WoC second show?

[Doc Goofy]

Weeks ago I reserved Ariel's Grotto dining for the first WoC show for my upcoming DLR visit. My DD18 convinced me to change our reservation to 7:40 for the second show at 10:15. She thought it would be more magical to end our day with WoC right before heading to our room at PPH and she hoped that taking the second show would allow more families with small sleepy children to see the first show. (I think she underestimated how sleepy we are going to be after arriving from CST the day before and opening the park that morning!)

Now I am concerned that the second show is not such a great idea: We'll have to stand in line listening to the first show before we even get to see it. Does that sort of take some of the magic away?

And, I'll bet it is a madhouse trying to maintain your place in line while thousands of the first viewers flood out?

Lastly, it's too bad that WoC planning seems to be so stressful. We are not good at aggressively defending spots or getting confrontational with interlopers. We are willing to arrive early and stand in line, though!

Reassurance, please...

 

[PinkBudgie]

We went to the first show last summer with a WOC dinner at Ariel's. Love it!

This summer we decided to get FP for the 2nd show. You can kind of hear some of the first show in some areas of the park but you don't really have to pay attention and I don't think it would ruin it. Where we were for blue, we couldn't see the first show but I don't know if the preferred line can see it. And they don't let anyone from the second show near the area until the first one is empty. It isn't a mad house to hold your place in line while the first show leaves because you are not really in a line. They block off giant rectangle and people fill in the area. These rectangles are off to the side of the path. Sort of hard to describe, sorry.

The second show started at 10:15. They didn't let us in until 10. They have areas around the park marked off where certain sections wait. I don't know where the preferred area waits now but it seems like it was more organized this year than last. Someone else might know better for second show when to line up for preferred. We joined the blue line at 9:30 because we knew we were going to a great spot overlooked by most people (yellow hydrant). In the preferred area last year we got a front railing spot that was a amazing but were one of the first people in that section.

I think you will be fine for the second show. And I hopefully someone with more info on the preferred area for the second show will post more detailed info about that. Off hand, I would guess trying to line up at 8:30 if they let you.

 

[PinkBudgie]

Oh, just realized your dinner isn't until 7:40. Well, 8:30 might be too early to get there. I would just head over directly after dinner. They had signs around saying where certain sections lined up.

 

[Doc Goofy]

Thank you, PinkBudgie! Do people sort of mill about within the rectangle or is it clear to see that those who get there early are sort of "in front"? Would hate to accidentally get in front of those who have been there longer than me - or to get pushed back myself by late arrivals...

 

[PinkBudgie]

There is a front to the area you can clearly see. Everyone is facing forward and you should just fill in from behind. Like you would while waiting for rope drop. If you don't leave much space between you and the people in front of you, other groups will just come in behind you. Wish I had paid more attention to where the other sections were but I was just thinking about blue.

 

[ArchOwl]

I was just in the blue line for the second WOC show last week. I was able to see a lot of the first show, but you could easily turn around and not look. The line was clearly defined and we didn't have problems with people trying to cut. Also, you don't have to hold the line when the first show gets out, since you are behind a roped-in area. All the exiting people are flowing around you, but the line stayed intact thanks to the rope.

I actually think it is working a lot better this summer than last. Last summer I was so confused and it seemed like the CMs were just as confused as I was half the time. Now they have WOC CMs in front of Paradise Park all afternoon and you can ask questions and stuff way before lining up. Also the area to line up this time was much clearer. For the 10:15 show last week, my friend and I got in line at 9:10. We were about the fourth group at that time.

Have fun!

 

[PinkBudgie]

I just realized I guess the reason I couldn't see the first show from the blue line is because I'm short. All I saw were people. At 9:30 I'd say we ended up in the first half of the crowd. We were not in front of line, but there were a lot more people behind us.

 

[ducky_love]

Is the second WOC anything like the second Fantasmic here in WDW? And by that I mean does the crowd fizzle out at all?

 

[Doc Goofy]

Just to share my experience this past Friday. (We had dined at Ariel's Grotto for the preferred seating package.) We showed up way early (about 90 minutes) and were told to "go stand by those trees" by three different CMs. Finally as we were getting about an hour from our show I asked someone to clarify and we were directed to sit at those tables in that area where the picnics are picked up. This worried me as show time got closer and closer and no one else had arrived so we asked a couple more times, same answer.

About 20 minutes before the show, people finally started joining us in droves. The CM came about 15 minutes before the show and asked us to wait just a minute while she got the wheelchair people in place. Well, this did not happen. The crowd broke for the preferred dining area just behind her and the two WCs and raced for the railing. My daughter and I jumped in too when we saw that pandemonium had broken out and ended up not even getting on the railing, though we had "lined up" long before anyone else.

A CM took pity and let us come down to the "wet area", stating, "You are going to get soaked!" but we felt we had no other choice in order to be able to see by that point. We got right on the railing far to the left behind a large light pole so our view was a little obstructed but really good anyway.

We LOVED this magical show. It was one of our favorite parts of the trip. The fountains right on the surface spout up water that is so colorful it looks like paint. We enjoyed these as much or more than the larger overhead projections and would not have seen much of them if we had not been on the railing. And we did not get wet, only spritzed.

In summary, we LOVED WoC. But the stress of spending weeks reading the superthread and looking at maps and diagrams and personal accounts and then making a reservation - only to find that the procedure was totally different and not well organized was disappointing. It took so much of our evening and was so stressful that I'm just not sure I would go through it again.

 

[HydroGuy]

Thanks for your report. I too am really disappointed that Disney is not putting more effort into organizing the queueing system for WOC. They change procedures. That are not consistent. I agree it is frustrating. You have to be really aggressive - which many people do not like to do at a Disney park.

I also agree the show is awesome. IMO the show makes it worth the hassle. But Disney needs to figure this out. If you show up 90 minutes early you should be in front.

We had a somewhat similar experience in June for preferred. We showed up 90 minutes early and were in the front of the queue. But then when they allowed us to go to the viewing area other people who were not in the queue shot out and got in front of us.

We were like the 15th people into the viewing area, but fortunately most of the otehr were clueless where to actually go stand and we barely got a rail spot for our group of four.

 

[Doc Goofy]

You're right, HydroGuy! It was a simply awesome experience and I'm so grateful we were privileged enough to see it. In retrospect, it was worth it...

I sure hope Disney can think of a way to make it a little less of a survival of the fittest situation.

 

[HappyHaunt]

I think we had Yellow in June. We were in front of that long rectangle "line". I remember asking the CM how it goes when walking over. I couldn't imagine THAT many people walking nicely over there. She did a great job though, and said if anyone ran, pushed or shoved they wouldn't be seeing the show. Once we got there we had our fast passes out and ready, which helped as some actually didn't! Then we rushed down and got the rail pretty easily.

But I completely agree, it is just so stressful. I stressed a lot that day about how it was going to go. Then stressed while standing there. And even at the rail I still felt stressed because they kept telling people to move down, yeah and lose your rail spot by moving down behind people. I think not! lol We had a death grip on that rail! LOL

I really wish they could find a better way to deal and organize that show. It's awesome, and was worth it in the end. But there is no way we were going to do that twice in a trip!

 

[Carmatts]

A year in and they are still messing with the WOC setup. From the sections to the entry methods, everything seems to get slightly tweaked here and there as they look for the magic formula. Every time I have seen the show (and I have seen it a lot) they seem to have a new procedure or a new way of lining people up. Some CM's get the message about the new procedure of the night and some don't, so you have different answers from different CM's when you ask them a question. I have spoken to a few CM's while waiting for the show and they all have different idea's on how to make it smoother.
It appears they are trying to make it a better experience, but right now it's tough going while they experiment. All in all I think they are doing ok, considering they are getting 4-5,000 out of the first show and 4-5,000 in to the second show in a 45 minute window. For Disney though we have come to expect better than ok.
And yes, the show is worth the trouble.

 

[TeddiBarra]

Yep, fabulous, beautiful show... logistical nightmare. And I've only done it three times. Once with a picnic (yellow section, requested 2nd showing on purpose), once with a red "normal" fast pass (showed up like 10 mins before show time, hit the very back, even had enough space offered for one kid to sit on a chair), and once about 60 minutes early, blue, but in the WC area. WC was the worst of all.
First was wet zone at the rail, 2nd all the way up in the back, and 3 "closer" and up high. WC was the WORST of all. Plenty of non WC edged right up in front of us and we got completely edged out from where we were (and as my SIL was off getting some version of dinner) it was just me with 4 kids- so you know I could not even try to defend my "area". PITbehind.

Just do it like Fantasmic, and get the folks in and out as quick as possible...They could do an area sweep out an hour before showtime- rope it off, and when an area is "full" tell folks to move on, put "show full" signs up.