I heard a rumor there'd be a soft opening tonight of WoC:WD prior to the "official" world premiere tomorrow. There was.
This event was mainly for the benefit of the media, but also included a large contingent of Annual Passholders who got tickets or wristbands ahead of time. (Alas, they released some today that I did not know about, so I missed out on that. But I will do the official AP event some time in the next few days).
I did manage to see the beginning of the show from a non-ticketed standby area, however. The show opens with the long-awaited "Glow," featuring the World of Color Honor Choir. If you have not heard the music for Glow, written especially for WoC:WD by composer Eric Whitacre, you can find it here (scroll down below the video): http://worldofcolorhonorchoir.com/ It is one of the best parts of this show.
Other highlights include a rather inventive Toy Story Nutcracker, and a couple songs from Frozen, one of which is sung by the iconic Idina Menzel. Going into this show, I had not paid enough attention to realize that she was involved with the film, but her voice was instantly recognizable, so I IMDB'd it, and lo and behold, she voices one of the key characters, Elsa.
As you might expect, the show is programmed to interact with the "Glow with the Show" ear hats.
The show does have some shortcomings. It gives way too much air time to its self-aware narrator, the snowman Olaf from Frozen. Now, I get it. It's the new movie coming out, and they want to promote the crap out of it. But it affects the pacing of the show, and often pulls you out of forming any emotional attachment to what's going on on screen. When an audience is told how to feel about a piece, rather than made to feel it, it just doesn't work. This show could easily work with all the snowman segments removed, and you'd probably have a tighter show. I'm sure I'll like the snowman better after seeing the film, but right now you have a character nobody yet knows or cares about, featuring heavily though about 50% of the show. They'd have done better to put a couple parts in, but leave the emceeing to a more timeless character. Also, the section I've dubbed "culturally inclusive karaoke" (the singalong) is a nice idea, but ultimately comes off as a bit too obvious, which robs it of its sincerity (eg: "One song for each group! See, you're included! Don't you feel included now? We're SOOOOOO inclusive!")
Still, it's worth seeing.
To view this show requires admission to Disney's California Adventure, and a fastpass ticket for a particular showtime, which can be picked up over by Grizzly River Run (fastpasses are included in your park admission, you just have to stop by the machines and scan your ticket in).
Annual Passholders can attend special showings this week, which also come with a holiday ornament, so let the cast members know when you stop by GRR and show your AP. Everyone has to be present to check in for your fastpass and ornament. For more info, look here on the DL website.
While no video can ever do justice to a theme park show, especially a water show, someone did post a (non-HD) video online already: http://new.livestream.com/accounts/578339/events/2547624/feed_embed?width=900&height=900
Enjoy!
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