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Fantasmic or Illuminations

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Wed, 08/08/2012 - 18:39
JinxRemoving's picture
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Fantasmic or Illuminations

Hey everyone! I have a planning question for y'all.

We will be in WDW for 7 days 6 nights the last week in August (arriving the 25th around noon). I'm trying to fit in a trip to Cirque and the way my days are set up that means choosing between seeing either Illuminations or Fantasmic but not both.

25th - We want to go to bed early (early for us is before midnight) so we can be up for rope drop the next day. I had penciled in possibly trying to see Illuminations from outside the park since we won't have park tickets that day.
26th - Wishes
27th - This would be our Illuminations night if we pick it
28th - Hoop De Doo Revue
29th - Narcoossee's reservation to see Wishes
30th - This would be our Fantasmic night if we pick it

This is our first time to WDW, his first to any Disney park. I'm 25 and he's 27. We don't have park hoppers. He doesn't drink, I do. We're on the Dining Plan. Staying at POFQ. (trying to throw out any info that would help with recommendations biggrin ) Cirque is a must do for us.

Curious on any insight or suggestions. If we could see Illuminations from outside the park the first night maybe we could just skip seeing it in the park, but I'm not sure if that is possible or where we'd go to see it.

I haven't really seen a whole lot about Fantasmic on the message boards, maybe I"m not looking hard enough? sarcastic

Anyway, what would you do?! Thanks in advance.

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Wed, 08/08/2012 - 19:01
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Well, my choice would be Illuminations over fantasmic, and I do not think you could see illuminations to it's full potential from outside the park. There are some aerial fireworks pieces for illum. BUT most of it is ground pieces that you have to be standing around the lake to get it's full effect. I am sure others will like Fantasmic over Illum., so it is just a personal preference.

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Wed, 08/08/2012 - 19:07
scrappy
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I think Illuminations would be very very hard to see from outside the park. A lot of the show is at ground level. As far as picking just one I myself would go with Fantasmic. It is a pain waiting to get in and then it does take a while to get out once it is over but it is so unique.
Also there is seating for Fantasmic where as you either have to sit on the ground or stand for Illuminations.

Wed, 08/08/2012 - 19:11
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You've got Wishes on your itinerary twice. If it were me, I would drop one of the Wishes viewings and see both Illuminations and Fantasmic.

Wed, 08/08/2012 - 20:20
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crazycatperson wrote:
You've got Wishes on your itinerary twice. If it were me, I would drop one of the Wishes viewings and see both Illuminations and Fantasmic.

Both of the days we are seeing Wishes are MK days and we don't have hoppers so we don't really have the option to see Illuminations for Fantasmic on either day.

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Wed, 08/08/2012 - 20:20
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Does anyone know approx. how long either show is?

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Wed, 08/08/2012 - 20:24
scrappy
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Just guessing, but I think Fantasmic is probably twice as long as Illuminations. To me Illuminations only feels like maybe 10 minutes or so. Fantasmic seems like at least 20.

Wed, 08/08/2012 - 20:29
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That's a tough choice. Both shows should be seen at least once, and neither can be seen very well from outside the parks (if anything, Illuminations can be seen the best from the Beach Club but still not the entire show). If I had to pick one over the other though I would choose Fantasmic.

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Wed, 08/08/2012 - 21:45
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Here a link to an article I wrote in March about Fantasmic!
http://www.wdwforgrownups.com/articles/fantasmic-disney-hollywood-studios-nighttime-spectacular

You can see a teeny tiny bit of illuminations from near beach club, but not really enough to make it worth while.

I'll cast my vote for Fantasmic! It's one of my very favorite shows and if you were seeing the one in Disneyland I would tell you not to miss it for any reason what-so-ever. At WDW however, it doesn't blow me away quite as much. Hrmmm... maybe I do think you should go with Illuminations.

Fantasmic is done in a stadium like setting in Hollywood Studios and my personal opinion is that it loses something in that venue. Part of the Magic of Disney's night time shows is about being in the thick of the park and the fireworks happening around you everyone stopping to go "OOOOoooo AAaahhhh". You don't really get that at the DHS Fantasmic.

Okay... Illuminations gets my vote because of the *much* better atmosphere that it takes place in. mickey

Wed, 08/08/2012 - 21:47
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Fantasmic hands down. Illuminations is great, but it's not a must do for me. I LOVE Fantasmic.

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Wed, 08/08/2012 - 21:50
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I would chose Fantasmic over Illuminations every day of the week, but I am HUGE Mickey fan.

You can youtube them. Get a glimpse of both of them and decide off of that. Both will be better in person of course, but you will get the general idea of what they are like.

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Wed, 08/08/2012 - 22:04
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Allie wrote:
Fantasmic hands down. Illuminations is great, but it's not a must do for me. I LOVE Fantasmic.

My thoughts exactly. I don't like Illuminations that much at all.

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Wed, 08/08/2012 - 22:17
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I like both of them but if i had to choose, i'd go with Fantasmic. My favorite part of Disney is the characters and since they are featured in Fantasmic it gets my vote. mickey

Wed, 08/08/2012 - 22:37
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My preference is Illuminations over Fantasmic. Fantasmic is indoor seating, and I prefer to be outside for this kind of show, even if it means having my tush on the grass.

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Wed, 08/08/2012 - 22:56
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The Cookie Crumbler wrote:
My preference is Illuminations over Fantasmic. Fantasmic is indoor seating, and I prefer to be outside for this kind of show, even if it means having my tush on the grass.

When did they put a cover over fantasmic? Or did you accidentaly mistake it for something else, th last I knew they were both outdoors.

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Wed, 08/08/2012 - 23:07
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Vettelover wrote:
The Cookie Crumbler wrote:
My preference is Illuminations over Fantasmic. Fantasmic is indoor seating, and I prefer to be outside for this kind of show, even if it means having my tush on the grass.

When did they put a cover over fantasmic? Or did you accidentaly mistake it for something else, th last I knew they were both outdoors.

Gah!

You're right, it's not indoors. The way it's structured with the seating style made me feel like it was. It wasn't as, open I guess is the proper term? That was also a good 10 years ago, so I bet my memory is off.

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Thu, 08/09/2012 - 02:23
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I vote for Fantasmic. Its such a neat show. I've seen Illuminations a few times and its good, but it doesn't bother me if I miss it.

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Thu, 08/09/2012 - 02:24
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I've never seen fantasmic but am not a fan of illuminations at all so i will go with fantasmic

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Fri, 08/10/2012 - 14:44
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Thanks for all the replies everyone, it helped me decide that I need to see Fantasmic! I was able to change my reservation for HDDR to the 27th (missing Illuminations) and get Cirque tickets for the 28th. Thanks again!

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Fri, 08/10/2012 - 14:51
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Good choice! Have fun at Cirque, too!

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Fri, 08/10/2012 - 14:53
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So glad that we were able to help you choose!

Fri, 08/10/2012 - 15:08
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Woohoo! And Cirque sounds amazing. Enjoy your vacation! yay

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Fri, 08/10/2012 - 15:16
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Hi JinxRemoving, I'm a little late for this, but welcome to WDW For Grownups!

Fri, 08/10/2012 - 19:08
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Never go to Fantasmic on a cold December night with the wind blowing in towards the crowd. There's nothing like being cold to begin with and then get spayed with a wet mist.

 
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