Magic Kingdom 50th Anniversary Plans

Status
Not open for further replies.

IMDREW

Well-Known Member
Too bad! Was it worth it in the end? That incredibles float didn't even make the opening of pixar fest and ultimately ran for, what? Three months total? Such a shame. I loved that frozen float.
 

jrhwdw

Well-Known Member
Too bad! Was it worth it in the end? That incredibles float didn't even make the opening of pixar fest and ultimately ran for, what? Three months total? Such a shame. I loved that frozen float.
I believe The float ran from June through Early Nov since PTN at DCA ended right before the Holidays.

Is this REALLY Greenlighted?!?!?! ARE WE REALLY Done with this Fiasco??!!!! This would be the BEST NEWS of 2020!!! Although, I'd feel better if FOF had a reurn date? How can they set a date for PTN(if true)when FOF has none??
 

jrhwdw

Well-Known Member
I believe The float ran from June through Early Nov since PTN at DCA ended right before the Holidays.

Is this REALLY Greenlighted?!?!?! ARE WE REALLY Done with this Fiasco??!!!! This would be the BEST NEWS of 2020!!! Although, I'd feel better if FOF had a reurn date? How can they set a date for PTN(if true)when FOF has none??

Is this a hint of what's comming the 22nd???
 

TTA94

Well-Known Member
I believe The float ran from June through Early Nov since PTN at DCA ended right before the Holidays.

Is this REALLY Greenlighted?!?!?! ARE WE REALLY Done with this Fiasco??!!!! This would be the BEST NEWS of 2020!!! Although, I'd feel better if FOF had a reurn date? How can they set a date for PTN(if true)when FOF has none??

I think at this point they are just preparing. Same with Harmonius getting ready for when nighttime entertainment can resume. The question is will Paint The Night and Harmonius debut before the 50th or on the 50th, meaning about a year from now?
 

jrhwdw

Well-Known Member
I think at this point they are just preparing. Same with Harmonius getting ready for when nighttime entertainment can resume. The question is will Paint The Night and Harmonius debut before the 50th or on the 50th, meaning about a year from now?

I would push for before the 50th! For 2 reasons:

1. It's ASAP!!!!
2. PTN and any change to HEA wouldn't have to debut dancing around Party Nights! When Spectro opened in Oct 1991, no MNSSHP and MVMCP wasn't till Mid Dec. Now(pre COVID) we're lucky to get HEA what, 2? 3 times a week during Party Season?
 

TTA94

Well-Known Member
:confused: I'm so confused The Paint the Night is really coming to the Magic Kingdom for the 50th Birthday? :confused:

Im with you lol slightly questionable. Hopefully @MansionButler84 isn’t messing with us lol. So far the news hasn’t hit social media, which is a little surprising.

Honestly though I don’t think anyone will fully believe it until Disney announces it.
 

CJR

Well-Known Member
FWIW, Harmonious was originally supposed to debut this year.

Just guessing, since this year has put a lot into question, but it'd be something great to kick off the summer next year, pandemic-permitting.
 

djkidkaz

Well-Known Member
So is Paint the Night not running at Disneyland? If not, why was it stopped? I've only seen it in pictures and it looks very pretty with all the colors and some cool floats like Slinky. Why the mixed reviews on it?
 

FerretAfros

Well-Known Member
Yeah, why? I never fully understand DL's entertainment but why did they stop running it? Seems like a solid fit for DCA and it's not like they replaced it with something.
DL's nighttime entertainment lineup makes it difficult to run a nighttime parade. With 2 (or 3) performances of Fantasmic! and an increasingly castle-centric fireworks show, the crowdflow patterns throughout the park make it very difficult to schedule everything during the 3-ish hours after dark on a summer evening. Additionally, due to the "dead end" layout of DL's parade route, the parade has to run twice to return to the backstage parade barn, which leads to headaches when operating two daily parades. During most of the 60th, Soundsational was driven into position behind Main Street overnight, so it could be performed once in the northbound direction in the afternoon, and PTN was performed twice nightly (once in each direction).

DCA fares slightly better with a lighter entertainment schedule and modernized infrastructure. However, the Performance Corridor runs directly behind the WOC viewing area and serves as the main exit path for the 10,000 guests viewing the show. Because of this, DCA has never run WOC and a nighttime parade (either DEP or PTN) on the same evening. While the temporary food booths were often blamed for the lack of a parade, the parades managed overnight rehearsals just fine with them in place; it was the crowd control that was the limiting factor. And if DCA has to pick just one nighttime spectacular, WOC is cheaper to operate, can do multiple shows more easily, and has seasonal variations.

While DLR likes the idea of a nighttime parade, it's just really tough for them to manage the timing and crowdflow for one with all the other things they have going on. In reality, they work best as a scheduling substitute to the other nighttime spectaculars, rather than an addition.
On a good day, DCA’s parade route is cramped and miserable...the path between Grizzly River Run and what used to be A Bug’s Land was too tight to navigate or view a parade from. Then add in what you’ve just noted here and it’s just a no-go for any parade to operate, especially in a new social distancing world.
When DCA opened, one of its vaunted features was the Performance Corridor, which was scaled up considerably from the standard Disney had used in other parks to date. It was wider, longer, and included state of the art sound and lighting tech. Although much of the park and its early entertainment roster was highly criticized, Eureka! was widely acclaimed as a centerpiece and mission statement for the park's hip-and-edgy approach. Ironically, the broad uninterrupted swaths of pavement only led to DCA's early reputation for being a vast wasteland devoid of guests and charming details.

The already-long parade route was further extended circa 2012 to start next to TOT, rather than in the (former) Sunshine Plaza, which helps disperse crowding even more. Although they briefly experimented with running PTN twice nightly, operations quickly discovered that the long route made the second performance superfluous, as it often ran with near-empty crowds. DCA's daytime parades have similarly only had 1 daily performance throughout most of their history, despite a 2 show standard at DL.

While some sections of it narrow down slightly, there is ample viewing space on both sides of the parade route for its entirety, and additional walking space on at least one side for significant portions of it. At DL's tightest point, between Alice in Wonderland and the Matterhorn, the route is so narrow that there is no space for guest viewing on either side. DL also has significant stretches with very limited viewing space on at least one side, with Small World Mall, the hub, and Town Square being the only areas with real depth to them.

I believe Shanghai's parade route might be larger than DCA's, but DCA's remains one of the best (if only intermittently used) parade facilities in the Disney empire. Its only real drawback is the overhead trolley wires that were added to Hollywoodland and Buena Vista Street in 2012, which limit the height of the floats, though they still manage to fit nearly everything.
 
Last edited:
Status
Not open for further replies.

Register on WDWMAGIC. This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.

Back
Top Bottom