Welcome to Summer Failtastic!
Above: Entry sign failAll of the pictures in today's DisneyFAIL were taken at the Disneyland Resort on June 12, the official guest premiere of Summer Nightastic!, and they all fail because they promote the dragon, which only draws attention to the fact that the dragon was absent that night, sitting broken in pieces in an understage pit doing nothing except failing, and failing hard.
(Sidenote: whisperings that the new crocodile is broken are, as Disney would say, "patently false.")
Fantasmic's now-infamous dragonfail has gathered more news attention; one is a story found on page 3 of the June 12th issue of the LA Times newspaper. If you can't be bothered to read the whole article, I'll quote the highlights:
When the creative forces at Disney dreamed up a new and improved version of Fantasmic -- a light, water and pyrotechnics spectacle billed as the surefire hit of the summer at the Anaheim theme park -- this probably is not what they had in mind:
A broken-down dragon.
Alas, Maleficent -- an automated, fire-breathing dragon from "Sleeping Beauty" that was to be the star of the summer-long show -- will instead be a no-show when the revamped version of Fantasmic is unveiled tonight.
[...]
Disney isn't saying exactly what happened to Maleficent, other than it is mechanical in nature. But it confirmed that the 40-foot-tall, 10,000-pound mechanical dragon -- so massive it had to be helicoptered onto the stage -- won't be joining the show until later in the summer.
[...]
It's a predicament for image-conscious Disney, which had peppered television and the Internet with ads featuring the red-eyed dragon shooting flames onto an artificial river.
Below: Park map fail
A predicament for Disney, to be sure. I discussed how Disney reacted to the failing dragon in yesterday's post. But what about the impact on park guests? Did they notice? Were they disappointed?You bet they did, and you bet they were.
Don't believe me? A simple Twitter search for the word "fantasmic" a few hours after the 9pm and 10:30pm showings provides some insight:
@bibiluu I went to see the brand new opening of the fantasmic show. I was disappointed that the new dragon was not there
@roizebasallo I just went to DLand alone to see the opening night of Fantasmic and the damn Dragon was broken! Grrr....
@zypher8677 Just finished the re-opening night of Fantasmic! And boy was it god awful, too many people showed up only to be disappointed with no dragon.
@Cristina1017 back from a fun day at Disneyland. Saw the new Fantasmic and it's not the same without the dragon. Get on it guys....
Don't worry Cristina, they'll get on it, as soon as the finger-pointing and name-calling over whose fault it was ceases and someone finds a workable solution to fix the problem.
Incredibly, the dragon was not the only glaring no-show on the evening of the Summer Nightastic! kickoff. After all the fanfare Disney made about Dumbo taking flight for the first time in a fireworks show, the puppet pachyderm failed to make his grand appearance in the "Magical" show.
@rebecca_kate No Dumbo OR Fantasmic dragon. Summer Nightastic? Summer LAMEtastic, Disney. Work that into your marketing.
Over at California Adventure, Disney's Electrical Parade was scheduled to step off at 8:45pm but was delayed for 15 minutes due to "unforeseen circumstances." By the time the floats made it to Sunshine Plaza - where the crowds for the parade were largest - pyro from Magical was already going off in the distance.
@steveberg So no dumbo in Magical. Extremely full crowds at Fantasmic. And a delayed Electrical Parade. It's a triple fail by Disneyland tonight.
As a word of warning for future Nightastic'ers: it is almost impossible to see Disney's Electrical Parade, Magical fireworks, and Fantasmic! on the same night. Last year it was reasonably possible, if you hustled a little, to see the 8:45pm Disney's Electrical Parade from Paradise Pier (where it begins), have 15-18 minutes to dash over to Disneyland for the 9:25pm fireworks, and then make your way to the Rivers of America for the 10:30pm Fantasmic. This year, the Golden Dreams/World of Color ampitheater walls make it difficult for park guests on that end of the park to make a swift exit out of DCA with the parade going on. I ended up being forced to view the "Magical" fireworks from behind the Golden Gate Bridge at Sunshine Plaza because I, along with hundreds of other impatient exit-seeking guests, was dead-ended by Electrical Parade floats.
Above + inset: Live radio station failSpeaking from firsthand experience, on the night of June 12 it was a miracle if you got to see two of the three shows. The crowds on Main Street and Frontierland were epic, on par with what I've seen on New Years Eve and the fourth of July. At times it was pure gridlock, leaving no one with space to move.
That so many guests were there that night is not a fail - a WIN for Disney of course - but the extreme crowding was very uncomfortable and claustrophobic for most every guest who was just vying for a chance to see the new tricks Disney had up its sleeve.
Twenty-five minutes before the 10:30 showing of Fantasmic! it was announced that due to overwhelming response all guest viewing areas were full. I was hoping that Disney might decide to include an additional third Fantasmic! performance, as this has been done before, but that never happened, which is a mini-fail in and of itself. Shouldn't they have expected "overwhelming response" in the first place? Had there been a third 11:30pm showing, more guests would have been able to have a chance at seeing the show. The park stayed open until midnight; what was their excuse?
Below: Parking structure billboard fail
What a Nightastic mess! Not only was the Dragon down, but Dumbo failed to fly and crowd control for Fantasmic was a disaster last night. I suggest holding off on a visit until Disneyland gets its act together. - Al Lutz
My sis and I went to see the Electrical parade last night. Aside from the delay (scary for a minute after waiting an hour, but turned out fine) and the permanent absence of the Blue Fairy float, I was very pleased! The Tink float looked lovely, the performers were all highly energetic. The changes regarding the "pixie dust" swirls and the remixed music imported from Tokyo were subtle enough not to be obnoxious to purists and added more depth to an already elaborate parade, integrating near seamlessly IMO.
ReplyDeleteWe did not expect to view the fireworks or Fantasmic! Anyone would be crazy to attempt this, especially on the first night. The fact that Magical was going as we made our exit only served to slow down the crowd as they tried to videotape it or gaped upwards, not watching where they were going. I expect that on a less crowded night this summer, with the Parade running on time, it would be possible to view the EP, and then rush to Rivers of America to bumrush a good spot just as the first Fantasmic! show ended, and then have a decent view of Magical (No Dumbo visible though) and a prime view for the 10:30 F! show. To go from F! to a Main Street view of the fireworks, from the fireworks to F!, or from the DEP to the fireworks would be quite difficult, and I don't even attempt it in the "off" season.
Hahaha, best Disney blog ever.
ReplyDelete"what was their excuse?"
ReplyDeleteThe entire Nightastic package of re-packaged entertainment with minor enhancements was a plan to combat a severe recession right from the start. Don't expect extra shows in this environment.
It seems that guests were able to get to the park in droves despite the recession. It would have made sense to reward these fans with a third show so everybody could (comfortably) see the show, despite the dragon's no-show.
A disney blog about nothing but merciless nitpicking? Seriously?
ReplyDeleteI bet the jerks at Micechat will probably eat this up.. Merciless nitpicking is their job.
Haha shut up. The blog is funny.
ReplyDeleteYeah, complaining about the absence of one of the centerpieces of the "new" summer entertainment, a centerpiece that is plastered all over Southern California billboards. Sorry that your average guest didn't get the memo that the dragon was broken for some unknown reason. Disney didn't exactly put THAT on a billboard.