Disneyland Fantasmic Dragon Engulfed in Flames

[truecoat]

For my Fantasmic! Triumphantly Returns Livestream Viewing Party For One Because My Friends Would Think I'm Nuts If I Invited Them Over For That this Friday night, I've decided to do my chocolate mousse with Cognac instead of rum, to play up the French Quarter theme.

I'm afraid fresh baked beignets are not something you find easily in southwest Utah. And I'm not about to try to make them from scratch. A classic chocolate mousse with Cognac will do quite nicely, though. Maybe with some little French cookies.

Cocktail of the evening??? I mean, the easy choice is a New Orleans classic, the Sazerac. And I do love those. But contrary to popular belief, I generally don't exceed more than one or two cocktails per day. So I was trying to think of a champagne or prosecco based beverage that could be lighter and lower alcohol and allow me to have two or three before, during and after the show, while still pairing well and standing up to the rich chocolate mousse.

According to Google, Mark Twain's favorite liquor was Scotch. And Walt Disney was also a famous Scotch drinker (I didn't need to check Google for Walt, because you should just know that). So maybe a Scotch based but lightened up offering instead of a Sazerac? A grand finale' cocktail based on two great Americans and a theme park D Ticket? That could be fun.

A Scotch based version of an Irish Coffee, perhaps? Walt was heavily Irish-American, I've read. And I'll be whipping fresh cream for the chocolate mousse anyway. So... Hmm...

KEEP MOVING THRU THE WALKWAY!!!

PLACE A DECORATIVE MINT SPRIG IN THE WHIPPED CREAM!!!

You can pick some up at Bodega in SLC.

 

[truecoat]

And let's hope they're doing two, one for DL and one for DHS.
That's probably not happening though, but I can dream.
View attachment 787119

They should make 4 so each park has a spare after a fire breaks out.

 

[truecoat]

They should make 4 so each park has a spare after a fire breaks out.

View attachment 787144

 

[gerarar]

List of reasons Disneyland Fantasmic 2.0 is bad:
1. Obviously no dragon, (really just B Mode with some updated fire?)
2. No evil queen which transformation
3. Mickey appearing too early
4. Mickey appearing in his sorcerer outfit WAY too early.
5. Pirates replacing Peter Pan Thankfully reversed
6. Mickey talking to the magic mirror
7. Mickey "ooo" and "aaaa"
8. The removal of Snow White
9. New soundtrack
That's all I can think of for now.

List of reasons DHS is bad :
1. Amphitheater, Could be good or bad depending on who you ask. Good for seating but bad for not having as much "magic" as the show just appearing in the middle of the park
2. Not as many stunts and performers
3. No pirate ship
4. No mark twain
5. Dragon on a stick (still better than current DL solution)
6. Villains sections goes on a little too long imo.
7. Bubbles scene? Maybe I'm sure it's really all that bad, the music is nice.

Some more for DL
10. Pyro synchronization in finale doesn't go off each beat anymore (due to the faster paced soundtrack).
11. Mickey's choreography in the intro. Waving and pointing his hands..? Bring back the classic conductor choreography like he's commanding the fountains!
12. Less characters in finale on Mark Twain than previous versions and counterpart in WDW.
13. Lasers not utilized well (maybe this will change with 2.5) as we saw a tidbit in B-Roll footage.
14. Friend Like Me with Sorceror Mickey...just no. Especially since it reveals Mickey's grand finale spot on top the cabin.. (covered in #4)

 

[CaptinEO]

Y’all can finally come to WDW now that we will have the better F!

IMO Disneyland's is better for me as a show but WDW wins solely because its a giant stadium, it doesn't block traffic flow, and you dont have to line up for 2 hours or buy a dining package to see it.

Disneyland even before they went to Dining packages only you either had to wait hours in advance or be there at 7am to get a fastpass (which means youre there opening to closing and exhausted by the time the show starts).

Disney World you just walk in a half hour before showtime and then have a bench to sit on.

 

[Mikomike12]

Am I the only one who thought DL's original Fantasmic was not very good. It had terrible Lighting Design and Bad Fountains with 90% of the stage being Mono color lighting with no variation. The Entire Finale was just green disco lasers shooting around everywhere lol. Fantasmic 2.0 to me at least, added much needed COLOR to the entire show.

 

[Disney Analyst]

Fantasmic 1.5, which involved the new dragon, updated lighting, lasers, and fountains, with Flotsam and Jetsam skis, and the new finale pyro, was the best iteration I think.

Fantasmic 2.0, which involved projection mapping, new / updated lighting, lasers, projections, scenes, was a slight downgrade with some creative choices, but still a spectacular show.

Fantasmic 2.5 which debuts tomorrow will basically be 2.0, minus a dragon, and bringing back Pan.

Still will be spectacular, but really needs the dragon back before too long.

 

[TP2000]

You can pick some up at Bodega in SLC.


View attachment 787142

That's a 4 hour drive each way. It would be faster to drive the 90 minutes to Las Vegas and Yelp the best beignets in town.

No worries though, I've committed to doing chocolate mousse tomorrow, using Julia Child's recipe for the arm workout. With good Cognac to represent the French, and a French 75 cocktail to toast with and to represent... the French again.

Remember in that Parks Blog post about Tiana Mountain where they tried to claim that New Orleans circa 1930 had a big Filipino community for some reason, even though that is demonstrably untrue from US Census data and just plain common sense?

Yeah... I won't be doing Ube or Coconut Mochi tomorrow. I know how to theme to New Orleans Square, thank you very much.

 

[Disgruntled Walt]

Almost certainly not. They just redid the show, if they wanted a new dragon they'd do it then. Vs here, where it was taken down not because they wanted to redo it or because of COVID safety, but because of a dragon-related emergency, so they're understandably going to wait a little while before bringing back the dragon

I'd argue that this is the best chance WDW has for an upgraded dragon, if they're making one for DL. They could always make two. They might just create another Head-on-a-stick-with-strips for DL, though. They certainly aren't going to break the bank.

 

[SuddenStorm]

They might just create another Head-on-a-stick-with-strips for DL, though. They certainly aren't going to break the bank.

Which is what they should have done here. With the right marketing and branding- "Fantasmic! '92" or something advertised as a limited engagement.

The original show with the upgraded effects, and a return of the original dragon decked out with upgraded effects could be awesome.

 

[jrhwdw]

Which is what they should have done here. With the right marketing and branding- "Fantasmic! '92" or something advertised as a limited engagement.

The original show with the upgraded effects, and a return of the original dragon decked out with upgraded effects could be awesome.

The 1992 Pyro Finale was always my Favorite.....

 

[SuddenStorm]

The 1992 Pyro Finale was always my Favorite.....

While I prefer the pyro timing from the 2009 refresh, I strongly prefer the original ending without the green blast.

The original F! was a masterclass in show design across the board. The new one foregoes substance in favor of flash.

 

[TP2000]

Am I the only one who thought DL's original Fantasmic was not very good. It had terrible Lighting Design and Bad Fountains with 90% of the stage being Mono color lighting with no variation. The Entire Finale was just green disco lasers shooting around everywhere lol. Fantasmic 2.0 to me at least, added much needed COLOR to the entire show.

Well, okay. But it was 1992. People were wearing acid washed jeans in public, the Internet didn't exist, gas was 79 cents per gallon, I was throwing my vote away on Perot, and there were over 3,000 Blockbuster Video stores in the USA.

You can't really judge a 1992 theme park show based on 2024 expectations. Hell, you can't even get an employee to wear pleated khaki pants to work any more, let alone be perky in those pleated khakis! So Fantasmic! '92 should get a pass.

 

[TP2000]

Also, DL should have more things for the 70th than maybe a Dragon.........

No kidding. I'm not sure how you could even build a major international marketing campaign around the theme of...

"Disneyland 70th -We Repaired All Of Our Fire Damage!"

But then, leave it to TDA and the Parks Blog writers, and they could probably come up with something.

 

[TheCoasterNerd]

Happy return day!

 

[DCBaker]

View attachment 779042
The length of the show is still at 27 mins.
Screenshot above was taken a couple days after the fire incident. Remains to be known if the show's length will be extended (or shortened) due to the reworked dragon fight scene.

iirc when the return date for DHS's F! was announced, along with it was the new show length of +2 mins.

Update to this - the duration is now set at 25 minutes.

Here's the updated fact sheet:

• When it originally opened in 1992, “Fantasmic!” was the first nighttime spectacular at a Disney park to leverage new technology to combine an outdoor spectacular and stage show while also including two sailing vessels, the Mark Twain Riverboat and Sailing Ship Columbia.
• In the reimagined battle scene between Sorcerer Mickey and Maleficent, Mickey gathers all his magical powers, creating colorful swirls of light as sparkling pyrotechnics bolt from his fingers. Cloaked in her dark gown with her powerful scepter in hand, Maleficent ascends to a height of 35 feet as she appears to ignite the Rivers of America in flames.
• “Fantasmic!” brings back the iconic “Peter Pan” scene and introduces The Lost Boys as they join Peter Pan and Wendy to battle Captain Hook on a pirate ship that sails into view on the Rivers of America. They execute a stunning series of spectacular duels and falls during this swashbuckling sequence.
• Each night of the show, more than 100 cast and crew members bring “Fantasmic!” to life for the 25-minute show.
• In the show, sequences from some of the most memorable Disney films are projected on three giant mist screens, measuring 60 feet wide by 30 feet tall to bring iconic scenes to life on the Rivers of America.
• The dazzling water effects include 21 fountains that appear to dance along to the music and six “whale tails” that shoot water high in the air towards the audience during dramatic moments.
• During key show moments, a pair of lighting towers dramatically rise from underground to reach a height of 40 feet in less than a minute!

 

[Disney Irish]

Well, okay. But it was 1992. People were wearing acid washed jeans in public, the Internet didn't exist, gas was 79 cents per gallon, I was throwing my vote away on Perot, and there were over 3,000 Blockbuster Video stores in the USA.

You can't really judge a 1992 theme park show based on 2024 expectations. Hell, you can't even get an employee to wear pleated khaki pants to work any more, let alone be perky in those pleated khakis! So Fantasmic! '92 should get a pass.

If you want to get technical the "Internet" as we know it today was invented in 1989 when the world wide web was invented at CERN, but just wasn't widely used until 1993 as there wasn't a lot of websites until then since the code wasn't public. I had my first AOL account in 1992, ah the good old days of dial-up. I think I still have my first modem around here somewhere in a box.

 

[DCBaker]

Here's a look at more footage from Fantasmic!.

 

[Mikomike12]

Here's a look at more footage from Fantasmic!.

Looks like they removed the screen that was above the Cabin, Good. It was always super blurry and hard to make out the image for some reason even from the beginning. I think the flying carpet sequence was removed aswell? could be wrong, would be a shame I liked that addition

 

[gerarar]

Looks like they removed the screen that was above the Cabin, Good. It was always super blurry and hard to make out the image for some reason even from the beginning

That was previously removed with the show's return in 2022. The projections did stay, albeit very hard to see on the tree line behind the cabin.