Paint the night is not moving to Disney World. Stop bumping this.

[Tim Lohr]

I would be SHOCKED if this happened

Then again I'm shocked by a lot of things Disney does and doesn't do

I'd be shocked if there was no night parades during those busy holiday seasons

 

[CDavid]

if you are referring to a normal day and getting a refund, nothing about purchasing your ticket has anything to do with being guaranteed any form of specific entertainment.

While completely true, of course, that fact does absolutely nothing to make people feel better about the lack of a nighttime parade we've come to expect for decades. The problem lies not with the terms & conditions of your ticket, but rather with guest disappointment and a failure to meet visitor expectations.

 

[jpeden]

It seems odd that Paint the Night is ending Sept 5th at Disneyland, and Main Street Electrical is ending Oct 9th... to go to Disneyland ...so like? what are they going to do with that brand new Paint the Night parade exactly?

No joke - putting it in storage to do some minor refurbs on it, and then only run it on "select holiday nights" through the end of 2016. After that, no one seems to know.

 

[MinnieWaffles]

While completely true, of course, that fact does absolutely nothing to make people feel better about the lack of a nighttime parade we've come to expect for decades. The problem lies not with the terms & conditions of your ticket, but rather with guest disappointment and a failure to meet visitor expectations.

Only expectations a person visiting more then maybe once or twice a year would have though. Entertainment changes. It happens. I only got to see the Jammin Jungle Parade once before they took it away. You still get Celebrate The Magic and Wishes at night, it's not like they suddenly remove every bit of nighttime entertainment from the park.

What does make me laugh and go hmm though is that in the past people have called for MSEP to end or be replaced because of how old it is, and that's true. They're banking on first timers not knowing it's 40 odd years old. But now it's removed? Hysteria, just like every other time something is removed. Me, I'll miss the parade and have great memories, but as my next trip isn't until next September, maybe they'll have something in to replace it by then so I'm not worried.

 

[asianway]

Only expectations a person visiting more then maybe once or twice a year would have though. Entertainment changes. It happens. I only got to see the Jammin Jungle Parade once before they took it away. You still get Celebrate The Magic and Wishes at night, it's not like they suddenly remove every bit of nighttime entertainment from the park.

What does make me laugh and go hmm though is that in the past people have called for MSEP to end or be replaced because of how old it is, and that's true. They're banking on first timers not knowing it's 40 odd years old. But now it's removed? Hysteria, just like every other time something is removed. Me, I'll miss the parade and have great memories, but as my next trip isn't until next September, maybe they'll have something in to replace it by then so I'm not worried.

Jammin Jungle ran almost 15 years before they retired it though...and while I am a proponent of new parades regularly, running one for less than a year and a half is unheard of. Even in the 80s they would reskin floats a lot add in new, and rename

 

[MinnieWaffles]

Jammin Jungle ran almost 15 years before they retired it though...and while I am a proponent of new parades regularly, running one for less than a year and a half is unheard of. Even in the 80s they would reskin floats a lot add in new, and rename

I thought the MSEP came back in 2010 and has been running since? That's still a good 6 years. And change...

 

[tirian]

Getting PTN to fit better in Magic Kingdom Park would require Magic Kingdom Park to rethink and rework nearly it's entire vibe and scene. And that's gonna require a major executive shake-up in the TDO building.

IMHO, at night, DL is a popular hangout for locals. It gets crowded with teenagers around 4:30 pm. The PTN music matches the overall excitement.

The MK, on the other hand, feels like a storybook dream at night. Of course, crowd levels vary depending on the time of year and can interfere with the overall effect, but compared to DL, the enormous castle creates a very different atmosphere after dark.

 

[JEANYLASER]

I would like Paint the night in WDW!

 

[TTA94]

I wonder if WDW even has a plan yet wheather that be paint the night, a new parade or not having a parade for a few years? You would think they wouldn't let MSEP go without a replacement in mind.. Unless it's a budget cut situation which I have a feeling could be the case. If it is I hope not having a nighttime parade bites them in the you know what! DL may have been able to pull off not having a nighttime parade in the past, but can MK?

 

[asianway]

I thought the MSEP came back in 2010 and has been running since? That's still a good 6 years. And change...

was referring to PTN

 

[VJ]

I feel like no one knows what's going to happen because, at this point, not even Disney does. Obviously this whole thing was a rush job that caught the majority of us by surprise, so is it out of the realm of thought that Disney is winging it as they go along? Act now, plan later? Just seems like the most plausible explanation for the literal radio silence about whatever the heck is going on right now. I'm only slightly less confused than I was when all this was announced, honestly, and I don't think Disney has many more answers than we do.

 

[MinnieWaffles]

was referring to PTN

Ahh, I wondered what you were referring to. My bad.

 

[MagicHappens1971]

I wonder if WDW even has a plan yet wheather that be paint the night, a new parade or not having a parade for a few years? You would think they wouldn't let MSEP go without a replacement in mind.. Unless it's a budget cut situation which I have a feeling could be the case. If it is I hope not having a nighttime parade bites them in the you know what! DL may have been able to pull off not having a nighttime parade in the past, but can MK?

I don't see this as a budget cut situation, because it's going to wind up costing them money (when in my opinion) they realize they can't go five years without a new nighttime parade. It was also stated DL wanted MSEP back, which doesn't make sense but I'm sure someone will have an explanation soon. Apparently there is a parade design ready, just not $$$, a new parade isn't budgeted for until the 50th.

 

[Mike S]

What does make me laugh and go hmm though is that in the past people have called for MSEP to end or be replaced because of how old it is, and that's true. They're banking on first timers not knowing it's 40 odd years old. But now it's removed? Hysteria, just like every other time something is removed. Me, I'll miss the parade and have great memories, but as my next trip isn't until next September, maybe they'll have something in to replace it by then so I'm not worried.

The reaction would be much different if a replacement was announced alongside MSEP's end. With no official word on a replacement in sight, what do you expect?

 

[CDavid]

Only expectations a person visiting more then maybe once or twice a year would have though. Entertainment changes. It happens.

You greatly underestimate the popularity and allure (even fame) of the "electrical" parade (MSEP, Spectromagic, etc.). It is somewhat known among persons who have never visited the parks, and given the wealth of planning materials readily available, even first-time guests certainly bring their own expectations (this is also going to be something of an issue when guests arrive to find no Osborne Lights). The time prior to discontinuance is also relatively short; Most people don't keep up with every tidbit of Disney news on forums and the web, and both new and returning visitors are going to arrive expecting a nighttime parade.

Entertainment does change, that's true. But this - at least temporarily - potentially isn't a change but rather the elimination of a Magic Kingdom institution. Regardless, the expectations of returning guests are possibly even more important than those of first-timers (you need to keep people coming back), and the loss of this parade is a big deal to many people. It is fine - for you - there may well be a replacement by next September, but there are millions of guests who will vacation in the interim; A new parade next year really does nothing to enhance their vacations this fall.

It was also stated DL wanted MSEP back

Which seems unusual, given that is was previously reported the parade was in poor condition and thus Disneyland wasn't interested in having it returned.

 

[rodserling27]

So what ever happened to the version of MSEP that came to MK in 1977?

Yep, that's the big mystery. As someone said earlier, they were shipped to Paris first, had a run there, then apparently shipped to HKDL. And now they are....?????? Nobody knows. Very strange...I say track them down, and give it the Dreamlights treatment, BOOM, new MSEP for the new century at MK!

Here's a question I have: WDW's MSEP debuted in 1977 when the all 3-D float version premiered at DL. Were the sizes of the floats shared between the two versions the exact same size; or were WDW's bigger?

Yes, the original WDW MSEP floats were a little wider than the DL ones/the one running now at MK.

 

[jrhwdw]

Yep, that's the big mystery. As someone said earlier, they were shipped to Paris first, had a run there, then apparently shipped to HKDL. And now they are....?????? Nobody knows. Very strange...I say track them down, and give it the Dreamlights treatment, BOOM, new MSEP for the new century at MK!

Yes, the original WDW MSEP floats were a little wider than the DL ones/the one running now at MK.

I have an interesting question...Was WDW MSEP's America unit smaller than DL's? In every old video I've seen, all of MS is back on before it turns into the hub. With DL's, It's already turning before the last part of MS goes back on.

What happened to that float anyway? It wouldn't have gone to DLP.

 

[WDWBryan]

I wish WDW can get paint the night, but we can't have anything nice

 

[MagicHappens1971]

I have an interesting question...Was WDW MSEP's America unit smaller than DL's? In every old video I've seen, all of MS is back on before it turns into the hub. With DL's, It's already turning before the last part of MS goes back on.

What happened to that float anyway? It wouldn't have gone to DLP.

Probably in the parade graveyard with Spectro. Unless DL got rid of their America float when they shipped it to WDW and the one currently in use is the original

 

[rodserling27]

I have an interesting question...Was WDW MSEP's America unit smaller than DL's? In every old video I've seen, all of MS is back on before it turns into the hub. With DL's, It's already turning before the last part of MS goes back on.

What happened to that float anyway? It wouldn't have gone to DLP.

I don't think it's smaller, it should have been bigger like the rest of WDW's copy of the parade. I think what you're seeing (if I'm reading it correctly) is a result of the zones for the music queues being slightly different at MK vs DL. There are quite a few videos where the closing window/fanfare of lights comes before the To Honor America float has even passed through the zone completely, and I think it was triggered differently in the past. It's a little different now as that loop is 2:08 long, so it has a chance to go all the way through each zone. The old loop for THA was 1:04 (like most of the other loops). Make sense?

And who knows happened to WDW's original THA float - it definitely didn't go to Paris! Good question.