2nd showing of Fantasmic bad "show"

DVC91

DVC91

Well-Known Member
I believe I said this in another post somewhere along the line. I saw my first Fantasmic for years in 2012 when my gf and I went after her undergrad graduation. I was pushing myself through the parks with strep at the time,and hadn't seen the show in some years, so I enjoyed the physical rest IMMENSELY (we are very "go go go" in the parks when it comes to attraction to attraction legwork) and appreciated the show but some things stood out to me both as a guest and as an actor:

The water screen in the middle of the stage was roughly 3 seconds off. The audio was ahead of the video. At one point the light on it was turned off. It hadn't been rainy that day, but John Smith didn't swing. The snakes eyes weren't lit up. I feel there were a couple other things wrong with the show

AFTER the show during the mass exodus (we didnt hang back) I witnessed what seemed to either be a tech director or stage manager screaming (yelling/scolding, what have you) at the 2 guys working in the booth. Whether deserved or not, witnessing that experience far outweighed the pitfalls of the show (saw it again last May and it was flawless).

I guess you could call this a one-upper, but coming from a live-theatre background, I can vouch that mistakes can and will happen
 
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Disfan1971

Member
Original Poster
WildernessLodge said:
Everyone seems to about every single little detail in Fantasmic. I see it every time I go and it's always been an enjoyable experience. There have been times when I've noticed things missing or not working as well but I don't let it bother me or ruin the experience. It's an overall amazing show and there are so many elements that make up for anything that may go wrong.
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The biggest thing is that although some will disagree but for the 25th anniversary at the minimum the snake should have been staffed properly but I can understand that mistakes happen but still there is only 1 Mickey that's one of the biggest rules at the parks they put an incredible amount of effort into making sure it stays that way but that night it wasn't that Mickey just didn't go down in time they had both mickeys lit up at the same time so you could tell that there were two mickeys I can understand the lift not working but the rare coincidence that both the lift didn't work and the lights stayed on at the same time created a bad "show" effect... I get that it's a simple mistake but it's a simple mistake that Disney doesn't care about like most other things.
 
RSoxNo1

RSoxNo1

Well-Known Member
Matt_Black said:
I don't get how two Mickeys ruins the show. The whole premise of Fantasmic is that he's dreaming and sometimes stuff like being in two places at once happens in dreams.
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It's not what is intended to happen. The "ruin" comment may be a bit much, but it certainly is bad show.
 
mm52200

mm52200

Well-Known Member
Disfan1971 said:
The biggest thing is that although some will disagree but for the 25th anniversary at the minimum the snake should have been staffed properly but I can understand that mistakes happen but still there is only 1 Mickey that's one of the biggest rules at the parks they put an incredible amount of effort into making sure it stays that way but that night it wasn't that Mickey just didn't go down in time they had both mickeys lit up at the same time so you could tell that there were two mickeys I can understand the lift not working but the rare coincidence that both the lift didn't work and the lights stayed on at the same time created a bad "show" effect... I get that it's a simple mistake but it's a simple mistake that Disney doesn't care about like most other things.
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Things happen, people call out, people get sick, the snake didn't make or break the show. Also I'm 100% certain that there has always been a one or two second overlap between the Mickey's being out physically at the same time, but through the use of pyro and lighting they try to block that from being seen but obviously things happen sometimes. I'm sure it didn't ruin the show though. It's live theatre, things happen, they don't have the luxury of doing something over, once it happens it happens.
 
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DTale

Active Member
Bairstow said:
It does seem weird that the snake performers wouldn't jog around. Maybe they don't do it when the platform is wet, but then it would seem like the Pocahontas sequence would be equally dangerous in the wet.
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That's weird, I've seen Fantasmic countless times and I've NEVER seen the snake performers move... It's always stayed stationary with just the head moving...
 
Trekkie101

Trekkie101

Well-Known Member
marni1971 said:
You do seem in the minority amongst those who've seen both.

Not arguing, just going off past posts on the topic.
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It's actually rather surreal the topic seems to have come up, having only just visited.

Although I'm not sure whether it was "worse" but going by the general hum of the internet I expected the DLR version to be something "more".

I have no love for the DHS pre-show but other than that feel the show is more cohesive, more immersive and grander.

I enjoyed the pirate ship/pan segment more than pocohontas but other than that I do genuinely with openness want to understand why people like it better which sadly no-one ever says outwith "its done better".
 
aladdin2007

aladdin2007

Well-Known Member
All I know is that second show was thrown into the schedule today kind of last minute. The park was so crowded they decided to stay open later and add a second show.
While were on the topic, and I didnt want to start another thread...but I still love this park and its atmospheres.

However issues are worse than ever. Kudos to the manager today who took the time to literally bend over and pick up all the thrown trash at the dockside diner. There were no custodial crews anywhere and it was a mess. I wont even start on the restrooms.

Next, aside from the fantastic streetmosphere acts, the entertainment in this park has become pathetic. Or lack thereof. As we all know no more parades, but if they are going to have that hideous stage up cant they put together some kind of good stage show? All they have is mulch sweat and tears, its not even Disney calibur/quality entertainment, its for the beer drinkers. In fact its not Disney anything at all. This is the best they can do and find?

And since when do you have to sign up ahead of time to see the legend of jack sparrow??

It took 45 min to get into the parking lot from the main road...the back up had to of been two miles long...did I miss a memo? is this the norm now? it was a complete mess.
I think one problem is all the busses and cars are using the same entrance with only two checkins. They need to seriously change this.

I have always loved this park but I was disheartened with things such as above, but the potential is still there.
 
Adam5897

Adam5897

Active Member
Trekkie101 said:
Why do you think this? I recently just seen the Cali version and couldn't disagree more.
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First of all the lighting sound and effects are far superior in quality and in the way they are utilized. The whole show makes so much more sense and the layout is better than wdw's.The whole setting and stage of Tom Sawyer's Island is much nicer and even though the show is not in a theater like wdw it is much closer to you and is soooo much nicer to watch in my opinion. The pirate ship is so cool and the steamboat willie finale is so much nicer. Then there's the dragon, not even going to bother explaining that. The DL show captivates your mind while I felt the wdw show just has you kind of sitting there.There are so many more reasons and honestly I'm surprised you disagree but respect your opinion. In general the wdw show feels so thrown together and though I enjoy it there's just no way it compares for me.
 
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darkridelover

Member
Ok. It's the same cast for both shows. There are hundreds of contingencies for every show at Disney. The snake not moving usually means the stage is wet or a pyro effect didn't go off. If the stage is wet its not about the slow walk around as the snake. It's the mad dash to get off stage and into costume for the boat. It's not safe to have 20 performers running in the dark on a wet stage. If its a pyro issue they don't want cast members near live pyro so blocking is changed. If a performer has to leave before the second show tracks are switched around which could cause the snake not to move for different reasons. You have to remember that each performer could be playing 4-5 roles in each performance and they have to run back and change after each scene. As for the Mickey lift mechanical malfunctions happen. There are contingencies for everything. Like if the Evil Queen lift doesn't work she always has on a white wig underneath because she just asked the mirror to turn her hair to white. So she takes off here crown and her hair is white. That's why she always pops her collar down right before the transformation.
 
Communicore

Communicore

Well-Known Member
Adam5897 said:
First of all the lighting sound and effects are far superior in quality and in the way they are utilized. The whole show makes so much more sense and the layout is better than wdw's.The whole setting and stage of Tom Sawyer's Island is much nicer and even though the show is not in a theater like wdw it is much closer to you and is soooo much nicer to watch in my opinion. The pirate ship is so cool and the steamboat willie finale is so much nicer. Then there's the dragon, not even going to bother explaining that. The DL show captivates your mind while I felt the wdw show just has you kind of sitting there.There are so many more reasons and honestly I'm surprised you disagree but respect your opinion. In general the wdw show feels so thrown together and though I enjoy it there's just no way it compares for me.
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In other words, the DHS show is too sterile, and I dunno if I am using the right word, maybe not, it seems like corporate. There's just something about the DL show. Like I said I think one of the things that it has going for it is that it uses Mark Twain. Also no Pocahontas helps.
 

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