I get your point. And there will be a second show as they get nearer to Christmas, and likely Thanksgiving too.
As for staffing…. yes, Disney should have addressed this a long time ago. But if they need more housekeepers, food & beverage and character performers here and now, then what can they do?
They can hold recruitment days and try offering sign-on bonuses. That hasn’t worked so far.
If they increase starting rates of pay, that has to then apply to everyone already in those roles because the unions are involved.
So it’s back to the College Programme.
And casual staff, most of whom were axed over 2 years ago and have found better work elsewhere. I think I’ve said before, Disney expected far more to jump at the chance to return than actually did.
The debate could run and run. But in the meantime they are having to balance the demands from all sides with far fewer CMs in the roles.
I don’t know maybe I should post this in the unpopular opinion thread but maybe the reason there is only one show per night after the first few days is that is a traditional slow time for the park and maybe there are not a lot of current Hollywood Studios park reservations for that period to justify a second show
So it isn’t just character CM’s that make Fantasmic possible so while there may be an abundance of Aladdin’s to wave from a boat it will take a very large cast to get guests in and out of the theater safely.
There were a lot of regular ADR reservations available for brown derby when I booked- I don’t know how many dining package reservations they held in reserve… I didn’t try for SciFi or any of the others. Demand was already high for the Minnie character dine… And I’m not ready to go to Mama Melrose…
I wonder if they’re gonna do a ILL type of offering for this? Or lean into “dessert package” or something like that?
Following. I’m wondering if I will have to fork out more money to eat at Brown Derby for the the dining package. It’s $70+/person for the dining package. DH and I, without the dining package, would probably only spend about $70 for lunch. We looked at the menu already!
There is a FOMO here because Fantasmic may be an LL but we may need to reserve it early in the day. As such, it may tie up an LL needed elsewhere for 2 hours! Maybe they will do a virtual queue for it like DLR has for World of Color. That would be so much better!
So do we think the dining packages will be available at 6am on the 26th? I really don’t want to spend hours waiting in line to see it again. I’d rather be fed and roll in closer to start time
This is the important question!!! I’ll have to stay up until 12A my time if they drop at 6A, but if they sort of trickle out reservations like they did last year when the Candlelight Processional dining packages were released, very slowly, then who knows…
I asked this in chat and got some less than kind/helpful replies, but would anyone think it would be worth it to swap my Fantasmic night from Sat Nov 12 to Sun Nov 13? 8pm showings both nights. My other day would be MK which has the same hours Sat/Sun this particular weekend to film the freaking parade. Grr that is annoying me too. My only thought would be fewer locals on Sunday night and some long weekend people having to go home.
First, let me ask how you have it planned now. Then, let me say this: leave it alone!
But for good measure:
I think both days will be jammed (for Fantasmic), honestly. And MK Sunday will be better overall because it generally has lower crowds than on Saturdays
Here are the days. I was going to leave them but then it did seem rather arbitrary which days I did which. I do realize I’m doing Epcot/F&W on the weekends but those crowds have never really bothered me too much and I suppose Sunday night will be a touch less crowded there than Saturday night so I suppose I will keep it.
I honestly don’t care about the crowds at Fantasmic or even where we sit. I just hate to waste an hour of our park time plus my kids will just go bonkers waiting in that stadium for an hour! Ugh.
The question for me looking at these two days becomes: after which afternoon will the kids tolerate any kind of a wait and later hours for the show. Will they do better after a busy afternoon at HS, carrying on and maybe being worn out enough that sitting won’t bother them? Or will they do better after some time hanging out at the resort?
Or, in the reverse: will they be so tired after a busy afternoon at HS that the evening could blow up waiting and later hours; or will they have pent up energy after a relaxing afternoon at the resort that will come out as impatience waiting for the show
I have honestly yet to encounter this phenomenon! I am mostly hopeful that “the first day” will carry us through. I mean at the end of the day they’ll have to wait either way! Maybe I’ll be “that mom” and just bring the ipads…
I think you should leave as is for the simple reason that there is no compelling reason to change it, and time is short. Don’t stress about it. Hopefully they will have some sort of VQ and you won’t have to wait an hour.
so while there may be an abundance of Aladdin’s to wave from a boat it will take a very large cast to get guests in and out of the theater safely.
how nice