A Set of Goofy Observations

[wm49rs]

Well, Buzz aside, I'm glad to see the maintenance of MK has become more of a priority than it seemed to be before, even during the busiest time of the year.....

 

[CaptainMichael]

Another knock on Wishes, it's basically a rehash of Fantasmic for some of the show.

 

[wdwfan22]

I'm still waiting for New Years Eve to get it's own special show and not an outdated Fantasy in the Sky with a 2 minute new years tag. :shrug:

 

[SeaBreeze]

Agreed. When the little children start singing "star light star bright" I really have to roll my eyes. Note to Disney: cutesy singing children does not make automatically make people feel warm and fuzz, more like sick.

I thought I was the only one :lol: I get attacked by people for feeling this way about Wishes...good to know I'm not the only one. The pyro in it is great though, agree there.

Nice update Glad you enjoyed being back at WDW sirgoofy

 

[EPCOT Explorer]

There is really no reason for me to make a thread, you're doing great.

Fantasy in the Sky makes the MK seem like a real, living, breathing place. Each land is represented for the most part and there are no sappy pixie-dust lyrics. I texted Evan that I've realized that Wishes is the epitome of all things wrong with WDW today. He disagreed.

I don't discount that, I really don't...Wishes IS lacking Park Music, but I find FitS to be...blad, at worst. The music is good, but it doesn't flow the same way Wishes does. Wishes feels truly organic, noble in it's music, and I think embodies the spirit of Fantasyland, if not The Magic Kingdom in a very different way, instead of flashing pyro to arrangements of park music.

You want a real show about a park? Look at Remember: Dreams Come True. THAT'S a Park Show.

Well it's been a great few weeks here at the World, and I must say, I'm very, very impressed with what I'm seeing from the parks on this recent trip. Things seem to be improving, and there's nothing wrong with that.

Honestly, it was crowded last week, but my family and I still managed to do basically everything in every park by 6PM.:shrug:

One main thing I really noticed is how maintenance has really improved head and shoulders. I noticed things off or slightly jerky on rides one day, and the next they were fixed, where as recently it had taken weeks to see improvement.


Magic Kingdom

I'll start off with the park that has caught the majority of my complaints these past few years. I must say, without a doubt the Magic Kingdom is improving. Maintenance is almost spot on, the cast is still great, and even the food tasted better this past week. Now for the updates:

Splash Mountain will NOT be receiving lap bars during the next two months as I've been told. The reason for the lengthy refurb is that all the lifts in the ride will be ripped out an replaced. Expect the lap bars next year. Other than that, Splash looked terrific. Every effect was working perfectly, and the place looked in great shape.

Big Thunder Mountain is still the best mountain out of the four, with Splash following at a close second.

The past round of building touch ups look great, and a lot of MK's colors are really popping now.

Peter Pan's flight is honestly an embarrassment. I can't believe a classic attraction has been basically left to rot. Refurb this attraction now!

Pooh looks great, and is really a terrific dark ride.

Jungle Cruise's digital animation has made show scenes much more dependable, and there are less and less malfunctions. Unfortunately, I've been told not to expect a refurb this year. Or next year. Yup, it's been pushed back to 2012.

Pirates looked and sounded GREAT. I was really impressed.

Mansion is still the best attraction on property, and looked like it had just came up from a refurb.

HoP is a very solid show.

Country Bears looked great, and sounded great as well, except for Buff, Melvin, and Max. They were clicking all over the place.

Didn't waste our time with Stitch.

Buzz is still incredibly fun, even if it's dated and ugly.:lol:

Had a good MILF show for the first time in a looong time.

Now for the TTA. I rode it. I found it to be exactly as enjoyable as before the script was changed. I honestly pay no attention to the spoken words of the ride. It's there for relaxation to me, and it still does that job swimmingly. The only negative is the absence of the star tunnel music in Space makes that portion of the ride kinda creepy.

Space Mountain. *Sigh* The queue looks great, and the games are fun, even though I only played them for a few seconds. The pepper's ghost effects look amazing! It's crazy how faded they had become.

Now the load area ceiling is nice, but I HATED the configuration of sending you into the completely unthemed hallway at the back. Honestly, the refurb was basically all about queue and post show aesthetics, and they completely threw it out the window by sending you through that hallway, where the bare painted walls have already begun to be the victim of vandalism. Also aren't the air gates supposed to be lit up? They look pretty lame without it.

If the ride has been smoothed out, I could barely tell. I still had a heck of a lot of fun on it, but it's really no different than before. The obnoxiously loud lift and no audio doesn't help either.

The post show was nice, until the headache inducing "green screen".

All in all I give the Space Mountain refurb a D+/C-.

I ate at the Crystal Palace and Cinderella's Royal table and had excellent meals at both locations.

Now for a random MK rambling. Fantasyland will be great when it opnes, but MK wil still need more to do. On New Years Eve and December 27th, my family and I had everything in the park done by 8/6PM respectively, and that's without being commandos and running all over the park. If people can do that during the busiest time of the year, I really think more is needed at the flagship park.

Well...thoughts?

Bolded what I agreed on, Underlined what I didn't. Awesome report though...Very concise. I should work on that...Mine tends to ramble.

How do you get through the park so quick?! We utilize FP, don;t lag too much, it still takes us all day, and we always have to cut SOMETHING. :lol:

Pirates- Audio in the AA portions, yes, sounded great. However, how was the DJ Projection? Very off for us.

Splahs looked better than Aug, I agree, but the running/silhouette effect was dead.

And yeah, Pan looked sad.

Thank you:xmas: And thank the people that made it possible to have a private cruise that inspired me to go......deeper into the jungle.


I'm not quite sure. I was burnt out on pixie dust up until Sunday when I discovered something fantasic at the Studios: Citizens of Hollywood. Believe it or not, I had never seen a show. I like!

I agree as well, the Citizens REALLY solidified my new and improved opinion on DHS.

Exactly. The sappy dreams laden words and songs just perpetuate the "Pixie Dust"-only ways of Disney, where Fantasy in the Sky gets your blood pumping, and really has that special something.

What Firework show does not? :lol:

I find that Wishes does the same, again, for the reasons I listed above. FitS feels clunky. Re-record it, add some more vocals, it's be set.

There's a shocker. :lol:

Another knock on Wishes, it's basically a rehash of Fantasmic for some of the show.

How?! Fantasmic is a story. It's linear. It's Mickey's Dream, albeit a odd and convoluted one. (Freud?) Wishes is more like a abstract vignette that gives a glimpse into the "feeling" of Disney.

 

[Wilt Dasney]

I agree, I've never felt inspired by Wishes from a narrative standpoint. It's always just left me feeling flat. IllumiNations is much more inspirational, Fantasmic! is dull in spots but has superior music and a great finale, and DL's castle fireworks show (at least the pre-summer version) is a lot more whimsical and fun.

 

[EPCOT Explorer]

I agree, I've never felt inspired by Wishes from a narrative standpoint. It's always just left me feeling flat. IllumiNations is much more inspirational, Fantasmic! is dull in spots but has superior music and a great finale, and DL's castle fireworks show (at least the pre-summer version) is a lot more whimsical and fun.

How DO you interpret it, then?

:lol:

I was never really wowed by FitS, I'll tell you that much.

 

[CaptainMichael]

How?! Fantasmic is a story. It's linear. It's Mickey's Dream, albeit a odd and convoluted one. (Freud?) Wishes is more like a abstract vignette that gives a glimpse into the "feeling" of Disney.

The whole villain/magic mirror thing. Tired.

 

[EPCOT Explorer]

The whole villain/magic mirror thing. Tired.

That's the only similarity. :lol: :shrug:

 

[krankenstein]

Pirates- Audio in the AA portions, yes, sounded great. However, how was the DJ Projection? Very off for us.

DJ was perfect when I rode. :shrug:

 

[CaptainMichael]

That's the only similarity. :lol: :shrug:

How so? Happy pixie dust beginning, villain takeover ZOMG!, pixie dust prevails, happy ending. Rinse and repeat.

Fantasy in the Sky is basically a celebration of the Magic Kingdom through music and fireworks. There is no agenda, just pretty music and pretty visuals. Could it be better? Yes, but it is something to build around and upon.

 

[EPCOT Explorer]

DJ was perfect when I rode. :shrug:

Lucky! He was horribly out of synch when we were there.

How so? Happy pixie dust beginning, villain takeover ZOMG!, pixie dust prevails, happy ending. Rinse and repeat.

Fantasy in the Sky is basically a celebration of the Magic Kingdom through music and fireworks. There is no agenda, just pretty music and pretty visuals. Could it be better? Yes, but it is something to build around and upon.

:shrug: Different styles, different music, different use of characters, different feeling/thematics.

Michael...Every Traditional Disney show is what you described. :lol:


I too, agree, however that FitS should be built upon.

 

[Wilt Dasney]

How DO you interpret it, then?

:lol:

I was never really wowed by FitS, I'll tell you that much.

I don't remember seeing Fantasy. I'm sure I saw whatever fireworks show was there in the mid-80s when I was a wee thing, but I couldn't tell you anything about it.

To answer your first question: I interpret Wishes (honestly that's a generous verb, because it's never struck me as anything particularly deep) as a bunch of corporate Disney buzzwords put together without any soul below it. It just feels like the emperor has no clothes to me. You've got Jiminy Cricket reprising his wishing on stars shtick, some corny singing kids, and the Wicked Queen popping in randomly (and weakly...her use in Fantasmic! is much more potent.) It feels slapped together to me.

Contrast that with what I saw at DL in May. There, they had Julie Andrews (a real-life giant in Disney history) explaining what Walt Disney wanted the park to be, and audio clips from the man himself, mixed with music and dialogue from attractions all over the park and some very cool pyro effects that were uniquely tied in with certain attractions. It felt to me like a hybrid Disney history lesson and a "welcome to our home" from all the characters who inhabit the rides. I've never felt anything like that from Wishes, and I've tried to feel something. :lol:

It also could have to do with the fact that I've never been big on the "wish for it and it'll come true" aspect of the Disney myth. That, to me, is a watered down and inaccurate legacy of what Disney is all about. It doesn't inspire me at all. Walt Disney didn't sit around wishing on stars. He combined his wishes with some serious hard work, and that message is closer to the DL show. "When You Wish Upon a Star" is a pleasant little tune, but I don't think its message is worthy of being the philosophical "hatrack" that the show defining all of MK rests on.

So there...I guess I had a little more interpretation in me than I realized on this issue. :lol:

 

[EPCOT Explorer]

I don't remember seeing Fantasy. I'm sure I saw whatever fireworks show was there in the mid-80s when I was a wee thing, but I couldn't tell you anything about it.

To answer your first question: I interpret Wishes (honestly that's a generous verb, because it's never struck me as anything particularly deep) as a bunch of corporate Disney buzzwords put together without any soul below it. It just feels like the emperor has no clothes to me. You've got Jiminy Cricket reprising his wishing on stars shtick, some corny singing kids, and the Wicked Queen popping in randomly (and weakly...her use in Fantasmic! is much more potent.) It feels slapped together to me.

Contrast that with what I saw at DL in May. There, they had Julie Andrews (a real-life giant in Disney history) explaining what Walt Disney wanted the park to be, and audio clips from the man himself, mixed with music and dialogue from attractions all over the park and some very cool pyro effects that were uniquely tied in with certain attractions. It felt to me like a hybrid Disney history lesson and a "welcome to our home" from all the characters who inhabit the rides. I've never felt anything like that from Wishes, and I've tried to feel something. :lol:

It also could have to do with the fact that I've never been big on the "wish for it and it'll come true" aspect of the Disney myth. That, to me, is a watered down and inaccurate legacy of what Disney is all about. It doesn't inspire me at all. Walt Disney didn't sit around wishing on stars. He combined his wishes with some serious hard work, and that message is closer to the DL show. "When You Wish Upon a Star" is a pleasant little tune, but I don't think its message is worthy of being the philosophical "hatrack" that the show defining all of MK rests on.

So there...I guess I had a little more interpretation in me than I realized on this issue. :lol:

What you wrote about Remember: Dreams Come True is perfectly and exactly true. It knocks Wishes out of the water in music, meaning, and effects, I won't deny you that.

Also agreed on the whole Wishing/Working mantra. That's bugged me for a while about Disney in general, and I think PatF, adresses that in a perfect manner. Add it to Wishes. :lol:

Can't agree on Wishes being overly corporate...if anything, Fant! feels like that to me. Disjoined, copy/pasted movie clips, and tons of foamheads. Buy a Plush fodder for when everyone empties out onto Sunset Blvd. after. (That said, I really do like Fant, I enjoyed it very much so and was wowed by it this past trip. First time I had seen it in over 10 years.)

Wishes has always felt very organic, very poignant, and very much like a synthesis of the thought behind MK, though it is FyL heavy. Maybe I am just a sap that way, but this is a NEW show that brings out a lot of the nostalgia and emotion that's associated with Disney as a whole, and ultimately, the Magic Kingdom.

 

[Animaniac93-98]

Oh, I just love how everybody is giving their own great personal detailed accounts of WDW! Yours is no exception Sir! Glad to hear things are getting better.

Just wait to you see my nit-picky report on WDW :drevil: *castle thunder*

And I've said it before and I'll say it again, Wishes is sappy. So much so you could probably make maple syrup from it if you tired.

 

[EPCOT Explorer]

Oh, I just love how everybody is giving their own great personal detailed accounts of WDW! Yours is no exception Sir! Glad to hear things are getting better.

Just wait to you see my nit-picky report on WDW :drevil: *castle thunder*

And I've said it before and I'll say it again, Wishes is sappy. So much so you could probably make maple syrup from it if you tired.

When you heading to the World, Maniac?

Or was that a veiled Wishes jab? :lookaroun :lol:

 

[EpcotServo]

You had never seen the Citizens!? They're the best. One of the reasons DHS has become my favorite park....but more on that later.

I've seen them, but I never stopped for a show until Sunday when I saw someone familiar working as Officer Peabody

It was very Adventurers Club-esque and not pixie dust humor. I approve, and yes, DHS is now my favorite park, but this type of experience needs to be all around the park. I know some characters from 1937 that need some work:lookaroun

Excellent...Excellent...Muhahahahaha!
:lol:

And yes, but it's getting there. Right now there's Mulch Sweet N Sheers for New York Street, and the Green Army Men are doing great streetmosphere for Pixar Place, and Citizens of Hollywood are still in control of Hollywood and Sunset. I think some working studio crew entertainment in the Backlot would be nice, but Idol has actually done alot for the streetmosphere in that area with all the spot filming. And of course, they need to stop beating around the bush and bring the Muppet Mobile Lab to the Orginal, one and only, world famous Muppet Labs. (Ours of course. )

Studios+Typhoon Lagoon+Pleasure Island = The 1989 Trifecta of awesomeness.

 

[marni1971]

I don't remember seeing Fantasy. I'm sure I saw whatever fireworks show was there in the mid-80s when I was a wee thing, but I couldn't tell you anything about it.

You saw one of the first versions of FitS. It changed quite a lot over the years, and the last version (retooled as part of the NYE show) premiered in the late 90`s.

Wishes.... great but empty both at the same time. Disney admitted back in `03 they were taking a risk with a narrated pyro show. And they did. Prior to that only Believe had attempted more than just music, and even then any `narration` was hidden in verse.

Wishes is no doubt the most elaborate nightly show the MK has had. But it has far too many empty sections as the (familiar, as said above) story is told. This could be helped no end by investing in better castle visuals - the LED lighting system is far better than the old one, but the MK is the only Kingdom left to use purely light and a few gobo effects par the course. DLP and Anahiem have lasers, all the other parks have animated gobos, all but Tokyo have syncrolights, all but DLP have flame jets.... Wishes could be taken to the next level, much like ROE, by building on what is already there.

 

[Animaniac93-98]

When you heading to the World, Maniac?

In 3 days! :sohappy: And you can bet I'll be looking for certain things (hats anyone?) and am very much excited to see stuff like the new HoP in person, Sum of All Thrills and the Muppets in MK (are they there now?). And I don't care if it's cold because I have a nice new coat to wear.

Or was that a veiled Wishes jab? :lookaroun :lol:

Jab? No, that's such a harsh word.

I prefer insult.

 

[EPCOT Explorer]

Excellent...Excellent...Muhahahahaha!
:lol:

And yes, but it's getting there. Right now there's Mulch Sweet N Sheers for New York Street, and the Green Army Men are doing great streetmosphere for Pixar Place, and Citizens of Hollywood are still in control of Hollywood and Sunset. I think some working studio crew entertainment in the Backlot would be nice, but Idol has actually done alot for the streetmosphere in that area with all the spot filming. And of course, they need to stop beating around the bush and bring the Muppet Mobile Lab to the Orginal, one and only, world famous Muppet Labs. (Ours of course. )

Studios+Typhoon Lagoon+Pleasure Island = The 1989 Trifecta of awesomeness.

We are going to need to widen the doorways for your Studios inflated head. :lookaroun :lol:

Never realized how much was done in 89...WoL opened, too.


What was the difference between the Muppet Labs you listed?