Tours Departing Daily

For those who may not know, Disneyland celebrated its 55th birthday on Saturday.  It was a lot of fun and very hot.  In all that heat, getting passes for World of Color seemed a good idea.  We didn’t bring our cameras to the show this time, and got ourselves right up in front of the water.  Each of us noticed a ton of details we had never seen before.  It’s a different experience each time we see the show, which always seems to get us even more excited for the next time.  The mist factor was a lot less than I was expecting with being so close, but it felt really good after all the sun exposure we had gotten.  This shot is one of my favorite parts in World of Color.  It comes shortly before the end of the show, and the lasers that generate the words are just so vibrant and crisp.  If you get a chance to get to the show and don’t mind getting a little wet, I strongly recommend getting as close to the water and the middle as you can.  The view is spectacular.

I forget just how many colors you witness when watching World of Color, but it’s mind boggling.  If you have a favorite color, even if it’s obscure, chances are that it’s there.  One after the other, colors flash and dance across Paradise Bay in cascading jets of water.  Sometimes you think you’ve got it figured out, but you don’t.  There’s so much going on, it keeps the fluttering feeling of anticipation constant.  This weekend I will have the opportunity to watch this show with some of my family who haven’t seen it yet.  I’m pretty sure that I’m more excited to see them watch for their first time than they are.  The smiles, laughter, and joy are the most magical things Disney shares with us.

I think one of my favorite things about World of Color is the fact that like so many things Disney, once is not enough.  You can’t possibly see everything or hear everything, in just one viewing.  It’s far too expansive.  Even if you’re not fortunate enough to find yourself in one of the premier viewing areas of Paradise Park, the areas surrounding Paradise Bay offer different perspectives, still well worth your while.  We actually watched the show for our second time across the bay in front of Midway Mania, which offered us a vantage point of the eighth wonder of the world, the backside of water!  Yes, I went there.  Maybe the experience isn’t for everyone, as you really cannot see much of the animation.  But I found the withdrawn setting peaceful.  The show certainly retains its enormity from this perspective, and the you can still feel the heat from the fire.  Oh yes, there’s fire.

I had no idea what to expect when we brought our cameras to shoot pictures of World of Color.  Because an HDR image is a composite, it’s much easier for editing to take pictures of objects that don’t move much, if at all.  World of Color is constantly moving and changing, particularly in light levels.  So I decided to take my best guess for camera settings and just keep shooting.  After all, something had to turn out.  To my surprise and delight, it went very well.  Taking multiple pictures and combining them created a much more true to life result than a single image could.  The show is truly breathtaking, and if you haven’t had a chance to see it yet you are in for a real treat.  Just make sure to get your Fast Pass for it early in the morning for the best view!