News 'Disney Enchantment' coming to Magic Kingdom October 1 2021

[Amidala]

Of course Disneyland will get a new show and they’ll probably get Magic Happens and Paint The Night back, while Magic Kingdom gets Maybe HEA back and nothing more. Oh wait scratch that, MK will get a 100th cavalcade.

Is there any chance of this? Seems unlikely. Coming from an Orlando local, the hub seems to be packed for both showings of Enchantment every night. And I assume this show costs less money to run considering it's significantly shorter. Factor in all the money they poured into R&D for Enchantment, which would be rendered a total waste if they switched over to HEA a year later, and it doesn't make too much sense. I also can't imagine them spending money on a new show when Enchantment is popular enough with the GA...Correct me if I'm wrong (I'd love to be) but I guess we're stuck with this for a while.

 

[Disney Glimpses]

and to Disney some guests is good enough for them to not have to spend on change or switching something out. They are notoriously bad for skewing data to use as an excuse. However this one seems a little different and they need to do something, its just so poorly done compared to predecessors and what Disneyalnd has,,,but they probably won't do a thing for a long time. lets hope thats not the case but we all know how this goes.

The cost to changing over to HEA would be negligible. To your point, they will skew the data to keep something around a reasonable amount of time but realistically speaking if they feel that the show is not completing the Magic Kingdom experience they desire, it will get swapped. HEA was immensely popular and ran for 3 years (4 years counting the closures). This show will not run that long.

Is there any chance of this? Seems unlikely. Coming from an Orlando local, the hub seems to be packed for both showings of Enchantment every night. And I assume this show costs less money to run considering it's significantly shorter. Factor in all the money they poured into R&D for Enchantment, which would be rendered a total waste if they switched over to HEA a year later, and it doesn't make too much sense. I also can't imagine them spending money on a new show when Enchantment is popular enough with the GA...Correct me if I'm wrong (I'd love to be) but I guess we're stuck with this for a while.

Again: Sunk Cost Fallacy. They'll run it for 18 months and that would not be considered a waste. I'll remind you that they ran HEA for only 36 months (only 2x as long as DE is projected to run) and they threw it out like it was nothing.

Secondly, despite the showing being 2.5 minutes shorter, they are still launching more shells in those ~15 minutes than they were the final version of HEA (DE has ~675-690 shells vs HEA's ~650 shells).

And moving back to HEA would be easy to explain: "As we conclude our celebration of the 50th Anniversary of Walt Disney World, Happily Ever After will return for a limited time."

 

[mm52200]

Enchantment may seem busier but also factor in that Fantasmic the major nighttime spectacular that keeps guests in DHS in the evenings has still yet to return so those guests are still going somewhere to get their nighttime show fix as the projection shows at studios just aren’t keeping the guests there.

And any R&D done on Enchantment was simply new technology infrastructure such as projections, lighting, lasers, launch sites that can all simply be used for future/retuning shows.

 

[Amidala]

Secondly, despite the showing being 2.5 minutes shorter, they are still launching more shells in those ~15 minutes than they were the final version of HEA (DE has ~675-690 shells vs HEA's ~650 shells).

Are they really? That's interesting. I definitely wouldn't have guessed it.

And moving back to HEA would be easy to explain: "As we conclude our celebration of the 50th Anniversary of Walt Disney World, Happily Ever After will return for a limited time."

I would really like to believe this, and it would definitely be easy enough to segue from the Halloween & Christmas fireworks back to HEA in January since the anniversary ends in the fall. At the very least, it would be a slick get-around for any pride-related hangups TPTB may have about shelving their brand new show after only a year. I'll keep my fingers crossed then. Wish it was as common for WDW to re-run shows as it is over at DLR, but I understand there are very different audiences with different needs.

 

[Disney Glimpses]

Wish it was as common for WDW to re-run shows as it is over at DLR, but I understand there are very different audiences with different needs.

Completely agree but I do think this is a unique case.

Disney Enchantment was a last minute decision due to the inability to fulfill the original WDW 50th plans. Obviously, HEA was originally meant to be a bridge show but DE was not meant to be the show that it bridged to. The overall popularity scores aren't really close and there are still plenty of guests who have not had the opportunity to see HEA due to its only ~36 months of runtime.

I agree with your skepticism though. I am fairly certain we won't see a new show but I am also fairly certain they have given up on trying to "fix" DE as they notable abandoned some of the pyro changes they made.

 

[mikejs78]

Are they really? That's interesting. I definitely wouldn't have guessed it.



I would really like to believe this, and it would definitely be easy enough to segue from the Halloween & Christmas fireworks back to HEA in January since the anniversary ends in the fall. At the very least, it would be a slick get-around for any pride-related hangups TPTB may have about shelving their brand new show after only a year. I'll keep my fingers crossed then. Wish it was as common for WDW to re-run shows as it is over at DLR, but I understand there are very different audiences with different needs.

Probably more like April as supposedly the anniversary celebration was billed as 18 months.

 

[Amidala]

Probably more like April as supposedly the anniversary celebration was billed as 18 months.

I completely forgot It's a mark of what a letdown this anniversary has been that I can't wait for it to end.

 

[Disney Glimpses]

Probably more like April as supposedly the anniversary celebration was billed as 18 months.

Disney's "100 Years of Wonder" starts 3/23 which is when I expect change (if any) to happen.

Still holding out for projection enhanced Wishes

 

[mikejs78]

I completely forgot It's a mark of what a letdown this anniversary has been that I can't wait for it to end.

I think Disney considered it a letdown as well.

 

[mikejs78]

Disney's "100 Years of Wonder" starts 3/23 which is when I expect change (if any) to happen.

Still holding out for projection enhanced Wishes

I'd personally prefer HEA, but would be satisfied with a projections-enhanced Wishes.

 

[mikejs78]

Disney's "100 Years of Wonder" starts 3/23 which is when I expect change (if any) to happen.

Now the real question - can they get the front part of Epcot done by then? The walls really detract from the experience.

 

[Disney Glimpses]

I'd personally prefer HEA, but would be satisfied with a projections-enhanced Wishes.

Me too, but I think their ego of DE failing combined with the new Pinocchio film and a more classic score may point them towards Wishes. I think loyal guests would be equally thrilled.

Now the real question - can they get the front part of Epcot done by then? The walls really detract from the experience.

They absolutely can. It's really a matter of will they. Totally agree!

 

[gerarar]

There's a reason all the special custom-made shells/fireworks from HEA still exist today and are being used in DE..

A switch to HEA won't be a total logistical problem and can happen pretty quickly anytime.

Orrrrr, they just didn't want to design new shells for DE by being cheap(?) and I'm just being foolish and in denial..

 

[Disney Glimpses]

Disney Enchantment is largely viewed as a 50th show. Other than saying that Happily Ever After will "sparkle into Disney history" (as 100 other things that have returned), they have not committed to Disney Enchantment running longer than the 18th month "celebration."

There is one article where a Disney Enchantment producer is quoted saying that Disney Enchantment will run "for as long as guests enjoy it." This was not an official statement though and many guests are adamantly telling Disney they do not enjoy it any longer.

 

[GhostHost1000]

That's the sunk cost fallacy.

They will absolutely abandon it if they feel that it is not having the desired impact. It's really a tricky issue though because surveys do show that Enchantment scores well (even as well as HEA) among guests who have never seen HEA. Guests who have seen HEA, especially die hards, prefer HEA by a rate of more than 80%.

All of that said, the "hype factor" with Disney Enchantment simply isn't there as it was with HEA. The show is definitely slated to end sooner than planned because of all of this but the questions are when and how.

I think any fireworks over the castle would score well if they haven’t seen any other show there before

 

[Disney Glimpses]

I think any fireworks over the castle would score well if they haven’t seen any other show there before

Bingo. Repeat visitors are the crowd that aren't pleased. Harmonious did not suffer like Enchantment in this regard.

 

[GhostHost1000]

Bingo. Repeat visitors are the crowd that aren't pleased. Harmonious did not suffer like Enchantment in this regard.

While I miss illuminations I like harmonious. It has grown on me. I still think the ending needs more imo

 

[Disney Glimpses]

While I miss illuminations I like harmonious. It has grown on me. I still think the ending needs more imo

I still don't understand why they don't use the same loud shells at the end that Illuminations and EPCOT Forever had.

 

[trainplane3]

I mentioned in another thread how a friend (who has been here before) and their relative (who hasn't) are coming down the same time I am.

Friend mentioned liking the fireworks (HEA) in MK and said we should watch them since their relative hasn't seen them before. I said the current show sucks but would watch it if they wanted to. Then the relative said the people they've talked to at work (who have been to WDW numerous times) said the same thing and to just skip it. Imagine your fanbase dunking on a show to the point where they don't even want first time guests wasting their time on it.

yikes

 

[yensidtlaw1969]

Completely agree but I do think this is a unique case.

Disney Enchantment was a last minute decision due to the inability to fulfill the original WDW 50th plans. Obviously, HEA was originally meant to be a bridge show but DE was not meant to be the show that it bridged to. The overall popularity scores aren't really close and there are still plenty of guests who have not had the opportunity to see HEA due to its only ~36 months of runtime.

I agree with your skepticism though. I am fairly certain we won't see a new show but I am also fairly certain they have given up on trying to "fix" DE as they notable abandoned some of the pyro changes they made.

Do you happen to have any insight into what the original WDW 50th plans were? Details around that have been slim, and given what we got I think we're all curious about what could (or should?) have been