Was Happily Ever After to much for WDW?

[THEMEPARKPIONEER]

This new show seems to be a bit of a scale back compared to Happily Ever After. Not to mention the shows and music are just as any old Disney Kiosk but that's another matter. Also seems like a way to scale down Happily Ever after without many noticing like they did with Remeber Dreams Do Come True.

 

[JoeCamel]

This new show seems to be a bit of a scale back compared to Happily Ever After. Not to mention the shows and music are just as any old Disney Kiosk but that's another matter. Also seems like a way to scale down Happily Ever after without many noticing like they did with Remeber Dreams Do Come True.

Nope, it's just a mediocre show and they should be capable of producing HEA level shows at the most visited park in the world

 

[Moka]

They simply flopped.

 

[THEMEPARKPIONEER]

Nope, it's just a mediocre show and they should be capable of producing HEA level shows at the most visited park in the world

There at the point where there just better off revisiting old shows and bringing in nastalgia, I say that because anything new they bring in sucks. Seems like they were trying to put Happily ever after, Wishes and Fantasy into one show.

 

[wendysue]

I am glad that for our last trip to WDW we will only be going to the MK Christmas party and watching those fireworks. Going to take lots of pictures and video for the last time. Had a lot of great trips but moving on.

 

[KBLovedDisney]

OK....I am going to be THAT person. Sorry, but...

Here's to much!

 

[KBLovedDisney]

In all seriousness, I feel like Disney has been cutting corners lately on creativity.

 

[thomas998]

In all seriousness, I feel like Disney has been cutting corners lately on creativity.

They started doing the corner cutting about a decade ago. They seemed to be trying hard after the 2008 financial meltdown hurt attendance... but once they saw it was strong again they seemed to go back to grinch mode, although lately they seem to have shifted to hyper-grinch mode.

 

[mightynine]

My opinion is that Disney Enchantment was rushed to give something for the 50th to MK, along with removing overlap with Harmonious.

 

[KBLovedDisney]

The started doing the corner cutting about a decade ago. They seemed to be trying hard after the 2008 financial meltdown hurt attendance... but once they saw it was strong again they seemed to go back to grinch mode, although lately they seem to have shifted to hyper-grinch mode.

I quite almost feel like that is more of an insult to The Grinch because he didn't turn out THAT bad.

And...now I made myself sad.

 

[THEMEPARKPIONEER]

In all seriousness, I feel like Disney has been cutting corners lately on creativity.

It’s because there to dependent on technology, without it they were forced to get everything down to the music and every simple lighting effect just right to make a show, now they overuse imagery and have gotten lazy.

 

[LittleMerman]

I don't know what the issue was - if it's truly a lack of creativity or budget cuts because of Covid.

 

[Raineman]

I've seen HEA a few times, and the new show only once on YouTube, but, despite the flashiness of these shows with the castle projections, they, IMO, will never match the heart and the emotion of Wishes. Maybe it's because of the personal memories I have of watching it for the first time during my daughter's first day ever at WDW, and that I have been pining for it since it was replaced, but I don't think anything will top it, and the two newer shows have not even come close to it.

 

[mf1972]

we finally saw it last night & can only say it’s just ok. HEA was a better show creatively & visually, but celebrate the magic was better than both combined.

 

[Oddysey]

I remember when losing Lights of Winter at Epcot really bummed me out. Now I honestly can’t keep up with the losses and downgrades across the parks. It’s legitimately saddening.

 

[Giss Neric]

I think it's a mixture of the effects of the pandemic and the low-morale with Imagineering. That is if the issue about them wanting Chapek out is true.

They could have just made a 50th Tag after HEA and no one will complain. One thing that bugs me is the finale of Enchantment is clearly scaled back. You see so many of those tadpoles going up in the air expecting them to blow up the sky but in reality they are just a bunch of small shell fireworks.

 

[THEMEPARKPIONEER]

I've seen HEA a few times, and the new show only once on YouTube, but, despite the flashiness of these shows with the castle projections, they, IMO, will never match the heart and the emotion of Wishes. Maybe it's because of the personal memories I have of watching it for the first time during my daughter's first day ever at WDW, and that I have been pining for it since it was replaced, but I don't think anything will top it, and the two newer shows have not even come close to it.

Your into something, they didn’t have the tech and all they had to work with were Fireworks and Music, that’s what made it so good, now that there so dependent on these new toys they seem to almost have a creativity fatigue.

 

[Tom Morrow]

The new shows utilize less pyro and hope that you don't notice by making them more and more projection/screen focused. I believe Happily Ever After used less pyro than Wishes, and Enchantment is less than that. Harmonious is the same way. It's 20 minutes long but likely has less overall pyro than IllumiNations: Reflections of Earth which was 12 minutes with ~4 minutes of just the globe.

I've seen HEA a few times, and the new show only once on YouTube, but, despite the flashiness of these shows with the castle projections, they, IMO, will never match the heart and the emotion of Wishes. Maybe it's because of the personal memories I have of watching it for the first time during my daughter's first day ever at WDW, and that I have been pining for it since it was replaced, but I don't think anything will top it, and the two newer shows have not even come close to it.

Wishes had a memorable original song, proper pacing, and a consistent overall theme. These new shows are just "greatest hits" concerts with poor pacing and no flow, so they don't resonate as well.

 

[Vinnie Mac]

The new shows utilize less pyro and hope that you don't notice by making them more and more projection/screen focused. I believe Happily Ever After used less pyro than Wishes, and Enchantment is less than that. Harmonious is the same way. It's 20 minutes long but likely has less overall pyro than IllumiNations: Reflections of Earth

I always knew nostalgia was powerful but I didn't know it'd cause people to straight up lie. You are the only person I've ever seen say that HEA has less shells than Wishes. I'm impressed that you actually believe this lol.

And no ROE does not have more pyro than HarmonioUS. I'm thinking they have a relatively similar amount of pyro with HarmonioUS probably having a little bit more. ROE had a several minute napping section, HarmonioUS (to the disappointment of some)
doesn't. So HarmonioUS definitely competes with ROE in the pyro section, it perhaps even beats it.

 

[Tom Morrow]

I always knew nostalgia was powerful but I didn't know it'd cause people to straight up lie. You are the only person I've ever seen say that HEA has less shells than Wishes. I'm impressed that you actually believe this lol.

And no ROE does not have more pyro than HarmonioUS. I'm thinking they have a relatively similar amount of pyro with HarmonioUS probably having a little bit more. ROE had a several minute napping section, HarmonioUS (to the disappointment of some)
doesn't. So HarmonioUS definitely competes with ROE in the pyro section, it perhaps even beats it.

Show me the numbers, then. I remember this being a fairly big talking point when HEA debuted, and how the projection mapping was used in place of more pyro because it's way, way cheaper.

Even if our best estimate is that ROE and Harmonious have about the same amount of pyro, stretch that same amount over 20 minutes instead of 12 minutes with an included "napping section" and you end up with Harmonious feeling much more devoid of pyro than ROE.

Also lol at the irony of all the people who loathed the globe segment of ROE because "there's no pyro" lapping up Harmonious even though, when added up, Harmonious has you watching screens with no pyro for more of the show's runtime than the globe segment.