World of Color & Fantasmic question - timing/passes?

[hurleysweety]

After Cars Land opens, I feel like WOC might get a surge in crowds?? Yes, yet another hypothetical question, but this time I'm trying to help someone who will be there celebrating their kid's birthday! They have a limited schedule and will be arriving around 3 pm the day they want to see WoC. It will be the only night in Disney so they are trying to see Fantasmic and WoC.

Since we've been a lot and don't have kids, we do the shows if they are convenient, otherwise we just hang out. So I don't remember all the logistics. There will be 3 people and they are fairly organized, on-time, type-A people. The daughter is turning 4. Date is Weds June 20th.

1. Is it possible for them to get from F! at 9 to WOC at 10:15?
2. They have dinner reservations at 6:30 at Blue Bayou (celebrating birthday and all), but are considering the picnic for W.O.C. to make sure they get in. Do they need to do this?
3. Anyone have an idea of the current WOC distribution times?

The reason I ask for your help? I'm trying to figure out when we can get together with them. Blue Bayou was booked so we couldn't get in to eat with them. Now we're thinking about doing WOC together. We're not F! fans, but I know first-timers and kids seem to like it alot.

Any opinions, oh great Disneyland experts?

 

[sonnyjane]

Oh man. Only one night? It is PHYSICALLY possible... but it really won't be enjoyable!

First of all, since it will be a very busy day, I would say that they will not be able to get a free FP from the machines by the time they arrive at 3:00 PM. That does, as you mention, only leave the picnic or a dining package, and since they want to eat dinner at Blue Bayou, the only option would really be ordering a picnic and NOT eating it if they don't want to change to a different restaurant. IN ADDITION, if Fantasmic starts at 9:00, it will be over around 9:25-9:30... fighting with crowds they wouldn't get to the WOC area until 9:45-9:50 at the earliest, and for a show that starts at 10:15, they will have a MISERABLE spot. We recommend lining up AT LEAST an hour before the show starts, and Fantasmic! will still be running at that time. Their spots would be pretty dismal I'd imagine, making for a crappy view that they had to pay for via picnics....that's a recipe for disappointment.

If they're up for it, they could just walk over to DCA without a FP and try to watch parts of the show from outside the viewing area, just know it won't be as great as intended.

I wanted to add that I just checked the schedule and there are two showings of each show - WOC at 9:00 and 10:15 and F! at 9:00 and 10:30. They might, instead, want to go to the earlier showing of WOC and then try to head to DL for the late show of F!

 

[hurleysweety]

Thanks for your help. What you said helped to spark my memory of when we've tried to plan too much into one evening. I think that while doing WOC and then F! sounds better, I don't think that going from BB to WOC and then back to F! will sound any better - don't think I'll be able to sell them on that idea.

I think they are planning to pick up the picnic meals early and enjoy them a a late snack before dinner. I don't know much about the picnic meals as they've never interested me or DH. You can pick them up pretty early though, right?

Do I dare suggest they pick one over the other? Or any chance either will add another show? Didn't WOC use to have a 3rd showing? Although that might make for one very tired 4yo!

 

[SomeDude78]

You can make it, but only if you're Usain Bolt with the patience of Mahatma Gandhi for crowd-fighting purposes Kidding aside, pretty much what sonnyjane said...

I personally like WOC over F! but have seen both multiple times and generally don't bother with either anymore. For first-timers, I'd say to go with F! because that's a Disney "classic." Plus little kids will likely enjoy the characters that come around at the end on the boat. For adults who have already seen F!, I'm with you and would prefer WOC.

 

[sonnyjane]

While, like the PP, I too prefer WOC to F!, I'd probably just push them to eat at BB and then stay in the area and get a great viewing spot for F! and skip WOC, primarily because it won't involve any extra expense whereas buying the picnic meals would be nearly $50 for three picnic meals that they don't even really need. It also won't involve lugging around what will, by that point I'm sure, be a pretty tired kiddo.

That said, yes, you can pick up the picnics starting at lunchtime, so if they wanted to get them at 3, they could, but I'm not a fan of that plan.

 

[hurleysweety]

Thanks for the help everyone. I'm trying to figure out the best way to tell her that it would probably be better to just pick one show. She's been planning for months and its a surprise, so I don't want to rain on her parade...

It's like other threads that I've read before-- knowing when to give your advice, tips, and such, and knowing when to just let friends be and do what they have planned.

Maybe I just suggest we meet up the next morning for a cinnamon roll or...? Sounds pretty lame compared to Blue Bayou and F! or WoC.

 

[S. S. Columbia]

For late arrivals, some people like to watch WOC from the "Little Mermaid ride stand-by area" / "Little Mermaid building/queue area."

FWIW, here's a thread:

Arriving late in the day - how best to see WOC
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2919080

Edited to add: I would be more inclined to recommend watching the Fireworks and the 2nd Fantasmic. Or watching the 1st Fantasmic and
staying in the Fantasmic area for the fireworks. And with all of their planning, they need to remember that 4-year-olds may not stay
awake for the later shows.

 

[hurleysweety]

For late arrivals, some people like to watch WOC from the "Little Mermaid ride stand-by area" / "Little Mermaid building/queue area."

FWIW, here's a thread:

Arriving late in the day - how best to see WOC
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2919080

Edited to add: I would be more inclined to recommend watching the Fireworks and the 2nd Fantasmic. Or watching the 1st Fantasmic and
staying in the Fantasmic area for the fireworks. And with all of their planning, they need to remember that 4-year-olds may not stay
awake for the later shows.

Thanks for the Little Mermaid plan/advice! I just passed it along to her along with a quote from that thread. Hope I'm not overwhelming her at this point. It's always hard to judge just how much planning a person is willing to do for a trip - especially being a person who feels like every detail of every day should be tirelessly researched and planned... Yes, I have some issues. But I enjoy every minute of my Disney obsession!

If they do the Little Mermaid viewing area, then we could join them.