Disney is offering three different dining packages for reserved viewing space at the World of Color nighttime spectacular.
The least expensive, and perhaps best option for the money, are the Picnic Boxes. Jeanine shares her experience here.
Last night Beci, Jeanine and I dined at the Wine Country Trattoria in Disney’s California Adventure. As soon as I heard dining packages were available I called and reserved this. The cost is $39.99 plus gratuity, which enables you to receive a Disney Dining Preferred Viewing pass for the World of Color show.
The Trattoria has just reopened after a rehab and menu change. I had never eaten here before, so have nothing to compare it to. Also, keep in mind as you read this, everyone’s tastes are unique and you may have a totally different experience with the food.
We checked in and were asked to go upstairs (where it appeared all dining package guests were directed) for our table. A Cast Member brought us to a lovely table, in the shade, under a ceiling fan with a cool breeze. While not a stifling hot day, it was a nice respite from the sun and crowds.
The Dining Package Prix Fixe Menu offered choices for entrees while everyone had the same salad and desserts. Our server, Tammy, was friendly with a great smile and did her best to accommodate all of our requests.
Fresh bread, two herbed rolls and two plain rolls, along with cruets of balsamic vinegar and oil were placed on the table. We enjoyed our own small plate of olive oil for dipping the yummy bread.
Salad – arugula fennel, red onion, spiced walnuts, and goat cheese with a fig-balsamic dressing.
We all asked for our salads without the onions and Beci asked for no goat cheese. Our server was happy to oblige. The dressing was tasty, but was an over pour for me, I’ll ask for it on the side in the future. The greens were fresh and the two figs were good, however the fennel had been soaking in dressing way too long and didn’t have the crunch I enjoy with fennel. Overall we gave the salad good marks; it was a nice way to begin the meal.
We were in no hurry so did not order our entrees until we had our salads. Our server was happy to allow us a relaxed pace. She did explain that depending on how busy the kitchen was, it could take as much as 25 minutes for our entrees to come out.
Seafood Pasta – Spaghetti tossed with Sauteed Jumbo Shrimp and Scallops with garlic and herbs in a light Pomodoro Sauce.
The entree was as described and Jeanine said it was good, she would order it again. It came with a side of fresh grated cheese.
Roast New York – Seasoned and slow-roasted to medium rare, topped with Salsa Verde served with Gorgonzola potatoes and sauteed green beans.
Although a friend recommended the steak, Beci found it very disappointing. As you can see from the photo, there were very few green beans. The potatoes were basic breakfast potatoes with a couple small chunks of gorgonzola, and the steak was tough. We spoke with folks later who share Beci’s disappointment in the entree.
Herb-Roasted Chicken Breast – served with broccolini, caramelized onions, red peppers and tagliatelle pasta with a white wine garlic sauce.
I asked for no onions, no pasta and extra broccolini with my chicken. This was a good solid entree. The chicken was ever so lightly coated with a tasty herb mix and was moist. Since I opted out of the pasta, I was expecting more vegetables, so my guess is with the pasta, you just get a small taste of broccolini and peppers. I enjoyed my chicken and would certainly order it again.
Dessert Plate – Vanilla Bean Panna Cotta, Seasonal Berries, and Chocolate Espresso Tart with Caramel Sauce.
We were all anticipating dessert as a great way to finish off our meal. Panna Cotta, light and creamy — yummmm, fresh seasonal berries (my fave) and for chocolate lovers, a Chocolate Tart. Unfortunately, we were all disappointed. In concept the dessert plate is a great idea. Everyone gets to taste small portions of three different desserts. This is a great alternative to a huge heavy dessert to follow a meal.
I requested simply a serving of the fresh berries. The server said she would just ask for extra berries on our plate, that works. When dessert arrived and we all just stared at it. For us, the menu description and what was presented didn’t match, but we were eager to taste.
The berries, while fresh, came drenched in a balsamic sauce that was overly sweet. We each had a small taste and none of us cared for it. I asked the server if I could have simply fresh berries with no sauce and she was happy to oblige. The Panna Cotta was, well, we weren’t sure what. There were three layers and some sort of lemon gel sauce, the panna cotta, and then a berry layer. Neither Jeanine nor Beci liked the panna cotta and told me not to bother with a taste. About this time my berries arrived and I happily dug in. The chocolate tart was a small round graham cracker crust and inside the liquid espresso chocolate. This really fell short of our expectations as well. Each of us felt the desserts at the Fantasmic Dessert offering were far superior.
Despite not being thrilled with the food, we were all full and ready to find our World of Color Viewing area.
With the check we received our World of Color Preferred Viewing Passes.
We headed over to the viewing area and were directed to an area for Preferred Dining seating. We were VERY happy with the area we had. It was second level center in front of the Mickey Wheel. This was what we paid for, preferred viewing, and it was indeed!
We arrived about 7:20 and folks were being allowed in the area so we went in to find some space. It will be important for the first show to arrive early… late-comers will still be in the preferred section but will be several people back.
We sat down, met a nice family sitting near us and enjoyed the beautiful night air until the pre-show began at 8:30. You’ll have to wait for another blog about the very cool pre-show entertainment.
Perhaps it is an age thing, but I am not real good about waiting in long lines and being part of a large, well, extremely large, group of folks trying for general seating.
Therefore, I recommend getting one of the dining packages. While it is still crowded and you still wait, I liked the preferred viewing area very much. And with the passes, it didn’t feel quite so crazy trying to scope out a place to watch the show.
Tonight we are trying the other sit-down dinner package at Ariel’s. Look for that blog soon!
Oh, and if you haven’t read my comments about the World of Color show, it is NOT to be missed!
I am currently at the trattoria testing out this package. In our party the chicken was dry and our entrees and sides were missing quite a few ingredients. I am a huge fan of this restaurant, but tonight the service was non existent and the food sub par. Have yet to see the show, but we have been informed that our tickets for the show are the same as the general fastpass. So, not worth the 40 bucks by a mile.
DEB: Interesting, as I just did the package here about 10 days ago and we got the preferred dining location for WoC. Sounds like your server may not have been up to speed on policies.
On Tuesday Aug 24th my family of 5 and my Sister and her husband went to The Wine Country Trattoria for the World of Color Package. Our server was friendly but quickly lost his timing after the first 5 min of our seating. He could not remember the wine my wife had ordered and asked my sister which wine she was drinking even though my sister did not want a second glass. The kids pasta and meatballs were served cold. My entree was served 12 min after the rest. The food was good but w/the near $40.00 for adults and 18.95 price tags for the kids, one would expect perfect service and hot food. I did let the manager know that my entree was not served after 12 min went by and that the kids pasta was cold. He then was no longer seen, but the food came out shortly after. Dessert was served before all the dinner plates and clutter was cleared. Our server also never asked if we wanted any coffee or tea. The world of Color show was very good even though the preferred viewing area was not much different from where the rest of the people were. The following night we went to Sammy’s Woodfired Pizza in Carlsbad and got excellent service and food. They made a mistake by putting the dressing on my wife’s salad entree when she asked for it on the side. They brought her a new one in two minutes and took it off the bill w/out us asking anything. Don’t think we will go back to the Trattoria next time we go to Disney.
Really excellent review! We’ve been trying to decide which option to use and your info and pictures will really help us plan. Wonderful that you have pictures!
I really appreciate you writing in such detail about your meal at Wine Country Trattoria. I have been wavering on whether to book at Ariels Grotto (a restaurant I have eaten at several times) or here (a new restaurant for me). Your descriptions were perfect, and the photos of your meal helped make up my mind… I am sticking to what I am used to. That dessert plate does not look appetizing at all! As you said, what we are all paying for, ultimately, is the preferred viewing. I am more than willing to pay the dining fee for that, as it sounds as if you were extremely pleased with your view!
Thanks for the great write-up about the World of Color Dining Package at Wine Country Trattoria.
I cannot wait to read about the other two offerings.
It is great to hear that preferred viewing actually gets you a great angle.
It was always disappointing to find that the preferred seating for Fantasmic or any of the shows at WDW had you at some side location where you got a less-than-ideal viewing angle of whatever nightly event you were wanting to see. The only exception being IllumiNations that had some better and some worse preferred locations but all were pretty darn good compared to fending for yourself.
But the best part is hearing the price. It really doesn’t seem like the price is elevated much from what you’d pay for a sit-down meal at Disneyland or DCA without a viewing package coming with it