News Celebrate Gospel!, Tale of the Lion King and more entertainment to return in 2022

[TP2000]

He was kidding

Nope, not kidding. See above.

And it's only 4:45pm here on the West Coast and I'm over an hour away from Cocktail Time.

I'm dead sober and very serious.

 

[BuzzedPotatoHead89]

I'm a big believer in "Disney eras"; where we look back on certain eras in the history of the parks and reflect on how those eras played out and what they offered. The Walt Era, of course. The Ron Miller 70's Era, the Good Eisner 80's Era, the Bad Eisner 90's Era, the Paul Pressler Era (disaster movie edition!), the Matt Ouimet Rebirth Era, etc.

We have entered into an era right now that was already tragic and weird before Covid hit and closed Disneyland for 14 months; Star War Land Immersion From Churro Salesmen Instead Of Professional Entertainers, Star Wars Land Flopping At Disneyland With No Crowds, Pixar Pier, Galactic Starcruiser Underwhelming, Disney Stores Replaced By Junky Aisles At Target, etc., etc. Covid only intensified what was already happening.

It's the Bob Chapek Era, and we're all living the nightmare.

KiteTails is not just an example of this era, it's the crystal-clear living embodiment of this era. It's cheap. It's half-baked. It's underfunded. It's confusing. It breaks every Showmanship rule that Disney created for itself and used to brag about. It literally crashes and burns right into the laps of the paying audience.

KiteTails is perfection. It's stupid and hilarious (laughing at it, not with it) and embarassing. It's the perfect embodiment of The Chapek Era, and it's something we'll look back at try to explain to people in the future and no one will believe us. Thank God we have endless crowd-sourced HD footage of it to prove it actually happened.

KiteTails is Bob Chapek personified. I'm jealous that to experience the depths of this current era we have to go to Florida to earn the badge of seeing it.

This post is solid! Kite Tails is Bob Chapek and really the WDW 50th in a nutshell. But it’s true to itself about what it is and it’s humble in its humor and “showmanship”.

It’s the live entertainment equivalent of what Superstar Limo was to DCA 1.0 and the Eisner post-Wells era.

 

[Figments Friend]

He was kidding

Nope, not kidding. See above.

And it's only 4:45pm here on the West Coast and I'm over an hour away from Cocktail Time.

I'm dead sober and very serious.

TP, I love you.



-

 

[DCBaker]

Silence on Magic Happens so far, but Scott got this as an answer -

 

[Disney Analyst]

Silence on Magic Happens so far, but Scott got this as an answer -

Hah, I didn't realize you posted this. I just had in the WOC / Fantasmic thread. I deleted, your posted is better suited.


Hopefully MH comes later next year.

 

[Centauri Space Station]

Nope, not kidding. See above.

And it's only 4:45pm here on the West Coast and I'm over an hour away from Cocktail Time.

I'm dead sober and very serious.

Haha my mistake

 

[TsWade2]

I'm not a fan of the idea putting Tale of the Lion King at Fantasyland Theatre, I was hoping for a new show similar to Mickey and the Magical Map, but stage show is a stage show, so I guess that's better than nothing.

 

[Disney Analyst]

Not out of the woods yet...




Still going to run the off season Mix Magic.

I assume Disneyland Forever runs Spring Break through the Summer.

 

[MarvelCharacterNerd]

Okay, I really liked Tale of the Lion King when it ran at DCA - both in its initial form and the later cut-down-budget version with less/no dancers.

And granted, I miss Map.

But in no way does this tiny show belong on this huge stage/venue!

It's way too small a production even if they reframe the stage to look smaller.

I understand it's too big for and doesn't belong in the tiny Royal Theatre.

But this is a small production with no characters that might fill the first few rows of this massive location. But it's not going to pull Map crowds with all the characters in that show and the scope of the staging and amount of performers.

I don't expect it to last long there.

Beats no entertainment in the theater but it's like serving a slider to someone who was expecting a double-double.

 

[TP2000]

Beats no entertainment in the theater but it's like serving a slider to someone who was expecting a double-double.

That's a fantastic analogy!

Thanks for the insight on the production values of this show. I think you're right; they designed this show for the small outdoor amphitheater in DCA. If they don't substantially beef it up (get it?) it's going to be a big letdown for folks in the much larger Fantasyland Theater.

Good show, wrong venue.

 

[wtyy21]

Not out of the woods yet...




Still going to run the off season Mix Magic.

I assume Disneyland Forever runs Spring Break through the Summer.

Mickey's Mix Magic is bit like Fantasy in the Sky, running in off season months. Meanwhile, Disneyland Forever replacing the role what RDCT and Magical does at the time.

 

[Disney Analyst]

Okay, I really liked Tale of the Lion King when it ran at DCA - both in its initial form and the later cut-down-budget version with less/no dancers.

And granted, I miss Map.

But in no way does this tiny show belong on this huge stage/venue!

It's way too small a production even if they reframe the stage to look smaller.

I understand it's too big for and doesn't belong in the tiny Royal Theatre.

But this is a small production with no characters that might fill the first few rows of this massive location. But it's not going to pull Map crowds with all the characters in that show and the scope of the staging and amount of performers.

I don't expect it to last long there.

Beats no entertainment in the theater but it's like serving a slider to someone who was expecting a double-double.

I am hoping with them moving it to the theatre, that they’ll flesh it out more.

 

[mightynine]

Hoping Disneyland Forever’s return means the theme will get a proper digital release. I really enjoyed listening to it during the 60th.

Unless it was on some random compilation I don’t know about!

 

[Squishy]

Silence on Magic Happens so far, but Scott got this as an answer -

I don't see them running both MSEP & Magic Happens.

 

[Suspirian]

Kinda interesting that the gospel event wont return to the Hollywood soundstages even though their sitting empty currently

 

[VJ]

Okay, I really liked Tale of the Lion King when it ran at DCA - both in its initial form and the later cut-down-budget version with less/no dancers.

And granted, I miss Map.

But in no way does this tiny show belong on this huge stage/venue!

It's way too small a production even if they reframe the stage to look smaller.

I understand it's too big for and doesn't belong in the tiny Royal Theatre.

But this is a small production with no characters that might fill the first few rows of this massive location. But it's not going to pull Map crowds with all the characters in that show and the scope of the staging and amount of performers.

I don't expect it to last long there.

Beats no entertainment in the theater but it's like serving a slider to someone who was expecting a double-double.

I love how Disneyland thinks that switching shows between parks is just something that works.

Imagine Disney Channel Rocks playing in the Fantasyland Theater. Just imagine that for a second.

 

[VJ]

Hoping Disneyland Forever’s return means the theme will get a proper digital release. I really enjoyed listening to it during the 60th.

Unlikely.

Unless it was on some random compilation I don’t know about!

Nope.

 

[MarvelCharacterNerd]

I love how Disneyland thinks that switching shows between parks is just something that works.

Imagine Disney Channel Rocks playing in the Fantasyland Theater. Just imagine that for a second.

The irony is that other than DCA supporting a much larger amount of diverse performances than DL (and this was an all Black cast with a mix for the dancers as I recall) - The Lion King always felt like a weird choice for a DCA show. It's far more classic Disney and would belong better at DL in terms of the IP.

And I sort of remember a million years ago when the Fantasyland Theater was home to a wonderful Pocahontas show (that I recall really loving but no actual details about beyond that). And "Festival of the Lion King" is my fave show at WDW and was only topped by Aladdin at DCA IMO for best park show I've ever seen. And I have an equally-vague but adoring recollection of the Lion King parade at DL (which Festival took most of its parts from, I think?) as the coolest daytime parade ever. All of which is to say that I would LOVE to see a Lion King show done at the Fantasyland Theater. But this charming retelling is not a full production for a large stage theater. It simply doesn't sell to the cheap seats on the back benches, which a glimpse of Stitch or King Louie or multiple princesses or Sebastian with dancers in bubbles or a massive Princess & The Frog finale with Tiana, a trumpeter and a ton of dancers with parasol and tambourine props did.

I just checked my videos and it looks like I didn't film the full show sadly, but here's a snippet of what Tale of the Lion King was like at DCA for reference:

 

[AFoodie]

A live Gospel show sounds fantastic! I’d love to have that option at WDW. Years ago, I remember coming with an ethnic dance company to perform at MK & Epcot, but I can’t for the life of me remember where the stages were. I’m pretty sure all those regular people performances now have moved to Disney Springs, tho.

 

[Mickeyboof]

Oh boy, so much entertainment, so little information!

anyone have the scoop on dates yet? Are they rehearsing and parades or shows yet?