The World's Most Magical Celebration - Walt Disney World's 50th anniversary

[Disneyson]

Anyone want to guess what prompted them to add this a month shy of the 51st anniversary?

Doc, you mean to tell me those surveys had an effect and were self-aware of the expected responses, because they were likely made by a person in corporate who had to prove the disappointment with the 50th using hard data rather than common sense?

EDIT: …and that because of this slow moving behemoth of profit, value engineering, and trial by committee, the smallest update can take place a full year after it’s intended release date, causing the project to premiere “too little, too late”, arriving a little more than HALFWAY through the celebration when folks have already made up their minds about it?

 

[Casper Gutman]

That's the biggest issue with shows.. Unless its something over the top and people rave about it, it becomes something you're totally willing to miss on your visits.

Not necessarily. If a show contains an element of unpredictability and randomness it becomes very re-rideable. The improv at Universal's Makeup show and the changing cast of sometimes-misbehaving dogs at their animal show guarantees I watch both several times each trip. Nothing at Disney has this element of repeatability. The Adventurer's Club did, of course...

 

[UNCgolf]

Not necessarily. If a show contains an element of unpredictability and randomness it becomes very re-rideable. The improv at Universal's Makeup show and the changing cast of sometimes-misbehaving dogs at their animal show guarantees I watch both several times each trip. Nothing at Disney has this element of repeatability. The Adventurer's Club did, of course...

DHS used to have shows like this, at least to an extent. The ones that included random audience members.

Which I suppose is a draw in and of itself, because every time you go there's a chance you get picked to be involved.

 

[brb1006]

Doc, you mean to tell me those surveys had an effect and were self-aware of the expected responses, because they were likely made by a person in corporate who had to prove the disappointment with the 50th using hard data rather than common sense?

EDIT: …and that because of this slow moving behemoth of profit, value engineering, and trial by committee, the smallest update can take place a full year after it’s intended release date, causing the project to premiere “too little, too late”, arriving a little more than HALFWAY through the celebration when folks have already made up their minds about it?

It's about time they finally used audio of Roy's Dedication Speech, wish that was there from Day 1.

 

[MisterPenguin]

Anyone want to guess what prompted them to add this a month shy of the 51st anniversary?

To quell the rising drumbeat of "bring back HEA!"?

 

[LittleBuford]

I hope this quells some of the “But they’re out to remove Walt!” panic.

 

[UNCgolf]

I hope this quells some of the “But they’re out to remove Walt!” panic.

Obviously you didn't watch the video.

They put a huge red X over his face and the narration yells "MONSTER".

 

[HauntedPirate]

"Enchantment needs a bump in popularity and GSAT. What can we do?"

"Trot out the old dead guys."

 

[brb1006]

"Enchantment needs a bump in popularity and GSAT. What can we do?"

"Trot out the old dead guys."

And short melodies of existing attractions at WDW.

 

[James Alucobond]

"Enchantment needs a bump in popularity and GSAT. What can we do?"

"Trot out the old dead guys."

I mean, people begged them to trot them out. I get being annoyed when they invoke the memory of the Disneys inappropriately or being baffled that they totally biffed it on this element of the show initially, but there’s nothing wrong with the end result. Quite lovely, actually.

 

[Jrb1979]

While it's a nice touch to the show it still doesn't fix everything that's wrong with the 50th. Not enough celebrating the history of the parks. It's been mostly about the merch that can be sold.

 

[Disone]

In format, Disney Enchantment now strongly parallels Disneyland Forever. Both shows feature an introduction that ties into the beginnings of the theme park they celebrate. And then a clip show that is book ended by a Disney character. In Forever's case it's Peter's Pan. And Enchantments case it's Mickey Mouse. In both cases it works well.

This is the show they should have debuted with. Doing so in my opinion would have resulted in a debate as to which of the two shows was better. Happily Ever After or Disney Enchantment. In my opinion that is still HEA, but at least DE is competitive and not something immediately panned as inferior to its predecessor.

I am glad Magic Kingdom finally got a 50th anniversary show worthy of its 50th anniversary.

I remain disappointed that it took this long to get there.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

While it's a nice touch to the show it still doesn't fix everything that's wrong with the 50th. Not enough celebrating the history of the parks. It's been mostly about the merch that can be sold.

…that’s over, Jim

 

[MisterPenguin]

By adding the Walt Disney prologue to DE, Disney has created something that in nighttime genre, can be best described as at the center of a three way venn diagram between levitating bedroom balladry, unkempt psychadelic grunge, and uptempo pop-rock, although perhaps more instrumental to its musics success than the production is the lyrics and themes. The soundtrack sings with honesty, specificity, and humor, conveying the abstract pangs of angst and heartbreak as a vivid image of the rebellion and sadness of youth.

 

[UNCgolf]

In format, Disney Enchantment now strongly parallels Disneyland Forever. Both shows feature an introduction that ties into the beginnings of the theme park they celebrate. And then a clip show that is book ended by a Disney character. In Forever's case it's Peter's Pan. And Enchantments case it's Mickey Mouse. In both cases it works well.

This is the show they should have debuted with. Doing so in my opinion would have resulted in a debate as to which of the two shows was better. Happily Ever After or Disney Enchantment. In my opinion that is still HEA, but at least DE is competitive and not something immediately panned as inferior to its predecessor.

I am glad Magic Kingdom finally got a 50th anniversary show worthy of its 50th anniversary.

I remain disappointed that it took this long to get there.

I doubt it -- while the new intro is nice and should have been there from the start, it doesn't solve any of the outstanding issues with the rest of the show.

 

[gerarar]

I doubt it -- while the new intro is nice and should have been there from the start, it doesn't solve any of the outstanding issues with the rest of the show.

They kinda did solve one of the many issues in the rest of the show. They fixed the narration at the very end by replacing Bassett with Mickey. It was very hard to hear the line due to being drowned out by the music and tone.

 

[Disone]

By adding the Walt Disney prologue to DE, Disney has created something that in nighttime genre, can be best described as at the center of a three way venn diagram between levitating bedroom balladry, unkempt psychadelic grunge, and uptempo pop-rock, although perhaps more instrumental to its musics success than the production is the lyrics and themes. The soundtrack sings with honesty, specificity, and humor, conveying the abstract pangs of angst and heartbreak as a vivid image of the rebellion and sadness of youth.

Thar be lot of long words there sir, we naught but humble posters

 

[Figments Friend]

Wow...
They add Walt n' Roy NOW.....?

Where was this on October 1st 2021?

WTFluff....



-

 

[Disneyson]

Do we think that the reason they’re really sticking to Enchantment staying around forever is because…

A. The show is genuinely cheaper to run each night

B. They want something to announce at D23 that can go after a lukewarm Target-style announcement and guarantees folks go crazy

C. There’s a weird power play/optics game that implies that if HEA is announced to come back, the 50th’s only real unique entertainment offering is revealed to be a dud and people postpone their vacations for six more months

D. Something else?

(Hot takes ignoring whatever your actual opinion of the show is and more-so channeling the loud fan community dissatisfaction)

 

[drizgirl]

Do we think that the reason they’re really sticking to Enchantment staying around forever is because…

A. The show is genuinely cheaper to run each night

B. They want something to announce at D23 that can go after a lukewarm Target-style announcement and guarantees folks go crazy

C. There’s a weird power play/optics game that implies that if HEA is announced to come back, the 50th’s only real unique entertainment offering is revealed to be a dud and people postpone their vacations for six more months

D. Something else?

(Hot takes ignoring whatever your actual opinion of the show is and more-so channeling the loud fan community dissatisfaction)

I’m genuinely curious what people think on this as well.