After experiencing issues with my Disney account this morning, I was able to book two of my three reservations (Cinderella & Crystal Palace) over the phone. That was quick. Getting to an internet support rep to fix my account took over a half hour, though she was able to fix my account in a few seconds. So that’s good so far.
We were hoping to book Minnie’s Seasonal Dine at Hollywood & Vine with the Fantasmic package for next March, after scouring the site this morning, it doesn’t appear that Disney has opened up any Fantasmic packages yet for those dates. We thought this could be a “two-fer” for us…gets the kids a character meal with Mickey and company, and then better seats with less wait for Fantasmic.
I suspect I’m just going to have to wait, but the question is: how long? Should I book a regular Hollywood & Vine reservation as a placeholder for the evening, and hope to convert it to Fantasmic down the line? Or should I do nothing and just wait it out? Since it appears that Disney hasn’t even committed to Minnie’s Seasonal Dine after Christmas, I suspect that there’s a chance that it might not happen at all.
There is no way to ‘convert’ and existing adr to a package one. They are notorious for releasing them later than 180 days as well. Unfortunately all you can do is keep checking back and hope for the best.
I agree with the above as it seems this has come up a lot lately. They don’t release the Fantasmic packages at the 180 day mark. I just went through the same thing about 140 days ago. For me, it was one week after that mark. So, 173 days out. But results may vary.
Aside from when you are able to book it, I will say that I approve of your “two-fer” plan. I have done the same thing the past two trips with my children. Get the characters in at a meal and get a FP for Fantasmic. No-brainer in my opinion. Doing Mama Melrose this year as the boys have gotten just old enough that they don’t have to do the characters and already have all of those autographs anyway.
When we went this Easter F! Packages only opened about 4 months out. If you keep checking for the show times to be put on mde then dinner packages get released soon after.
They don’t release the dinner packages until F! Times are finalised.
I checked earlier today, and it seems there are no Fantasmic packages available yet for March 2017, so I think I can just keep checking each morning. I noticed I could find a handful of times in February, so surely times will open eventually.
I did book a Chef Mickey brunch as a backup character meal, just to be on the safe side.
Ours was about 2 weeks after ADR date. I’ve read conflicting info on whether it’s worth booking a placeholder ADR and I think it is. Hopefully when Fantasmic comes out you’ll be able to book the time you want, but if you can’t book the best available, and then drop you’re old H&V ADR, that time will come back up with the Fantasmic option, which you will then book, and cancel you’re other Fantasmic ADR. That’s what I did.
I think if you would want to eat there anyway, with or without the Fantasmic package, then go ahead and book the placeholder. If you are only eating at that location for the package, then I wouldn’t bother. My understanding is that they already hold back a certain number of reservations to be used for the packages,and they come from a different pool than the regular ADR’s. So, you wouldn’t miss out on the package because they didn’t have any available due to people booking plain ADR’s, and it wouldn’t open up a Fantasmic package when you cancel your regular ADR.