World of Color – ONE is the new nighttime spectacular at California Adventure debuting for the Disney100 celebration at Disneyland Resort on January 27, 2023. This post shares a sneak peek at photos & video of the show, details about the virtual queue, and some quick commentary.
According to Disneyland, World of Color – ONE will feature an inspiring message that illustrates the storytelling legacy Walt Disney began a century ago in a remarkable production by Disney Live Entertainment. In so doing, the new nighttime spectacular features songs and stories of some of the most courageous, loving, and inspiring characters who dared to be wavemakers and change the world.
World of Color – ONE is just one of many new experiences and special offerings coming to the resort in honor of The Walt Disney Company’s 100th Anniversary this year. Also debuting on the same date as World of Color – ONE is another all-new nighttime spectacular, “Wondrous Journeys Fireworks at Disneyland.
World of Color – ONE celebrates how a single action–such as a drop of water–creates a ripple that can grow into a wave of change. You’ll discover how it only takes one action to make an impact on the people in our lives and the world around us. This mirrors how one man–Walt Disney–started the wave that has continued to grow and inspire people around the globe for 100 years.
Against that backdrop, here are more details about the powerful story in World of Color – ONE and how you can experience the new nighttime spectacular when it debuts. First, here’s a sneak peek:
Interestingly, World of Color – ONE is the first nighttime spectacular in either park at Disneyland Resort to feature characters, music, and moments from Walt Disney Animation Studios, Pixar Animation Studios, Marvel, and Star Wars in the same production. (In fairness, past incarnations of World of Color have had everything except Marvel–and back when they did the pre-show tags, there were a wide range of properties represented.)
World of Color – ONE will feature moments from favorite films including The Lion King, Moana, Coco, Mulan, Soul, and others. These stories will come alive on an immense water screen that can span up to 380 feet across.
Over three years after his first appearance on Saturday Night Live’s Weekend Update (as well as The Mandalorian, I guess), Baby Yoda will also finally appear in a nighttime spectacular at Disneyland Resort. Oh, heeeeeell yeah!
Other movies that appear to be included based on the preview photos and video are Encanto, Dr. Strange, and Pocahontas. If recent nighttime spectaculars at Walt Disney World are any indication, pretty much everything that has recently appeared on Disney+ is also likely to be showcased. So expect Onward, Turning Red, Luca, Brave, Raya and the Last Dragon, Zootopia, Princess and the Frog, and more. I have no strong opinion on the inclusion of most of those, save for Onward–I think it’s time to move on from that one; it doesn’t have staying power.
According to Disneyland, this spectrum of stories is set to a beautiful musical score comprised of 18 different compositions, including a new, original song “Start a Wave,” which was written by GRAMMY-nominated artist Cody Fry and features lead vocals performed by singer-songwriter and actress Loren Allred.
“Start a Wave” sounds promising, even though we only heard a small portion of it. I’m cautiously optimistic about that original song, and it could go a long way it making World of Color – ONE a more cohesive nighttime spectacular. (I’m assuming it won’t be on its own given the many disparate properties. Would love to be wrong about that.)
In addition to being a driving metaphor in the story of World of Color – ONE, water plays a starring role in transforming Paradise Bay during the show. Each musical moment is brought to life by mist screens and 1,200 dancing fountains, combined with brilliant lighting, projection, laser, fog and flame effects.
You can even wear your MagicBand+ to experience another dimension of storytelling to World of Color – ONE! According to Disney, your MagicBand+ will enhance the effects with synchronized dancing lights and vibrations.
Side note: since launch, I’ve barely seen anyone–aside from Cast Members trying to sell them–wearing MagicBand+ at Disneyland. It sure seems like a colossal flop, and probably only a matter of time before Magic Key giveaways or meet-ups to seed more of these, a la Glow with the Show ears. Wouldn’t be surprised if that happens with the kickoff of the 100 Years of Wonder Celebration.
The immersive journey of World of Color – ONE builds to an emotional and uplifting finale that highlights how, when we come together and combine our efforts, many drops can become an ocean. You’ll walk away feeling inspired to start a ripple of your own and be the one to make a wave for the future.
This makes me slightly more (cautiously) optimistic about World of Color – ONE. As intimated above (and previously), my concern is that this will be akin to Disney Enchantment, which is essentially “A Salute to All Things Disney, But Actually Just the Disney+ Streaming Content We Want to Promote.”
If World of Color – One is celebrating the legacy started by Walt Disney and 100 years of the company, it stands to reason that 10% of the show is from the last decade. I’m a reasonable person, and would even be okay with 15 to 20% of the show being from the last decade. My fear is that it’s going to cram in too many modern and dissimilar IPs, and end up incredibly disjointed as a result.
My hope is that Disney Live Entertainment recognizes how and why the Walt Disney World 50th Anniversary nighttime spectaculars flopped, and what the audience at Disneyland expects. I assume the creatives are well aware of this, but they have mandates from on high about IPs that need to be highlighted and can only do so much.
While I’d expect better balance as a result, it’s also possible that Wondrous Journeys is viewed as the “sentimental show” and World of Color – ONE is the “synergy spectacular.” I’d love both to be the former, tugging at the heartstrings with a compelling and cogent production, I’d also accept the compromise that the Disneyland fireworks are the nostalgia play and this is the IP powerhouse. When it comes to today’s Disney, that’s good enough–even for what purports to be the 100th Anniversary.
There’s also the practical reality that past World of Color ‘special editions’ have been underwhelming almost across the board, with the notable exception of Season of Light. I’m still scarred by World of Color – Celebrate, so the bar is pretty low on new twists on that excellent nighttime spectacular. This also illustrates how visual wizardry can only do so much–World of Color is a phenomenal show, which many credit to the fountains and so forth. Beautiful as those are, they were not enough to carry subpar incarnations of the nighttime spectacular!
When “World of Color – ONE” debuts, you will be able to access viewing areas for the show through a virtual queue system available only via the Disneyland app. Distribution for the complimentary virtual queue will begin at noon, daily (subject to availability), and is available for guests who have entered Disney California Adventure for the day or have entered Disneyland with a Park Hopper ticket.
On nights when there are multiple World of Color – ONE showtimes, distribution for additional showtimes will begin immediately after distribution for the first showtime has ended. If you have obtained a virtual queue selection, enter your designated viewing area for your designated show time via one of the two marked entrance points (Blue or Yellow) approximately 30-45 minutes before the show begins. Step by step instructions for the virtual queue system are available here.
If the virtual queue reaches capacity, check in with a cast member at the Paradise Bay viewing area shortly before “World of Color – ONE” begins for walk-up viewing options. Joining the virtual queue is not required, but it is highly recommended as walk-up viewing options for each performance are available on a first-come, first-served basis.
As was the case when World of Color first returned (and still is true on busier days), it’s likely that the virtual queue for World of Color – ONE will fill up both performances within seconds or minutes initially. How long this will last is anyone’s guess. Since the new nighttime spectacular is debuting during the off-season, it might be the case that it only fills up immediately on weekends and holiday weeks, spring break, and then the entirety of summer. It’s possible that it’ll book to capacity within seconds every day of 2023…or that the show will be such a dud that it seldom fills up. There’s a huge range of outcomes; our advice is to err on the side of caution and be ready to book quickly right when the clock strikes 12:00:00 pm!
Planning a Southern California vacation? For park admission deals, read Tips for Saving Money on Disneyland Tickets. Learn about on-site and off-site hotels in our Anaheim Hotel Reviews & Rankings. For where to eat, check out our Disneyland Restaurant Reviews. For unique ideas of things that’ll improve your trip, check out What to Pack for Disney. For comprehensive advice, consult our Disneyland Vacation Planning Guide. Finally, for guides beyond Disney, check out our Southern California Itineraries for day trips to Los Angeles, Laguna Beach, and tons of other places!
Your Thoughts
Are you looking forward to World of Color – One at Disney California Adventure? Excited that it’ll feature Baby Yoda, Dr. Strange, and other characters from the Marvel and Star Wars universes, or concerned that it’ll have too many different types of IPs, and be disjointed as a result? Thoughts on the theme song? What about World of Color – ONE using a virtual queue? Do you agree or disagree with our assessment? Any questions? Hearing your feedback—even when you disagree with us—is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
