No Mickey, No Dragon='s LessThanFantasmic

[MikeAGeorge]

I saw the Fantasmic show last night. The dragon worked just fine. Mickey was on the lower level for the finale scene which was noticeable. Of course the flame effects on the canoes worked only intermittently as always. Overall still a good show IMO and I've seen it probably 15 times since its debut. It would appear that the dead lift is an issue that won't be addressed until the refurb.

 

[TiggersPooh]

Saw the show last night and yes the finale is a little odd...but my nieces LOVED it and it was worth it.

 

[mm52200]

Just saw tonights show and it was rough. The show was delayed about 5 minutes for technical difficultie but Mickeys fingers didn't shoot sparks, no dragon, and obviously no Sorcerer Mickey...I love F! But I was very disapointed tonight.

 

[dlpwishes]

I love this show so much. It saddens me, like many here, that TDO have let it get into the state that it is. It's a real flagship of WDW and when guests are paying so much every day, everything, seasonal or not, should be of a high standard.

 

[zulemara]

I went last night, here are my impressions:

I went to see Fantasmic last night and haven't been in several months. There were many positive things I saw, but one glaring negative at the end that overshadowed it in my opinion.

The fire was working on all the Pocahontas boats. The last time I went, they didn't turn on at all.

The dragon looks awesome

Unfortunately the fire on the water wasn't working. I thought maybe it was too windy, but confirmed with a friend who works the show that it was mysteriously broken. For the first show it was unexpected, for the 2nd show they knew it wouldn't be working. They changed the lighting so Mickey does this little kick after lighting the sword and starting the killing of the bad guys. I liked that change, it's cute. The audio of the villains dying continues on queue and as soon as the extra animation is over, the water screen comes up and continues the villains death scene.

The character float paddle wheel has been replaced. It's smaller, but it at least turns. That was a welcomed change.

Then we get to the finale. And POOF! Sorceror...oh wait...classic Mickey at the bottom of the hill? is going on.

Classic Mickey did all the fireworks choreography from the opening lift. I was OUTRAGED at this. Seriously, it upset me immensely. So not only is there no Sorceror Mickey, but the whole "some imagination, huh?" doesn't make any sense at all.

After ranting on Facebook, it was confirmed to me that this is not a permanent change, but the lift is broken for the top of the mountain. It is not intended to be fixed until the winter refurb beginning Jan 4. Which means hundreds of thousands of guests over the holidays will see this show with no magical ending and I'm just not ok with that.

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I posted the above and made a thread and was directed here, so figured it would be a good update to the thread since it has been a while since anyone posted.

 

[mm52200]

^^^ Agreed! I saw the show tonight and Tuesday, and everything was working...except the lift. It is very disapointing as you said, its a holiday week right now and thousands of people aren't getting the ending they deserve.

 

[3feethigher]

the lift on top of the MT is broke and has to be taken out of the MT to be fixed which they are not doing till the show goes down for its referb in Jan

 

[JeffH]

Wouldn't Sorcerer Mickey make more sense?

Wouldn't it make more sense if it were Sorcerer Mickey conducting the fireworks at the end instead of Classic (modern) Mickey?

Saturday 8pm show the sword failed to fire and the canoe torches were working as was the Dragon.

Still enjoying the extra BANG at the end that they added recently (this year).

 

[WDW Monorail]

^^^ Agreed! I saw the show tonight and Tuesday, and everything was working...except the lift. It is very disapointing as you said, its a holiday week right now and thousands of people aren't getting the ending they deserve.

Yep, and the alternative is to not run the show so the thousands of people won't get to see any part of the show at all.

 

[Bolna]

Yep, and the alternative is to not run the show so the thousands of people won't get to see any part of the show at all.

Well this thread was started on October 13. They had since then to get it repaired so that the masses who come for the holidays would get the perfect show. But instead they wait until January, so many more thousand people will be treated to shows with major flaws.

 

[ToTBellHop]

Well this thread was started on October 13. They had since then to get it repaired so that the masses who come for the holidays would get the perfect show. But instead they wait until January, so many more thousand people will be treated to shows with major flaws.

The other option would have been to have thousands of people miss out on the show with an unplanned fall closure, and you are kidding yourself if you think Disney would ever choose to miss out on the money from those Fantasmic dining packages.

 

[COProgressFan]

The other option would have been to have thousands of people miss out on the show with an unplanned fall closure, and you are kidding yourself if you think Disney would ever choose to miss out on the money from those Fantasmic dining packages.

You would think that, but despite many guest complaints, for 2 years they only ran the show a few times a week, even during peak periods.

 

[jakeman]

You would think that, but despite many guest complaints, for 2 years they only ran the show a few times a week, even during peak periods.

Money save by not running F! > Money earned by F! dining packages

Not defending, just pointing out the math.

 

[ToTBellHop]

Money save by not running F! > Money earned by F! dining packages

Not defending, just pointing out the math.

Eh, I don't really think it saved that much money, since they ended up needing two showings every night it showed, so they ended up with 4-6 showings most weeks and lots of complaints on other nights. They make more money from the dinner packages if they show it 7 nights/week because they don't have dinner packages for 2nd showings. So whereas they often had 6 showings a week with 3 nights of dinner packages before, now they have 7 showings a week and 7 nights of dinner packages (and the complaints stopped). I would guess the additional 4 nights of dinner packages probably pay for the one extra showing (and it's certainly worthwhile if you include the unquantifiable benefit of the complaints stopping and guests being happier).

 

[njDizFan]

Do those 3 restaurants really have that many empty seats during dinner time to even come close to equaling the money they have to spend to run a showing of F!

I honestly dont have any idea how much it cost to run F!, but it can't be cheap, with all the face characters and pyro involved.

I just doubt that filling a few dozen tables a night would equal that cost.

 

[ToTBellHop]

Do those 3 restaurants really have that many empty seats during dinner time to even come close to equaling the money they have to spend to run a showing of F!

I honestly dont have any idea how much it cost to run F!, but it can't be cheap, with all the face characters and pyro involved.

I just doubt that filling a few dozen tables a night would equal that cost.

It's not a few dozen tables. They do lunch and dinner--it's several hundred people. Let's pick 500 as a round number at about $30/person. That would be $15000 each day.

Previously, with 6 shows per week (3 nights w/ two showings), they would have made $45000/week.

Now, with 7 shows per week, they would make $105000, an increase of $60000. Sure, Fantasmic! is expensive, but I doubt it costs $60000 to put it on for one night.

 

[PhilharMagician]

It's not a few dozen tables. They do lunch and dinner--it's several hundred people. Let's pick 500 as a round number at about $30/person. That would be $15000 each day.

Previously, with 6 shows per week (3 nights w/ two showings), they would have made $45000/week.

Now, with 7 shows per week, they would make $105000, an increase of $60000. Sure, Fantasmic! is expensive, but I doubt it costs $60000 to put it on for one night.

Yes, but you are assuming that the tables would not be filled otherwise which is simply not true. The restaurants are near full capacity each day. Dinner service is definately fully booked, but I would assume that Fantasmic dining packages help fill some open slots for lunch. I have eaten many times at DHS when Fantasmic was not showing and H&V and MM were always packed.

 

[njDizFan]

Yes, but you are assuming that the tables would not be filled otherwise which is simply not true. The restaurants are near full capacity each day. Dinner service is definately fully booked, but I would assume that Fantasmic dining packages help fill some open slots for lunch. I have eaten many times at DHS when Fantasmic was not showing and H&V and MM were always packed.

Exactly my point. The number in question is how many empty tables they have that would be filled if F! was showing.

 

[tinaalsgirl]

Hello. So, my friend and I are planning a trip to WDW for January, but here's the problem: I'm trying to arrange what days we do what parks based on projected crowd levels as well as arranging it based on our accommodations.

My friend is really interested in going to see Fantasmic! as she remembers it being a really amazing show. We didn't get to go this past January based on our park plans and the limited number of nights the show was happening.

I'm basically indifferent about seeing the show. I wouldn't be upset at all if we missed it. But my friend really wants to see it.

My question is this: is it worth changing our park plans (which would put us at Epcot on days with higher crowd levels) so that we can see Fantasmic!, or is the show broken down enough (we'd be seeing it the last night before it closes for refurbishment) that we should wait until the next time we make it to a Disney park? I'm hoping within the next five years to make it to Disneyland, so I could always see it there...

If anyone can weigh in on this, the sooner the better, 'cause I've gotta let our travel agent know what our final plans are.

Thanks,

Joy

 

[RSoxNo1]

UNI is upping their game and I've seen nothing to show Disney even gets they have a problem beyond the Hail Mary for Avatar, which is so far out in terms of being built, I can't even offer a real opinion because so much can/will change.

I'd like to say kudos to WDW1974 for first having this info out on 10/13.