World of Color Question

[funhouse8]

Hi we will be in DCA on Thurday May 3rd. We will not be in the park till afternoon and I was wondering should we order the picnic for WOC or the sit down meal. Which one gives you a better viewing area? Do you need to line up super early even with these options? Any advice greatly needed. We will only be in this park on this day and I have to see WOC. This is a grown-up trip. No kiddies. Thanks, Gina D

 

[sonnyjane]

What time will you be arriving? Since it's a weekday in the off-season, you will likely still be able to get some color of FP later in the afternoon.

If you don't want to chance it, then yes, you can order either a picnic or do a meal package. If you choose the picnic, you'll get the same color FP that they pass out for free from the machines. If you choose the dining package, you'll get a pass that allows you enter the preferred viewing area. In either case, yes, you should still line up about an hour before show time to ensure a good spot. So, that said, if you choose to do the dinner package, make sure you make a reservation for a time that will give you plenty of time to eat at an enjoyable pace and still line up about an hour before the show.

I want to note that others might comment that if you choose the preferred package, you can stroll up with 15 minutes to spare and still see. Yes, they are right, that absolutely COULD happen and you'd be lucky. But the other alternative is that you pay $40 per person for a dining package, but you show up too close to the start of the show, and there are plenty of tall people standing directly in front of you, or a family with little kids sitting on their parents shoulders, completely obstructing your $40 per person view. Not worth that gamble to me...

 

[DLR29]

Hi we will be in DCA on Thurday May 3rd. We will not be in the park till afternoon and I was wondering should we order the picnic for WOC or the sit down meal. Which one gives you a better viewing area? Do you need to line up super early even with these options? Any advice greatly needed. We will only be in this park on this day and I have to see WOC. This is a grown-up trip. No kiddies. Thanks, Gina D

1. Are you only going the Disneyland Resort for 1 day total? And thus, going to DCA only and not DL?
2. Or going for 2 and not getting park hoppers?
3. Or going for 3+ days and choosing not to hop?

If you're only going for 1 afternoon/day, then I wouldn't waste precious time on a sit-down meal even though the meal is nice. Like sonnyjane said, try and get a FP.

If you're doing option #2, I highly recommend getting park hoppers.

If you're doing option #3, I highly recommend taking advantage of your park hoppers.

Park hopping is SO easy at Disneyland. It really allows you to be more flexible with your park touring, plus it allows you to maximize FP usage because you can have a DL FP and a DCA FP at the same time.

Even if you still do not decide to park hop, I would go for the WoC FP unless you're doing option #3 and want to have a nice (but $) meal at Ariel's Grotto.

 

[HydroGuy]

Hi we will be in DCA on Thurday May 3rd. We will not be in the park till afternoon and I was wondering should we order the picnic for WOC or the sit down meal. Which one gives you a better viewing area? Do you need to line up super early even with these options? Any advice greatly needed. We will only be in this park on this day and I have to see WOC. This is a grown-up trip. No kiddies. Thanks, Gina D

Yes line up early no matter what. And I agree with DLR29 if you are on a day trip do not waste time on a meal. Moreover, WOC is not the best show to see on a day trip because of how much time it takes.

See "World of Color Superthread" www.disboards.com/showthread.php?p=37986447

 

[OFF TO WDW!]

What time will you be arriving? Since it's a weekday in the off-season, you will likely still be able to get some color of FP later in the afternoon.

If you don't want to chance it, then yes, you can order either a picnic or do a meal package. If you choose the picnic, you'll get the same color FP that they pass out for free from the machines.

QUOTE]

Reharding the picnic lunch, I called when inquiring about dining reserves and when I asked about the picnic lunch, they told me the pass that comes with the lunch has the area to go to and what time to be there. I am a little confused as I was led to believe that one of te percs of the box lunch is a pass that will let you get in with a window time frame.I'm guessing the times on the ticket are not scattered and everyone shows up early as possible?


So there is no benefit to buying the box lunch then?

Not sure what it is.


Thanks

 

[Geemo]

The benefit of the picnic box lunch IS YOU WILL HAVE A PASS!

We arrived mid day a couple of weeks ago and all the passes were gone.

On the day we knew we'd see WOC, we picked up our passes first thing in the morning.

I showed up 1.5 hours before the show to hold our place in the Que line. Once the Que opened, I went to where we felt would be a good spot for us. I saved enough spots for all of our group right in front, no obstructions at all. All the time the others continues to go on the rides having a fine time. As it got close to the show, I reeled in my group with a phone call. It worked nicely.

If you're only there for the one day, don't risk missing it. Get at least the picnic box. As someone else stated here "It's like a $15 fast pass for the World of Color" At the end of the program I'm sure you will feel it's money well spent.

 

[iheartdisney]

What time will you be arriving? Since it's a weekday in the off-season, you will likely still be able to get some color of FP later in the afternoon.

If you don't want to chance it, then yes, you can order either a picnic or do a meal package. If you choose the picnic, you'll get the same color FP that they pass out for free from the machines.

QUOTE]

Reharding the picnic lunch, I called when inquiring about dining reserves and when I asked about the picnic lunch, they told me the pass that comes with the lunch has the area to go to and what time to be there. I am a little confused as I was led to believe that one of te percs of the box lunch is a pass that will let you get in with a window time frame.I'm guessing the times on the ticket are not scattered and everyone shows up early as possible?


So there is no benefit to buying the box lunch then?

Not sure what it is.


Thanks

The box meal comes with a plain old Fastpass. The advantage of buying the picnic box is
A: the food is really yummy
B. If you want a Fastpass and don't want to stand in line
C. If you want a Fastpass and the machines are out.

 

[Eeee-va]

The benefit to buying a picnic lunch is that you get a guaranteed FP for World of Color. If you're showing up well after noon on a day when World of Color is just offered once, you MIGHT not be able to get a FP for viewing the show. (I would think you most likely could, but if it was an absolute must-see, I would be hesitant to risk it.) And you are getting food and a drink that in Disney terms is likely worth something like $8-$10. So assuming you can and will eat the lunch, I don't think it's a terrible deal, provided you cannot get to DCA early enough to get a Fastpass.

 

[sonnyjane]

Reharding the picnic lunch, I called when inquiring about dining reserves and when I asked about the picnic lunch, they told me the pass that comes with the lunch has the area to go to and what time to be there. I am a little confused as I was led to believe that one of the perks of the box lunch is a pass that will let you get in with a window time frame.I'm guessing the times on the ticket are not scattered and everyone shows up early as possible?


So there is no benefit to buying the box lunch then?

The CM on the phone was correct - each WOC fastpass has a time and location printed on it, but they are all the same time and location For example, for an 8 PM show, the yellow FP might read: "Line up between 7:15 and 7:45 PM near Grizzly River Rapids". That will be printed on EVERY yellow FP for the 8 PM show, so yes, everyone lines up at the same time. When we say line up an hour or so early, we mean get to the area near GRR (in this example) at 7:00 PM if you want to be in the front of the line-up. If you show up late, you'll be at the back of the line-up, and therefore have the last crack at the spots, whereas those that showed up when they started lining people up (and especially those that showed up early) will have the first crack. Now, they won't let people in TOO early, so if you showed up at 5 in the afternoon for some reason, you wouldn't be allowed to start waiting. When we say be around 90 minutes early, we mean in the area so that you can start lining up as soon as they open the staging areas.

 

[funhouse8]

OK, We are doing both parks but will not be getting a park-hopper. Just going in to DCA on Thursday and DL on Friday. We have been to both parks and I never seen WOC so this is on my list. I'm not sure of the time of arrival as we will be staying at my sisters in Big Bear beforehand and don't know how early we can make it. OK so that being said, I thought that my Sister and Hubby would enjoy a sit-down dinner but you are right about the time wasted. I think I will ask her what she would rather do and definitely get one or the other. This way I don't have to worry about seeing the show. We will have to get there early enough because my sister and are short. LOL I thought if we had the sit-down dinner we would get a better area but that doesn't seem the case. Am I right to assume this? Thanks for your replies,

 

[HydroGuy]

Reharding the picnic lunch, I called when inquiring about dining reserves and when I asked about the picnic lunch, they told me the pass that comes with the lunch has the area to go to and what time to be there. I am a little confused as I was led to believe that one of te percs of the box lunch is a pass that will let you get in with a window time frame.I'm guessing the times on the ticket are not scattered and everyone shows up early as possible?


So there is no benefit to buying the box lunch then?

Not sure what it is.


Thanks

From the WOC Superthread...

What are the main differences between World of Color Preferred Dining viewing, picnics, and regular FASTPASSes?

All of the viewing areas are standing only. There are a few benches here and there usually used by those less able to stand (e.g., the elderly).

o The Preferred Dining costs $35-40 per person and gets you a quality meal and entrance to the central viewing area (as shown in the viewing chart above and close-up map later in this post). The viewing spots are central to the show but do not think that if you stand here you will have a guaranteed good view. The quality of your spot depends on how tall you are and where you stand. See advice also below on getting a good spot in the preferred dining viewing area.

o The picnics get you a cold meal and a guaranteed FP to the yellow viewing section. That is all. Your FP has a different look than regular FPs but is functionally identical. You do not get admittance to the preferred dining section in the center or any special viewing area at all. You are mixed in with the regular free FP sections. The main advantage is you have guaranteed admittance to a specific show at a specific time and do not have to commit time to go into DCA in the morning to get regular FPs. You can show up really late for your picnics (like 6PM) and still be able to see WOC.

o Regular FPs are for blue, yellow or red sections. These are free. You cannot choose which color you get. If you go to the WOC (GRR) FP machines they give out one color at a time. If you want a different color section you have to come back later when that color is given out. But there are no specific times when each color is given out so which color is available depends on how busy the day is at DCA and when you happen to arrive. The way to find out which color FP is being distributed is to ask the CMs or just walk up and look at what other FP gatherers are actually getting.

See this excellent post by Disneyland 1951 for what the various WOC entrance tickets look like.

 

[starry_solo]

Consider doing the picnic or the dinner for the LAST show of the day. I did the meal at the Trattoria for the last show on a Thursday (spring break week in April 2011). There was a specific spot for us to stand at to be led to our viewing area and we arrived 10-15 minutes before the designated time. We were the 5th/6th people in line at that time.

 

[BNM]

We just did the WOC dining package last weds. It was great. I don't think the price of the meal was too bad, considering all we got, and my youngest was free. The amount of chocolate milk those kids drank was worth the 12 or whatever the kids dinner cost.

We ate dinner at 5 ( went quickly because the restaurant, Ariel's, was not busy). We got to ride tsmm before going to the viewing area about 45 min early. Then we ate the box of leftover desserts while we were waiting and the kids played with their light up toys I had brought.

I plan to do this again. The meal was great, and I loved the viewing section. You get a VIP feel as they usher you in. We had our choice of spots, as there were only about 4 groups in the reserved dining section when we got there. The section never filled up completely, so it was nice watching the show with a little breathing room. And the yellow section behind us was packed. If we had gotten the picnic like I was thinking of doing, my kids wouldnt have been able to see a thing.

So I highly recommend it. Next time I want to try wine country trattoria, and see the show from right up in front. We were up against the first railing back, and I found that the kids had some difficulty seeing over the people in front of us there.