Hey everyone, it's finally here! Oh wait, never mind, it's not.
Just as all the "Summer Nightastic" crowds returned home and all the freeway billboards, banners and park maps featuring the dragon were removed, Disneyland scheduled a special press event for 4:30 am this morning to announce the woefully late arrival of Murphy, the Fantasmic! dragon.
One problem: Murphy never showed up. In fact, the press event was canceled altogether.
OC Register was among the invited guests:
No dragon for you!
Oh, what a tease. Photos and video of the dragon are nice, but it's a bit like giving a starving dog a rubber bone.
With no dragon in sight, that left the invited press guests with nothing to talk about except how hard the dragon continues to fail:
Let's state the obvious. It is very, very bad PR to schedule a special event for the press (at a dismally early hour in the morning, no less) and then call it off. It's bad enough that the dragon missed its cue for the entire duration of the summer campaign to which it was meant to be the highlight; this non-event only made matters worse. They are running the risk of losing their captive audience. Press and park guests will eventually stop caring and ignore the Disney who cried dragon.
So the same question remains: When will Murphy debut? Who knows, and who cares.
DisneyFAIL.
One problem: Murphy never showed up. In fact, the press event was canceled altogether.
OC Register was among the invited guests:
Disney dragon debut canceled, but photos and video released
Disneyland canceled the scheduled debut tonight of the massive dragon that was supposed to be the centerpiece of the revamped water-and-light show.
The dragon has been broken all summer, but it was supposed to be ready for tonight’s performance. However, Disney officials are continuing to fine-tune the dragon.
A preview for a select group of media members was canceled this morning. A sneak peek was scheduled for 4:30 a.m., but Disneyland officials called it off just about an hour earlier.
Instead, they sent us a video of the dragon during one of its rehearsals.
No dragon for you!With no dragon in sight, that left the invited press guests with nothing to talk about except how hard the dragon continues to fail:
Disneyland unveiled official photos and video of the new Fantasmic dragon but still has yet to set a date for the 40-foot-tall animatronic’s much-anticipated debut.
[...]
Despite top billing, the oft-delayed dragon failed to appear during the Disneyland’s Summer Nightastic promotion — a big black eye for the Anaheim theme park.
So the same question remains: When will Murphy debut? Who knows, and who cares.
DisneyFAIL.
