Hopefully the show will still be enjoyable, as I don't want Disney and the creators of the show to spend money, and time and effort and have it fall flat. Most of the reported new nighttime shows to me seem very similar to Fantasmic, and less like Wishes and Illuminations, specifically Illuminations though. That being said, I quite liked Fantasmic, as when it was created it was something different and unique. Now though, it's been made fairly routine in Disney, especially since Disney has massively turned towards projection technology. I think in moderation, some of that stuff can be quite cool and interesting, but seeing endless cartoons on the sides of buildings does start to lose interest over time for me. Once I know that they actually can project images on the sides of buildings, it doesn't really matter anymore what the images are of. The impressive part is that they can actually do that. Every once and a while there is a creative one, but for the most part it's just like a movie projector at your local cinema and the screen. The screen however is the castle or Tower of Terror. or in Fantasmic, it's water. The "wow" factor, which should always be present in these nighttime shows, quickly fades after the first moments of seeing the images on the facades of the buildings. I will admit, Disney is very skilled and creative in how they do it, and the level at which they have gotten already in such a short time of doing it is impressive.
One of the shows I have some interest in, is the Hollywood Studios History of Animation show.That could be good, though once again, it could be a lot like the others. One thing I find odd about it, like I stated earlier with Frozen and Epcot, is Hollywood Studios is going to be ground zero for Star Wars in the theme parks. Star Wars is going to be the #1 draw of the park, and have a large footprint inside it. However, based on the very definition of what this new show is, I don't know if they've announced if it's replacing Fantasmic, or will be shown at the Chinese Theater, is that Star Wars will not be in it. Star Wars is not a part of Disney animation. Star Wars could have some cool nighttime shows and displays, as we've already seen some, and maybe some of those will continue, but to have a nighttime show in a park that is going to skew largely towards Star Wars, and ignore it in the nighttime show to me is a bit odd, and short sighted in terms of planning.
Either way though, I do hope for the best. Ultimately we haven't seen the finished product, or how audiences respond. A huge advantage Disney has over the general public is that a lot of people have no idea what they miss out on. They only know what they've seen, and if a family is visiting Disney World for the first time next week, they'll see Happily Ever After and fall in love with it. They won't even be able to compare Wishes to it, because they don't even know what that was. For people who do know however, it's always a struggle of what have we gained, versus what have we lost. Sometimes the loss is greater then the gain, but the general audience doesn't even know they lost anything in the first place, so they are very happy with the gains.
thanks martin made me smile this morning.
