News Wishes to be replaced with new 'Happily Ever After' nighttime spectacular

[dmatt87]

Very happy to see a new show, and can't wait to see it when we go later this year.

Now if they could only bring back the nighttime parade!!!

 

[brb1006]

My main concern for this show is the mention of "contemporary versions of Popular Disney songs". That is exactly what I meant when I said that Iger era scores do not in any way compare to Eisner era scores. With several exceptions, the majority Iger era shows have had choppy scene transitions and are filled with pop remakes of Disney songs. For the most part, these shows don't have much of a soul and come off as corporate trailers for whatever product they're trying to push at the time. Meanwhile, the majority of Eisner era shows weren't trying to be "contemporary", they were just trying to be authentically Disney. But alas, I remain optimistic. This show is going to have brand new animations created just for it and all of the movies chosen to be featured are good and natural picks. However, the Frozen section needs to be something OTHER than a full length performance of Let it Go. If they pull that footage out again for the trillionth time, I think I'm going to lose my $#*+.

I remember how relieved when I first saw the new World Of Color Christmas Show on Youtube last year that featured characters from Frozen and was surprised that they actually didn't use Let It Go.

 

[marni1971]

Ten years ago. I keep hearing about all this terrible stuff Disney has done in the last 10 years. Please enlighten me.

The last ten years has been more about cost cutting and price inflating than anything new that's worse than what it replaced.

 

[Raineman]

I completely understand that I'm in a very tiny minority here, but I'm so glad to see Wishes go. That syrupy-sweet narration by the kid... ugh. Looks like my own "wish" is finally coming true.

If you don't like "syrupy-sweet", then, I have to ask, what enjoyment do you get out of a trip to MK? I'm not saying everything at MK is cheesy or corny, or has to be, but a theme park that is built primarily around fairy tales and fantasy is going to have a certain element of that-especially one called Magic Kingdom. Given the level of cynicism and doom and gloom that seem to pervade every aspect of our lives in 2017, a bit of syrupy sweetness is just fine by me.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

The last ten years has been more about cost cutting and price inflating than anything new that's worse than what it replaced.

That's fine, but you're talking about operations, not strategy. From a major initiative / capital outlay perspective, I think this regime is on the right track. Between Fantasyland, Avatar, Star Wars, etc., they're going the right direction albeit not as quickly as many would like to see. I'm encouraged by the reports that the DCA rebuild will be a template for the Future World fix.

 

[wdwmagic]

Holiday Wishes and HalloWishes are set to continue unless plans change.

 

[marni1971]

I'm encouraged by the reports that the DCA rebuild will be a template for the Future World fix.

Wait and see. Aesthetically it could be a vast improvement. Content wise it's undecided.

 

[jakeman]

So...um...if one were going to just kind of wait a see for themselves...

They should just probably stay out of the thread right? Because it kind of seems like you've got to decide RIGHT NOW if you like this or not...

 

[CJR]

New Fantasyland is a tremendous upgrade over Toon Town.

Toontown Fair is pretty much still there, just with a different theme and no Mickey house. The biggest change that area got was Dumbo. An upgrade, IMO, but not quite the same as the old subs plot. I'm still hopeful something bigger will eventually go there (the circus area).

 

[CaptainAmerica]

Wait and see. Aesthetically it could be a vast improvement. Content wise it's undecided.

By "content-wise" do you mean rides and attractions that aren't high quality? Or high quality rides and attractions that don't fit in Future World?

 

[hpyhnt 1000]

Holiday Wishes and HalloWishes are set to continue unless plans change.

Could we see "refreshes" perhaps, with projections used to supplement the existing pyro? It'd be surprising for them to install the new lighting/hardware for HEA and then not use any of it for the last third of the year...

For the record, cautiously optimistic for this new show. Heaven knows Wishes was getting long in the tooth, and with the loss of any kind of nighttime parade, MK desperately needed something new for the evenings.

 

[FigmentJedi]

If you don't like "syrupy-sweet", then, I have to ask, what enjoyment do you get out of a trip to MK? I'm not saying everything at MK is cheesy or corny, or has to be, but a theme park that is built primarily around fairy tales and fantasy is going to have a certain element of that-especially one called Magic Kingdom. Given the level of cynicism and doom and gloom that seem to pervade every aspect of our lives in 2017, a bit of syrupy sweetness is just fine by me.

There's a difference between Disney movie sweetness and the Barney-level glurge that some of the Magic Kingdom's show original music sinks into.

 

[HMF]

Wait and see. Aesthetically it could be a vast improvement. Content wise it's undecided.

I would rather have something overflowing with quality content that was housed in the ugliest-looking building ever over a well-designed building with nothing in it.

 

[ToTBellHop]

So...um...if one were going to just kind of wait a see for themselves...

They should just probably stay out of the thread right? Because it kind of seems like you've got to decide RIGHT NOW if you like this or not...

Can't one make some decisions based upon an announcement and then more once something goes live? I call it the "DeVos Treatment."

 

[marni1971]

By "content-wise" do you mean rides and attractions that aren't high quality? Or high quality rides and attractions that don't fit in Future World?

I'd have to say a mix of both. Imho.

But we digress.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

There's a difference between Disney movie sweetness and the Barney-level glurge that some of the Magic Kingdom's show original music sinks into.

Like almost all of the old Future World songs that people still worship as the best music since The Beatles? Horizons is the worst of the bunch.

I'd have to say a mix of both.

Dang. The budget number I'm hearing is a big nut for the attractions not to be up to par. But I'm not an Epcot purist so the "fit" doesn't bother me as much.

 

[Donaldfan1934]

I remember how relieved when I first saw the new World Of Color Christmas Show on Youtube last year that featured characters from Frozen and was surprised that they actually didn't use Let It Go.

Like I said, there are several examples of good taste in the Iger era. Let it Go being removed from the Christmas Show can only be a good sign for Happily Ever After. I truly hope this is an step in the right direction overall, but I feel that almost every change Disney makes nowadays has a high risk of disappointing hard core fans. It's the reason why I suggested just updating Wishes with projections and other tech. That way, the fireworks could've been state of the art while keeping its authentic Disney soul.

 

[ToTBellHop]

Could we see "refreshes" perhaps, with projections used to supplement the existing pyro? It'd be surprising for them to install the new lighting/hardware for HEA and then not use any of it for the last third of the year...

For the record, cautiously optimistic for this new show. Heaven knows Wishes was getting long in the tooth, and with the loss of any kind of nighttime parade, MK desperately needed something new for the evenings.

We will only see Halloween Ever After and Christmas Ever After once they can get in and program new shows. Personally, I see them waiting for the 50th show to do that, as considerably more planning will go into that. This show came from, "how can we use largely existing infrastructure to give guests a new nighttime show quickly?" At least they feel we deserve something new.

 

[Raineman]

There's a difference between Disney movie sweetness and the Barney-level glurge that some of the Magic Kingdom's show original music sinks into.

If I'm at home, after a long day's work, I can't stand hearing that kind of thing. If I'm on vacation, at MK, not only am I expecting to hear and see that kind of thing, I kind of like it. There are obviously some people who don't like it, but I'm sure the majority of park visitors want to escape from the crap they have to deal with in their lives, and letting go a bit and enjoying the moment helps them to do that. My DW and DD will tell you that when I am home, I can be grump a good deal of the time, but when I am at WDW, it is hard to wipe the smile off my face.

 

[RSoxNo1]

Could always use an inflatable ball from TDS...

I think those should be used in Illuminations and combined with a larger earth globe.