Disneyland Fantasmic Dragon Engulfed in Flames

[TTA94]

A senior manager did share back in 2019 that the new show scores higher on guest surveys than the '92 iteration. When I enjoyed a brief chat with Peterson he is cognizant (I'm paraphrasing a brief conversation from 4 years ago, so please don't take this as an exact quote) of the fact many newer offerings are dazzling but lack soul (I mentioned Fantasmic), and that the Star Wars fireworks he did for Star Wars Night received top scores despite not having projections because they had 'soul'- and that's something they're working on balancing. It looks like they did wonderfully with Wondrous Journeys, so it does make me optimistic that should the show get retooled under his supervision, the changes would be positive.

Slightly off topic but was the subject of night parades brought up? Particularly Paint The Night. While it’s fun it does have its flaws and Im guessing it didn’t please everyone because they brought back MSEP. Of course Covid happened and PTN just kinda got brushed under the rug as did the original in Hong Kong. Likely different reasons and yeah the whole rumors of technical stuff, costumes, costs of running it, etc. But I wonder if there is more to the story.

 

[TTA94]

As someone who never entirely got Fantasmic in any iteration...the impression I get is that most DL visitors are not ready to give up the show. And if that replacement wasn't 150% perfect and mindblowing, Fantasmic would turn into MSEP 2.0.

I could be way off on this thinking but it would be easier to replace the WDW version with something completely brand new than it would DLs version.

 

[SuddenStorm]

Slightly off topic but was the subject of night parades brought up? Particularly Paint The Night. While it’s fun it does have its flaws and Im guessing it didn’t please everyone because they brought back MSEP. Of course Covid happened and PTN just kinda got brushed under the rug as did the original in Hong Kong. Likely different reasons and yeah the whole rumors of technical stuff, costumes, costs of running it, etc. But I wonder if there is more to the story.

I didn't talk PTN with Peterson, or the Senior Manager mentioned- but I did have a long chat with a VP who would be someone who has a say on stuff like PTN, and when I brought up bringing PTN back (and again, paraphrasing) she basically said "Yeah but that'd be really expensive".

It was then I became of the opinion that unless the leadership changed, it would be a very long time until we saw PTN again- if ever. I wonder if something about it makes it significantly more expensive to operate?

 

[TTA94]

I didn't talk PTN with Peterson, or the Senior Manager mentioned- but I did have a long chat with a VP who would be someone who has a say on stuff like PTN, and when I brought up bringing PTN back (and again, paraphrasing) she basically said "Yeah but that'd be really expensive".

It was then I became of the opinion that unless the leadership changed, it would be a very long time until we saw PTN again- if ever. I wonder if something about it makes it significantly more expensive to operate?

Pains me to say it but if that is true that they deemed it being really expensive to return, they probably scrapped the floats by now. It doesn’t seem likely they would hang on to parade floats that they know will cost them a lot of money to operate again. Now keeping them to repurpose for something else? Guess that’s a different story.

 

[RescueTheDay]

Pains me to say it but if that is true that they deemed it being really expensive to return, they probably scrapped the floats by now. It doesn’t seem likely they would hang on to parade floats that they know will cost them a lot of money to operate again. Now keeping them to repurpose for something else? Guess that’s a different story.

All the floats are still intact.

 

[Disney Analyst]

Dragon is gone.

Only real trace is a tiny bit of scorching:

 

[TTA94]

All the floats are still intact.

Well that’s good. So maybe there is hope? Are the MSEP floats still intact?

 

[PiratesMansion]

Well that’s good. So maybe there is hope? Are the MSEP floats still intact?

Random person backstage: Ah...TDA...do you think it's time to permanently retire MSEP and destroy the floats?
TDA BigBoss, a la Charlton Heston: You'll have to pry MSEP and its floats from my cold, dead hands!

 

[Disgruntled Walt]

Random person backstage: Ah...TDA...do you think it's time to permanently retire MSEP and destroy the floats?
TDA BigBoss, a la Charlton Heston: You'll have to pry MSEP and its floats from my cold, dead hands!

Meanwhile across the continent back in 2013...
Random person backstage: Hey, TDO, what's this rotting piece of garbage over here?
TDO BigBoss: Oh, that's just the tattered remains of Chernabog from SpectroMagic that we left outside to decay in the Florida elements! Call facilities, they'll get it out of there. They just finished breaking the rest of it down with a forklift.

Still enrages me all these years later.

 

[gerarar]

Dragon is gone.

View attachment 715370


Only real trace is a tiny bit of scorching:


View attachment 715371

There's also some video from the Mark Twain:


It's kinda hard to see, but there seems to be some visible damage to the infrastructure that houses the stage lights and whatnot. Looks charred a bit and hasn't been fully resealed yet.

 

[TP2000]

Random person backstage: Ah...TDA...do you think it's time to permanently retire MSEP and destroy the floats?
TDA BigBoss, a la Charlton Heston: You'll have to pry MSEP and its floats from my cold, dead hands!

Perfection.

As I read that sentence, I also pictured Charlton Heston in 1974's Earthquake, driving a badass Chevy Blazer with the top off through a destroyed Los Angeles to check on the status of the Disneyland parade floats after the Big One.

 

[RescueTheDay]

Well that’s good. So maybe there is hope? Are the MSEP floats still intact?

They were taken apart after its most recent run. This is common for that parade though.

 

[Squishy]

They were taken apart after its most recent run. This is common for that parade though.

What is the reason for taking them apart?

 

[Starship824]

They were taken apart after its most recent run. This is common for that parade though.

Taken apart to be shipped somewhere?

 

[Dizknee_Phreek]

Meanwhile across the continent back in 2013...
Random person backstage: Hey, TDO, what's this rotting piece of garbage over here?
TDO BigBoss: Oh, that's just the tattered remains of Chernabog from SpectroMagic that we left outside to decay in the Florida elements! Call facilities, they'll get it out of there. They just finished breaking the rest of it down with a forklift.

Still enrages me all these years later.

Same My first and most favorite night parade.

 

[jrhwdw]

Taken apart to be shipped somewhere?

Really!! Interesting Question!!!


Also, latest rumored return date for F!?


Interesting that MSEP hasn't been rushed yet since the F! Fiasco...

 

[TTA94]

Really!! Interesting Question!!!


Also, latest rumored return date for F!?


Interesting that MSEP hasn't been rushed yet since the F! Fiasco...

MSEP being taken apart but PTN is in tact could go along with the last rumor of MSEP.

 

[RescueTheDay]

What is the reason for taking them apart?

Taken apart to be shipped somewhere?

They are typically taken apart before being shipped to off property storage.

 

[gerarar]

Some of the scorched parts of the stage are now behind some scrims and hidden from view. Although there's still some parts that are still exposed.

 

[Starship824]

Really bad timing but we now finally has source audio for this show