News Happily Ever After fireworks show returning to Magic Kingdom in 2023

ToTBellHop

ToTBellHop

Well-Known Member
MisterPenguin said:
OMG, so much better than DE's cartoon characters and flash animation.

The new MSUSA projection is very graphic, like Minnie's Wonderful Christmas, and it throws in the animations as seen on the castle.

It's not the full 'show' you'll see on the castle. But if you're close to the train than the castle, it'll provide some extra touches to seeing the fireworks from so far away.

The one thing that the MSUSA projections does better than the castle is highlight the couples during At Last I See the Light. On the castle, they're hard to make out. On MSUSA, you can clearly seeing them make out.
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Those last two sentences…
1678933253426.gif
 
J

jrhwdw

Well-Known Member
MisterPenguin said:
OMG, so much better than DE's cartoon characters and flash animation.

The new MSUSA projection is very graphic, like Minnie's Wonderful Christmas, and it throws in the animations as seen on the castle.

It's not the full 'show' you'll see on the castle. But if you're close to the train than the castle, it'll provide some extra touches to seeing the fireworks from so far away.

The one thing that the MSUSA projections does better than the castle is highlight the couples during At Last I See the Light. On the castle, they're hard to make out. On MSUSA, you can clearly seeing them make out.
Click to expand...

ToTBellHop said:
Those last two sentences…
View attachment 704149
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LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
SaucyBoy

SaucyBoy

Well-Known Member
In the Parks
No
zulemara said:
I’ll pay for all of it.
I am SO happy this show is back. I watched a video of the return on YouTube. I missed it ssoooo much. I can’t wait to see it in person! I’m local and hubby just got hired with a third party (Mexico pavilion server). I’m buying an annual just for this.
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HEA is definitely a reason I am renewing this summer.
 
JediMasterMatt

JediMasterMatt

Well-Known Member
gerarar said:
Tink gets the justice and emotional build-up she deserves (again).
Click to expand...


One of these days, I'll get my HEA photos posted online; but, my penchant for Disney's nighttime spectaculars means that I get intimately acquainted with these and the various story beats of them. Of all of the MK's various spectaculars, Tink's flight in HEA has never been better built-up and integrated within a show as it is here.

A little discussed feature of this is if you watch carefully, she actually starts out on the outermost left castle turret's "stained glass window" on Pan's shoulder and then travels across to the inner turret with Alice before swooping back and forth up the castle before coming out the real window from the pinnacle in unison with You Can Fly. Simply marvelous storytelling and execution.

I LOVED and I mean LOVED Wishes. It was the perfect companion to Spectromagic and the two set the tone of regalness that was ideal for closing the night at the Magic Kingdom. I feared its loss and was so concerned when I learned that TDO was developing the sequel on its own as while the various castle projection shows had improved significantly since the Magic, Memories, and You - I didn't know if they were capable of producing a comprehensive show from start to finish. They certainly did as from my very first viewing of HEA, it's clear that they learned what has worked and what hasn't over the years.

  • MK's evenings are best suited for an aura of regalness. HEA taps into this immediately with the trumpet fanfare that transitions into the royal projection overlay (also the immortal voice of Tom Kane doesn't hurt).
  • Cinderella Castle projections work best when they are used to paint the castle in large patterns that modify the appearance of it. It doesn't do a great job with small details that tend to get lost due to the overall scale of the castle combined with the lack of resolution. This was obviously the first lesson learned as the projectors were introduced for the Magic, Memories, and You which used the gimmick of putting Photopass pictures up on the walls. HEA rarely uses anything small for its projections and even when putting character moments up, significantly enlarges them or in the case of the afore mentioned stained glass windows - uses them in creative ways. From the new videos, it appears that the Main Street projections are a perfect extension of the rest of the show.
  • The MK isn't blessed with Disneyland's Tink on a flying rig configuration and regardless of the spectacular musical cues selected or pyro burst combinations, Tink is always going to be a huge crowd pleasing moment. Saving it for the end simply is the most obvious way to build towards the climax and when you combine it with the showmanship I reference above with her flying up to the top via projection before the big reveal, it's simply magical. HEA uses her to its advantage.
  • Speaking of climaxes, this is another lesson that other nighttime spectaculars have passed along to HEA and its use of how to build them. Wishes did a good job of having several moments that build to a release and then begin building again. HEA does this in spades. Every transition is done with flourish throughout the show and as it nears the true finale, it has the climax of Adversity that could end any show, only to be followed up by the perfection of Triumph's spectacular double fantail during the end of Go the Distance that harkens back to and improves on the Blue Fairy's introduction from Wishes (see my avatar photo), leading into the previously mentioned You Can Fly Tink's flight before unleashing the spectacular color changing on the beat Cinderella Castle finale. It's an awe-inspiring experience that I can only think of maybe the original Magic, Music, and Mayhem's pirate assault on the Castle that could top any one of these climaxes.
  • As I mentioned previously, the storytelling of these shows is important as well. Wishes did a great job of this by using Jiminy Cricket to frame the narrative. While HEA doesn't have the legacy of this classic character, it does have the intro and outro songs along with Tom Kane relaying the narrative to us and they both do a masterful job of painting this picture in our minds and hearts. Yes, HEA is more of a clip show of IP; but, it goes about it in a very soft handed approach that is as well done as we can expect in these IP mandated times. The music and IP selected here were so good in fact that they were cannibalized for use in Harmonius. You can see here in HEA how much better integrated into the narrative they are here.

In short, HEA is a very worthy successor to Wishes and is certainly in a completely different league than Enchantment. I can best sum up my feelings on this by saying that I never missed a HEA performance anytime I was onsite at WDW and the same was almost true for anytime Wishes was performed (with only a few exceptions). Since the 50th started, I've been onsite for more than 30 days. I've seen Enchantment only 4 times and the last 2 times were only because I wanted to get a different camera setup.

Welcome back HEA. You are very welcomed in your return. Long may you stay and when you do depart - may your successor build on your accomplishments and not forget your lessons learned (like Enchantment seemed to do).
 
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TarzanRocked99-

TarzanRocked99-

Well-Known Member
JediMasterMatt said:
One of these days, I'll get my HEA photos posted online; but, my penchant for Disney's nighttime spectaculars means that I get intimately acquainted with these and the various story beats of them. Of all of the MK's various spectaculars, Tink's flight in HEA has never been better built-up and integrated within a show as it is here.

A little discussed feature of this is if you watch carefully, she actually starts out on the outermost left castle turret's "stained glass window" on Pan's shoulder and then travels across to the inner turret with Alice before swooping back and forth up the castle before coming out the real window from the pinnacle in unison with You Can Fly. Simply marvelous storytelling and execution.

I LOVED and I mean LOVED Wishes. It was the perfect companion to Spectromagic and the two set the tone of regalness that was ideal for closing the night at the Magic Kingdom. I feared its loss and was so concerned when I learned that TDO was developing the sequel on its own as while the various castle projection shows had improved significantly since the Magic, Memories, and You - I didn't know if they were capable of producing a comprehensive show from start to finish. They certainly did as from my very first viewing of HEA, it's clear that they learned what has worked and what hasn't over the years.

  • MK's evenings are best suited for an aura of regalness. HEA taps into this immediately with the trumpet fanfare that transitions into the royal projection overlay (also the immortal voice of Tom Kane doesn't hurt).
  • Cinderella Castle projections work best when they are used to paint the castle in large patterns that modify the appearance of it. It doesn't do a great job with small details that tend to get lost due to the overall scale of the castle combined with the lack of resolution. This was obviously the first lesson learned as the projectors were introduced for the Magic, Memories, and You which used the gimmick of putting Photopass pictures up on the walls. HEA rarely uses anything small for its projections and even when putting character moments up, significantly enlarges them or in the case of the afore mentioned stained glass windows - uses them in creative ways. From the new videos, it appears that the Main Street projections are a perfect extension of the rest of the show.
  • The MK isn't blessed with Disneyland's Tink on a flying rig configuration and regardless of the spectacular musical cues selected or pyro burst combinations, Tink is always going to be a huge crowd pleasing moment. Saving it for the end simply is the most obvious way to build towards the climax and when you combine it with the showmanship I reference above with her flying up to the top via projection before the big reveal, it's simply magical. HEA uses her to its advantage.
  • Speaking of climaxes, this is another lesson that other nighttime spectaculars have passed along to HEA and its use of how to build them. Wishes did a good job of having several moments that build to a release and then begin building again. HEA does this in spades. Every transition is done with flourish throughout the show and as it nears the true finale, it has the climax of Adversity that could end any show, only to be followed up by the perfection of Triumph's spectacular double fantail during the end of Go the Distance that harkens back to and improves on the Blue Fairy's introduction from Wishes (see my avatar photo), leading into the previously mentioned You Can Fly Tink's flight before unleashing the spectacular color changing on the beat Cinderella Castle finale. It's an awe-inspiring experience that I can only think of maybe the original Magic, Music, and Mayhem's pirate assault on the Castle that could top any one of these climaxes.
  • As I mentioned previously, the storytelling of these shows is important as well. Wishes did a great job of this by using Jiminy Cricket to frame the narrative. While HEA doesn't have the legacy of this classic character, it does have the intro and outro songs along with Tom Kane relaying the narrative to us and they both do a masterful job of painting this picture in our minds and hearts. Yes, HEA is more of a clip show of IP; but, it goes about it in a very soft handed approach that is as well done as we can expect in these IP mandated times. The music and IP selected here were so good in fact that they were cannibalized for use in Harmonius. You can see here in HEA how much better integrated into the narrative they are here.

In short, HEA is a very worthy successor to Wishes and is certainly in a completely different league than Enchantment. I can best sum up my feelings on this by saying that I never missed a HEA performance anytime I was onsite at WDW and the same was almost true for anytime Wishes was performed (with only a few exceptions). Since the 50th started, I've been onsite for more than 30 days. I've seen Enchantment only 4 times and the last 2 times were only because I wanted to get a different camera setup.

Welcome back HEA. You are very welcomed in your return. Long may you stay and when you do depart - may your successor build on your accomplishments and not forget your lessons learned (like Enchantment seemed to do).
Click to expand...
Just really well said. I’m so happy it’s back
 
Disney Glimpses

Disney Glimpses

Well-Known Member
JediMasterMatt said:
HEA is a very worthy successor to Wishes and is certainly in a completely different league than Enchantment
Click to expand...
Great post, @JediMasterMatt.

I believe both shows are the best castle shows Disney has ever created for each of their respective show styles. I don't really like to compare the two because they are just so different, for me anyways. Nothing will ever replace Happily Ever After. Nothing will ever replace Wishes.

If it were Wishes returning on April 3rd, I would be just as elated.
 
Squishy

Squishy

Well-Known Member
Disney Glimpses said:
Great post, @JediMasterMatt.

I believe both shows are the best castle shows Disney has ever created for each of their respective show styles. I don't really like to compare the two because they are just so different, for me anyways. Nothing will ever replace Happily Ever After. Nothing will ever replace Wishes.

If it were Wishes returning on April 3rd, I would be just as elated.
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Happily ever after replaced Wishes ;)
 
SaucyBoy

SaucyBoy

Well-Known Member
In the Parks
No
JediMasterMatt said:
One of these days, I'll get my HEA photos posted online; but, my penchant for Disney's nighttime spectaculars means that I get intimately acquainted with these and the various story beats of them. Of all of the MK's various spectaculars, Tink's flight in HEA has never been better built-up and integrated within a show as it is here.

A little discussed feature of this is if you watch carefully, she actually starts out on the outermost left castle turret's "stained glass window" on Pan's shoulder and then travels across to the inner turret with Alice before swooping back and forth up the castle before coming out the real window from the pinnacle in unison with You Can Fly. Simply marvelous storytelling and execution.

I LOVED and I mean LOVED Wishes. It was the perfect companion to Spectromagic and the two set the tone of regalness that was ideal for closing the night at the Magic Kingdom. I feared its loss and was so concerned when I learned that TDO was developing the sequel on its own as while the various castle projection shows had improved significantly since the Magic, Memories, and You - I didn't know if they were capable of producing a comprehensive show from start to finish. They certainly did as from my very first viewing of HEA, it's clear that they learned what has worked and what hasn't over the years.

  • MK's evenings are best suited for an aura of regalness. HEA taps into this immediately with the trumpet fanfare that transitions into the royal projection overlay (also the immortal voice of Tom Kane doesn't hurt).
  • Cinderella Castle projections work best when they are used to paint the castle in large patterns that modify the appearance of it. It doesn't do a great job with small details that tend to get lost due to the overall scale of the castle combined with the lack of resolution. This was obviously the first lesson learned as the projectors were introduced for the Magic, Memories, and You which used the gimmick of putting Photopass pictures up on the walls. HEA rarely uses anything small for its projections and even when putting character moments up, significantly enlarges them or in the case of the afore mentioned stained glass windows - uses them in creative ways. From the new videos, it appears that the Main Street projections are a perfect extension of the rest of the show.
  • The MK isn't blessed with Disneyland's Tink on a flying rig configuration and regardless of the spectacular musical cues selected or pyro burst combinations, Tink is always going to be a huge crowd pleasing moment. Saving it for the end simply is the most obvious way to build towards the climax and when you combine it with the showmanship I reference above with her flying up to the top via projection before the big reveal, it's simply magical. HEA uses her to its advantage.
  • Speaking of climaxes, this is another lesson that other nighttime spectaculars have passed along to HEA and its use of how to build them. Wishes did a good job of having several moments that build to a release and then begin building again. HEA does this in spades. Every transition is done with flourish throughout the show and as it nears the true finale, it has the climax of Adversity that could end any show, only to be followed up by the perfection of Triumph's spectacular double fantail during the end of Go the Distance that harkens back to and improves on the Blue Fairy's introduction from Wishes (see my avatar photo), leading into the previously mentioned You Can Fly Tink's flight before unleashing the spectacular color changing on the beat Cinderella Castle finale. It's an awe-inspiring experience that I can only think of maybe the original Magic, Music, and Mayhem's pirate assault on the Castle that could top any one of these climaxes.
  • As I mentioned previously, the storytelling of these shows is important as well. Wishes did a great job of this by using Jiminy Cricket to frame the narrative. While HEA doesn't have the legacy of this classic character, it does have the intro and outro songs along with Tom Kane relaying the narrative to us and they both do a masterful job of painting this picture in our minds and hearts. Yes, HEA is more of a clip show of IP; but, it goes about it in a very soft handed approach that is as well done as we can expect in these IP mandated times. The music and IP selected here were so good in fact that they were cannibalized for use in Harmonius. You can see here in HEA how much better integrated into the narrative they are here.

In short, HEA is a very worthy successor to Wishes and is certainly in a completely different league than Enchantment. I can best sum up my feelings on this by saying that I never missed a HEA performance anytime I was onsite at WDW and the same was almost true for anytime Wishes was performed (with only a few exceptions). Since the 50th started, I've been onsite for more than 30 days. I've seen Enchantment only 4 times and the last 2 times were only because I wanted to get a different camera setup.

Welcome back HEA. You are very welcomed in your return. Long may you stay and when you do depart - may your successor build on your accomplishments and not forget your lessons learned (like Enchantment seemed to do).
Click to expand...
Beautiful write up. My best friend visited the Magic Kingdom (and WDW) for the first time in 2019. After HEA, she was in tears and remarked that was the most awe inspiring and moving experience she’d ever seen. That moment has stuck with me ever since because it shows what we mean when we say “Disney Magic.” It’s a remarkable show and I’m so glad Disney listened to us for once.

Although she did not like IllumiNations and I judged her just a little bit 😂
 
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Disney Glimpses

Disney Glimpses

Well-Known Member
SaucyBoy said:
Beautiful write up. My best friend visited the Magic Kingdom (and WDW) for the first time in 2019. After HEA, she was in tears and remarked that was the most awe inspiring and moving experience she’d ever seen. That moment has stuck with me ever since because it shows what we mean when we say “Disney Magic.” It’s a remarkable show and I’m so glad Disney listened to us for once.

Although she did not like IllumiNations and I judged her just a little bit 😂
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Many first time visitors in our group(s) were "sold" by HEA as well.
 
JediMasterMatt

JediMasterMatt

Well-Known Member
SaucyBoy said:
Beautiful write up. My best friend visited the Magic Kingdom (and WDW) for the first time in 2019. After HEA, she was in tears and remarked that was the most awe inspiring and moving experience she’d ever seen. That moment has stuck with me ever since because it shows what we mean when we say “Disney Magic.” It’s a remarkable show and I’m so glad Disney listened to us for once.
Click to expand...
While I can neither confirm nor deny any water works from my eyes, I will share that one of the nice things about my nighttime spectacular photography hobby is that I get to meet a lot of nice people while waiting hours sometimes for the shows. I vividly recall this elderly couple that stood next to us at the end of Main Street in early 2018. The gentleman was very reserved and a bit grouchy while his spouse was the more talkative of the two. Both asked how this new show was and wanted my thoughts and if it was worth waiting for as they both loved Wishes and were concerned it wouldn't live up to the legacy. He especially was vocal about Wishes departure. I explained I was also in a similar boat where I was apprehensive until I saw it for the first time. I told them that by the time it gets near the end, it will have changed their minds as it has multiple finale worthy moments. While I did see them both smiling during the show, I wasn't certain of their thoughts until the gentlemen turned toward me with tears in his eyes after Go the Distance's double fans went off and told me I was right.

On the more humorous side of things, I had some Cast Members that work the EPCOT shows ask me for my thoughts on Harmonious and I said the best compliment I can give it is that at least it's not Enchantment. Everyone laughed. Harmonious isn't/wasn't a horrible show. It's actually a good show that uses horrible infrastructure that makes a mess out of the park it's in. It also is a show that thematically is in the wrong park; but, its greatest detriment is similar to Enchantment - it didn't come close to measuring up to its predecessor.

From a photography perspective, I did enjoy taking advantage of all of the perimeter launch locations around the lagoon. So, at least it had that to keep me entertained.
 
SpectroMan93

SpectroMan93

Well-Known Member
JediMasterMatt said:
A little discussed feature of this is if you watch carefully, she actually starts out on the outermost left castle turret's "stained glass window" on Pan's shoulder and then travels across to the inner turret with Alice before swooping back and forth up the castle before coming out the real window from the pinnacle in unison with You Can Fly. Simply marvelous storytelling and execution.
Click to expand...
I immediately went to YouTube to see this in action and now my mind is blown 🤯 As if I couldn’t love this show anymore than I do. Thank you for sharing this :)
 
Disney Glimpses

Disney Glimpses

Well-Known Member
JediMasterMatt said:
A little discussed feature of this is if you watch carefully, she actually starts out on the outermost left castle turret's "stained glass window" on Pan's shoulder and then travels across to the inner turret with Alice before swooping back and forth up the castle before coming out the real window from the pinnacle in unison with You Can Fly. Simply marvelous storytelling and execution.
Click to expand...
If you look carefully, she actually flies through the two lamp posts as she makes her way to the castle. :)

 
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