OK, I am probably going to get slammed here big-time for this, but I cannot help but think of World of Color's huge use of water-sprays when I hear about the terrible droubt in California and the subsequent cries for conservation.
I love Disney magic (and a water movie screen is Disney magic) as much as anyone else, but I also understand the dire situation for water in California right now, and I can't help but think that Disney perhaps should consider no longer using the water-sprays (which prompt evaporation, like a mist would), as a means of conservation.
Recent news reports say that overall California is looking at a one-year supply of water left (and it had two years' worth last year), and is now entering its historically dry season. The mountain snowcaps that usually melt and supply the reservoirs and said to be historically low. The governor has essentially required or requested conservation on the level of 25% from the whole state.
I realize that it is a complex situation, with much to go around (political and otherwise). I realize that the 25% reduction has exempted certain industries, especially agriculture, which itself sparks a debate.
But I am not addressing anyone else here than Disney, which is in a state with a dire water situation, and is now using it in a very beautiful but wasteful way with the movie screen sprays (which increase evaporation significantly) and dancing waters overall.
So, as much as I love the technology and beauty of them, I wonder if Disney perhaps should turn them off for the sake of conservation.
I was at WDW in the late '90s, when there were huge wildfires throughout the state just as Independence Day was approaching. Wildfires in some areas had scorched land for miles, and had jumped Interstate 95. You could smell the smoke at WDW, even from fires miles away. The Floriday governor implemented a fireworks ban statewide for the Fourth of July, but WDW and Universal were exempted. Most news said was because they were commercial and watered down the fall zone, etc.
But as July 4th approached that week, I started feeling like it was wrong for WDW and Universal to do it, even if they could. And someone else must have thought so, too. By the 3rd, they both had decided to pull the plug on their Independence Day fireworks (even though they had just been having the normal shows), in deference to the rest of the state, and to make a stand for not encouraging use of fireworks at that dangerous time for them. EPCOT had the laser show without fireworks, and the MK Fantasy in the Sky was canceled for the holiday, and stayed canceled until the situation was better for the state.
That experience comes to mind in thinking about the dire drought in California with reference to World of Color (and even Fantasmic) at Disneyland. I just have to wonder whether they should just consider the need for conservation and take the lead by cutting the water show for now.
I love Disney magic (and a water movie screen is Disney magic) as much as anyone else, but I also understand the dire situation for water in California right now, and I can't help but think that Disney perhaps should consider no longer using the water-sprays (which prompt evaporation, like a mist would), as a means of conservation.
Recent news reports say that overall California is looking at a one-year supply of water left (and it had two years' worth last year), and is now entering its historically dry season. The mountain snowcaps that usually melt and supply the reservoirs and said to be historically low. The governor has essentially required or requested conservation on the level of 25% from the whole state.
I realize that it is a complex situation, with much to go around (political and otherwise). I realize that the 25% reduction has exempted certain industries, especially agriculture, which itself sparks a debate.
But I am not addressing anyone else here than Disney, which is in a state with a dire water situation, and is now using it in a very beautiful but wasteful way with the movie screen sprays (which increase evaporation significantly) and dancing waters overall.
So, as much as I love the technology and beauty of them, I wonder if Disney perhaps should turn them off for the sake of conservation.
I was at WDW in the late '90s, when there were huge wildfires throughout the state just as Independence Day was approaching. Wildfires in some areas had scorched land for miles, and had jumped Interstate 95. You could smell the smoke at WDW, even from fires miles away. The Floriday governor implemented a fireworks ban statewide for the Fourth of July, but WDW and Universal were exempted. Most news said was because they were commercial and watered down the fall zone, etc.
But as July 4th approached that week, I started feeling like it was wrong for WDW and Universal to do it, even if they could. And someone else must have thought so, too. By the 3rd, they both had decided to pull the plug on their Independence Day fireworks (even though they had just been having the normal shows), in deference to the rest of the state, and to make a stand for not encouraging use of fireworks at that dangerous time for them. EPCOT had the laser show without fireworks, and the MK Fantasy in the Sky was canceled for the holiday, and stayed canceled until the situation was better for the state.
That experience comes to mind in thinking about the dire drought in California with reference to World of Color (and even Fantasmic) at Disneyland. I just have to wonder whether they should just consider the need for conservation and take the lead by cutting the water show for now.
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