OK, so it has been a week since our dud of a meal at Wine Country Trattoria and first viewing of World of Color. We went back and tried again this Saturday, but this time we ate at Ariel's. We also noticed some changes to the WOC viewing process and tweaks to the areas, so I'll give the full report.
When we called last week to reserve the WOC package at Ariel's, the earliest time we could get was 5:20 and only if we ate on the patio. (They will tell you the patio is covered, but a good deal of it is in the sun at that hour.) We were also told that a gratuity would be automatically added to the bill. Neither of these things happened.
When we checked in at 5:15, we were asked whether we wanted to sit inside or outside (inside!) and given a pager. Five minutes later they took us downstairs.
At dinner, Ariel's only serves World of Color packages, so you don't have to ask for the special menu. We also didn't get the idea that we might not have show tickets waiting for us at the end of our meal (something the dining CMs were originally scaring all of us with when packages first went on sale).
Our biggest complaint about doing the WOC package at Wine Country Trattoria besides the lackluster food was the reduced menu that cost more. Ariel's is the exact oppositeif there are only 2 of you, they actually give you too much food! We got the same size tower o' appetizers and trough o' desserts they were giving parties of 4 people!
Tough Sourdough Bread with butter, pesto, and, inexplicably, ranch dressing 
Cured Meats and Shellfish: Prosciutto, Chorizo Bilbao, Chef's Blend of Marinated Olives, Tomatoes, Manchego Cheese, watery Clams and Shrimp in a weak Wasabi Vinaigrette
Filet of Redfish with Wild Rice Pilaf, Sweet & Spicy Pineapple Chutney, and Seasonal Vegetables
Santa Maria-style Tri-tip with Cheddar-Herb Mashed Potatoes and Seasonal Vegetables
(Cold) Chocolate "Molten" Cake, Tiramisu Chocolate Cups, Passionfruit Quenelles, Green Apple Mousse in a Cone, (fruity) French Macaroons, Chocolate Ganache Crunch Triangles, WOC White Chocolate Film Strip, Seasonal Mixed Berries
Our service was harried and slow, with long gaps. For some reason all of our waitress' other tables were on the opposite side of the restaurant. If we hadn't been in a hurry to go not line up for the show, I would have been pretty grumpy about the timing of the dishes. We started with bread and no drinks for about 5 more minutes. Then our entrees were delivered about 90 seconds after the ginormous Tower o' Appetizers showed up, yet they were already cold.
At the end we had to wait 10 minutes to get our credit card and final bill back.
However, I would still pick Ariel's over Wine Country Trattoria any day. The food is Olive Garden quality, but at least there's more food, a better variety to choose from, and what you get is pretty much what you expect. Plus you pay about 10 bucks less than you would at WCT when all is said and done. There's something about WCT's overreaching and under-delivering that just rubs me the wrong way!
For those who've wondered whether one can dine on the patio at Ariel's and watch the first show, the answer from Disney is no: The patio is closed at 7:30 and all meals until the last service (8:30pm) are inside. In practice, we did see diners on the patio right up until the first show started (and then we just didn't care anymore). However, they were way at the back (probably to avoid the spray), and their viewing angle on the show is off to the side and interrupted by the roof line:
View from the back of the patio:
It's too bad they couldn't make this work when they shoe-horned the show into the lagoon. Originally they'd talked about doing dining packages on Ariel's patio, which would have been fabulous.
On our way out, we checked out the bar upstairs. At 8pm they start charging a $10 cover with a 1-drink minimum (suggested) for those who want to watch the show from the bar. Here's the viewing angle:
After dinner, DH went to ride Mickey's Fun Wheel to get some arial shots of Paradise Park for me, and I went over to the area where everyone was pretending not to be in line for the show. I sussed out where the entrances were for each of the different colors. They were slightly differentnow they have a dedicated entrance just for Preferred Dining Package holders instead of lumping them in with Blue FASTPASS holders.
Blue FASTPASS entrance:
Preferred Dining Package entrance:
The CMs kept shouting "Folks, we are not lining up for the show yet! Come back in an hour!" Well, this was at 6:30pm, and at 7:03pm, they let us in. So don't listen to 'em!
Here's all of us pretending not to line up after the barricades were installed, around 6:60pm. There were a lot more of us than last week.
At 7:00pm, they made a small gap in the barricades and the crowd surged forward. I was first to the Preferred Dining Entrance! The area was delineated differently this timethe stairs we'd stood on last time were no longer part of Preferred Dining and now go to Blue FPs. The big circular area and the whole area in front up to the fence is for Preferred Dining. I made a beeline to the fence.
View from front of Preferred Dining section:
Last week this had been referred to as a "wet" zone, so we brought our ponchos. Maybe it was the wind, but we got no wetter than we had last week.
Another difference: The very front center section, in the splash zone, is now YELLOW FP, not Blue. The Blue Section is still a good view, but not dead center. For some reason, they didn't let people in the Yellow section in until 15 or 20 minutes later, and it never really filled up til right near show time.
We liked our view from this area MUCH better than last time. Although you had to turn your head a little bit to take in what was going on in either end, the view in front was centered and you could see all the effects on the water. I can tell why they removed the section we were in last time from the Preferred Viewing area.
During the pre-show, Mike Wazowski ended up stationed right in front of us, and I nearly got clocked every time he swung his arms!
Again, I won't spoil the show for ya, but here's one shot to show you our view:
After the show...
And here are a few of Glowfest:
DH's fave shot
That's the trick. One thing that gives me hope is that the colors assigned to the sections have been the same since the beginning. But I can see how they will need to keep tweaking things until everything runs Disney-smoothly.
