Fantasmic

For anyone visiting Disney a trip to Hollywood Studios is a must, always popular with the whole of the family the park really has something for everyone. One of the main attractions at Hollywood Studios is the Mickey’s Fantasmic show.

The show is shown during the main season twice a night (normally around 7pm and 8. 30pm), and once in the winter months and lasts for around 30 minutes. The show is full of Drama, action, fireworks, lasers, water displays where Mickey has to save everyone from the forces of Evil.

A day at Hollywood Studios is normally one of the longest days for the family due to most people arriving when the park opens at 9am and leaving after Fantasmic in the evening. For the young ones this can be a very long day, so some people do turn up later at the park if they can’t spend the whole day there. The park normally gets very busy around mid-day when the majority of guests have arrived.

The posters for the show recommend arriving at the Hollywood Amphitheatre around 1 hour before the start of the show, however in previous experience it is normally anything between 1 – 1. 5 hours to get the best seats. Be aware the later show won’t be allowed to enter until all people from the first show have left. The later show is normally not as busy due to most families with small children looking to go to the earlier showing. When choosing a seat normally something in the middle is best to get the best experience of the fireworks and effects. Generally avoid any seats right at the front as these don’t give you the best views and you can get very wet depending on the direction of the wind! !

Once the show gets started you are given the full Disney experience with great sound tracks to all the Disney films and clips from some of them. The way the show has been put together is to show these clips and interleave them with the live show. Most of the clips are shown on very large screens made out of water (hence why it is best to sit in the middle to get a good view). All the Disney Characters take part in the show and there is really something for everyone. This really is a great production for the children and is well worth the long day and wait.

If you are after large firework displays this show might disappoint a little as it certainly is not as spectacular as EPCOT fireworks display, but what it lacks in fireworks it makes up for in other effects and the general storyline.

To tell you whether Mickey and his friends defeat the dark Evil is not for me to tell, but all I can say is you should make sure you have Fantasmic on your plan when you visit Disney Parks.

A couple of good points to note is when the Fantasmic Show is on the rest of the park is still open. This makes queues to all other rides drop considerably. If you have a park hopper ticket why not go back to Hollywood Studios in the Evening to only go on the rides that are normally very busy during the day (Hollywood Tower of Terror and Rockin Rollercoaster). Or you could just visit the park to do the Fantasmic show on its own?