A problem with scheduling and placing Fantasmic! in my proposed park.

[KentB3]

I am currently working on the rest of my Magic Kingdom park from my 6th park proposal, but I did run into a bit of a snag. Mainly, this involves my Fantasmic! show. FYI, WDW has theirs at Disney-MGM, and Disneyland has theirs on Tom Sawyer Island and the Rivers of America. I did a bit of Internet searching and research comparing the 2 Fantasmic! shows, and most by far find Disneyland's Fantasmic! far better than WDW's. One of the main factors was the setting; since Disneyland uses TSI and Rivers of America, much of it on boats like the Peter Pan segment on the Sailing Ship Columbia and the finale on the Mark Twain Riverboat. Many consider WDW's show cheesy by comparison, and feel that the outdoor setting at Disneyland is much better for the show than Disney-MGM's theater/stadium setting.

As a result, I considered moving my show from the studios park (phase 2) to a location similar to Disneyland's Fantasmic! show. Unfortunately, I ran into a major snag, which mainly involved scheduling. For one thing, Disneyland's Fantasmic! is seen only on weekends and select holiday, and WDW's is seen daily-- which I wanted to do with mine. Second and most importantly, there was a problem with timing. For example, here is a sample of various schedules of nightime entertainment from WDW and DL during peak seasons (all from Friday , July 11, 2003):

WDW: Magic Kingdom:
Share a Dream Come True Parade: 3pm
Spectromagic: 9pm
Fantasy In the Sky Fireworks: 10pm

WDW: Disney-MGM Studios:
Disney Stars and Motor Cars: 5:30pm
Fantasmic!: 9pm

Disneyland:
Parade of the Stars: 4:45pm, 8pm
Fantsmic!: 9pm, 10:30pm
Believe There's Magic In the Stars Fireworks: 9:35pm

So far, my MK park has an afternoon parade (unnamed and not set up yet, but I am partial to the snowglobes in WDW's SADCT parade!) and an updated version of Main Street Electrical Parade at night, plus the fireworks show above the castle. Unfortunately, if I do include Fantasmic! in the Magic Kingdom, my nightime entertainment schedule would look something like this:

Main Street Electrical Parade: 9pm
Fantasmic!: 9:30pm
Fireworks Show: 10pm

In other works, complete chaos as crowds go back and forth from Main Street to the Rivers of America! This is different from Disneyland, since their nightime parade is the same as the afternoon, and is presented earlier in the evening. For mine, it needs to be no earlier than 9pm, since it need to be dark for the MSEP, and the sun sets later during peak seasons.

My other solution is to have Fantasmic! at the studios, but then I have the problem that Disney-MGM has: stadium seating in a theater, cruder scenery and boats/ships, which would take away greatly from the show. The best way to solve this problem is to have a Fantasmic! show at my Disney Studios park, but with a quality similar to Disneyland's on the River's of America.

Could anyone help try to help me with this? I really could use your help for solving my Fantasmic! problem-- trying to have a show at my Disney Studio's park with the same quality as Disneyland's show. If anyone can help me with Fantasmic!, please post. :brick:

 

[DisneyFan 2000]

I say for peak season make this time table:

Afternoon Parade: 3/4pm (i would go with 4, much cooler!)
Night time parade: 8:15 pm
Fireworks: 9:00 pm
Fantasmic: 10 pm

This gives plenty of time to go back to see Fantasmic! The other option is putting the fireworks as part of the parade, that way it's all part of the show and doesn't need a different time period! (It's also very cool!)

Then it would look like this:
Afternoon Parade: 3/4pm
Night time parade: 8:15 pm
Fantasmic: 10 pm

Off season:
Afternoon Parade: 3/4pm
Night time parade: weekends only!
Fantasmic: 8 pm

 

[imagineer boy]

I suggest that you make a theatre in Down Town Disney. DL's is in a good location, but it doesn't fit with Fronteirland's theme really well. Disneyland doesn't have any other place to show Fantasmic. I think the stadium doesn't ruin the show, but WDW's show is the thing that makes DL's look so good.

 

[Wannabe Walt]

One way to stop the crowds from travelling back and forth is:
(drumrole)
You could...uh....line....I can't read the cards. Steve! Help on Stage right!

Steve: You could put Fantasmic in a whole new setting!

ah! Right! Ya the new location could be (drumrole) at Beauty and the Beast Castle! (talks like used car salesman) You could easily transform the show to work with the Castle. The landscaping could be designed to work WITH the show! How bout it? What you think?!?!:sohappy:

 

[meeko_33785]

Personally, I never liked the Disneyland concept where you have a night parade followed by Fantasmic followed by the fireworks. I would much rather they just had a parade and fireworks, or a parade and some sort of Fantasmic-esque show in front of the Castle (not a direct copy though, the water screens and fire would not work in a small body of water like the Castle moat). That's just my oppinion though, you can make your own decission.

 

[KentB3]

Here is what I am working against:

Disneyland's Fantasmic!:
PROS:
-- Generally a better, more well-written show, which is more "in your face" than WDW's (from what I've heard so far).
-- A more magical setting, as the Rivers of America come to life!
-- Use of Sailing Ship Columbia for the Peter Pan segment, and the Mark Twain Riverboat for the grand finale
-- Can't think of any others, since I've never been to either Disney theme park!

CONS:
--No seating, which requires guests to either stand or sit on the hard ground.

WDW's Fantasmic!:
PROS:
-- Seats for the guests
-- A more advanced sound system (I think, correct me if I'm wrong!)
-- Fantasmic! mountain grander in scale than the house-like stage at Disneyland.

CONS:
-- Most feel that WDW's show is a pale imitation to DL's in terms of the story line; especially with the Pocahontas segment.
-- Some think that the theater just doesn't create the warmth or magic of using the Rivers of America
-- No Sailing Ship Columbia and Riverboat is replaced by a simply-made clone, based on the Steamboat Willie.

In other words, I'm trying to create a Fantasmic! show similar in quality to Disneyland's, but with some of the better features, such as the seats for guests that WDW's has. Also, Disneyland used Rivers of America since that was all they had; unlike WDW, which has 3 parks (then, 4 now), and the space to build a theater.
This in turn created a disadvantage, such as the absense of the Riverboat, which was given a cheap replacement.
I really want this to be the best Fantasmic! show between the 3 parks, if my proposed 6th park were to be built, and am trying to combine the best features from both shows, as well as find a suitable setting.

Since I've never been to either DL or WDW, and thus never seen either Fantasmic! show, my only basis for comparison is what I have read. If anyone has any ideas, please feel free to reply!

 

[KentB3]

I also forgot to mention that if I place Fantasmic! at the Disney Studios park, it would allow for more showings, and help make it easier to have 2 runs of MSEP at night. As for MSEP, it needs to me dark by its very nature, so it needs late enough to be dark in the peak season (Summer months-- June, July, August). Therefore, 9pm would probably be the earliest this can run (correct me if I'm wrong about this!).

However, showing Fantasmic! at the studios would take away from a lot of what the Rivers of America has to offer, so I'm trying to use either ROA for the show, or create a show at the studios which would retain the lost elements present at Rivers of America.

I greatly appreciate all the help I can get with this show! LMK of any ideas/suggestions/guidelines that you can think of!