I thought this was a great story I read on the Disney Insider and wanted to share it with all of you to determine the winner. Here is what Disney put out to compare and choose:
We take our nighttime Disney Parks entertainment seriously—that’s just one reason why it’s always a conundrum when having to choose between Disneyland Park’s Fantasmic! and Disney California Adventure Park’s World of Color. The struggle is real. Luckily for you, dear reader, we decided to put these two nighttime spectaculars to the test (all in good fun, of course) in order to find the true winner.
But first, a little background…
Fantasmic!: The forces of good and evil battle in Mickey’s dream during this extravagant musical, pyrotechnic spectacular!
World of Color: Watch images of characters come to life on a veil of mist, while water form fanciful shapes in time to memorable music.
For purposes of this battle, we will judge the shows based off of the three F’s: Fountains, Fire, and Finale.
Ready? Set? Here we go!
Fountains
Fantasmic!: Three separate lighting rigs holding digital projectors rise out of the banks of New Orleans Square and Frontierland to project our favorite Disney characters on giant man-made water screens! These water screens shoot 30 feet high at over 800 gallons of water per minute.
World of Color: More than 1,200 beautiful, dazzling, and cascading fountains shoot water between 30-200 feet in the air and dance along to an incredibly diverse array of classic and contemporary Disney music. These are some of the most technologically-sophisticated fountains that have ever been built, and require nearly an acre of engineering superstructure to raise the lower the fountains into the lagoon. Besides being used for World of Color, the fountains are also used during daytime performances of Instant Concert … Just Add Water.
While Fantasmic! featured amazing fountains before they were cool, World of Color features a labyrinth of technological fountain wizardry that simply can’t be beat. The fountains are also incredibly powerful, in some cases even going higher than Mickey’s Fun Wheel!
Fire
World of Color: Five words. Pirates. Of. The. Caribbean. Sequence. No one can resist the incredible heat that several flamethrowers put off as they twirl around in a fiery inferno. It is a welcome relief from the frigid Paradise Lagoon water—and it is glorious.
Fantasmic!: If you haven’t seen Fantasmic!, you’re going to want to take a seat. This gets intense.
Let’s take this step by step.
1) Fire-breathing dragon breathes fire onto the Rivers of America.
2) The Rivers of America actually catch on fire. Yes, the WATER becomes ablaze.
3) Mickey Mouse fights the fire-breathing dragon with FIREWORKS.
You can’t make this stuff up.
Finale
Fantasmic!: “You use your might to fight in the light, creating a night of wondrous dreams!”
Fantasmic’s finale is…well…fantastic! Fireworks, fountains, fire, and most importantly, the Mark Twain Riverboat with Mickey Mouse at its helm! It’s pretty spectacular. We get goosebumps seeing the boat bathed in that enchanting purple light chugging its way around the river; fireworks in the background as spotlights zoom around the sky. The show ends in a spectacular green pyrotechnic finale that can be seen from miles away. It is simply magical.
World of Color: The finale to end all finales. Tinker Bell illuminates swirling fountains around the lagoon with an enormous palette of ‘wonderful, wonderful color’. A reprise of World of Color is heard as our favorite Disney characters relive their happily ever afters on the giant water screens. The show concludes in a colossal crescendo of lights, water, fire, and lasers… and then all goes dark. It is an abrupt and sudden switch back to reality as guests realize the full extent of the mist that has been showering them for the past half hour.
But it was all worth it.
So What’s the Verdict?
Long story short, we can’t choose. Both took an army of imagineers, electricians, technicians, and musicians to create. They have both dazzled guests with the incredibly innovative water and lighting features, and have cultivated an incredibly loyal following.
We thought we should leave the final decision to YOU. Fantasmic! or World of Color? Let us know in the comments below!
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I LOVE world of color and think the area where Fantasmic is would be a perfect venue especially because of the seats. The worst part of world of color is the viewing areas.
I also think a lot of fantasmic is too dark and scary for young children. I don’t think most people understand Mickeys dream/nightmare story.
For me to compare the two is hard. In my perspective they both are great shows to watch. They have different stories When I’m at disney I want to see both. So I vote both…..can’t chose one over the other.