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

[MagicHappens1971]

The underfunded, unambitious celebration they're currently running is registering as a disappointment, so the lesson they've learned is to . . . do less??

Haunting.

Ditto to this. I thought I read the original post wrong

 

[Disney Glimpses]

The underfunded, unambitious celebration they're currently running is registering as a disappointment, so the lesson they've learned is to . . . do less??

Haunting.

Welcome to the new world, welcome to the new world

 

[yensidtlaw1969]

Welcome to the new world, welcome to the new world

I wish I were shocked.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

The underfunded, unambitious celebration they're currently running is registering as a disappointment, so the lesson they've learned is to . . . do less??

Haunting.

I read it as the lesson is "don't promote the anniversary/celebration so that there aren't any expectations for us to miss"

 

[yensidtlaw1969]

I read it as the lesson is "don't promote the anniversary/celebration so that there aren't any expectations for us to miss"

View attachment 654454

Well, exactly - when a company that built its wealth on exceeding expectations and has the resources to do basically anything they want decides they'd rather lower guests' expectations than do any of the simple, reasonable things that would enable them to actually just meet those expectations, it's a big sign that things are wrong. Which we knew already, but wow.

It's like they're begging for a wakeup call.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Well, exactly - when a company that built its wealth on exceeding expectations and has the resources to do basically anything they want decides they'd rather lower guests' expectations than do any of the simple, reasonable things that would enable them to actually just meet those expectations, it's a big sign that things are wrong. Which we knew already, but wow.

It's like they're begging for a wakeup call.

Well, when they lower expectations and still produced great/record quarterly revenue, not much motivation to shift strategies

 

[aladdin2007]

Some good but still somewhat incomplete news: HEA is basically a go to return at some point next year. I don't know when or with what (if any) modifications. But they heard us "loud and clear." Apparently, they were prepared for this scenario all along.

Not sure how long it will run for but there are no plans to invest significant money into yet another nighttime spectacular at WDW this soon.

Edit: I should clarify that the source didn't specifically mention HEA as the show that will replace it. But simply that DE did not meet the expectations and that they were not going to invest significant money. Just reading between the lines here.

certainly sounding very interesting...its also interesting that MSEP is ending at Disneyland after just getting a new 50th float and what not, I can't help but think someone is missing the boat if they dont bring it here to the MK. Not getting into the pros and cons on if that parade should ever return here or not, just saying its odd the timing of things. It would be perfect, for now, to bring it here.

 

[Disney Glimpses]

Just a bit of a heads up. While I’m still pretty confident that HEA is the show that will replace DE, there are some decent hurdles to cross to get there. It seems like a simpler decision than it really is, unfortunately.

DE’s poor scores make those hurdles easier to cross though.

 

[Disney Glimpses]

I still don't understand the motivation for Enchantment. Heintz did the score for HEA and Mousetrappe (3rd party) did the projections. That very duo also did the Hong Kong Disneyland show Momentous which recently debuted.

Why go through such lengths to replace a show with such high scores with an inexperienced in house team? I really am perplexed.

 

[jpeden]

I still don't understand the motivation for Enchantment. Heintz did the score for HEA and Mousetrappe (3rd party) did the projections. That very duo also did the Hong Kong Disneyland show Momentous which recently debuted.

Why go through such lengths to replace a show with such high scores with an inexperienced in house team? I really am perplexed.

If it's scoring as bad as we think it is why not just go ahead and can it? They could literally do something like "to finish out 50 years of magic we are bringing back the fan favorite Happily Ever After to the Magic Kingdom this fall....." and people would go beserk. I know there is the logistics of changing firework shells, projections, etc., but it seems like such an easy call to make.

Disney baffles me on stuff like this - things that are a slam dunk they almost look for excuses NOT to do, while easily finding reasons to do things that make no sense from a guest perspective.

 

[MagicHappens1971]

If it's scoring as bad as we think it is why not just go ahead and can it? They could literally do something like "to finish out 50 years of magic we are bringing back the fan favorite Happily Ever After to the Magic Kingdom this fall....." and people would go beserk. I know there is the logistics of changing firework shells, projections, etc., but it seems like such an easy call to make.

Disney baffles me on stuff like this - things that are a slam dunk they almost look for excuses NOT to do, while easily finding reasons to do things that make no sense from a guest perspective.

I'm a local so this isn't much of a sentiment but I will be at MK the day HEA (hopefully) returns

 

[WorldExplorer]

If it's scoring as bad as we think it is why not just go ahead and can it? They could literally do something like "to finish out 50 years of magic we are bringing back the fan favorite Happily Ever After to the Magic Kingdom this fall....." and people would go beserk. I know there is the logistics of changing firework shells, projections, etc., but it seems like such an easy call to make.

Disney baffles me on stuff like this - things that are a slam dunk they almost look for excuses NOT to do, while easily finding reasons to do things that make no sense from a guest perspective.

I'm obviously not in a position of power, so I can only speculate, but I'd presume it's a matter of saving face.


Playing the thing until they end the 50th allows them to pretend it was a good show that was just always meant to be exclusive. Remember, aside from how most people don't want it to be obvious they screwed up, they hype this as the 50th show (you shouldn't need to bring in another show for the celebration when the thing all your maps advertise as being special for it is already running) so that's another big sign of how much of a thud that whole celebration has been if they admit it isn't well liked.

Cutting it short at a random time after less than a full year and bringing back the thing it replaced might as well be a big neon sign saying "We made a crummy show".

 

[rescue_ranger]

If it's scoring as bad as we think it is why not just go ahead and can it? They could literally do something like "to finish out 50 years of magic we are bringing back the fan favorite Happily Ever After to the Magic Kingdom this fall....." and people would go beserk. I know there is the logistics of changing firework shells, projections, etc., but it seems like such an easy call to make.

Disney baffles me on stuff like this - things that are a slam dunk they almost look for excuses NOT to do, while easily finding reasons to do things that make no sense from a guest perspective.

While I agree with you - mark my words, the second they announce something like this, they would inevitably get a group of people who suddenly loved DE coming out of the woodwork. It never fails.

That said, I am with you on this 100% and would love to see an announcement like this.

 

[Disney Glimpses]

They would inevitably get a group of people who suddenly loved DE coming out of the woodwork.

Not this time. The disdain for the show has only grown. Don't get me wrong, HEA wasn't universally loved at debut but it was way better received than DE was. And that love grew and grew over time quite quickly. I've discussed this show with more people and types of people than I care to admit and I've never seen something so universally agreed upon regarding the Disney Parks (except the barges in the lagoon). People aren't becoming attached to the show.

 

[aladdin2007]

Not this time. The disdain for the show has only grown. Don't get me wrong, HEA wasn't universally loved at debut but it was way better received than DE was. And that love grew and grew over time quite quickly. I've discussed this show with more people and types of people than I care to admit and I've never seen something so universally agreed upon regarding the Disney Parks (except the barges in the lagoon). People aren't becoming attached to the show.

I agree, this time it is very different and it has come back to knock them on their caboose. Whoever this team was and whoever approved, should really be looked at. Someone has gotten into these parks and entertainment and made sure to downgrade everything to the lowest common denominator. I hope someone somehow someway starts restoring some things.

 

[GhostHost1000]

Not this time. The disdain for the show has only grown. Don't get me wrong, HEA wasn't universally loved at debut but it was way better received than DE was. And that love grew and grew over time quite quickly. I've discussed this show with more people and types of people than I care to admit and I've never seen something so universally agreed upon regarding the Disney Parks (except the barges in the lagoon). People aren't becoming attached to the show.

I get it. This last trip was the first time I have ever had a vacation at WDW and NOT gone to the MK fireworks show

DE was in no way worth getting in that mess to see.

 

[Disney Glimpses]

I get it. This last trip was the first time I have ever had a vacation at WDW and NOT gone to the MK fireworks show

For us, HEA was a must see, multiple times. Wishes too (though I didn't mind not being front and center). DE I will watch once.

 

[VJ]

A show at Disneyland wouldn't translate to MK. The parks are too different and the expectations for nighttime shows are different. MK has the large castle for projections, along with a very different setup for launch sites.

disneyland and the magic kingdom have run similar (though not exact) fireworks spectaculars in the past
wishes/remember dreams come true
happy hallowishes/halloween screams
celebrate america: a fourth of july concert in the sky

 

[mikejs78]

I agree, this time it is very different and it has come back to knock them on their caboose. Whoever this team was and whoever approved, should really be looked at. Someone has gotten into these parks and entertainment and made sure to downgrade everything to the lowest common denominator. I hope someone somehow someway starts restoring some things.

I don't think this is a case of lowest common denominator. I think this was a case of panic that they had nothing for the 50th and they decided fairly last minute to throw a new show together.

 

[James J]

For us, HEA was a must see, multiple times. Wishes too (though I didn't mind not being front and center). DE I will watch once.

This May was our first time seeing DE in-person, and it was very much a one and done on our trip. When HEA was running we'd catch it multiple times during a two week stay. DE, no thanks. Just a massive sense of disappointment and being severely underwhelmed once it finished.