A Wonderful World of Color

A Wonderful World of Color was written by our fabulous guest blogger Kelsey Lubetich.

Ladies and Gentlemen, drum roll please… After years of hype and anticipation, today marks the start of World of Color, the new nighttime water spectacular that takes place in Paradise Bay at Disney California Adventure in Anaheim.  The 27-minute show debuts tonight after nearly five years of planning including two spent in construction.  I’ve had the privilege of watching the show take shape the past two years as Paradise Bay was drained, the huge show platform constructed, the bay refilled, and then the endless tinkering and testing of fountains that seemed to go on forever.  I, along with many others, had my doubts about this show all along.  World of Color is part of the extensive California Adventure revitalization that includes a redesigned entrance to the park and a new land.  I have been complaining of World of Color’s impending doom for a while, but now I have to say that I was wrong.

I was lucky enough to be given a companion ticket to last Sunday’s Cast Member Dress Rehearsal and let me tell you, this show is worth the wait.  Granted, I was still right about some things, you will get wet if you are anywhere near the fountains and the whole thing is a crowd control nightmare, but the show is awe-inspiring and will make you want to come back for another look.

Disney built a new viewing area, Paradise Park, for World of Color but sadly it doesn’t hold the mystical 9,000 people they were hoping for- the actual number seems to have been downsized to 6,000.  Paradise Park is lovely during the day; the sidewalks are separated by planters bursting with rose bushes while benches and umbrellas offer a nice place to relax when children want to cool off in the interactive water fountain.  Paradise Park presents the best view of World of Color as the show was designed to be viewed from, and only from, the Park.  I won’t even be bothering to see the show from Paradise Pier or any of the other spots that will be crammed with people; it would be like seeing a play from behind the curtain.  That said, here are a few ways that you can get a spot in Paradise Park:

1. Get a World of Color FASTPASS ticket.  FASTPASSes will be distributed from Grizzly River Run’s terminals beginning at park opening until they’re gone, which is bound to be quickly.  The FASTPASS will list your colored viewing location and corresponds to a specific section of Paradise Park, where you will have a reserved space to stand.  The tickets supposedly give out random sections but I can’t tell you which section offers the best view at the moment.
2. Purchase a “World of Color” Picnic Meal.  These boxed meals can be purchased online or in the park and give you dinner along with a spot to see World of Color.  There are four different adult meal options and three choices for kids.  Purchasing online guarantees a spot for the first show at 9 pm while purchasing in the park gives you a spot at the second 10:15 pm show.
3. Book a Prix Fixe “World of Color” Dinner.  California Adventure’s two sit down restaurants, Wine Country Trattoria and Ariel’s Grotto, will be offering pricier options of a nice dinner and a World of Color spot to boot.

I’ve summarized the information that can be found in complete form on the Disney Parks Blog here.  It is interesting to note that the FASTPASS and Picnic Meal options mention “reserved viewing” for the show while the Prix Fixe comes with “Preferred Viewing.”  Do you get a better view for spending bigger bucks?  We’ll have to see where the paying customers get to view the show compared to the FASTPASS masses.  My bet is that the Prix Fixe will get the best view, and even though I don’t know where the viewing area is, I’ve already booked a dinner reservation for my family later this month.

Last Sunday at my showing, my FASTPASS was for the Blue viewing location, which ended up being the left side of Paradise Park if you’re facing the water.  We scored a spot on the wooden boardwalk that makes up the first tier closest to the water and walked all the way to the edge of our section near the middle of the Park.  My spot ended up being nearly smack dab in the middle of Paradise Park and I was the third person from the water’s edge; I don’t think we could have gotten a better spot in our section.  Our wait to get to our spot didn’t go as smoothly; crowd control was being ironed out with these Dress Rehearsals and not even the CMs on duty knew where we were supposed to go.  I’m crossing my fingers that crowd control goes more smoothly tonight during the debut.  I don’t think it will ever go perfectly- the potential for disgruntled guests who don’t get a spot in Paradise Park is high- but I hope it goes well.  We also heard tell of the Orange section, which guaranteed a viewing spot from the bridge leading to Paradise Pier.  Clearly it was never meant to be an official section and was created to deal with the capacity problems of Paradise Park.  I would be complaining if I were stuck in this section, because it offers side views of the show that I feel will be mediocre at best.

While we were waiting for the show to start, a voice notified us that due to the nature of this performance, those nearest the water might get wet.  As I pointed out all along, large fountains and wind aren’t a happy combination and we did indeed get wet.  For the majority of the show I was showered with a constant mist that was easy enough to squint against.  At one point, however, we really thought it was raining.  It was a cloudy night so it actually could have been raining, but it turns out those “raindrops” falling on my head were just an extra treat from the fountains.  My face was momentarily dried off whenever there were fire effects in the show- those things are hot- but I was quickly misted again.  At the end of the show my hair and shoulders were damp and took a while to dry.  I wouldn’t go so far as to wear a poncho during the show, which apparently they are now selling beforehand, but I’m going to make sure to have a light jacket whenever I see World of Color.

At this point I’m sure you’re sick of hearing me talk about FASTPASSes and crowd control and want me to answer the question you’ve been dying to know- how was the show?!  Because I don’t want to spoil the Disney magic, I’m not going to give away too many details.  I want you to experience World of Color for yourself when you venture into my favorite parks over here so very far away on the West Coast.  I will tell you this: once the show started, I couldn’t stop watching.  There were so many things to look at: the 4 Fantasmic-esq water screens, hundreds of fountains, lights and colors, lasers, fog, fire, projections, and more lit up Paradise Bay in a World of Color.  The films highlighted in the show are weighted towards the animated features of the 90s along with the Pixar films of today, but a few classics are thrown in the mix too.  The only live-action film used was Pirates, which I thought was out of place next to all the animated films.  I also thought that they might have left out the more traditional princesses, but they were all there during the montage of the second to last song.

I was pleasantly surprised by how much I liked World of Color, but I do have a few complaints.  The first and largest complaint: World of Color lacks a connecting thread between its individual songs.  It does not deal with Wishes or the dark power that invades Mickey’s dreams and the show suffers because of it.  The pieces are all wonderful on their own, but they need to be woven together to create a Wonderful World of Color.  Second: the show may be a tad bit too long.  Now I know that Disneyland’s version of Fantasmic! is 22 minutes long while DHS’s is nearly as long as World of Color at 26 minutes, but World of Color is a standing room only show and my feet we sore by the end of it, not to mention from the hours of waiting beforehand.  And with no connecting thread besides “color”, those 27 minutes seemed more like a hodgepodge of color than a world of it.

If you’re disappointed by that last paragraph know this, I’m sure I will see World of Color many more times in the future even though I have small complaints about it.  I am amazed by the show as it is- I know I missed things during my first viewing because there was so much to see.  I just wish that for all Disney did with this show, they could have done just a little bit more to truly light up Paradise Bay with Walt Disney’s Wonderful World of Color.

Now, what do you think?  Are you dying to take a trip out to the Disneyland Resort to see World of Color firsthand?  Will this change your view of Disney California Adventure?