If you've been to DCA over the summer since World of Color premiered, then you've seen a noticeable change in the atmosphere...
It's not just the legion of walls or visible details. The new nighttime show has changed the perspective of how most people view the Disneyland Resort's Second Gate. The show has made people who never thought about coming under those ugly entryways take the journey past them. And when here, many of them have actually liked much of what they've found. Don't worry and think that the Suits are now going to stop the Extreme Makeover because it's not needed. That's not the perception. If anything, this will help Imagineers when asking for a few extra bucks for a project. It may even restore a few lost details that have been pushed back.
But back to that atmosphere. I've heard a lot of people that have seen WOC actually say they preferred it to Fantasmic!, which I never thought I'd hear. Now, I'm not saying it's better or worse, I like both shows for different reasons. One is enclosed and intimate with stage performers and the other is large in scale and filled with technological wonders. I know some people are upset at the lack of narrative elements to the show, but Steve Davison's show still has a story. It's changed since the testing phase where certain things worked and others that they thought would, didn't. The character that pulled all those scenes together, Squirt, still makes a muted, but surprising appearance. But the show is divided into emotional themes. Five themes to be specific: Adventure, Friendship, Courage, Fear and Love. I won't break them apart scene by scene, but if you watch the show, you'll be able to tell where one theme ends and the other transitions in. And the park's water extravaganza isn't the only thing that is transitioning here.
Come next week, Disney's Wall Land goes into high gear, and it doesn't let the pedal off the gas until well into next year. The front entrance will go under the knife at the beginning of the year, and guest will enter/exit through that side entrance into the Golden State area. The next couple of years are going to be more confusing and difficult as people are prompted in all directions as they avoid the massive amount of construction. But when the walls come down at varying times, between April of next year and the April after that, a lot will have changed in this park. And it'll be a Disney Park, a decade later than it should, but it'll finally be here.
What you've been seeing in the parks for the last two months is just a preview...
