Only if you want to eat at that venue anyways. Otherwise no.
Completely agree. We just got back from DL (my wife's first trip ever and my first visit since the late 80s), and WoC was definitely one of the highlights. However, the extra cost of dining package doesn't appear worth it. Here are a few items to consider:
- I had reserved a WoC dining pkg for Carthay Circle. However, it became clear once visiting DCA and looking at the set up in person (simultaneously referencing
Hydroguy's most excellent aerial shot contained on the first page of this thread), that paying extra was unnecessary.
- Once we showed for our reservation, we told them we no longer wanted the pkg deal which freed us to order anything (or less things since we're not huge eaters) off the menu.
- We had a 5:30 reservation (8:30 show) and showed up 15 minutes early. Though it didn't appear to be terribly crowded, we were not seated until nearly 6 p.m. The service was so slow that we didn't leave the restaurant until shortly after 8 p.m., nowhere near enough time to get a good viewing spot for WoC. Had we paid extra for the pkg, we'd have been very upset that we didn't get decent spots to watch WoC. As it was, we hung out toward the back and caught what we could see (we had yellow FPs but they were worthless by then).
- The next night, we went back with our FPs in hand, ate early at the Wine Country Tratorria (where we were rushed), and grabbed a prime spot in the yellow FP area.
**While I'm on the topic, I didn't research to see if you've mentioned it before,
HydroGuy, but the handicap areas have changed, at least the nights we were there. On the second night, when we lined up early at the yellow FP queue, they had wheelchair and ECV users and their families line up outside the main control rope line (the one that runs parallel to Ariel's building and is on the immediate left to the yellow queue). At 8:15 (15 mins prior to the show), CMs walked that group down the second yellow viewing ramp (
not the one closest to the water) to their own roped off HC area. For the next 15 minutes, anyone who showed up in a wheelchair or ECV were allowed through the ropes and shown to that same area. I assume they did the same thing on the blue FP side, as well, though I can't confirm it. If this has become standard practice, then your aerial map outline might need to be revised since the non-HC viewing area has shrunk. The HC area started about 8-10 feet past the steps that lead down to the yellow FP viewing area. FYI

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