Could the reason for one show be that the park closes at 7 on so many nights?
I definitely agree that it looks like it could have been better..not necessarily by adding fireworks. The whole story line of santa being kidnapped got a little sideways.. I'm thinking that it will be better in person though.
I also agree with the the building not being the best host. I have not watched the SW shows online, but did they have similar issues?
Having seen it live now, I'll say it did not appear anywhere near as bad as people are making it out to be on here to me and I'm someone who's been pretty negative on the choices TDO has been making for a good long while now. Being familiar with the primary IP probably helped, though.
Is it warm and memorable and likely to become a family tradition? Highly doubtful. Is it something we will remember deeply for years to come? Nope. Was it something fun? I think so and for a park that's not really intended to illicit a Main Street nostalgia, I think that's ok.
Heck, their main show is now about Star Wars which is an IP that a huge part of the population couldn't care less about (especially international guests).
I wouldn't call this a replacement for Osborne but since they literally had no real option for that anywhere else in the park (that area in the front is too important for guest flow to congest for hours every night), I think if you view Osborne as something lost, regardless and this as a temporary holiday replacement for the Star Wars show, it does what they set out to do with it, I think.
Personally, my primary gripe is the trend toward spectacles with limited viewing locations. It feels like this started with Fantasmic and has only gotten worse over time with Wishes, Illuminations (thanks to the ever shrinking viewing locations around World Showcase) and now these shows in Hollywood Studios (with Animal Kingdom soon to come).
I get from a creative standpoint, controlling the "correct" viewing angles makes things a ton easier and allows them to add effects (snow, in this instance) without a lot of fuss but from a logistic and crowd control one, it seems like they're trying to force more and more people into spaces not really that well equipped to handle them in some instance and turing other things into the type of thing you have to camp out for with a bunch of other sardines or waste Fastpass tickets on. This feels like a lesser guest experience, in my opinion.
... but that's a nit-pick with their trend in nighttime spectacles in general and not directly a gripe with what they did. My 4 year old loved it and that was enough to make me happy.