The Wishing Well (许愿井)
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I have a special sneak peek for you today of a brand new attraction being built right now in Shanghai Disneyland at the Shanghai Disney Resort. Located in the Fantasyland Gardens area to the front of the park, this new show takes cues from the famous Enchanted Tiki Room from Walt himself. But don't think this is this same attraction, this is a whole new concept! The show is called "The Wishing Well (
许愿井)".
View attachment 37718The show building appears as a new grotto similar to the one in the original park, sans the well and the figures.
In fact, the beginnings of the queue weave around this lush area. The line continues into a small cavern in the hill, where the Magic Mirror from
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs interacts with waiting guests with screen technology similar to Turtle Talk with Crush. He answers guests questions about the kingdom, themselves, etc., idealistically giving people fortunes. After this, guests presumably pass "out of the cave" and into a castle courtyard. Seats made of faux marble surround the room, circling the famous wishing well from Snow White in the center.
Once all guests have filled the seats, a live Snow White actress comes out and says hello to everyone. She states that she must get to her chores, cleaning the courtyard with water from the well, but we are welcome to stay. As she cleans, she sings "I'm Wishing". Bird animatronics come to life on trees behind the guests (thus also in front of others) and begin to tweet along with Snow white as in the film. A couple doves also rise onto the edge of the wishing well with a flying effect created using a small bar on the bottom of the bird. hey would lift their wings up and out of the well, sitting on the edge to sing.
After the Prince arrives and Snow runs away (to backstage area), the Prince finishes the song and wanders off, as an AA Evil Queen peers in through a window on the 2nd story of the backstage area. With the courtyard now empty, the walls amazingly change to a new environment, using projection technology. It is now nighttime and we are a short distance from Prince Charming's castle. Half of the birds that were previously on trees have now receded into the ceiling, while the other half (away from the castle) remain. We see and here the large clock on the castle strike midnight and we see Cinderella run from the direction of the castle in her servant's uniform. Prince Charming can be heard beckoning behind her, his voice fading in the opposite direction. Cinderella (a live actress) stops, out of breath and in a daze at the well, which remains. She giggles as the birds begin to hum the beginning of "So This Is Love"...
The Prince's part in the song is taken by a whistling male bird who rises out of the top of the well. Soon, Lady Tremaine is heard calling from the direction of the woods and Cinderella runs off (to backstage). The environment once again changes. The forested area returns, completely surrounding the theater, while even more branches appear above the well as an extent of the previous trees. Guests are now deep in the forest in the morning. Aurora's cottage from
Sleeping Beauty can be seen in the distance. Then, Aurora (live actress) stumbles up to the wishing well. A new special effect can be seen at this instance. An animatronic owl drops down from the ceiling during the transition period, wearing Prince Phillip's hat and cloak as in the film. It is connected by wires and is more of a static figure that only moves it's beak, eyebrows, and wings. They proceed to dance to "Once Upon a Dream"...
The verse at the end sung by an unseen chorus will be a tune whistled by the birds as Aurora and Phillip walk off stage. The theater goes through a magical transition again, now a London courtyard at night, with Big Ben looming in the background. New birds (pigeons) have popped out from turning surfaces in the ground (ropes will be placed along the aisles at the start of the show so guests may not interfere. At this point, Wendy, John and Michael (live actors) spill out onto the streets and a Peter Pan animatronic floats from the ceiling. They request Peter to tell them how to fly, and lead them to Neverland, and they so wish they could do so. Peter exclaims that all it takes is faith, trust and pixie dust to get them to the second star on the right. Suddenly, the three Darling children decide to try, and using projection effects similar to those used in Cinemagique in Walt Disney Studios Park, they fly up into the projected sky following Peter Pan (the actors go through a seam in the screen backstage, while a projection flies up). New projections appear on the walls of pixie fairies buzzing around. As they lift off, the children along with the pigeons and the pixies bellow out the classic "You Can Fly"...
Cartoon projections and shadows of the group whiz through the sky until they land on the hand of Big Ben as in Philharmagic. After this, the room goes through a final transition back into Snow White's castle courtyard. Guests are ushered out of the theater as an instrumental version of "When You Wish Upon A Star" plays i the background.
That is just one of the brand new attractions being constructed at the spectacular new Shanghai Disney Resort. I hope you enjoyed an inspiring journey through dreams come true at The Wishing Well in Shanghai Disneyland!
Capacity Per Hour: 316 people
Length: 15 minutes
Shows Per Hour: 2 shows
And come on, who doesn't think this...
...fits in with this...
*Just to clarify, the small hallway at the bottom in the layout is an exit.