Today at Disney's California Adventure: Glow Fest, World of Color, and More!
We spent some time at Disneyland today, in honor of the park's 55th anniversary weekend, but we spent most of our visit at Disney's California Adventure.
The parks were strangely uncrowded for a Friday in July. Perhaps the high temperatures kept people away. After sailing onto a parking lot tram and through security, we decided to see if perhaps there were still tickets available for the World of Color show...there were!
The tickets were for the late show, and we figured we'd just go home if we were tired, since seeing World of Color wasn't in our original plans. We ended up having such a fun evening that we did stay all the way through the World of Color show.
The Silly Symphony Swings is now a delightful old-fashioned boardwalk ride set to the William Tell Overture. The concept is that riders are swept away by a storm like in the old Mickey Mouse cartoon THE BAND CONCERT. There are even lightning effects at night.
A detail from the ride:
We tried out the new Dino Darts game which is now part of Toy Story Midway Mania:
Lots of new things to see in the Blue Sky Cellar! The Goofy's Sky School remake of Mulholland Madness looks like it should be a lot of fun:
Paradise Pier as it will look in the future:
Then it was time for the Glow Fest performance at Sunshine Plaza, which started at dusk:
We thought the Bollywood-style "Indian" dancers were terrific. (The other set of dancers were a little too "out there" for us -- terrible costumes.) The skill and energy of the Indian dancers was extremely impressive.
When the show ends after dark, the crowd follows the dancers to the Hollywood Pictures backlot area for a street party with music and dancing along with glow in the dark decor:
We were frankly surprised by how much we enjoyed Glow Fest. We started out as skeptics. The decor looks garish during the day...
...and we weren't thrilled by the idea of bars set up selling alcoholic beverages in the middle of the street. (We suspect the high prices kept very many people from purchasing drinks, and we didn't notice a smell of liquor.) But everywhere we looked, people were having fun, including us! The high-energy dancers did a good job of interacting with guests and especially encouraging little children to dance. We saw many families having a great time together. What initially seemed as if it might be just a little too "edgy" for a Disney park instead turned out to be a real pleasure.
(Update: Here's an L.A. Times review I just found. The reviewer was also quite surprised to realize the Glow Fest concept is a success.)
It's rather interesting that Disney's own surveys found that guests have rated the Glow Fest experience higher than the World of Color show.
I'll be sharing my thoughts on the World of Color show in a separate review.
All in all, it was a great day!
posted by Laura @ 11:56 PM
3 Comments:
I also liked the Indian dancers for the beginning of Glow Fest but not so much the other dancers. I did not stay for the early part of Glow Fest in the street but went back later around 9:30. I wasn't so much impressed. The heavy ongoing beat was a bit too much for me. I have friends with 2 young daughters who were absolutely appalled by it and ran into several people you had had too much to drink. Needless to say, they disliked it a bunch! I'm going to try seeing the earlier part of the street part next week.
The experience your friend had running into people who had had too much to drink is a big reason we were skeptics. That should *never* be a concern in a Disney park. We ran into no problems the night we were there, but I would be quite happy if they removed the bars. They could put in a couple different food trucks with different menus instead. :)
Best wishes,
Laura
I hear the food from the trucks is quite good and hope to try some!
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