Let's talk entertainment for the 25th Anniversary at DLP.
A mixed bag to be sure.
Let's start with the daytime stuff and the sorta/kinda/mostly new Stars on Parade. Like most of the 25th, it feels quite cobbled together. Like the brief was "We need a new parade for the 25th, what can you do for $30,421.87?" No, it isn't bad. The music is catchy. The performers are into it. The floats are big and vibrant but ... again, what exactly is the theme ... the story ... the thing that ties it into a cohesive product? Missing in action.
Part of it might be that two great floats (Lion King and Peter Pan) came from TDL's wonderful Jubilation parade, so they are only new to this park, to this audience. Part might be that the styles are so different. The opening one with Mickey and Company is sorta steampunkish and later we have the fire-breathing dragon from MK's FoF parade. They go together. But the others ... especially the plastic Toy Story float or the Frozen finale with a scary looking Olaf attempting to straddle Sven have nothing in common with them or with the old Tokyo floats. Some people might say I'm overthinking it. But I've seen countless Disney parades across the globe over the decades and I know what works. This one gets by on lovely floats and a peppy soundtrack, but not on any sense of being.
There's also a stage show at the castle (nice to see this venue finally used) called "Mickey Celebrates Disneyland's Anniversary" that harkens back to the old shows that used to play at the MK and even recall TDL's seemingly never-ending One Man's Dream II show. The premise is simple, the Big Cheese is celebrating DLP's 25th by taking you on a musical review of the lands largely based on costumes and changing hats on stage. The show is nice, but short. Again, you get the feeling they wanted to do a 24-minute show and were told "Yeah, do it in 12 instead." So, the show feels short and rushed. And having Buzz Lightyear, the Mad Hatter and Duffy on stage, but no Minnie or Ducks just seemed so wrong. But Goofy's brat makes an appearance and it would seem he is quite popular with people who were kids roughly between 1984 and 2000 for some reason. And the show actually incorporates the fountains added for Illuminations (no Reflections of Earth), which is a plus.
There also is a Princess Waltz on the same stage that loosely is tied into the 25th, but we ignored that. It seemed like very small scale in scope and audience.
Beyond lots of blue and white and silver decor, that's largely it for 25th entertainment (like 25th gift bags in shops, it just isn't all that much) ... maybe Disney Blogger to the Stars,
@WDWFigment will drop in with his thoughts as one of the only bloggers I have respect for.
Am I leaving anything out? Lemme think ... oh yeah, there's that new castle projection, pyro and fountain show, Illuminations: Not Reflections of Earth. I saw the show three times just for all of you ... or maybe I just liked being in DLP so late (I've been there at the same time of year before and had the parks close at 6, 7 and 8 p.m. ... when darkness doesn't fully come until after 10).
I will describe it as I described it to my beloved Angie. "That was one jumbled mess, but what an impressive mess it was.*
Now, seven years after the start of World of Color and The MAGIC, The Memories and YOU!, we have had what seems like an endless flow of these type of shows. Some beloved, some not so much. Disney Dreams, the DLP predecessor was much loved by regulars and with good reason. It actually told a story. Used Peter Pan as the major hook (pun intended) and had properties represented that are not the same overused dozen.
I loved Dreams.
I didn't love Illuminations. But I was wowed by it.
Again, it is a cobbled together show. I'd have to do a scene by scene comparison, but I believe a good 85-90% is simply lifted from SDL's opening show, Ignite the Dream. That show was crafted to showcase Disney's top current IP, and that used in the park, to an audience that may or may not have been familiar with it. DLP was looking for a celebration show of its 25th Anniversary. It didn't get that. It got an impressive mess.
The beginning and especially the Lion King scenes are simply spectacular. But the more the show goes on, the more it drifts. The last four sections are based on the Pirates film series, Frozen (including two songs, one of course being Let It Go!), the live action Beauty and the Beast and Star Wars. The projections are the best I've seen (no, I have not seen the new show in the swamps yet). The use of not only fountains, but lasers and color-changing LEDs in the trees (not chopped down) in the Hub make each scene jump as a wow. But it's sorta like the typical Cirque show. You get tired of applauding for every act, while no real story is going on. If you want to see Disney film scenes, almost entirely of the overused (like Little Mermaid) variety on an amazing tapestry with no ties between scenes, then this is the show for you. It is a technical tour de force, but has as much emotional heart as Bob Iger standing at a teleprompter while scenes from his favourite IP blast on screens behind him. Because of this, I'm not making Ignite the Dream such a priority in Shanghai, although I want to see how the locals react.
That's really the tale of 25th entertainment. They added things like something called a First Order March to WDSP that I am reasonably sure happens in the swamps too. There are a few extra and new meet-greet-and-gropes. Captain Jack over where Cinemagique was. Darth Vader in the old Star Tours merchandise location (always listed as a 10-minute wait). ... But the whole thing felt very cobbled together, very much of the we have to do something variety. And, overall, it is quality. Absolutely. It just isn't what one would expect or hope for on a significant anniversary.
Anyway, that is that ... next time, I'll discuss merchandise ... and then operations, which will include food and beverage.
Do you feel the same for the Forbidden Forest project replacing Dragon Challenge?
