HydroGuy's World of Color Review

[HydroGuy]

I really benefitted from others WOC reports in recent weeks - especially SS Columbia, Disneyland 1951, DLR29 and LurkyLoo - and some of you going soon have said you are looking forward to mine. So here it is. No spoilers!

For those of you looking for viewing information look no farther than here: WOC Viewing Chart.

We are having a great time and I do not have the time I need at the moment to do a thorough job. So I will stick to some essentials. I will talk first about heart and then a bit about some hard facts like viewing locations...

I am not good at taking night time photos but do not have anything all that new to add to some other better photos. So this is photo light at the moment. I may add some in next week when I have time.

The Heart...

Last night Wednesday July 28 we saw the 9PM World of Color show. I worked hard to get us to a good viewing location and everyone in my family was very appreciative afterwards.

Like most of you I have seen mostly positive reviews mixed with some not so positive. I was with DW, DS18, DS17, DS15 and DS14. Plus DS18's GF18. My four sons are hard to impress, media savvy modern teenagers. We all thought World of Color was spectacular! We like Fantasmic (saw it again Tuesday night from reserved dessert area) but World of Color is a whole new world. The only other Disney show I have seen comparable was Remember Dreams Come True. Both gave me goosebumps on first viewing and grabbed my heart and would not let go. Fantasmic is really good but has never once given me goosebumps. World of Color gave me goosebumps. Over and over.

We all stood there for 25 minutes with our jaws dropped to the ground. DS18's GF18 proclaimed afterwards WOC was the most incredible thing she had ever seen in her life.

Yes, the reports you have heard of WOC being light on story are true. It is more like RDCT - no real story - just more focused on celebration. RDCT celebrates Disneyland's history while World of Color celebrates Disney color and colorful characters and colorful music and colorful imagineering. WOW!

We are planning to catch WOC a second time tomorrow night using FPs.

DS18's GF18 had the idea last week to make tie-dye tee-shirts for our trip, and I suggested we wear them on our World of Color day. So we each made our own shirt and debuted them at DCA. We were stylin' all day at DCA and a lady on Soarin Over California said we had the best shirts she saw all day. So, at the risk of being too personal, I have a photo from our WOC viewing spot of the whole crew below in our personally made new shirts...

The HydroFamily at the World of Color Preferred Dining Section - July 2010

The Facts...

We did Ariel's Grotto at 5:30PM. The food was great! We had tri-tip, fish, lobster and pasta. Everyone loved the food.

We arrived at the preferred viewing area line at 6:55PM and were second in line. See this post for pics of where the preferred line started on our night. We only had one WOC CM tell us the wrong place to go. Most of them seem to know the drill now and gave accurate WOC information. They told us they would take us to the viewing area at 7:45PM but someone came at 7:25 and took us. We went straight down to the front rail and staked out our spot. It is location #1 in DL 1951's excellent map here http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=37402384&postcount=37, right down in the green area closest to the water - close to the black centerline and a little to the right. There were a few people down below us but we hardly noticed them. Our view was 99%+ unobstructed.

Our zone was called a "wet zone" but we hardly got wet at all - a little misted is all.

There were several people who showed up an hour later with younger kids who tried to push them in front of us in kind of a rude way but we said "no, we have been waiting for over an hour". So be prepared to stand your ground unless you are OK with kids you do not know getting in front of you and possibly disrupting your show. If it was my second or later time seeing WOC I would not mind as much - but I wanted the first show to be a good, clear view without interference from people I do not know.

On Friday we plan to skip all the long waiting in line and get FPs for the 9PM show in DL1951's earlier link - spot #3 or 4 near the VIP section. We will arrive at 8:30 or so. That will give us a view from the back.

On our Segway tour Tuesday morning our guide Tyler - who has seen WOC 15 times - said his favorite view was from the bridge in the blue area. FWIW.

OK, time for a quick nap and then back to Dl tonight.

 

[gatorfreud]

Thanks for the awesome report!! I am so excited now!!

If you get a chance to post your Friday experience before Sunday evening that would be awesome! I am likely getting a Blue FP in Sunday, and want to go for the spot close to the VIP- I think the one you are describing. Just wondering what time I need to show up...

Also then you can see if front view or back is better!

Thanks and enjoy the rest of your trip. Cute shirts by the way!

Kim

 

[Funball]

Omg.. it’s the tie-die family!!

Just kidding hydro!!

It’s a cute photo!!! I am soo jelous!! My family won’t be looking that great when we go!

 

[tdashgirl]

Awwww, you guys look great! Loved the review too.

 

[brenda1966]

Great shirts! Thanks for the review. I'll be interested to hear where you think the best vantage point it. I'm convinced you have to be in a location where you can see the water (at ground level), so maybe that is the advantage of the bridge.

 

[blackjackdelta]

Great family picture and as always thanks for the report.

Jack

 

[KCmike]

Great review HydroGuy! We concur and absolutely were shocked at how much we enjoyed it. I will definitely say see it again! The first time the pre-show light fixtures weren't turning colors of the characters they were celebrating and some other elements of the show (spoiler alert!!!!) the fountains hidden in the plants weren't going off at certain times of the show. These were nice touches and added to our excitement and if we hadn't seen it the second time we would have missed it. We saw both shows at 9pm the week we were there.

I will say though that Fantasmic! is still amazing. It is different like you mentioned comparing it to RDCT but Fantasmic! having the live characters adds a real aspect to the show. And that new dragon did give me goosebumps when the fire shot out of his mouth!

 

[DLR29]

Yay! I'm glad you loved the show! That's such a great picture of all of you. I'd love to see the show from both the dining area and the bridge to compare the views. Hope you're having a wonderful time!

Oh and for nighttime pics, increase the camera's ISO to the highest it can be. That's how I do mine, although I don't know exactly what kind of camera you have.

 

[brenda1966]

Great review HydroGuy! We concur and absolutely were shocked at how much we enjoyed it. I will definitely say see it again! The first time the pre-show light fixtures weren't turning colors of the characters they were celebrating and some other elements of the show (spoiler alert!!!!) the fountains hidden in the plants weren't going off at certain times of the show. These were nice touches and added to our excitement and if we hadn't seen it the second time we would have missed it. We saw both shows at 9pm the week we were there.

I will say though that Fantasmic! is still amazing. It is different like you mentioned comparing it to RDCT but Fantasmic! having the live characters adds a real aspect to the show. And that new dragon did give me goosebumps when the fire shot out of his mouth!

Hmmm... I don't remember seeing the light fixtures change color or the "spoiler" fountains. There was also a slight malfuntion when WoC started for us. It started and then the sound stopped. The whole audience groaned. They turned the lights and fountains off and we stood there shocked. The previous night the fireworks were cancelled on us due to winds and I was having a flashback. Luckily in a few minutes they started the Woc show up again.

I agree about adoring F! because of the characters. Mickey at the end is the highlight for me, so while we really loved WoC and will see it again, I'm not sure I'd rank it over F! simple because of Mickey. But I wish I could have seen WoC more so I could be sure.

 

[NewbieMouse]

Great report, HydroGuy - I look forward to hearing about your whole trip. I also got goosebumps watching WOC.

 

[mrswh]

Thanks for the review, HG! One question - what was the time window on your FPs?

 

[skiingfast]

Hydroguy I have a question? What did you see going on with Alice's attraction?

 

[3TinksAndAnEeyore]

Great picture, Trey! I'm really happy to hear your glowing reviews of the show. I'm still torn between the picnic fastpasses and the preferred dining option. I'm looking forward to your FP review.

 

[Anna1227]

Thanks for the review! Our next trip probably won't be for a while, but I am excited to see WOC when we go.

Cute family picture!

 

[mdsd8700]

My DD 13 and DS 16 and DH 47 all loved WOC more than any show or parade they have seen in DLR or WDW. I thought it mostly was because they were used to all the other shows and had seen them so many times before. I too loved WOC. It would be a hard decision for me between WOC and F! because of Mickey at the end of F! just as another poster said. However WOC is definately enthralling. Grabs your heart just as Hydroguy said from the first minute and it truly a celebration that kept us smiling and in awe through the show. I am glad to know that a seasoned professional such as Hydroguy had the same reaction as my family.

Thanks for your thoughts and love the family photo

 

[mom2dzb]

Thanks for the review!!

 

[mom4princesses]

Thanks for the report as I'm still on the fence about seeing WOC. Think we will just stick with the FP if we decide to go (with 8 food gets pricey). Looking forward to hear how it goes with the FP and know it you think if worth it. I'm also looking forward to your comparison on viewing spots.

 

[caldad]

Thanks for the great report HG! Great picture of the family too! I'll keep the bridge tip in mind for when we go back in December.

 

[summer0407]

Thanks for the info! I am curious if we don't get that front rail in preferred dining what would be the second best spot? I plan to go early but you just never know if that is filled up where to go. We have 5 kids all young and short in our group and we are all ladies also short. Any advice on that?

 

[3BoysRDisneyFreaks]

Thanks for the info! I am curious if we don't get that front rail in preferred dining what would be the second best spot? I plan to go early but you just never know if that is filled up where to go. We have 5 kids all young and short in our group and we are all ladies also short. Any advice on that?

If you can't get the rail, I would stand at the top of the stairs. Kind of take up the whole section of stairs going down in front of you while you wait so you won't have a tall person come and stand on the stairs in front of you.