Can you please tell me your Preferred WOC dining & show experience?

[summer0407]

We are heading to the parks the first week of August. I was going to do the picnic deal for WOC but from all I have read you get placed with the people who have regular fast passes and the areas are very crowded and the view can be pretty crappy. We decided to book Ariel's Grotto the food looked pretty decent and I did not think the prices were to bad. Our reservation is for 5:10 for the fist showing of WOC. Is this a good time? When do you recommend we line up? Is it true that the preferred area is less crowded then the other areas? I have a 6 and 2 year old so the idea of being shoulder to shoulder is not appealing. Just wanted any advice from people who have done this already. I am looking for both good and bad experiences I don't love the idea of lining up hours before so that is another reason I got the dining package I am hoping I won't have to line up more then an hour or so before the show is that right? Thanks again everyone! If anyone knows what they offer food wise at AG that would be great as well!

 

[3Minnies1Mickey]

There is a menu listed somewhere on the boards. Just search "WOC meal". As far as when to line up: your FP will say 7:30-8:30 (and not sooner), but they start letting people in the area by 7 pm.

 

[Mary09]

I have a 6pm WCTT res for next Fri. Is it even feasible to make it out of there in time for a good seat for that show? It sounds like not.

 

[I'm_Wishing]

We had the preferred dining but ate at WCT. The food was not as bad as I was expecting based on some of the reviews from here. Not great mind you but good for park faire. We wanted great spots because of some smaller stature people in our party, so we went to line up around 6:15. And yes there were already people waiting before us. Not really knowing what to expect we asked numerous CM's and other guest as to where we should be. What we had not discovered from researching here is that they block of the whole area in front of the WOC viewing area and chase everyone out. The place to line up is where they are going to place the barricades at on either end of the main walkway. All the CM's kept telling us was that we did not need to line up that early because we had a spot already reserved, that is what the FP's were for. Well knowing from here that if you did not get an unobstructed view, smaller guest would not be able to see much. So we ignored their advice and finally found where the barricades were going to go up at. We were not the first into the preferred area but we managed to get a rail side view. With all of that being said, no the preferred area was not crowded at all. Before the show we all were sitting on the ground with some people laying down. Even after the show started lots of room behind us to where the stairs are. Will probably never line up that early again but glad we did for this first viewing. We had a great view from our room at the VGC but it did not do WOC justice. It has to be seen from the intended viewing angle for full effect.

 

[3BoysRDisneyFreaks]

We ate at AG back in June. I got an early seating to make sure we were going to be able to hit the line early enough for our standing spots. Our ressie was for 5 and we were sat at about 5:10. We were out of there a little after 6:30. Meal was great. We had good service until it was time for our bill to come and then be paid. It seemed like it took forever.
We got into the mob 'line' to get into the areas pretty much right away after dinner and we were let in around 7.
We sat on the steps of the round area on the map. We had a great spot. For our show it was not shoulder to shoulder, but don't wait to get into the area. Plan on sitting there for 2 hours before the show starts. The later you come, the more behind people you will be.

Sarah

 

[mdsd8700]

Well this is my second attempt to post, I hit some key on the computer, it went nuts and I lost my entire post, so I will try again. I hope it doesn't show up somewhere else.....

I just want to make sure I understand what everyone has been posting here. We have dining reservations next month at 4:50, so I know we are okay with the time frame for the show. However it seems that everyone has been lining up about 6ish and being let in at 7 pm. So even with the dining package the wait time is 2.5-3 hours. I have teenage children so it is not like they have to be entertained or kept busy during that time. However their constant complaining (about sitting/waiting) maybe worse than dealing with a toddler (LOL). The reason I got the dining package was to avoid the extreme wait times (as well as secure a good spot). I had thought we could get there about 60-90 minutes before the show. What happens if we arrive about 7:45-8 pm? Is is just that we would be in the back of the preferred spot? We are all at least
5'4", so would that be that bad? Or is it possible that we wouldn't even be let in even though we have the dining "ticket"? Any information that can be provided it greatly appreciated!

 

[rtravels]

All of this "waiting for two hours" or whatever these people have waited sounds borderline insane to me. I am going in August and have reserved the dining package, and I plan to get in that section at the last possible moment I'm allowed to enter.

I should say it's just me and another adult and we are six feet and six foot three so few people will actually "block" our view.

Even if I were short or had kids, there is no way I would wait in line as long as these people have. It just isn't worth it to me.
I really don't understand the mentality.

 

[Mary09]

I have a 6pm WCTT res for next Fri. Is it even feasible to make it out of there in time for a good seat for that show? It sounds like not.

Just quoting myself to restate my situation. I don't mind paying $150 for dinner OR waiting hours to see a show, but not both. I still don't know if I'll keep that res. I've got picnics for the night before, and just bought 6 rain ponchos at the dollar store (for $3!), so it's entirely likely we'll just try to do the 11:15 wet zone instead on Fri. Can one adult pick up the whole parties' FPs for them, after the announcement of the third show? What time do they announce it, and what time do the FP for it become available? Thanks!

 

[Eeee-va]

If you get to the waiting area at 7, you're really "only" waiting in the area 90 minutes, because the pre-show starts around 8:30 PM. For what it's worth, opening night we got there a little before 7:30 and were let right in. If we would've gotten there around 7:45 we would have had about the same (excellent) spot, but much later may have caused some problems. Opening night, I don't think they let people in as early as 7 PM, though.

Two of our party were on our third trip to Disneyland in the last 12-month period, so we'd already seen everything we wanted/needed to see in the parks--particularly in DCA. We may have been able to walk over and do one last ride on TSMM before it closed for the night and then get back for the show, but then you're waiting 45 minutes for a 3-minute ride and then getting a worse viewing spot and a 45-60 minute wait for a show. Wasn't what we wanted to do, and there's nothing else in DCA that I didn't feel we managed to do as many or more times than I could've possibly wanted to.

For the other person in our party, shows were a big priority. We didn't take any mid-afternoon breaks (our choice), so just sitting was a nice break for us.

We wouldn't wait for 4 hours for a great spot for Fantasmic!, but 90 minutes for a brand new show seemed quite reasonable. Really, it was more like 60 minutes because the pre-show started just over an hour after we arrived.

The preferred dining area is so large, there shouldn't be any concern of not being let in; however, you may not just get the best view.

(rtravels, with your height, I'm glad you show up late! Unless you make your way in front of me.... )

 

[mdsd8700]

Thanks so much , your reply was very helpful and informative!

We wouldn't wait for 4 hours for a great spot for Fantasmic!, but 90 minutes for a brand new show seemed quite reasonable. Really, it was more like 60 minutes because the pre-show started just over an hour after we arrived.

I completely agree with your statment above, with the pre-show 60 minutes is doable even for the teenagers. We will make a plan to work around that time frame. Thanks again.

 

[Mary09]

Thanks, Eeee-va. Good points. I might be ready to sit for 90 minutes by then, but probably not right after sitting in WCT for 90 minutes!

Do they let you put down a small blanket so you can sit on the ground while you wait? Or is too crowded for that? I think people do that for F!, right?

 

[summer0407]

Thanks for all the great replies I really appreciate it. I think we will plan to get in line about 7:00.

 

[Jenna319]

I was planning on booking AG for WOC package but now I'm having second thoughts. The menu and reviews on AG have not impressed me, basically just booking it to have preferred viewing of WOC. Picnics dont appeal to me either. But if you still have to get in line an hour in advance for WOC with booking the dinner package, then it doesn't seem worth it to me. We are staying at GCH, thinking maybe I should just head to the early entrance fast pass right away..... or just book AG to have it booked just in case? Either way, will I have to get in line an hour in advance to have a decent viewing area?

 

[BigDogMom7]

Like some other posters, I am also having second thoughts about whether to buy even the picnics, let alone AG. My DH will NOT wait an hour or two for a show, and we are staying in the GCV, so I'm hoping we can use the GC entrance right by GRR and get fastpasses in the morning. Even then, I may be the only one using the fastpass! We are going to be there in 8 days banana, and as of yesterday the picnics were sold out through June 10. If I wait until we are there, the picnics probably won't be available. It's hard to know what to do!

 

[Jenna319]

I agree with BigDogMom7. My DH will also not wait in line an hour for a show. Has anyone booked the dining package and gone in late to the viewing area and had a good view of show?

 

[Lissame]

We did the picnics, and waited 2 hours for a so-so view. We sat down through our 2 hour wait, so it wasn't horrible, but I wish we would have thought to bring DS's for our kids to play. As it was I let them play on my iPhone, but they ran down the battery pretty quickly.

I think you can come a bit later for the preferred dining section, it didn't seem to be as crowded, and if you want to be in the wet zone you can get a good view even up to the time of the show.

If I were to do it all over again I'm not sure I would. I talked to a guy in the line for Fantasmic seating and he did the WCT preferred dining--$170 and 2.5 hours later and he had to hold his 100 pound son in order for his son to see.

We did this a week ago.

 

[Eeee-va]

Do they let you put down a small blanket so you can sit on the ground while you wait? Or is too crowded for that? I think people do that for F!, right?

With preferred dining, at our spot there was PLENTY of room to put down a blanket, and we sat down much of the time before the show. (I was so excited I oscillated between sitting and standing...)

The people nearby who were in the general viewing area sat down until about 8:15, when they were told to get up. Again, this was opening night, so that might have changed. We got up then too--again, I was very excited!--but I'm not sure if we HAD to. The pre-show started about 8:30.

If I were staying in a Disney hotel and didn't care for the picnic meals and my party could stay up for the 10:30 show if need be, I think I would try to get FPs for the first show at 9 AM, and if that doesn't work, then queue up for a picnic meal for the second showing. Depending on your party size and budget, preferred dining may or may not be a great idea, but if I wouldn't recommend anyone try it if their gut is against it. There's a good chance that you'll have a good experience with the WoC meals...but there's also a good chance your experience will be disappointing.