Is Paint the Night is lacking badly.

[brb1006]

I'm not a fan of Paint the Night. The float design is hit or miss and not a fan of the music either. Also feels shorted and fewer floats than other older Disney light parades. And while the lighting itself may be impressive on a technical level, I think it was poorly executed on an artistic level in a lot of ways. At least one or two floats remind me more of those tacky LED billboards you see everywhere now (Monsters Inc), rather than a Disney light parade... For an example of modern lighting tech being implemented into better float design, Tokyo Disneyland's Dreamlights parade is a good one. Which incidentally was an example of the PROPER way to update the Main Street Electrical Parade, Dreamlights is hands down the best parade in any Disney park at the moment and blows PtN away. Many of the floats have been continually plussed (and new ones added) over the years, recently several received upgrades and a new Tangled float was added using modern lighting tech.

That being said, there are some good things about the parade. I really love a lot of the costumes the lighting used on them. The Little Mermaid float is pretty, and the Beauty and the Beast one is nice as well. The Frozen float is probably the best one in the parade, it's excellent IMO. But the rest of the floats are meh to bad for me. An example of the problems I have with the designs vs pretty lighting can be found in Mickey's final float. Cool lighting technology with an interesting disco/whirly prop, but the rest of the float is just very bland compared to Mickey's floats from Fantillusion or Spectromagic.

This lack of artistic design can even be seen on something so basic as the balls ridden by characters. This is something you could even directly compare to Spectromagic as both parades used these balls. Paint the Night uses a very generic square grid pattern for the lights on these balls, backed by a completely black background. Spectromagic's variants of these balls used lights strung to create elegant curvy diamond shapes. On top of that, the empty diamond spaces between the lights were textured for additional detail, some had mirrored surfaces which reflected the patterns of light. And some even had extra lights inside for additional sparkle effects. The lighbulb tech was older obviously, but the designs of the units themselves and the patterns of the lights was infinitely better executed artistically.

I always wish Spectromagic and Fantillusion had received the same love that Dreamlights has. Those float designs for both parades would have been amazing if the lighting had been upgraded the same way Tokyo has continually plussed its parade.

Also is Fantillusion still running in Paris?

 

[brb1006]

That would matter to some extent, but it wouldn't really improve any of the issues mentioned in this thread. Seeing it in person would improve the lighting (which everyone already admits is a positive anyways). But what about the music, characters choices, float designs, length and float quantity among any other issues mentioned? I've never seen Fantillusion or Dreamlights in person either, but i am in love with the music and most of the floats used (they're also much longer with more content as well).

This isn't some old attraction closed 20+ years ago when archaic cameras couldn't capture low light detail properly. PtN characters and underlying float designs, along with music are all easy to see/hear even in videos.

The Small World final in Dreamlights are my favorite part since it includes various Disney characters and don't forget the Christmas edition.

 

[brb1006]

Life should not be experienced through YouTube. Or more importantly, life opinions should not be formed via YouTube.

I've seen Tokyo's Dreamlights parade several times in person, always with a perfect front row seat. You know what I thought of Dreamlights? I thought it was a little long and kind of boring; there were way too many unknown or very minor characters on Non-Disney generic floats that were only there because they had to fill a 30 minute parade.

When Roger Rabbit appears on a random Sunshine Balloon float with Lilo, you know you are running out of filler material.

As for Paint The Night, I've not seen the shortened version in Hong Kong, but I have seen the longer version in Anaheim several times in the last six months. While it's not my most favorite parade ever (buy me a drink and I'll tell you my surprising first choice), it's certainly a dramatic improvement over the tired old Main Street Electrical Parade, even after the Electrical Parade got its LED makeover and upgrades for DCA in 2009.

Paint The Night is fresh and visually stunning, and very clearly from the 21st century and very clearly aimed at 21st century audiences. The proof of its success is that Disneyland Resort runs five parades per day on two parade routes a 5 minute walk from each other: two Soundsational Parades, one Pixar Play Parade, and two Paint The Nights, and both showings of Paint The Night are PACKED with cheering crowds. Paint The Night in Anaheim is a hit.

Don't view life on YouTube, go to Disneyland and see it for yourself! WDW's Magic Kingdom would benefit greatly from their own version of Paint The Night.

I disagree with Dreamlights, I haven't seen a parade length this perfect since Spectromagic. Tokyo also removed Roger Rabbit to replace him in the same float with Marie from The Aristocats.

 

[brb1006]

PTN is a nice fun parade and much better in person than what is seen on videos. In terms of technology if MSEP is standard definition, PTN is crystal clear HD.

On an artistic or design level it is not near the level of MSEP or Dreamlights, but it's not trying to be. Its aims are much simpler than those other parades. It's a fun high energy parade and executes it well. For example the music for PTN works, but wouldn't work in MSEP and vice-versa. PTN is pure fun, much like a summer popcorn movie. Little thinking about it's artistic value necessary.

Dreamlights is in my book the best nighttime parade Disney has ever produced by a long shot. It's stunning in person and from a design perspective is amazing. They also get it right by continually updating it. They started off with a great parade from an artistic and design standpoint. Then as technology improves they update the floats from time to time. They don't update them all at once. Over the course of several years they replace 1 or 2 at a time. This way they can continue to keep it relevant and also advertise the new floats to the audience of mostly locals in Tokyo. I wish that is what they did with MSEP instead of letting it slowly fall apart whose value is almost exclusively nostalgia.

I have seen MSEP, PTN, and Dreamlights in person.

Don't forget Dreamlights has a Christmas edition.

 

[brb1006]

This!!! Paint the night is my new favorite parade. I will argue that if Spectro had returned with improvements then swapping Ptn for it could possibly be a downgrade, but to say that Ptn is a step down from what Disney World's MK offers now is laughably delusional. MSEP has ran it's course, and the fact that Disneyland bothered to get a new parade while MK still has it's old parade that it got as a leftover from DL is just sad. With that said I do hope that Disney World gets it's own unique parade one day that fits the resort. Ptn fits Disneyland because it's lively and modern.

I seriously hope WDW comes up with a good parade at the park for it's 50th which is as beautiful as Spectromagic.

 

[brb1006]

Music is one thing, but opinions on the floats are moot if one hasn't seen the parade in person, in my opinion. The OP has never seen the parade, but has a list of issues they have with it.

It's completely unfair to judge an attraction if one has never seen it in person. Videos only do so much.

But I live very far away from Disneyland so I won't be able to visit Disneyland at this point to see Paint The Night.

 

[Californian Elitist]

But I live very far away from Disneyland...

Not sure what this comment has to do with what I said.

 

[Keys_of_Hearts]

Not sure what this comment has to do with what I said.

I think it's just excuses. PTN is fantastic, and honestly saying it sucks without seeing it in person is ridiculous. That would be like showing someone a video of IllumiNations and they say it's boring and stupid. Being there in person dramatically improves the experience.

I couldn't make my way out to the Diamond Celebration till August and I watched videos of all 3 new nightime spectaculars before I went because I totally thought I wasn't gonna make it to the 60th. And PTN had me going "meh" on video, but after seeing it in person it's my new favorite parade. I was like that with Festival of Fantasy as well.

 

[MerlinTheGoat]

The feedback even from people who have seen Paint the Night in person seems rather mixed. Some people love it, others aren't so into it. Not heard many people complain about Illuminations though, it seems to be a pretty much universally loved show from what I can tell. Well except perhaps for mom and I, who prefer the original Illuminations (I like the new show and appreciate the upgraded technology a lot but prefer the old soundtrack, along with the way the individual countries were included). Wouldn't really bug me if someone who saw it via a youtube video didn't like it though, as long as you've got a legitimate argument.

The thing about Illuminations is that there aren't many shows that are comparable in the way it mixes fireworks, pyro, lasers, fountains, the globe projections etc. You can compare the fireworks to other fireworks shows, but that's far from all it is. If you dislike it on its own merits, that's your opinion and you've a right to it, but it's not an opinion you can form by saying it's worse than other night shows since there's nothing else like it (unless you include the past versions of the show). Paint the Night would in my eyes be a good parade (and i don't think it sucks) if it was the only light parade out there, but it's not. There are several others out there, and i'm comparing it to those.

I don't think there's a problem with criticizing something if you can clearly see what you're talking about from a video. What I mentioned was the soundtrack (which is online in great quality), float design and the patterns of the light formations on floats (both of which are 100% visible in the videos). Neither the music or the shape of the floats are going to change by viewing it in person. The float designs are objectively less detailed than the float design in either Dreamlights and Fantillusion (neither of which i've seen in person) or Spectromagic (which I have seen in person). The one element that actually requires seeing it in person to fully appreciate has not been criticized or even debated here- the lighting technology.

Either way i would think most Disneyland fans wouldn't want the parade cloned at Magic Kingdom. Even if I liked the parade, i'd still want something unique from Disneyland. Sounds like PtN isn't coming to WDW anyways, In an earlier topic about Martin said it wouldn't work and Photodave said there's no chance at all.

 

[Miss Heinous]

I feel like a lot of people who are talking badly of the parade have not seen it in person and are sufferers of the "Disney World is Better" mentality. Paint the Night is a much better parade than the duct tape express that is the Electrical parade we have now, and if you can't see how then maybe you should have your vision tested.

 

[MerlinTheGoat]

I feel like a lot of people who are talking badly of the parade have not seen it in person and are sufferers of the "Disney World is Better" mentality. Paint the Night is a much better parade than the duct tape express that is the Electrical parade we have now, and if you can't see how then maybe you should have your vision tested.

And I feel like you've not read any of the posts from the critics in this topic, nor the reasoning. No one is defending WDW's MSEP. The parades brought up in this topic are a mixture of foreign and/or ones no longer in operation. Fantillusion for instance was never (as far as I know) brought to the US at all. Spectromagic is destroyed thanks to idiots running the company as a whole. And the awesome Dreamlights is from Tokyo. While I definitely did prefer Spectromagic to Paint the Night, it is far from the only one that I consider better. And as Spectromagic has been destroyed and likely never coming back (with massive backlash from fans) with a dilapidated archaic MSEP being run to failure in its place, it's hardly a situation WDW fans are proud of when stacked against Disneyland.

While the debate of WDW vs DL may go either way if you include WDW's three additional parks, many objective people here would probably agree that Disneyland is in more ways than not superior to Magic Kingdom. I would even say MK is in some crucial ways the worst "castle" park currently. From personal experience I preferred Disneyland Paris when I visited as a child. And while i've not visited other castle parks in person, I feel fairly confident that Disneyland and Tokyo Disneyland would also beat MK for me as well.

Here's a more simple comparison between some of the most basic float designs shared similarly between both PtN and Spectromagic, the character "ball" floats.

Spectromagic-

Paint the Night-

While Paint the Night clearly has more modern lighting, there's more detail and artistry in the physical design for Spectro, particularly the patterns of the strings of light. PtN uses a very generic and simplistic square grid pattern on a pitch black surface underneath. Spectro's strings of light are draped elegantly in a curved manner and form a diamond shape. The diamond shapes in between the lights also have textures, some of which reflective to enhance the lights, and there are additional sparkling lights inside the diamond shapes. They resemble something like a classical christmas ornament of sorts.

 

[JAtheFourth]

I saw PTN in person a few weeks ago, and I was happy enough with the parade, but I did think that it needed a few tweaks. Audio was definitely the big one. The song they used is catchy (from Wreck it Ralph) but then they tried to mix in Cars and the Hoedown from MSEP, and the transitions were jarring. In addition, the second time I saw it, I was in the Main Street rotunda, and there was different music coming from each side and it was cacophonous to say the least.

They need more of the interstitial units between the floats to be elevated higher, since the parade route is lined with people a few deep, and seeing the dancers was nearly impossible. Put some performers on stilts or something to give people stuck in the back something to see. Also, another float or two would be appreciated, it seemed like many things else at Disney... lots of waiting for a relatively short show.

It was fun, and I can see it sticking around a bit, but I do hope that MK gets something new for 50.

 

[Californian Elitist]

I think it's just excuses. PTN is fantastic, and honestly saying it sucks without seeing it in person is ridiculous. That would be like showing someone a video of IllumiNations and they say it's boring and stupid. Being there in person dramatically improves the experience.

I couldn't make my way out to the Diamond Celebration till August and I watched videos of all 3 new nightime spectaculars before I went because I totally thought I wasn't gonna make it to the 60th. And PTN had me going "meh" on video, but after seeing it in person it's my new favorite parade. I was like that with Festival of Fantasy as well.

I had the exact same reaction. I had watched the parade on YouTube and thought it was just okay. Saw it in person some weeks later and thought it was fantastic.

 

[Californian Elitist]

I saw PTN in person a few weeks ago, and I was happy enough with the parade, but I did think that it needed a few tweaks. Audio was definitely the big one. The song they used is catchy (from Wreck it Ralph) but then they tried to mix in Cars and the Hoedown from MSEP, and the transitions were jarring. In addition, the second time I saw it, I was in the Main Street rotunda, and there was different music coming from each side and it was cacophonous to say the least.

They need more of the interstitial units between the floats to be elevated higher, since the parade route is lined with people a few deep, and seeing the dancers was nearly impossible. Put some performers on stilts or something to give people stuck in the back something to see. Also, another float or two would be appreciated, it seemed like many things else at Disney... lots of waiting for a relatively short show.

It was fun, and I can see it sticking around a bit, but I do hope that MK gets something new for 50.

Now this is an opinion I can call valid because they've seen it for themselves.

 

[Miss Heinous]

And I feel like you've not read any of the posts from the critics in this topic, nor the reasoning. No one is defending WDW's MSEP. The parades brought up in this topic are a mixture of foreign and/or ones no longer in operation. Fantillusion for instance was never (as far as I know) brought to the US at all. Spectromagic is destroyed thanks to idiots running the company as a whole. And the awesome Dreamlights is from Tokyo. While I definitely did prefer Spectromagic to Paint the Night, it is far from the only one that I consider better. And as Spectromagic has been destroyed and likely never coming back (with massive backlash from fans) with a dilapidated archaic MSEP being run to failure in its place, it's hardly a situation WDW fans are proud of when stacked against Disneyland.

While the debate of WDW vs DL may go either way if you include WDW's three additional parks, many objective people here would probably agree that Disneyland is in more ways than not superior to Magic Kingdom. I would even say MK is in some crucial ways the worst "castle" park currently. From personal experience I preferred Disneyland Paris when I visited as a child. And while i've not visited other castle parks in person, I feel fairly confident that Disneyland and Tokyo Disneyland would also beat MK for me as well.

Here's a more simple comparison between some of the most basic float designs shared similarly between both PtN and Spectromagic, the character "ball" floats.

Spectromagic-

Paint the Night-

While Paint the Night clearly has more modern lighting, there's more detail and artistry in the physical design for Spectro, particularly the patterns of the strings of light. PtN uses a very generic and simplistic square grid pattern on a pitch black surface underneath. Spectro's strings of light are draped elegantly in a curved manner and form a diamond shape. The diamond shapes in between the lights also have textures, some of which reflective to enhance the lights, and there are additional sparkling lights inside the diamond shapes. They resemble something like a classical christmas ornament of sorts.

Did I make any mention of Spectro? I don't think so... either way Spectro (may it rest in peace) is dead, so it's not like Paint the Night or any other new parade would be putting it out of service. You can talk to me about how it was better and I could agree till the cows come home. The fact is though we currently have a tired and crap-tastic Electrical parade, not Spectro so it's more fair at the moment to compare MSEP to PtN.

 

[THEMEPARKPIONEER]

I have to agree that the units are a bit boxy and rely more on images where Spectro and the Electrical Parade have lights molded to the scenery. i can see the amazing technology they have used for these units and the effects they give out. Disney World released a show with a unit with just as many effects, more capabilities and the same similar technology and more capabilities back in 1999. It's called the Earth Barge. Now that's impressive.

 

[ShoalFox]

Now this is an opinion I can call valid because they've seen it for themselves.

You can't just dismiss opinions like that. I admit that I've never seen PtN live (heck I've not been to DLR since 2009), but I feel watching the video is enough to make an initial opinion, not a final opinion. Maybe my opinion will change next time I'm at Disneyland, maybe it won't. All I'm saying is that you can't just invalidate opinions on a whim especially when they have arguments behind them.

 

[BringMeTheHoriz]

You can't just dismiss opinions like that. I admit that I've never seen PtN live (heck I've not been to DLR since 2009), but I feel watching the video is enough to make an initial opinion, not a final opinion. Maybe my opinion will change next time I'm at Disneyland, maybe it won't. All I'm saying is that you can't just invalidate opinions on a whim especially when they have arguments behind them.

Sure they can. Let's say you showed me a picture of your favorite dish at your favorite restaurant on earth. Then after looking at the picture I tell you that it doesn't look very appetizing and therefore it must not be all that appetizing. What would be the first words out of your mouth? I'm not a betting man, but if I were I'd bet any sum of money you would say I'd need to smell it and taste it before my opinion was valid. Same thing with this parade. By watching it online you're not getting the full experience. Just as I wouldn't be smelling or tasting the dish you showed me a picture of, you wouldn't be getting the effect of 360* views, the effect of the performer's interactions, or the ability to rotate your head and be surrounded by (and fully immersed in) the entirety of the experience.

This is like many things in life: seeing the Grand Canyon, watching a rocket launch, going to a sporting event, heck even going to your kid's recital....all of it is best experienced in person because then you get the full effect of actually being there.

 

[THEMEPARKPIONEER]

All I know is that Disneyland is notorious for making annoying light parades.

 

[brb1006]

And I feel like you've not read any of the posts from the critics in this topic, nor the reasoning. No one is defending WDW's MSEP. The parades brought up in this topic are a mixture of foreign and/or ones no longer in operation. Fantillusion for instance was never (as far as I know) brought to the US at all. Spectromagic is destroyed thanks to idiots running the company as a whole. And the awesome Dreamlights is from Tokyo. While I definitely did prefer Spectromagic to Paint the Night, it is far from the only one that I consider better. And as Spectromagic has been destroyed and likely never coming back (with massive backlash from fans) with a dilapidated archaic MSEP being run to failure in its place, it's hardly a situation WDW fans are proud of when stacked against Disneyland.

While the debate of WDW vs DL may go either way if you include WDW's three additional parks, many objective people here would probably agree that Disneyland is in more ways than not superior to Magic Kingdom. I would even say MK is in some crucial ways the worst "castle" park currently. From personal experience I preferred Disneyland Paris when I visited as a child. And while i've not visited other castle parks in person, I feel fairly confident that Disneyland and Tokyo Disneyland would also beat MK for me as well.

Here's a more simple comparison between some of the most basic float designs shared similarly between both PtN and Spectromagic, the character "ball" floats.

Spectromagic-

Paint the Night-

While Paint the Night clearly has more modern lighting, there's more detail and artistry in the physical design for Spectro, particularly the patterns of the strings of light. PtN uses a very generic and simplistic square grid pattern on a pitch black surface underneath. Spectro's strings of light are draped elegantly in a curved manner and form a diamond shape. The diamond shapes in between the lights also have textures, some of which reflective to enhance the lights, and there are additional sparkling lights inside the diamond shapes. They resemble something like a classical christmas ornament of sorts.

Seeing the ball floats spinning in Spectromagic was always fun to watch since it might cause an illusion by seeing one of the lights appear to turn left or right depending on what way they spin. The same can't be said for PTN.