Fantasmic vs Rivers of Light (Plus a note on World of Color)

[xipetotec]

So I've seen Fantasmic more times than I can count. The first ( or maybe second ) time I ever saw it, we got the Fantasmic Dinner package, but then realized really that we can just go about an hour in advance and typically get a seat. (Maybe not always premium, but a seat).

Last year, we went to Disneyland, figured we'd be able to do the same thing for World of Color at DCA... much to our surprise, (and of course, my lack of research), if you didn't have a fastpass, you weren't getting in. ( maybe this varies if it's not crowded, but that's how it was then ).

SO ... this will be our first time ( in January ) seeing Rivers of Light... Will we be okay showing up an hour ahead of time to get a seat?

 

[Robo]

Rivers of Light... Will we be okay showing up an hour ahead of time to get a seat?

Yes.

(RoL is far less (in the presentation level and popularity) compared to World of Color.)

 

[xipetotec]

Thanks!

 

[Lesley Wake]

Yeah, especially with respect to evening shows, Disneyland is a different animal than Disneyworld. Both shows (Fantasmic and WoC) have limited viewing areas due to the limited space at DLR in general and that they do not have dedicated amphitheaters, instead utilizing roped off areas in the parks. If you do not get a fastpass for those or have a dining package, you are really going to be out of luck for standby viewing. And the CMs will typically not allow standby people into the fastpass area even right before the show (there are some exceptions, but it's more likely they'll continue to save space). The standby areas are also not like WDW standby, where its a similar experience, just different area of the theater-the DLR standby areas are far in the back with obscured lines of sight.

When we saw RoL last week we did notice some people lining up for the fastpass area 2 hrs beforehand, which just seemed excessive to me.

We ended up getting a Tusker House dining package, which I can't recommend enough. It was probably my favorite dinner of the trip and we showed up to the seating area pretty late (got held up in Pandora) and still had a great view.