itaoh, i disagree. The parisian lights of winter clutter the look of main street and block the view of the castle. The crowns look much prettier and do a better job of accentuating the street... In my opinion of course
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Lights of Winter not being displayed this year (2009)!?!
- Thread starter wdwmagic
- Start date
THEMEPARKPIONEER
Well-Known Member
They will probably cheap it up and maybe even use gemmi lights.
They have been cutting back on not just Christmas decorations but also cut all year around attractions and don't even get me started on the rides. It will always be nice there but nothing like the 80's and the 90's. Someday hopefully the disney economy will pick up and things will be on top of the world again but right now there is no sign of that. I cant say for sure but I think that Millennium celebration really nocked them out because after that is when I started to notice things missing and falling apart.
harryk
Well-Known Member
Received my LOW pins last night and have them in carry-on bags so that when we check into Boardwalk on 23 December we shall have them on. They are better looking than in the pics. :xmas::xmas: :xmas::xmas::xmas:
Fountain of Nations Christmas Music
Since the Lights of Winter is toast, and possibly the Dove of Peace Garden (the light white display between the Christmas Tree and the Fountain), do we even know if the Fountain of Nations will dance to the Christmas music as in past years? I am beginning to wonder.
Since the Lights of Winter is toast, and possibly the Dove of Peace Garden (the light white display between the Christmas Tree and the Fountain), do we even know if the Fountain of Nations will dance to the Christmas music as in past years? I am beginning to wonder.
I asked about the fountains on both the weekly recap blog and in an e-mail directly to guest communications. No response . . .
hpyhnt 1000
Well-Known Member
Hopefully it still dances to holiday music. I'm afriad that they'll discontinue it completely because of the gospel choir that will be performing on the fountain stage. In theory, the FoN could still dance between shows, but that would require effort to program and it seems Disney doesn't like to exert a lot of effort these days...
Hopefully it still dances to holiday music. I'm afriad that they'll discontinue it completely because of the gospel choir that will be performing on the fountain stage. In theory, the FoN could still dance between shows, but that would require effort to program and it seems Disney doesn't like to exert a lot of effort these days...
Hopefully the choir performs during the day, I don't think there is any lighting on the stage? :shrug:
If they erect temporary lighting there and cut the fountain shows that will be terrible . . .
Here's hoping -- I love to sit up in the outdoor area of the Fountainview and watch the fountains and people watch. :xmas:
EPCOT Explorer
New Member
It seems they are doing nothing, save for the PoE tag for RoE. So happy THAT was salvaged, seeing the rest is dead.
Sounds about right.
Could be. I first saw EPCOT in '98. I had been doing one week commando trips from '01-'04. I didn't consider myself any sort of a regular then, just someone who knew how to read a map and look online for a schedule. It wasn't until '05 that I started coming for longer periods and different times of year, when I bought DVC. It hasn't been until most recently that I've noticed much. I loved my first F&G and F&W festivals. But this year, for the first time, I noticed some scaling back. I thought it was just me. This was my 5th year of my semiannual trips to WDW. Maybe I was getting fatigue. I was underwhelmed by decor and events for F&W.
Canceling the Lights of Winter may be the best thing that ever happens to the park. It's creating such an outcry among regular visitors/fans and internally among park staff that now everyone is talking about how stale EPCOT is getting.
For me, any downward slide began with the taking down of that millenium wand. It looked so nice and sparkly in the distance from Germany. The purists who insisted the park return to early 80's grandeur did not share my view. Their "grandeur" is my "collection of concrete buildings and restaurants".
EDITED TO ADD: Oh and from my park commando days, the elimination of Tapestry of Dreams parade was my first real sense of loss. I was there for the last day of parades, on a repeat yearly trip. When TDO ended that parade they killed excitement in the park. Now the only big crowd thrill you experience is fireworks.
WDWRLD
Active Member
The show they have done in the past could easily be programed on LOR controllers. Its almost limitless in the number of controll boxes you can add and the number of channels you can use. I run about 72 channels all wireless with music and it has been extremely reliable. What do they use to controll Osbourne lights, anyone here know. Also what software did they use for LOW before they became obsolete all of a sudden this year. Was it some sort of DMX system.
Mr.EPCOT
Active Member
It was gaudy, cartoony clutter, and it was only meant to be there temporarily, so it's gone. Future World is supposed to be sleek, sophisticated, futuristic, and that wand was anything but.
If your first trip was in 1998, then you just simply don't know what you've missed out on. Don't knock it if you haven't tried it.
RSoxNo1
Well-Known Member
I figured out what they mean by obsolete technology. Disney needs one of the voltage adapters used for traveling to Europe. We'll get Lights of Winter as soon as someone at TDO makes a trip to Radio Shack.
unkadug
Follower of "Saget"The Cult
I'm not sure, but DMX is hardly obsolete. Perhaps somebody erased the program and they couldn't find anybody to do the reprogramming at the last minute. :shrug:
THEMEPARKPIONEER
Well-Known Member
I have to disagree, I hated that wand... just my opinion. That wand was a big waste just to put it up and then take it down in 10 years which turned into 7 years. 2003 was really good to but then the next year the first thing I noticed was the fountains have been let go big time, tapestry of nations was gone and all the little features in the park were missing and it went down from there. Thats when I started noticing things. I think completely changing imagination, replacing horizons, the wand and all the celebration events just caught up with the budget. I think 911 really finished it all off. A celebration for a horrible generation and what a 10 years it has been.
Just saw this on Mouseplanet (way to be up with the current WDW events, by the way:
Lights of Winter glow away
The popular Lights of Winter are no more. Their demise was announced through the Disney Parks Twitter account Wednesday afternoon with the message, "Note: The Lights of Winter at Epcot has been enjoyed for years. But tech to operate the lights is obsolete, prompting us to retire the lights."
Immediate protests were launched on the Internet and theories of "the real reason" for the retirement circulated wildly. Popular theories included the obvious cost savings angle and the possibility that the lights—which have not been converted to LEDs as the Osborne Lights have—create a big dent in the company's green footprint. Both of those theories, however, seem a bit less likely when you take into account that the arches were seen in an area by Epcot's parking lot.
If Disney had no plans to install the lights this year for either budgetary purposes or environmental reasons, why would they take them out as if it were time to prepare by cleaning them? It's more likely a combination of the earlier reasons plus a new one: It's likely that Disney brought out the lights to clean the trellises and prepare them for installation, then saw that there was some damage that needed to be repaired. If the cost of repair was not within the maintenance budget and/or the the lights would eat into the budgetary savings of the green bulb conversion, a decision could be made to just cancel the installation. Of course, the latter would certainly feed into the obsolete technology referred to in the message.
Either way, the 30,000 lights will not be appearing again for a while.
Sigh. I leave tomorrow afternoon. And Epcot is my favorite park, especially this time of year.....
Lights of Winter glow away
The popular Lights of Winter are no more. Their demise was announced through the Disney Parks Twitter account Wednesday afternoon with the message, "Note: The Lights of Winter at Epcot has been enjoyed for years. But tech to operate the lights is obsolete, prompting us to retire the lights."
Immediate protests were launched on the Internet and theories of "the real reason" for the retirement circulated wildly. Popular theories included the obvious cost savings angle and the possibility that the lights—which have not been converted to LEDs as the Osborne Lights have—create a big dent in the company's green footprint. Both of those theories, however, seem a bit less likely when you take into account that the arches were seen in an area by Epcot's parking lot.
If Disney had no plans to install the lights this year for either budgetary purposes or environmental reasons, why would they take them out as if it were time to prepare by cleaning them? It's more likely a combination of the earlier reasons plus a new one: It's likely that Disney brought out the lights to clean the trellises and prepare them for installation, then saw that there was some damage that needed to be repaired. If the cost of repair was not within the maintenance budget and/or the the lights would eat into the budgetary savings of the green bulb conversion, a decision could be made to just cancel the installation. Of course, the latter would certainly feed into the obsolete technology referred to in the message.
Either way, the 30,000 lights will not be appearing again for a while.
Sigh. I leave tomorrow afternoon. And Epcot is my favorite park, especially this time of year.....
EPCOT Explorer
New Member
Makes me wonder if they will even return next year....a shame.
hpyhnt 1000
Well-Known Member
What does that mean, "brought out the lights"? Isn't that area just off the Epcot parking lot where Mr. EPCOT took that photo the permanent storage area for them? I don't understand where they were taken out from...? :veryconfu
EPCOT Explorer
New Member
Travis....it's TDO...It's not supposed to be understandable.:lookaroun