World of Color Superthread

[skiingfast]

So i guess what i am asking is, is there an actual roped off line? & what would you say about holding spots for others?

Yes there is a roped off gathering area, where you wait to enter paradise park, the viewing area. In Paradise Park, it is also roped off to create different areas where you view from, versus the walking access.

Holding spots is a little different in this case versus the fireworks or a parade. OK to do, sure, but harder to do. Many people come in at once, a big mass flowing into the viewing area. So it might be better to all go in, cover your parties area, then have some leave( ask for your show passes as you leave, to return, to do other things. This is just to establish your place, because everyone comes in at once, places are found, and then you have time.

Where as with a parade places gradually fill in and it's easy to hold onto your territory as people slowly approach your opening area, you can fend them off one at a time.

 

[SpaceMania]

Yes there is a roped off gathering area, where you wait to enter paradise park, the viewing area. In Paradise Park, it is also roped off to create different areas where you view from, versus the walking access.

Holding spots is a little different in this case versus the fireworks or a parade. OK to do, sure, but harder to do. Many people come in at once, a big mass flowing into the viewing area. So it might be better to all go in, cover your parties area, then have some leave( ask for your show passes as you leave, to return, to do other things. This is just to establish your place, because everyone comes in at once, places are found, and then you have time.

Where as with a parade places gradually fill in and it's easy to hold onto your territory as people slowly approach your opening area, you can fend them off one at a time.

Ooh. I was under the impression that you wait in line for a long time and then are let into paradise park just before WOC starts. That makes more sense.

 

[skiingfast]

Ooh. I was under the impression that you wait in line for a long time and then are let into paradise park just before WOC starts. That makes more sense.

When you get your Show Pass, it will have return window that's 1 hour long just like a regular FP.

So your ticket may say for example 9pm Show with a return of 7:30 to 8:30pm. People will be let in to Paradise Park about 7:15. So you can see how this could equate to a 1hour 45minute wait. So I'd suggest getting there at 7:15, find a spot along a rail, then in 10 minutes it will be filled in around you. Some people leave getting thier Show Pass back at the top of Paradise Park. They can do a ride or two, use the restroom or get food ect...Just be careful because Screemin, Little Mermaid, and Toy Story may all have significant lines that could make it hard to get back for show time.

 

[SpaceMania]

When you get your Show Pass, it will have return window that's 1 hour long just like a regular FP.

So your ticket may say for example 9pm Show with a return of 7:30 to 8:30pm. People will be let in to Paradise Park about 7:15. So you can see how this could equate to a 1hour 45minute wait. So I'd suggest getting there at 7:15, find a spot along a rail, then in 10 minutes it will be filled in around you. Some people leave getting thier Show Pass back at the top of Paradise Park. They can do a ride or two, use the restroom or get food ect

Okay, this makes so much more sense now. We will all get there 15 minutes before the return time to get our spot and then i'll wait while they go do whatever. Thanks so much for the clarification!

 

[skiingfast]

Coming at different times to DLR and need your WoC Show Passes?

This question comes up now and then and I had to deal with it too on my last visit. I was getting to the park early, my friend coming after work. How do we get the same show time. Normally I would get my FP then buy a picnic for the late arrival person or people, timing my time to all get the same show that the picnic tickets would provide.

Found out, if your group has a split arrival. Early people get thier Show Passes. Late people come in activate thier tickets on entry. Go to WoC Show Pass distribution area by GRR with someone from the early group. Show the Show Pass recieved earlier and ask CM for same color/time for late arrival people. CM will write out, not just use the machine, to make matching color/time ticket for the late arrivals.

Will work if.
1. Somone got a regular Show Pass.
2. Later arrivals have activated thier tickets, hoppers or AP's by entering a park.
3. CM indicates they must still be distributing show passes at GRR.

 

[sherette7769]

Coming at different times to DLR and need your WoC Show Passes?

This question comes up now and then and I had to deal with it too on my last visit. I was getting to the park early, my friend coming after work. How do we get the same show time. Normally I would get my FP then buy a picnic for the late arrival person or people, timing my time to all get the same show that the picnic tickets would provide.

Found out, if your group has a split arrival. Early people get thier Show Passes. Late people come in activate thier tickets on entry. Go to WoC Show Pass distribution area by GRR with someone from the early group. Show the Show Pass recieved earlier and ask CM for same color/time for late arrival people. CM will write out, not just use the machine, to make matching color/time ticket for the late arrivals.

Will work if.
1. Somone got a regular Show Pass.
2. Later arrivals have activated thier tickets, hoppers or AP's by entering a park.
3. CM indicates they must still be distributing show passes at GRR.

Nice to know that there may be an option to be able to see the show together. Thanks!

 

[Disneyland 1951]

UPDATES FROM JULY 1, 2011

These are the changes from the July 1, performance of the 4th of July Pre-show. There are quite a few changes, improvements for most people (BLUE or Non-Fastpass holders), and very bad for the Preferred Dining Fastpass holders that do not arrive very early.

PREFERRED DINING Area was again reduced by eliminating the Upper Stairs to Yellow and Blue, and the Flat round Fountain and area behind the lamps were changed to YELLOW ??? The Preferred Dining area was oversold and anyone arriving later than 45 minutes before the show, had a spot worse than many of the Free Fastpass areas. This will make late arriving PD ($40) less than happy. It may be that they are selling fewer PD meals.
BLUE The Entrance was moved from in front of the Mermaid entrance towards the bridge. The Lower areas became PD, the old entrance became an early exit. The upper areas towards the center are easy to get to if you line up early (25 min before the earliest time listed).
YELLOW Is greatly expanded to include the flat area and the area behind two lights that was a bad spot for PD. Just past it towards the Bridge is about 10' of good viewing area!

NEW NON_FASTPASS STANDING They have added standing room in front of the Mermaid Ride and behind BLUE in front of the Red Tower. These are OK views, you will not see as much as if you are at the better Fastpass spots, and fill in 30-45 minutes before show time. A big improvement for those without Fastpasses.

 

[HydroGuy]

UPDATES FROM JULY 1, 2011

These are the changes from the July 1, performance of the 4th of July Pre-show. There are quite a few changes, improvements for most people (BLUE or Non-Fastpass holders), and very bad for the Preferred Dining Fastpass holders that do not arrive very early.

PREFERRED DINING Area was again reduced by eliminating the Upper Stairs to Yellow and Blue, and the Flat round Fountain and area behind the lamps were changed to YELLOW ??? The Preferred Dining area was oversold and anyone arriving later than 45 minutes before the show, had a spot worse than many of the Free Fastpass areas. This will make late arriving PD ($40) less than happy. It may be that they are selling fewer PD meals.
BLUE The Entrance was moved from in front of the Mermaid entrance towards the bridge. The Lower areas became PD, the old entrance became an early exit. The upper areas towards the center are easy to get to if you line up early (25 min before the earliest time listed).
YELLOW Is greatly expanded to include the flat area and the area behind two lights that was a bad spot for PD. Just past it towards the Bridge is about 10' of good viewing area!

NEW NON_FASTPASS STANDING They have added standing room in front of the Mermaid Ride and behind BLUE in front of the Red Tower. These are OK views, you will not see as much as if you are at the better Fastpass spots, and fill in 30-45 minutes before show time. A big improvement for those without Fastpasses.

Thanks for the update but folks like me are confused whether you think this is permanent or only for the 4th weekend?

 

[Disneyland 1951]

Thanks for the update but folks like me are confused whether you think this is permanent or only for the 4th weekend?

Things that I believe are permanent are:
BLUE: The entrance change away from the Mermaid ride entrance.
PERFERRED DINING: Changing the upper stairs to BLUE and YELLOW.
NON-Fastpass Standing areas (Now that the walls in front of Mermaid are gone) there is room for this and between BLUE and the Red Tower, this makes sense, and adds a lot of OK viewing.

Things the Puzzle me?
Having YELLOW fill in the circular area that was PD allows a lot more people into this area. However, instead of having 60-80 uncrowded PD viewers they have 300 very crowded into the area, because this is flat when the show starts 20-30 kids go up on sholders blocking the view behind!

PERFERRED DINING: Now only the very front has an excellant view, and holds only 40-50 viewers! The areas that are were BLUE are not the best & late arriving Guests that paid a lot of money, are shortchanged.

CAST TRAINING
WOC is one of the last places you would want to work, therefore it is mostly new less skilled Cast members. They are nice, but often have conflicting instructions and incomplete training. (Using Blue Fashlights to guide you to YELLOW, allowing Non-Handicapped to fill up the benches early, allowing kids on sholders, etc.) They allow nearly anyone to switch to another area. Since they take your colored pass when you enter, they have to depend on the honesty of the Guests (Bad Idea). This is especially bad in PD and Handicapped areas.

I don't know everything but observe a lot...
There are other items I did not mention because they are minor or I could not verify__
Eg: For the 2nd show they were having people with RED Fastpasses enter the Redwood Creek trail --- Is there an exit to the gates between the corndogs and Mermaid ride?

 

[HydroGuy]

Things that I believe are permanent are:
BLUE: The entrance change away from the Mermaid ride entrance.
PERFERRED DINING: Changing the upper stairs to BLUE and YELLOW.
NON-Fastpass Standing areas (Now that the walls in front of Mermaid are gone) there is room for this and between BLUE and the Red Tower, this makes sense, and adds a lot of OK viewing.

Things the Puzzle me?
Having YELLOW fill in the circular area that was PD allows a lot more people into this area. However, instead of having 60-80 uncrowded PD viewers they have 300 very crowded into the area, because this is flat when the show starts 20-30 kids go up on sholders blocking the view behind!

PERFERRED DINING: Now only the very front has an excellant view, and holds only 40-50 viewers! The areas that are were BLUE are not the best & late arriving Guests that paid a lot of money, are shortchanged.

CAST TRAINING
WOC is one of the last places you would want to work, therefore it is mostly new less skilled Cast members. They are nice, but often have conflicting instructions and incomplete training. (Using Blue Fashlights to guide you to YELLOW, allowing Non-Handicapped to fill up the benches early, allowing kids on sholders, etc.) They allow nearly anyone to switch to another area. Since they take your colored pass when you enter, they have to depend on the honesty of the Guests (Bad Idea). This is especially bad in PD and Handicapped areas.

I don't know everything but observe a lot...
There are other items I did not mention because they are minor or I could not verify__
Eg: For the 2nd show they were having people with RED Fastpasses enter the Redwood Creek trail --- Is there an exit to the gates between the corndogs and Mermaid ride?

I just did PD on June 23 myself so was a little too early to see this - but did notice how the LM ride was changing things and how the CMs did not control people from that area very well.

If you or anyone else can confirm after July 4 the permanency of these changes I will get the OP updated.

THANKS!!!

 

[Kbutl]

I have read the thread and haven't seen this addressed (which likely means it's a non-issue, but would like to be sure). I am a WDW vet, who will be making my first west coast Disney adventure soon.

Will be at DLR in a few weeks, planning on getting picnic package for WoC and originally planned to see first show (kids may not make it for later show). The thought was brought up by others traveling with me, that maybe the later show would be better from a "it'll be darker and the show will look better" perspective. Any thoughts about this? Aside from needing to get there to stake out a spot in assigned color area later, is there a benefit to the later show?

 

[HydroGuy]

I have read the thread and haven't seen this addressed (which likely means it's a non-issue, but would like to be sure). I am a WDW vet, who will be making my first west coast Disney adventure soon.

Will be at DLR in a few weeks, planning on getting picnic package for WoC and originally planned to see first show (kids may not make it for later show). The thought was brought up by others traveling with me, that maybe the later show would be better from a "it'll be darker and the show will look better" perspective. Any thoughts about this? Aside from needing to get there to stake out a spot in assigned color area later, is there a benefit to the later show?

Hey I saw WOC on June 23 just the week before last and that was just 2 days after the the longest day of the year. It was totally dark well before the 9PM show. So this is a non-issue.

The issue with the 10:15 show is how active the day was and are you bone tired, do you have kids in your group who may be especially tired, and did you get an afternoon break that day to cool off and maybe nap? If not then the weariness issue detracts from the show IMO.

 

[Kbutl]

That is what I thought. Thanks for giving an experienced fan's perspective!

 

[PoohNFriends]

Things that I believe are permanent are:
BLUE: The entrance change away from the Mermaid ride entrance.
PERFERRED DINING: Changing the upper stairs to BLUE and YELLOW.
NON-Fastpass Standing areas (Now that the walls in front of Mermaid are gone) there is room for this and between BLUE and the Red Tower, this makes sense, and adds a lot of OK viewing.

Things the Puzzle me?
Having YELLOW fill in the circular area that was PD allows a lot more people into this area. However, instead of having 60-80 uncrowded PD viewers they have 300 very crowded into the area, because this is flat when the show starts 20-30 kids go up on sholders blocking the view behind!

PERFERRED DINING: Now only the very front has an excellant view, and holds only 40-50 viewers! The areas that are were BLUE are not the best & late arriving Guests that paid a lot of money, are shortchanged.

CAST TRAINING
WOC is one of the last places you would want to work, therefore it is mostly new less skilled Cast members. They are nice, but often have conflicting instructions and incomplete training. (Using Blue Fashlights to guide you to YELLOW, allowing Non-Handicapped to fill up the benches early, allowing kids on sholders, etc.) They allow nearly anyone to switch to another area. Since they take your colored pass when you enter, they have to depend on the honesty of the Guests (Bad Idea). This is especially bad in PD and Handicapped areas.

I don't know everything but observe a lot...
There are other items I did not mention because they are minor or I could not verify__
Eg: For the 2nd show they were having people with RED Fastpasses enter the Redwood Creek trail --- Is there an exit to the gates between the corndogs and Mermaid ride?

I definitely agree the non-fastpass standing area will stay; it was there when we went the beginning of May and the construction walls for Little Mermaid we still up. Can't lend my opinion to how I feel about any of the other changes since we didn't show up early and just grabbed a spot near the fire hydrant/VIP area. I will say it would be nice if they could adjust the size of the VIP area depending on how full it gets because there was a ton of unused space and apparently is the only area the CM's have sufficient training on who to let in.

 

[Larissa]

Hello,
In high season (as in this coming Thursday ) how early does one need to be in order to get a WOC fastpass from the machines?
In addition, with either the regular fastpass or the preferred dining area, how early does one need to 'not wait' around that area to get a good spot? I am pretty short and want to be able to see!

 

[HydroGuy]

Hello,
In high season (as in this coming Thursday ) how early does one need to be in order to get a WOC fastpass from the machines?
In addition, with either the regular fastpass or the preferred dining area, how early does one need to 'not wait' around that area to get a good spot? I am pretty short and want to be able to see!

Did you read the first post?

 

[Larissa]

Yes, I have now.

 

[cmwade77]

I have also posted something about this to the disability forum, but it is probably best to get the information into this thread.

They have moved all of the reserved wheelchair viewing and all of the ban he's to the very back. This was done soley for the CMs convenience. Don't believe me? Check out the YouTube video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SREvfKTimsI

Please pardon the video quality, I was holding on the conversation, not looking at the camera.

Please note that wheelchairs are allowed in all sections, but generally must enter at the same time as everyone else, who WILL run over people with canes, walkers, in wheel chairs, etc. We made a big enough stink that the boss of the lady in this video did at least allow our party to go in first (one person with a cane, one with a walker and me with a bum knee. Some would ask why wouldn't we rent wheelchairs or ECVs? The answer is the more we do for ourselves, the longer we all will be able to keep doing stuff for ourselves, the more we give in, the faster our bodies will give up, it's a basic fact of life). Unfortunately thus still meant that for my wife (who could not stand for the length of the show) that she still missed about 50% of the show.

Now, I could understand if somehow they were providing a safer experience or a better view, but they flat out admitted that it was for their convienence, so needless to say I am a little ticked. I am even more upset that we paid for a picnic lunch to get a good fast pass and my wife couldn't see a good portion of the show (even though she would have been able to do somhad they left things as they were previously).

Also, as for kids on people's shoulders, I specifically asked if they make sure that people do not put kids on their shoulders and was flat-out toldthat they are allowed to do so in all sections, well this further blocks the view of those in wheelchairs and that need the benches. This came from the boss of the lady in the video (I do have that recorded as wel, but have not posted it, as it was mostly him at least allowing us to go in first, which given the power he had was about the best I could expect him to do).

 

[momof2beautys]

We attended the 9:00 show of WOC on June 23rd. We arrived at 8:15. All the railing spots were taken. We looked for the firehydrant spot but did not find it at first. Thankfully, once we spotted it, it was still available. My husband doubted wether this was going to be a good spot ot not and I assured him my Disboard friends would not let us down The show was great and my husband said the spot was great as well. The girls could see fine because the people in front of us (on the other side of the fencing) were all sitting down on the benches. I don't feel like we missed anything- we had a great center view. Thanks so much for helping to make this a great experience for us!

 

[HydroGuy]

We attended the 9:00 show of WOC on June 23rd. We arrived at 8:15. All the railing spots were taken. We looked for the firehydrant spot but did not find it at first. Thankfully, once we spotted it, it was still available. My husband doubted wether this was going to be a good spot ot not and I assured him my Disboard friends would not let us down The show was great and my husband said the spot was great as well. The girls could see fine because the people in front of us (on the other side of the fencing) were all sitting down on the benches. I don't feel like we missed anything- we had a great center view. I have attached a pic of our spot and one from the show. Thanks so much for helping to make this a great experience for us!

We saw the June 23 9PM WOC show too! We had preferred dining section that night.