World of Waiting

Aimee and I went to Disneyland on Friday with one specific goal:  to see "World of Color," the new water show at Disney (no possessive anymore for some odd reason) California Adventure.  From what we had heard, it would be necessary to come hours before the park opened so we could wait to get the fastpasses for the show.  So we did that.  We were there at 7:30AM and had to wait for the parking structure to open at 8.  Then, after a short tram ride, we camped ourselves in line in front of the DCA gates until 9:30.  They attempted to herd us like cattle up to Grizzly River Run to get the fastpasses, but some people (mostly adult males) insisted on breaking the rules and sprinting through crowds of people to get there first.  After that, we waited until 10 for the park to actually open so we could go on Toy Story Midway Mania.  So roughly two hours of waiting.

Fast forward to 7PM.  Aimee and I finished dinner and decided to go early to see if people were lining up (the fastpass said to return between 7:30 and 8:30).  Turns out probably half of the people were already there.  We stood around not quite knowing where to go or what to do, so we just stood there.  Around 7:25, they let us into the viewing area.  We were in the blue section, and we decided not to go right to the front level since you get we there.  However, we found our view blocked by a lamp, so we moved into the splash zone. Once there, we spent almost the entire time standing while waiting 9PM to roll around.  So, roughly another two hours spent waiting, this time mostly standing.  One bright spot was that we were standing next to some cool people who made the wait a lot more tolerable.

In the end, after all the waiting and confusion, the show just didn't feel worth the wait.  The technology was amazing, don't get me wrong, but a lot of things took place low to the water, so we were blocked by taller people in front of us.  Some people were forced to put their kids on their shoulders, which I'm sure made it harder for people in back to see.  Mainly, though, the show's content is where we were let down.  Even though the show was planned with little organization in mind, the attempts that they made at structuring the show did not feel very effective.  For example, they included two songs from "The Little Mermaid" (probably to get people excited for the ride) yet only a short medley of songs from "Pocahontas."  Also, they spent a good portion of the show building up tension by showing evil characters, but the end catharsis was extremely brief.  We didn't leave feeling satisfied, not like we do after seeing "Fantasmic" or "Remember:  Dreams Come True."  On the whole, it wasn't an experience I'd recommend to anyone.  Pay extra for reserved seating or wait until the crowds thin out.