WOC v Fantasmic

[HydroGuy]

Fantasmic!

I'd rather watch paint dry than suffer through WoC (Waste of Cash) ever again.

FWIW, the OP was not asking about recommendations for an adult but for a 3 year old.

 

[kathie859]

I just might be crazy confused, but either way, WoC is still a total yawnfest.

This just proves that there's something for everyone. I was blown away by WOC and am sooooo jealous that WDW hasn't brought something of similar caliber to Florida since I get to WDW more often than DL.

 

[redbonec]

HI, I was wondering what we were going to do with nighttime shows as well--we just got back last night from our California trip, went to DL 3 days last week.

We have an almost 3 year old and an almost 6 year old, both girls.

I had also showed them bits and pieces on the computer.

For nighttime shows we saw fireworks, Fantasmic, and World of Color.

I had really hesitated on Fantasmic, wondering if it would be too scary for ours. But, they had seen the Peter Pan movie just before us going, and really liked it, and I thought they would like the scene in F! I told them they did not have to watch anything that scared them. I will say that F! is very loud, you are also pretty close to everything going on in the show, and some parts can be scary.
Our results--my little one has very sensitive hearing, so she wore Peltor Kid earmuffs duirng all three nighttime shows. What was interesting is that the reduced sound with the earmuffs reduced the intensity of the show for her, which was good. She watched the whole F!, would not let me cover her eyes for the parts I thought would be scary for her. Now our 5 year old on the other hand, during the scary parts, got down on the ground, put her head down, and covered her ears.
Then on our third night I asked which was the favorite show to see again, and our 5 year old insisted on F!, who again covered her head, eyes, and ears during scary parts, but insisted it was still her favorite, and loves to watch it now on the computer. 2 year old watched the whole thing again on the second time, earmuffs again.
So that's our F!, really recommend those earmuffs, helped a lot.
Oh, and we sat on the back of the sitting section right below the reserved seating (a recommendation I read on here)--perfect spot, was not crowded at all there before show, right in the center of the show.

WOC--I finally decided we were not going to wait 90 minutes for it, but I had read (here again) that to the left of the VIP section standing in the back was good. So, 5 minutes before WOC began we went over there and saw it there. More like behind the sitting VIP section to the left. View was not "close" as some people prefer, but we could see everything in the show (we held our girls) and the view from there is not intense at all.
I believe our 2 year old did the earmuffs again, but maybe not the whole time, as it was not as loud and intense as F!

I know you did not ask about fireworks, so maybe you have seen them and wanted to do something different.

And if you were just wanting your son to see a show period, we all LOVED the daytime Soundsational parade--it was actually my favorite show of all of them. Very energetic and happy, lots of characters.

And, for something at night, if you decide against F! or WOC, we visited Pixie Hollow at night--very pretty music and maybe every 15, 20, minutes or so a light display of colorful swirls plays in the water with beautiful music. IT is about a 2 minute show, no characters or anything, but nice if you want something mild for nighttime. We really enjoyed that as well, and nobody was there except us.

Good luck, it can be tough trying to figure out what they will enjoy, what to do now, and what to do for another time.

 

[erocrobro]

The thing about Fantasmic is with a 3 year old you are going to want to go to the 9PM show so he does not fall asleep. That means a 2-3 wait to get a good viewing spot.

Do you mean 2-3 hours? I don't know if we just got lucky this week or not, but we walked up to the railing 15 minutes before show time and had a perfect view. I didn't even notice anyone waiting for the show until about 8:20 or so. It could have just been pixie dust for us, I'm not sure. We did see people lining up very early for WOC the night before, which was one reason we decided to skip it.

 

[disneegrl4eva]

Do you mean 2-3 hours? I don't know if we just got lucky this week or not, but we walked up to the railing 15 minutes before show time and had a perfect view. I didn't even notice anyone waiting for the show until about 8:20 or so. It could have just been pixie dust for us, I'm not sure. We did see people lining up very early for WOC the night before, which was one reason we decided to skip it.

wow! that was some serious pixie dust because i have NEVER gotten that lucky...i always do way better on the 2nd show and ive seen F! more times than I can count....

to the OP...i dont know if this will make a difference but i just saw a video where they are doing a new thing called Glow with the show at WOC...there are mickey light up ears that change colors along with the music during the show and on a couple of CL rides...its sooooo cool and im mad they didnt have them last weekend...here is a thread that explains what it is:

http://disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2942853

and here is the video to it:

http://youtu.be/lr18V3grRYs

 

[HydroGuy]

Do you mean 2-3 hours? I don't know if we just got lucky this week or not, but we walked up to the railing 15 minutes before show time and had a perfect view. I didn't even notice anyone waiting for the show until about 8:20 or so. It could have just been pixie dust for us, I'm not sure. We did see people lining up very early for WOC the night before, which was one reason we decided to skip it.

Sorry I did mean 2-3 hours.

With 3 year olds it is really hard for them to see unless you are in the sitting section. If you got a standing section spot where they could see without being held just 15 minutes before the show, wow, I have never heard of that but I too would say you got lucky.

 

[hootey]

Fantasmic is the clear, hands down winner. Get the reserved seating/desert reservations. Go by the seating director's podium a few hours before the show to secure your seats and go enjoy yourself until 30 minutes before the show. Arrive, be seated, and have the desert packages and beverages. Enjoy the show without anyone in front of you or behind you attempting to crowd thier way in. Enjoy a fantastic show(our children love it).
I have found the the WOC show to be over-rated, crowded, and quite simply not worth the effort involved to see it. Even the so called reserved-STANDING area is a joke. I have read on this forum, the best way to see WOC is from the DGH or PPH...

 

[erocrobro]

We were over on the left hand side of the stage, just next to a smoking section (maybe that's why it wasn't crowded over there.) I guess we really did get lucky, but we honestly just walked right up to the rail at about 8:45.

 

[SomeDude78]

I like WOC better but my kids like F! better because of the characters on the boat at the end. They're around the same age as the OP's and don't understand enough about the show to get frightened by the "scary" parts.

 

[3DisMunchkins]

My kids liked both , but F! was sooo much easier for them to see. We got to WOC 1 hr before show but were still off to the side too far to see alot of the show.
We went to the 2nd F! and only waited about 30 min. I know that's late, but we took late naps and my kiddos are night owls!

On a side note...don't miss the Pixar Play parade. We saw a soft opening last week and it is great. Pretty much the same as 2 years ago, but it is still one of my favorites and the kids LOVED it!!

Have fun!!

 

[longtimedisneylurker]

We were over on the left hand side of the stage, just next to a smoking section (maybe that's why it wasn't crowded over there.) I guess we really did get lucky, but we honestly just walked right up to the rail at about 8:45.

Yep, this is our spot. Some nights the area is just packed, and there's no space left, but if it's not one of those crazy nights this is the best spot we have found for giving it a last-minute shot, regardless of season. We walked up ten minutes before the 9 PM show this past Sunday night and had a great view dead center of that third screen, and that wasn't the first time we had that kind of luck either. Cat's out of the bag now, so those days are probably over.

 

[erocrobro]

Yep, this is our spot. Some nights the area is just packed, and there's no space left, but if it's not one of those crazy nights this is the best spot we have found for giving it a last-minute shot, regardless of season. We walked up ten minutes before the 9 PM show this past Sunday night and had a great view dead center of that third screen, and that wasn't the first time we had that kind of luck either. Cat's out of the bag now, so those days are probably over.

Oops, sorry! I didn't mean to give it away! I'm glad we found it though, because my boys are still talking about it. They thought it was the greatest show they have ever seen, and they have seen it at WDW but they all agree this one was the best.

 

[longtimedisneylurker]

Oops, sorry! I didn't mean to give it away! I'm glad we found it though, because my boys are still talking about it. They thought it was the greatest show they have ever seen, and they have seen it at WDW but they all agree this one was the best.

It is a great spot, isn't it? My boys appreciate the show so much more standing at that spot after waiting only 10-20 minutes than they ever have from the center ground seating after 2 hours of waiting.

 

[disneegrl4eva]

Oops, sorry! I didn't mean to give it away! I'm glad we found it though, because my boys are still talking about it. They thought it was the greatest show they have ever seen, and they have seen it at WDW but they all agree this one was the best.

you're boys are very smart..it is the best show EVER