My family and I really wanted to see World of Color on opening night, but did not want to wait in the outrageous lines we expected. So, we decided to try out the World of Color Picnic Meals simply to reserve a viewing spot. The food was secondary to us. I can honestly say we were pleasantly surprised, and all of us feel that Disney has hit one out of the park with this option. The food was good. The price was reasonable (in our opinion, considering it is Disneyland, California). The reserved viewing area was great. The show was amazing. In this blog, I will not be reviewing the show itself. I’ll leave that to the other Disneyland correspondents. However, I will say a few things about the World of Color before moving on to the picnic meals. World of Color is what makes Disney Disney. I left the experience (and it is an experience) saying, “Wow! How did they do that?”
Now, on to the picnic meals. As with everything related to World of Color, there are many questions about the picnic option, so I hope to answer as many as possible here. I ordered our tickets online in the morning on the day before our show. It did take me awhile to navigate to the actual page to purchase the meals, but you have the benefit of this link here.
You prepay with a credit card online and are sent an email receipt, which needs to be printed out and brought to Sonoma Terrace next to the Wine Country Trattoria. We asked a cast member if walk ups are available, and he said they are subject to availability. In order to be guaranteed a fastpass for the viewing area, you must order them online. They are not currently available over the phone. The picnic meals provide a guaranteed fastpass for one of the viewing areas in Paradise Park for the 9:00 showing. The meals and passes can be picked up between 2:00 and 8:00 pm. You can eat your meal anytime anywhere, and the meals themselves are not required for entrance into Paradise Park, but the passes are. There is ample outdoor seating located at the Sonoma Terrace pickup location. That is where we enjoyed ours.
You can purchase the picnics 1 to 30 days in advance. You can order up to 15 picnic meals in one order and are limited to no more than 8 of the same item. DISer 3Minnies1Mickey confirmed this by having to split 16 meals into two separate online transactions. The online purchasing process is the same as it is for any other online purchase of Disney tickets. Once the transaction is complete, Disney will send you an email confirmation. Just remember to bring your printed email, the credit card used, and a photo ID when you go to pick up your meals. Now that we’ve covered the important how to’s, it’s time to share and review our experience.
We arrived at the Sonoma Terrace around 5:30pm with no line at all. We did notice lines of about 2-3 people deep forming around 6:00 pm. The cast member handed us our World of Color passes right there along with the premade picnic meals, and a resusable tote bag. You receive one tote bag for each meal ordered.
Take note of the information on your passes, including the entrance time window and your section color.
We were given a choice of bottled Diet coke, Coke, Sprite, or water. Beer and wine may be substituted at an additional cost. In the parks, these beverages are a $3.00 value by themselves. The refrigerated meals were enclosed in a portable container and included plastic cutlery and a napkin. We tried 3 of the 4 offerings: the All-American, the Mediterranean Vegetarian, and the European Antipasto. The All-American included 2 pieces of chilled fried chicken, potato salad, cole slaw with apple cider dressing, and a mini apple pie pastry.
The Mediterranean Vegetarian featured a veggie and hummus wrap, veggie slaw, couscous salad, and a lemon layer cake.
The European Antipasto comes with a serving of cured meats, cheeses, and antipasto vegetables, olive oil and basalmic vinegar, crackers, and a tiramisu dessert.
Although we did not order it, the fourth option, Taste of Asia, includes chilled miso-glazed salmon, asian greens with soy-rice wine dressing, vegetable spring roll with thai mago sauce, soba noodle salad with julienne vegetables and sesame dressing, and mandarin orange cake. The cast member behind the counter kindly allowed us to take a photo of this meal with the plastic lid on.
For the kids (age 3-9) in your party, Disney offers three options, each costing $13.99. The Little Squirt’s Box is essentially the Power Pack found throughout Disneyland and California Adventure. It features string cheese, apple slices, Goldfish crackers, and low-fat yogurt. The Lunchbox Classic has a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and apple slices. The Junior All-American includes a chilled fried chicken drumstick, apple slices, and Goldfish crackers. All of the kid’s meals also include your choice of low-fat milk, juice box, or water, as well as a vanilla confetti cupcake, and a souvenir World of Color light up bracelet.
We were thoroughly impressed with the quality of the meals. Our expectations weren’t terribly high, but we truly enjoyed everything we ate. The only exception was the veggie slaw on the Mediterranean meal. All-in-all, we loved the picnic meals. Some are more substantial than others, but they all tasted good and featured high quality ingredients.
All meals(adults’ and kids’) are $13.99 each ($12.99 with an annual pass) and include a tote bag, bottled beverage, and a World of Color fastpass. I think this picnic package is a great value. You might expect a guaraneed viewing of World of Color alone to cost $13.00, but then you add the meal, totebag and $3.00 drink. It is an excellent value…at Disneyland. Yes! I said it. I found an excellent value at the Disneyland Resort! Oh yeah…I almost forgot. World of Color is amazing too.
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