I was curious if anyone has done the Fantasmic Dining Package at DLR. Everything that I’ve read says that those with reservations at Blue Bayou and River Belle must sit during the show. Maybe I’m crazy or just not remembering correctly but wouldn’t sitting put you with a metal gate blocking your view? If anyone has done this, please let me know. I’ve read great things so clearly I’m missing something but any insight would be awesome!
You are sitting. The view of the show in those sections is all visible above any of the low railings. The effects of the show are all very large (or placed far back enough on the island or close to it) so that nothing is ever cut-off. In my opinion, it’s the best seat in the house because of how close it puts you to the show.
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Does anyone have thoughts on the Hungry Bear package? Is the location for viewing Fantasmic decent? Or should we just try and get a Fastpass? I will be there with husband and a 3 year old, so a sit down dinner at BB or RB wasn’t that appealing because she doesn’t eat that much, and we’d rather be out exploring the Park than sitting down for a meal.
One other question I had, is it acceptable to have one member of the party go in to the viewing area and save a spot? I was thinking I would go in a bit over an hour beforehand to try and secure 2 front row spots (daughter can sit on my lap) while my husband and 3 year old wander around, and then have them show up about 15 minutes before the performance. I wasn’t sure if that is frowned upon and viewed as line cutting, or if it would be okay. Thanks!
I have never done the Hungry Bear package so I don’t know from personal experience, but before F! had a FP or dining packages, I have watched F! from the area and it’s a fine view. You’ll be close to the show which is what I feel gives you the best of the view. You’ll be off-center (RB puts you closer to center & BB is right at center) & while I feel that the BB center view is best, there’s isn’t really anything about being-off center that detracts from your view.
I have heard that the Hungry Bear package may ask for you to stand depending on how full the section gets, but I do believe I also heard that most nights people are still allowed to sit. Which leads me to your next question of your saving a spot. We have saved spots in F! FP sections before in both FP and BB sections. As you get to 20-30 min. more & more people do come in & while it’s not really cutting, it really isn’t fun to try & squeeze in last minute & jockey for position. If it isn’t that crowded of a section though, 15 min may be just fine. I would just have them check with you as it gets to be 25-30 min before showtime & see if they need to hurry back or if they can still show up 15 min before. That is the very latest I would push it though.
I did HB when we were there in May. If you get there early enough, you can kind of sneak up as close to the BB side as possible and almost be center (that’s what we did). It was a Friday night, and none of the sections were particularly full, so we sat the whole time and had a fantastic view. I would definitely recommend something soft to sit on if you can, that tile gets hard 
. Pro tip my friend gave me while we were there–stick around for a bit at the end, sometimes people from the BB package will leave their cushions behind on top of the trash cans, and I now have an amazing free souvenir to cushion my hiney the next time I’m there! 
Have a great trip!
Thank you! I’ll see how it goes, but probably have them come back 30 minutes beforehand.
Thanks! I feel better about our Hungry Bear package now… and will bring something soft. Thanks for the tip on the cushions too!
I can vouch for the package - we’ve done Blue Bayou twice and the view was perfect. Sitting after a long day was even better. I have also heard Hungry Bear is a good view… enjoy!
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Great tips so far!
We’ve done the HB package twice and been required to sit both times, although it depends how busy it is. As others said, if you are first in line you can sit next to where BB seats and are nearly center. Last time about 20m before the show they asked people to squeeze in, etc. and this was of course when I was taking my kids to the restroom and it left my DH very uncomfortable being only 1 person claiming area for 4. I think 30 minutes beforehand would work great, and saw a lot of people doing that and it didn’t seem to be an issue.
Also, in case the dining package menu doesn’t seem appealing, you can order anything from the normal HB menu as well (for the dining package price, of course). We didn’t care for the dining package food the first time, so this was a nice option the second time we did it.
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Thanks everyone! We always do the dining package when visiting WDW (Fantasmic is my favorite show) but was unsure of how it worked for DLR. I appreciate all the helpful advice!
Just got back and did the package Saturday night. It was awesome and worth the money, especially considering the person I was traveling with hadn’t seen Fantasmic in more than 10 years. We could also see the fireworks afterward although they were a little disappointing – the music wasn’t piped in loudly enough and people talked through it. We could see the fireworks fairly well, but not any projections – they were only on the castle. When I did the package in April, the Pixar projections were shown on the Fantasmic water screens, but not for this one. Because of that, we went to Main Street the next night for a better view of the fireworks. Just a few more details for your planning!
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Since they added projections as aspect of the FWs (even for Remember, they added projections that are some of my favorite projections to see), I have always seen the same (& usually better quality) projections on the water screens used in F! So sad that they weren’t doing the same for you on Saturday!! 
Weird! I’ve always felt that when they pipe in the music it’s been very loud. They may have had some technical glitches (or someone asleep at the control panels) considering the 2 malfunctions together.
Glad you were still able to see them properly from Main St the next night!!