Mine did, when we finally got to see it on a subsequent trip. But, nothing at WDW is worth sacrificing sleep over. Better to be well rested and thoroughly enjoy fewer things, than to be exhausted and cranky trying to fit everything in, and end up unhappier in the end.

 

[friedela]

No. MK will be a big day, and you will want, need that restful sleep.
You say HS is first day. Is it also a travel day as well, so that added stress and tiredness?
You say this is your first trip. How long are you there?
Have a great time, and savor and enjoy what you do, and don't worry or regret what you don't get to.
There is so much to do, and your family is the gold in the experience.

We are flying in on a Saturday and not doing HS until the Monday, we left a couple days to get familiar with our place, get groceries, visit the pool, etc
We are doing a total of 4 days, 2 at MK, 1 at HS and 1 at AK. I know we won't see absolutely everything but for our first trip I think it'll be the perfect amount!
Thanks so much! We are BEYOND EXCITED!!!!!!

 

[friedela]

OK thanks everyone!!!! I am so glad I asked! We will skip the show and make it an early night. You guys are awesome

 

[stace1214]

That's a good choice. We didn't love it. My daughter who isn't normally scared of anything was very scared and really hated it.

 

[Klayfish]

I will be a voice of dissent. Yes, absolutely see it. It's a really good show. Your kids aren't toddlers, and the show isn't at midnight. They can also sleep in the car on the way back. Trust me, we're dedicated offsite people and our kids do that all the time. They fall asleep in the car on the way out of the parks, and when we get to our condo, they wake up just long enough to put on PJs and crawl into bed. No big deal.

I'd suggest thinking about adding another day to your trip. It's your first visit to WDW. Personally, if I flew in Saturday, we'd be in the park Saturday. I can see why you may not want to (depending on when you land), but I don't know you'd want an entire day to see a condo and its' pool. Use that time for WDW...that's what you're flying there for.

 

[MaizeRage25]

In my opinion, NOTHING is worth it with tired, cranky kids.

 

[Magpie]

In my opinion, NOTHING is worth it with tired, cranky kids.

Or a tired, cranky husband, either!

 

[hllb]

We love Fantasmic! so I would definitely take the kids. What time is the show? Our day it's at 7. My kids have always been early to bed kids and we actually took them when they were 6 and 7 (or it might've been 5 and 6). At that age, they went to bed normally by 7:30. We definitely saw Fantasmic! and loved it. The kids were fine. If you had toddlers, I might say differently, but kids that age are pretty darn excited by everything at Disney and at least mine were fine with the go, go, go of Disney even though we kept a pretty tight schedule at home.

 

[friedela]

I will be a voice of dissent. Yes, absolutely see it. It's a really good show. Your kids aren't toddlers, and the show isn't at midnight. They can also sleep in the car on the way back. Trust me, we're dedicated offsite people and our kids do that all the time. They fall asleep in the car on the way out of the parks, and when we get to our condo, they wake up just long enough to put on PJs and crawl into bed. No big deal.

I'd suggest thinking about adding another day to your trip. It's your first visit to WDW. Personally, if I flew in Saturday, we'd be in the park Saturday. I can see why you may not want to (depending on when you land), but I don't know you'd want an entire day to see a condo and its' pool. Use that time for WDW...that's what you're flying there for.

Haha, thanks but we are totally content with our plan! More than 4 days would just not be fun, I have never been to Disney, I know, but I am an introvert who hates busy crowds and so even 4 days is pushing it for me. We are totally ok with the fact that we aren't going to see absolutely EVERYTHING. Plus another day isn't in the budget (we refuse to go into debt for a vacation). Having a down day before we begin our touring is important to us, our kids have never flown before and it's an early day for us. We don't get in until past dinner time on Saturday, I can't imagine rushing to get groceries that day then doing a park day immediately. We are packing lunches and eating breakfast at our condo every day so there is some time needed to get organized and our kids are super pumped about the pool (we live in Canada, so an outdoor pool is like, AMAZING for them, lol) Totally happy with the plan we have as it is.

 

[friedela]

Or a tired, cranky husband, either!

ahaha, TRUE! So true!

 

[seelyt2]

As much as I love Fantasmic!, nothing is worse than tired and cranky kids (and husband, as stated earlier). Why risk a miserable day at MK? Enjoy your trip!

 

[YawningDodo]

As someone who used to work backstage at Fantasmic, who loves the show and insists on seeing it even though I can practically recite it, who used to get teary-eyed at the finale....

I think you made the right choice for you. You can't do everything. While I might be willing to do an early morning after a late night if I knew I'd have a solid break that afternoon or the next day, it sounds like that's not the right approach for your family. I didn't see Fantasmic until the third time I went to WDW, and I still enjoyed the heck out of those early trips.

 

[Carla1183]

I vote skip it. We did fantasmic one night and 10pm fireworks one night, but we were really careful to have low key days the day after and were really glad we did. Kids were definitely tired the day after fantasmic.

(I will say, what we did is we slept in and didnt go to park until our 1p lunch res the day after fantasmic. In hindsight we wished we'd listened to everyone on the boards who said we should have gone at rope drop, left midday for rest, and gone back for evening. Because my kids are early risers and were up at 7am the day after fantasmic anyway. But we just laid around all morning. They couldn't have handled all day in the park after being up late. But thats just my kids!)