Thursday, May 10, 2001
by Kevin Yee
Have you ever found yourself camped out and waiting for that stupendous "nighttime extravaganza" known as Fantasmic? Or have you ever watched the show and inwardly cursed the thick crowds which obscure your view? In either case, you've probably wished there was a better way to see the show. And there is, but it costs almost as much as entrance to Disneyland itself (currently $41 per person). With that high price, you get an unrestricted view of the show, center stage and elevated, plus unlimited desserts and non-alcoholic drinks. And a comfortable chair... all with no waiting! I'm talking, of course, about the Fantasmic! Dessert Balcony.
When Fantasmic! (the working title was "Imagination") debuted in 1992, New Orleans Square and Frontierland were very different. Those areas had been characterized by pretty lights and light crowds; very nice for the individual visitor, but not what Disneyland management likes to see. Underused areas of the park are always potential spots for expansion (hence the addition of Splash Mountain to Bear Country). So the concept of a nighttime "Electrical Parade on water" was dreamed up, to keep folks dining and shopping in the area.
Mickey as he appears in Fantasmic!
Fantasmic! was an overnight sensation. It did everything hoped for by the executives, as crowds stayed around in record numbers. In fact, it was too successful. Disneyland very quickly found itself in a crowd-control nightmare, with bottlenecks in Adventureland after the show, as well as all over the New Orleans promenade before, during, and after the show. You may think it's crowded now, but what you don't see is the well-oiled crowd control machine that's honed its skills for the last ten years — without them, there would unbelievable chaos. And chaos is what you had that first summer of Fantasmic!
When the summer ended, plans were quickly drawn up to widen the Adventureland bridge and "do something" about the New Orleans situation. Not only was the flow of the crowd a problem, but so was the viewing area. In 1992 and before, the land consisted of a gentle slope from the Rivers of America up to Royal Street and the Cafˇ Orleans, broken only by a few fenced-off lawn areas (which were routinely violated by Fantasmic-goers anyway). What was needed was a terraced approach, with distinct levels separated by sets of stairs. Just that was accomplished by 1993 (a relief to those of us at Cafˇ Orleans, where guests standing on chairs would now no longer be able to see the show, since the final terrace was too high for them to see over).
During that first summer there was a dirty little secret above the Royal Street Veranda and adjacent to the Disney Gallery: a small balcony that offered literally perfect views of the show. You could not be more dead-center to the show; in fact, the lasers used in the finale are housed just above this balcony. It was so perfect that it was rumored that the show was built such that VIPs watching the show from there would have an unobstructed view.
The entire show area for Fantasmic is spread out below you, with center stage straight ahead.
Wait . . . VIPs? Yes, the first several months of Fantasmic's run, the balcony attached to the Disney Gallery would play host to Disney executives and their guests. No one else had a prayer to get in. Since I loved the show, I'd gaze longingly at those visitors and lust after their box seats.
I didn't have long to wait. As a CM in the area, I was among the first to hear that the balcony would switch to a first-come, first-served basis in late 1993. I missed the first night, but by the second night I was there in the Royal Courtyard, waiting at the bottom of the steps to be allowed up there. It was a wait of several hours, but after all I was a Cast Member and didn't have to "get my money's worth" of rides that day since I didn't pay admission, so I didn't mind in the least. We were packed in there, 30 strong and without chairs, but we didn't mind.
If you've ever seen the show from up there, you'll know why we didn't mind. You have a commanding view of everything, nothing obstructs you, and you cannot truly appreciate the animation on the water screens until you see it from that angle. It really looks spectacular. The only negative to the angle is a by-product of the animation projection; the projector is aimed right at your eyes when it shines at the water screen, so the white dot is always visible and sometimes annoying. But it's a small price to pay, and the laser finale, which is mind-boggling from the balcony, makes you forget any complaint you might have had.
Well, those free nights didn't last long, of course. One of the New Orleans Restaurant supervisors noticed the long lines and decided it would be wise to monetize the project. Now, this was the one supervisor I didn't much care for, as she was new and bossy. However much as I disliked her and her style, I have to admit that monetizing the balcony was a stroke of brilliance. She enlisted Douglas, a fellow Lead, to assist her in deciding how to organize the project. He decided it would only take two Cast Members to run this new location, including setup and breakdown. There would be an upper limit of 15 guests per show, and with three shows in those days that's 45 guests. Paying a then $20 per person, that's $900 for about $160 in labor costs. With food costs low, the profit margin could hardly be any higher.
So Douglas ran through various simulations, worked out the timing, and trained some folks to be his second person (eventually including me). He didn't do the event for long, as he preferred to work day shifts, but I quite liked it. There was always a Lead and another Cast Member working. Here's what a typical day might have looked like back then:
16:00 (Military time of course, as Disneyland is run as a 24 hour operation) — Lead starts work. Picks up Ops Sheets and does the initial prep work. In other words, not much. (Cushy job, huh?)
18:00 — Lead begins to prep the recently-emptied balcony. A folding table is brought out, covered in a tablecloth, and the floral arrangements can be set up. Silverware, plates, and cups are stocked below the table.
Setup for each performance begins hours earlier, with tables, tablecloths, skirting, floral arrangements, and so on, having to be brought in manually.
19:00 — The other CM starts work and assists in the setup of the table. Hard-backed, padded chairs such as are found at most Disney food locations are brought out to the balcony and arranged into two rows near the railings. Plenty of space is left between the seats and the service table.
20:00 — Table is stocked with fresh fruit cuttings, pastries, desserts, and silverware. Pitchers of mint julep, water, and coffee are set nearby.
20:00 — The first guests arrive and are let in by the Disney Gallery personnel, who regulate the tickets and reservations. These guests are greeted warmly. Much chit-chat ensues since there is little to do besides eat and talk at this point.
21:00 — First Fantasmic! performance. One of the CMs takes a break, usually the Lead. When the first show ends at 21:22, guests are encouraged to remain for a few minutes, since the 21:30 fireworks are also readily visible from their current location. Grateful, all guests resume sitting, eating, and drinking.
21:45 — Guests are now warmly shown the door, as the next set of guests are waiting to be let in. Their show starts at 22:30, and they want to be pampered just as much.
And so it goes through the night. Nowadays there are only two showings of Fantasmic!, not three, and the non-Lead CM works longer hours than back then. There are other differences also: the reservations went from being handled by the Gallery, to City Hall Guest Relations, to the Blue Bayou reservations kiosk, and then to the Disneyland Guest Relations window. The location also transferred "ownership" from the Cafˇ Orleans to the Blue Bayou, so it's now a Bayou satellite (which, in a way, makes more sense anyway).
Belle and the Beast as they appear in Fantasmic!
Since I'm talking reservations, and since many of you will doubtless ask if I otherwise forget, here's what to do if you want reservations to the Balcony: go to the Disneyland Resort Guest Relations Window in the Esplanade between Disneyland and California Adventure (on the Downtown Disney side). Yep, they changed the routine yet again, the Blue Bayou doesn't do it anymore. They only take same-day reservations, and you bet they sell out. Early. Very early. Three hours before park opening there is usually a line for this.
In the early days, one great advantage of working these shifts was the costume. The Disney Gallery CMs had a purple paisley vest, the Blue Bayou had drab gray vests, but the Balcony CMs got to wear the tuxedoes otherwise used only on Enchanted Evenings. (These days both the Gallery and the Bayou have more tuxedo-like uniforms).
Here's a hand-drawn sketch done hastily by a visiting Imagineer, rather taken with his hostess for the night (shown here cleaning up after a performance).
It wasn't that easy to worm your way into training on the Balcony, since this was a location extremely heavy in Guest interaction — your customer service skills had to be top-notch. But the prestige was great, and for me, the ability to watch the show with the Guests up on the Balcony was another fabulous by-product. I never tired of that view, and now I miss it greatly. Enough to pay the $41 to see it as a paying Guest? Not yet, but we'll see. The decade is young.
As a footnote, I should mention that Disneyland is now toying with the idea of offering exclusive dessert buffets out by the Tom Sawyer Island Raft Dock, with room for one hundred guests, not just 17. Nobody knows their planned pricing scheme yet, but it's sure to be $20 or more. As uncertain as I am whether I would pay the full price to see the show from the balcony, I'm quite certain I wouldn't shell out any money for drinks and dessert from a non-centered, non-elevated place to view the show. Don't they realize the primary draw of the Dessert Balcony is its centeredness and its elevation? I think they may have to learn this lesson the hard way. Stay tooned!
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Are you a CM or a former CM? I would love to hear and share your stories! E-mail me! Stories and comments you submit become property of and may be published on this site; we normally don't publish last names of current CMs, but if you wish to remain anonymous altogether or do not want me to share your stories, please let me know when you e-mail me. — Shoshana NOTE: The views and opinions expressed in reader-contributed stories do not reflect those of Cast Place or MousePlanet. CM – Cast member; company lingo for “employee.” Empowerment Evolution – The 1995 attempt by newer park management to introduce modern accountability and market forces into the stodgy Disneyland methodology and power hierarchies. The name was meant to “empower” rank and file employees by removing layers of their management, though now there are more managers than ever. TPO – Theme Park Operations; the division of the Disneyland hierarchy that actually works in the theme park itself. TDA – Team Disney Anaheim; the name of the on-site administration building. Area manager – used to be responsible for an entire land, with all business divisions in the area reporting to him. Area supervisor – the immediate boss for location supervisors who divide up a department of intelligently grouped locations. The area supervisors in turn reported to the area manager. Nowadays all supervisors and area supervisors have been replaced by managers and assistant managers — the same idea, but smaller “business units" than a department; usually just one location in fact. RFT – “A” status; a full-time hourly employee. RPT – “B” status; an hourly employee five days a week but just not quite 40 hours usually. CR – “C” status; an hourly employee who works weekends year-round and five days a week during all school holiday periods (including summer and Christmas break). CT – a part-time hourly employee who works five days a week during all school holiday periods (including summer and Christmas break). No seniority, so shifts worked are usually quite short. Locate the employment center to fill out an application, and they will call you for an interview (dress nicely, just shy of an actual suit). Once there, follow these rules, in this order of importance: 1. Smile and be very friendly. They want outgoing people.
2. Do not let the group interview throw you off balance. They want outgoing people who can “perform” a little bit.
3. Do not worry about job (in)experience. They don't care. They want friendly people, not experienced and/or hardened people.
4. Do your best to convince them you already have a Disney attitude: you want to work with people, you're a team player, and you would consider this a dream job (however, don't overdo it on the crazy-Disney-fan side either). Strike a nice balance.
5. Did I mention the importance of a smile? 
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