One of the best ways to ensure that you and your traveling party have a great view of Fantasmic! at Disneyland is to book a Fantasmic! Dining Package. With the purchase of a dining package, you can enjoy a 3-course meal at either Cafe Orleans, River Belle Terrace, or Rancho del Zocalo Restaurante then experience Fantasmic! that same evening from your table or a reserved viewing location.

Our party decided to book the Fantasmic! Dining Package with dinner at Rancho del Zocalo Restaurante for $35 (plus tax and gratuity) per person (ages 10+). For reference purposes, the price for children (ages 3-9) is currently $25 (plus tax and gratuity) per person.

With our dining reservation at 7:30 pm, we were set for that night’s second showing of Fantasmic!, which was at 10:30 pm. We were invited inside to place our food orders about 15-20 minutes after we arrived at the restaurant.

The line didn’t seem very long, but we waited around 20 minutes before approaching the counter to place our orders, giving us plenty of time to review the menu. I will say that with only three entree choices, it didn’t take long to decide what we wanted. This restaurant has a fairly large menu with plenty of options, so it was surprising to see the lack of choices available for the Fantasmic! Dining Package. It would’ve been great to have a chicken option on the adult’s menu like they do for the kids.

I would typically choose the shrimp dish on this menu, but I did not because it said it was spicy. One thing I’ve learned at Disneyland is that if the menu says it’s spicy, it will be too spicy for me. Potato Tacos sounded a bit odd, so I went with the Sweet and Savory Carne Asada, which is served with Radish Slaw, Rice, Corn Esquite, Refried Beans, Cortadillo, and a fountain beverage choice.

Looking at my plate, it appeared as though something was missing due to the large empty space there, but it was all there, and there was plenty of it. I thought the portion size of this dish was fabulous. It had two large pieces of the boneless marinated short rib and big scoops of the three side dishes. I was most excited for the Corn Esquite, hoping it only had chili powder and no jalapeño.

Unfortunately, my first bite lit my mouth on fire, so I could only eat a few forkfuls of that corn, which would’ve been amazing without that heat. Everyone else in our group loved it, though. The beans and rice were your typical standard Mexican fare and were quite good.

This meal came with Cortadillo for dessert, which technically translates to Mexican Pink Bread. Most Cortadillo has pink icing on top, but this version was a bit different. This one is described as a jam-filled Pan Dulce with vanilla frosting and rainbow sprinkles. It tasted like a very plain cake with the thinnest layer of icing, so I only had one bite of it.

We were sure to save our dessert space (and calories, ahem) for a Mickey-shaped Churro Cream Puff filled with cinnamon pastry cream and topped with craquelin and cinnamon sugar. This is not included in the dining package but is well worth the splurge for $8.29. I regret not going back later for another one like Chloé did. Be on the lookout for her full review soon!

Once we were finished with dinner, we headed slowly over to the Fantasmic! Dining Package viewing area along the river in front of New Orleans Square. There are three separate areas, one for each dining package participating restaurant. There really isn’t a bad view from anywhere along the river, but we were happy to have reserved our spots ahead of time so they’d be guaranteed.

Something I didn’t realize going in was that these viewing spaces are for sitting on the ground only. I asked a cast member how it would be handled, say, if my parents were with us and couldn’t sit on the ground, and was told that they have accommodations available for guests with disabilities.

I love how some families knew to bring large blankets with them to sit on! It was so cold the night we went, and I can’t imagine sitting on the freezing cold ground on a night like that. Disneyland used to give each guest a cute pad to sit on, but unfortunately, those are no longer offered.

I highly recommend splurging on a dining package if you’ve never seen Disneyland’s Fantasmic! or if it’s been a while since you have. The show is absolutely fabulous, and you really want to be sure to have a good view of it as there is so much to see.

One of my very favorite parts of the performance is seeing the Pirate ship with Peter Pan, Captain Hook, Mr. Smee, and others. That scene is so busy with all the activity going on, and they don’t have it at all in Walt Disney World.

All in all, I highly recommend booking the dining package for this show, at least for the first time you see it. It’s such a spectacular experience, and you need to eat lunch or dinner anyway, so you may as well spend a few extra vacation dollars to get the best view. However you do it, be sure not to miss Fantasmic! next time you visit the Disneyland Resort!