WOC: wait for a fp or get the picnics???

[cchavez]

So how long does it take to wait for a fp for the 1st woc show? Or should we just get picnics?? DS has food allergies and they dont have any special picnicis for FA but i guess DD can just eat his food??? any suggestions?

 

[VectorDreams]

We went in June and we got in line a little after 10:00 am and waited about 40 minutes. We went as a group and did not realize that one person can take all the park passes and now we know to use a runner.

 

[Disneyland 1951]

Rough Fastpass distribution times at GRR:
(Be in line 20-30 minutes before the below times)

1st show (9:00pm)
9:00 - 9:50 = Blue
9:50 - 10:15 = Yellow
10:15 - 10:45 = Red

2nd Show (10:15pm)
10:45 in the same order:
Ask a Cast member and they will tell you when (after) they change.
They do not know this ahead of time, as there are too many variables.

3rd Show (11:15pm)
12:30 - 1:15 or later is when changed
Blue (Now includes Preferred), Yellow, Red

Picnic Box:
Orderd ahead of the day you get the 1st show Blue or Yellow
Purchased the same day you get the 2nd show Blue or Yellow

Reserved Dining
Early Reservations = 1st Show that day
Later Reservations = 2nd Show that day...

Only one person with all the tickets or Annual Passes needs to be in line. Only tickets/passes that have been checked into the park will work. If you all enter at the Rope Drop 1/2 hour before opening, hand the tickets to one person, they can go directly to the GRR WOC Fastpass line. If you are the first in line you will get Blue, then Yellow, and if you are in line before 09:50 you should still get the first show but Red. It will depend on how crowded it is that day, and how many picnic WOC lunches the sold the day before for the firest show. If you are a large group this is much cheaper than the picnic or Dining option.

 

[skiingfast]

Let me make this bold assumption, you are going to eat dinner somewhere and be paying for it.

Really when you compare the picnic price to a cs meal in DCA it costs a couple extra dollars to get a picnic.

It may be important for your group to get to TSM and grab fastpasses for another attraction first things in the morning.


What do you want to do the rest of the day and how would getting a WoC FP affect it?

 

[debdreamsofdis]

So how long does it take to wait for a fp for the 1st woc show? Or should we just get picnics?? DS has food allergies and they dont have any special picnicis for FA but i guess DD can just eat his food??? any suggestions?

We didn't want to worry about standing in line, so we got the picnics. To be honest, I wasn't all that crazy about the food choices, so I actually ordered a child's lunch and let my 2 year old have it. One interesting thing to note about the picnics, the kid's meal in the parks is $5.99 by itself and the light-up bracelet that comes in the kid's meal is sold in the park stores for $4, so when you add that up, really you're only paying about $5 to have a guaranteed fastpass. Plus, you get a reusable shopping bag on top of that when you order online.

Another perk we experienced with the picnics is that the CM's also let us in earlier than the other guests in the blue section, since we were considered "preferred dining." We were able to get a spot right at the railing on the second tier, which was a relief knowing that my kids would be able to have an unobstructed view.

 

[brenda1966]

Another perk we experienced with the picnics is that the CM's also let us in earlier than the other guests in the blue section, since we were considered "preferred dining." We were able to get a spot right at the railing on the second tier, which was a relief knowing that my kids would be able to have an unobstructed view.

I'm wondering when this occured because we did not get preferrential treatment. We were lumped in with all of the blue FP's. We went on 7/18.

I think the picnic is a fair deal. We have to eat something and buying the picnic saves us the time of standing in line to get FP's during the important morning hour.

I would do the picnic again. I ordered the salmon and found the main dish to be tasty, however did not like the sides. DD got the cold chicken leg and ate most of it. I've had better meals. LOL. But it got us fastpasses!

 

[whimsy87]

PICNIC! It'll save you AT LEAST a half an hour in line, plus we were pretty impressed with the food. The two favorites at our table were the American and the Mediterranean. If you have an AP it's only $13 dollars, and it includes the food, a bottled beverage and a reusable WoC grocery bag.

It was hassle-free. I'd do it that way again.

 

[benolathe]

PICNIC! It'll save you AT LEAST a half an hour in line, plus we were pretty impressed with the food. The two favorites at our table were the American and the Mediterranean. If you have an AP it's only $13 dollars, and it includes the food, a bottled beverage and a reusable WoC grocery bag.

It was hassle-free. I'd do it that way again.

Sounds like the picnic is definitely the way to go. Thanks for your input.

And since we don't go until next July, who knows what the WOC routine will be at that time!

 

[whimsy87]

I hope they keep the picnics around even after the craziness dies down. It made life so easy!

 

[debdreamsofdis]

I'm wondering when this occured because we did not get preferrential treatment. We were lumped in with all of the blue FP's. We went on 7/18.

Well here's how it happened:

We did the picnics on Thursday July 22. We had FP's for the 9:00 show and we started milling around the area at abut 6:30, asking CM's if they knew where we were going to stand (it really is just a chaotic scene). When they finally started putting up the ropes and barriers, we were just standing and waiting and a CM asked "Is there anybody here with Preferred Dining?" We told him we had the picnic lunches and he said we were considered preferred dining. I specifically said again we got the picnics, NOT the Ariel's/WCT meals and he said "It doesn't matter, you're still preferrred. You basically paid to see the show." Then he led us to a waiting area where where there were alot of people waiting to be seated in the disabled area, plus people who were actually in the Preferred section.

*Now, just to illustrate how uninformed the CM's are, as we were being led into the holding area, we overheard another CM say Picnics were NOT preferred dining. At this point I started freaking out a little, but my husband was calm and reassured me that we were fine. Sure enough, in a few minutes another CM began giving instructions for those who were in the Blue area with "wheels" (aka strollers or wheelchairs) to follow yet ANOTHER CM who would lead us to our section. He also called for people in the yellow section with "wheels." Apparently, we started following the wrong person, but figured it out quickly enough to get down to the viewing area and get to our spots in the blue section and finally breathe a big sigh of relief.

So, that's how it happened for us. Maybe we just got lucky? Maybe they were trying something new? Who knows at this point?

 

[cchavez]

ok, if we do get the picnics...how soon do we need to start lining up/waiting around for the 9 pm show....we have 2 young kids and 6-7 pm is too early to line up for us....

 

[whimsy87]

We went and picked up our dinners at 7 and then grabbed our spots in line around 7:45-ish. The problem was that we weren't in a super amazing spot for us, which means small children wouldn't have been able to see from where we were at all. They do have a little pre-show thing before the WoC actually starts, so that should make a long wait a little better for the kids.

But, if we had gone down a little to a spot closer to the water, there were some open spots. I would suggest 7:30 or so, depending on the crowds. Maybe you can take a coloring book or something for the kids? You're allowed to sit while you wait.

 

[Funball]

You line up what ever time is stated on YOUR woc ticket/fastpass!!!

 

[Lynzer Torte]

Wouldn't it be awesome if instead of offering picnic "lunches", they offered dessert boxes like Fantasmic? Smaller, of course. I would sooo go for one of those!

 

[brenda1966]

ok, if we do get the picnics...how soon do we need to start lining up/waiting around for the 9 pm show....we have 2 young kids and 6-7 pm is too early to line up for us....

You do need to line up that early if you want a good spot. I'd say to be in the area around 6:30 and then be prepared to stand at the barrier around 7pm. They let us in sometime after 7 -- probably 7:15 or 7:30. Then we sat in our spot. So, yes, you can bring something for them to play with. One kid had his DS with him. At 8 they threatened to make us stand, but didn't. At 8:30 is the preshow and we stood. It really wasn't all that bad overall.

 

[RabbitFood]

We did the walk-up picnic recently for the 2nd show because I had read here that the FP area wasn't that greatest viewing area.

By the time we bought our meals (around 6 p.m., IIRC), the only meals left were American and Mediterranean. Both meals were okay--nothing to get too excited about, but also not bad-- but we did get good spots for the show. I believe we had to start lining up between 9-9:30 for the 10:15 show.

We were in the Yellow area, and were told we could move down to the Boardwalk (may get wet) area. My son wanted a better view, so some of us went down to the front row on the Boardwalk. My husband, who stayed behind, ended up getting wetter than we did!

Overall, though, I wasn't terribly impressed with WOC. Perhaps all that standing and waiting just did me in, but I thought it was a glorified Fantasmic. Or maybe not even glorified. YMMV.

 

[I<3DL]

We did the walk-up picnic recently for the 2nd show because I had read here that the FP area wasn't that greatest viewing area.

By the time we bought our meals (around 6 p.m., IIRC), the only meals left were American and Mediterranean. Both meals were okay--nothing to get too excited about, but also not bad-- but we did get good spots for the show. I believe we had to start lining up between 9-9:30 for the 10:15 show.

We were in the Yellow area, and were told we could move down to the Boardwalk (may get wet) area. My son wanted a better view, so some of us went down to the front row on the Boardwalk. My husband, who stayed behind, ended up getting wetter than we did!

Overall, though, I wasn't terribly impressed with WOC. Perhaps all that standing and waiting just did me in, but I thought it was a glorified Fantasmic. Or maybe not even glorified. YMMV.

RF, thank you for that honest post. We will be going for DS5 birthday on Tuesday and I have been trying to figure out if ALL of this effort to see WOC is realllllllllllllllllllllly going to be worth it. It sounds like a lot of hype to me. I'm sure the show is lovely but is all the work worth the payoff?!?

Since we are locals, I may just take it easy and if we get in with a decent view then great, if not there's always next time and another show. Your post helped take a lot of pressure off. Thanks

 

[whimsy87]

I am really baffled about all of the people on here who were underwhelmed by WoC. My whole family just stood there with our mouths gaping open for the entirety of the show. It is very different from F! But it's definitely on par with it. I can't decide which I like better.

 

[Mrs. M. Mouse]

Let me make this bold assumption, you are going to eat dinner somewhere and be paying for it.

Really when you compare the picnic price to a cs meal in DCA it costs a couple extra dollars to get a picnic.

It may be important for your group to get to TSM and grab fastpasses for another attraction first things in the morning.


What do you want to do the rest of the day and how would getting a WoC FP affect it?

We contemplated just this! We don't want to spend our time waiting for FP for WOC when we could be getting FP for TSM and riding other rides so we opted for the picnic. We ordered online because the first showing time is perfect for us. The cost is really reasonable compared to the Table service meals and it's all food my dd's will eat!

good luck in your choice!

 

[jory29]

I have a child with an anxiety disorder who panics when he has to be in one spot for a long time, mostly due to his bladder over-reacting to stress and then he needs to keep finding a washroom... we took a bus trip this summer and he used the washroom no less than 4 times in an hour - at home this is not an issue, but when out in public it is.

My questions/concerns are that if we wait in line for the 9 pm show - he will not be able to deal with the wait and will have to leave to use the washroom - obviously this is not going to be acceptable with others, we can't just leave for him to use the washroom and come back, crawling all over others who have waited patiently for a long time.

Has anyone stood in the back of the line and got in around 9 PM just before the show starts, to stand at the back?? We have no issues with standing in the back as large crowds make our son feel claustrophobic so the sooner we can get out of the pandemonium, the better - ARE the ones in the back rows able to leave first?

We hope to buy a picnic lunch ticket.... so I guess we would be in the yellow or blue area, if that helps...

Thanks for any responses!!