Fantasmic Mishaps

James122

James122

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
So my brother and my niece recently got back from a 2-week Orlando vacation, and they were telling me that on the night they saw Fantasmic the dragon didn't appear - CMs afterwards told them that the dragon was experiencing mechanical problems that evening.

Out of curiousity I did a youtube search and it yielded these two videos:

In this one, the dragon appears to power down abruptly in the middle of the action





This video is a continuation of the one above, which shows the dragon still on stage during the finale. It's interesting how the fountains are kept on for almost the entire length in order to hide the dragon and also how Sorcerer Mickey doesn't appear at the top of the mountain.





Everybody knows about all the problems Disneyland had when their new dragon debuted, but I thought it'd be fun to hear folks' stories about any mishaps or obvious technical glitches that they may have seen while attending the WDW version of the show.
 
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fireworksandfairytales

fireworksandfairytales

Well-Known Member
In the Parks
No
Not due to the dragon, but when I saw Fantasmic back in September (it was the night of Unleash the Villains) the boat with all the characters didn't come out at the end. The characters were on stage with their streamers. It was really strange and I had never seen that happen before.
 
TubaGeek

TubaGeek

God bless the "Ignore" button.
One of the most impressive things about that show, to me at least, are all of the contingency plans they have in place for ANY circumstance. They even have an alternate show that features just pyro, lights, water, and music, in case there's a last-minute reason that they can't run the regular show.
 
DancingPhoenix

DancingPhoenix

Active Member
Holy cow Tokyo, you're making the rest of us look bad!

The worst I've ever seen was last year. It wasn't necessarily technical issues but it was raining really hard, so they basically made us wait until the rain passed to do the show. The rain did not pass however, and we soaked our butts watching them shoot a few of the fountains off. No music, no lights, just the water. I appreciated the effort but I wish they had just cancelled it from the get-go!
 
marni1971

marni1971

Park History nut
Premium Member
First time I ever saw the show it got stuck coming half way out of the mountain. And proceeded to sit there motionless for the rest of the show.
 
AswaySuller

AswaySuller

Well-Known Member
The show needs help... I LOVE this show with all my heart but man I can't cover for it any more.

Please TDO fix it. It needs to go down and some serious coin thrown at it.

Anyways....

We were watching fantasmic in April and everything was fine until about half way in.
Then all of a sudden... Bam... Everything cut out... all lights all music and the arena was in darkness.
Then some lights came on and regular disney music started playing and a voice over announced fantasmic was experiencing problems and May or may not return.

It was off for about 5 minutes... we considered leaving and about a 3rd of the amphitheatre did leave then all of a sudden it just came back on and carried on as normal.

Sounds like it was an e-stop but why I'll never know.
 
James122

James122

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
One of the most impressive things about that show, to me at least, are all of the contingency plans they have in place for ANY circumstance. They even have an alternate show that features just pyro, lights, water, and music, in case there's a last-minute reason that they can't run the regular show.
Click to expand...

Yeah it's amazing how they have a backup plan in case any element of the show malfunctions and how they can seamlessly transition to one of the alternate setups, usually without the audience ever being aware that anything was wrong.

The joys of live theater - anything can happen!
 
garagely

garagely

Active Member
i was a Sunset Boulevard CM back when the show was still semi new (not more than a couple of years old i think). the dragon came out and then refused to go back in. i dealt with some very disappointed guests, but was really impressed at how the show just went on around her. not a major mishap, but man people go from zero to ed at the drop of the hat at that point of the evening. Working at Fantastmic! i dealt with more verbal abuse and tempers than any other ride/attraction i've ever worked at, before or since.
 
Bairstow

Bairstow

Well-Known Member
garagely said:
i was a Sunset Boulevard CM back when the show was still semi new (not more than a couple of years old i think). the dragon came out and then refused to go back in. i dealt with some very disappointed guests, but was really impressed at how the show just went on around her. not a major mishap, but man people go from zero to ed at the drop of the hat at that point of the evening. Working at Fantastmic! i dealt with more verbal abuse and tempers than any other ride/attraction i've ever worked at, before or since.
Click to expand...

End of the day tempers and a higher concentration of parents with tired children, I suppose.
Plus you're the last thing they'll get to do that day.

What exactly did people expect you to do about a giant, malfunctioning dragon?

As far as Fantasmic mishaps, the worst I've seen was pretty minor; some of the logs that are supposed to roll down the hill during the Pocahontas battle scene got stuck on the hill and refused to roll down.
Obviously, my night was ruined and I stayed until 4AM complaining to a guy selling bottled water.
 
Magenta Panther

Magenta Panther

Well-Known Member
Bairstow said:
Yup. It was in refurb with the mountain finale when we saw it in September too.

Speaking of Fantasmic dragons, check THIS out!
Click to expand...

OH my god, that just makes me sick. Why isn't that AMAZING version in WDW? That magic mirror and that dragon are incredible!!!! Why do we get screwed here in the States? How does Iger and TDO justify it? :mad:
 
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Bairstow

Bairstow

Well-Known Member
Magenta Panther said:
OH my god, that just makes me sick. Why isn't that AMAZING version in WDW? That magic mirror and that dragon are amazing!!!! Why do we get screwed here in the States? How does Iger and TDO justify it? :mad:
Click to expand...

Easily.
People here in the States don't demand that kind of quality and in general return every year no matter what.
In fact, the only thing that seems to bother them is when old stuff is taken offline to improve it.
 
Figments Friend

Figments Friend

Well-Known Member
I once saw a showing of F! where during the 'Pocahontas' segment one of canoe-rowing natives was having a terrible time getting her canoe backstage after the segment ended.
For those familar with the show, during that live-action segment three to four canoes row across the lake with natives rowing them to transition between scenes.
One of the performers in a canoe was having trouble rowing her boat after she arrived in the middle of the lake. She was trying everything she could to get her canoe to row forward and around the bend as is normally supposed to happen.
It had 'epic fail' written all over the scene....this Native American brave obviously did not have enough training on how to properly row a small canoe.
I felt bad for her.

So i am sitting there watching her, and wondering what is going to happen.
We had fire elements on the water coming up during the battle between Ratcliffe and the natives, and because of her position right in the middle of the water tank it was not like someone could just toss her a rope and pull her around the corner.
So it was a more exciting show to watch for me that night.

She eventually manages to get herself going forward...and makes it around the corner shortly after the 'Pocahontas' segment finishes.
 
James122

James122

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
The Tokyo Fantasmic was amazing. It was cool how they used elements from both the stateside shows, as well incorporated the dancing fountains from World of Color. The magic mirror element was great - I especially liked how the dragon came through the mirror at the end. I can only imagine how thrilling it must be to see in person.

Why isn't that AMAZING version in WDW?
Click to expand...

I'm no imagineer, but I would imagine that the only place at WDW where the Tokyo version could ever conceivably be staged is at the World Showcase Lagoon at Epoct, and even then I'm not sure if the infrastructure to support such a show is even present. Not to mention that it would't fit the theme of Epcot or the World Showcase.

You definitly couldn't stage that version at the amphitheatre at DHS, as it's way too small. However, I would love to see elements like the mirror brought to WDW's Fantasmic. The WDW show certainly needs some rejuvanating.
 
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Sunshine041213

Sunshine041213

New Member
garagely said:
i was a Sunset Boulevard CM back when the show was still semi new (not more than a couple of years old i think). the dragon came out and then refused to go back in. i dealt with some very disappointed guests, but was really impressed at how the show just went on around her. not a major mishap, but man people go from zero to ed at the drop of the hat at that point of the evening. Working at Fantastmic! i dealt with more verbal abuse and tempers than any other ride/attraction i've ever worked at, before or since.
Click to expand...

Lol I feel your pain. I will never forget the one night I was house 1 captain and a guy threatened to spit on me all because I told him he wasn't able to stand directly behind the wheelchair Beast section and had to move to the standing room section. He called me a rather disgusting word and then proceeded to hock up a loogie. I quickly reminded him that I could end his entire family's vacation in 5 seconds and have him arrested for assault and that I'd rather not have his children be subjected to that but if he insisted we could totally play this game. He turned white and swallowed it. He found me after the show and apologized for how he acted. Wife probably made him do it, but whatevs.

I remember one night where despite it raining, the show went on as normal. 5 minutes in, the show stopped, the spiel saying the show wouldn't continue due to weather but Taste of Fantasmic would now happen (the rain show) and it was a capacity theater. A collective obscenity was uttered and so began the angry mass exodus out. And that was back in the days where we had to clean the theater ourselves. Oh man, wet popcorn sucks when you're the one who has to sweep it up.

I've seen Vivian refuse to go back to her home a few times. I've seen John Smith faceplant into the mountain. I've seen Mickey do the running jump at the beginning and fall flat on his butt. Princess barges crashing into each other.
 

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