According to this week's Mouse Tales article, "All Ears: Rumblings and rumors overheard at Disneyland..."

10. The new Dapper Dans don't fit in…

…on turn-of-the-century Main Street quite as well as their predecessors, since the performers now wear hidden microphones to pipe their voices through park loudspeakers. Their performances are a lot more attention-getting now. But, as one critic noted, "When they are riding the horse-drawn trolley and singing, it is much too loud. It does not sound natural, as everyone down Main Street can hear them. The quaintness of just hearing them naturally is gone."

The Dapper Dans have worn microphones for as long as I can remember. I'm right now looking at a photo of the old Dans from last December, and there are clearly mics on each one of them, and I could easily tell where the speaker was. It was concealed, but still visible (and audible). That's why you only ever saw them standing in a couple of locations on Main Street--because that's where the speakers were.

By contrast, when I saw the new Dans last week, they were standing on the corner ouside Carefree Corner (having just gotten off the tandem bicycle), where there are no speakers around, and I didn't see any mics. I'll have to go back and check my video footage, but I'm pretty certain. I can't say they never use mics, but they do project their voices well, so maybe that's why there's confusion. It was nice to hear them singing "naturally," compared to the old Dans, and I find it hard to believe that it was being pumped all over Main Street.

I have to say, while I miss the old Dans, the new ones are quite talented. Very green, but talented and funny. I'm no expert, but I don't see much change in the show, except that they're new and not as chummy with their audience. They even sang some of the same songs and played the Deagan chimes.

So how is it that they don't fit in, aside from the fact that they're different performers and folks don't want to give them a chance? They're young compared to the old group, but so are the Dapper Dans you see in the old Disney TV shows, so I'd argue that they fit in better.

i really have no idea how it used to be, but a couple of times when i was there a couple of weeks ago, i noticed depending on where they were physically located, surrounding speakers would broadcast them. if they were in the front of the town square area for example, you would hear them playing over the speakers at the train station. it is unnatural in the sense that the speakers are very directional and may not be projecting from the same location or in the same direction as the performers are. so sometimes when it kicks on, you have to wonder where it's coming from.

even my vip tour guide seemed taken aback by it.

I am holding my breath, waiting to see what the new ones are like. I really want them to be good, as I love my Dans.

I think what gets to me is that I started recognizing the old Dans, and got to talk to a few of them a few times, so I felt like I "knew" them. And, as I said in one other thread, one of them stood and talked to my mom, a music teacher, for quite awhile about the Deagan Organ Chimes, how they worked (she ate it up!) and they always held a special place in my heart for taking time with her.

I just didn't want to lose the ones I was so familiar with. I loved them, and really saw no reason to change them.

i really have no idea how it used to be, but a couple of times when i was there a couple of weeks ago, i noticed depending on where they were physically located, surrounding speakers would broadcast them. if they were in the front of the town square area for example, you would hear them playing over the speakers at the train station. it is unnatural in the sense that the speakers are very directional and may not be projecting from the same location or in the same direction as the performers are. so sometimes when it kicks on, you have to wonder where it's coming from.

even my vip tour guide seemed taken aback by it.

Strange, I caught two shows and didn't notice it. Maybe if I'd been standing some distance away it would have been more obvious, but right up close it was fine and seemed quite natural. I really didn't want to like these guys, but honestly they're not bad and I really enjoyed them.

VIP tour??? I'm jealous! I almost did that when I was there recently. Did you get to ride on the Lilly Belle?

I did. The VIP tour was well worth it (for much more than just the Lilly Belle, but that was certainly one positive aspect). I'd definitely recommend doing it if you can spare the time. We only visited two attractions (and that was because she was able to slip me right in, mostly by luck, partially because she wore plaid), but that was my decision. The rest of the time we just walked around the park with her pointing out various things and offering information. The only downside was there's no Club 33 lobby access, that's restricted to WIWF tours.

*IF* I remember correctly, the old Dapper Dans had both "mic'd" and "unmic'd" sets. The set that was in front of the Emporium facade was mic'd, the ones on the other side of the street and in the stores were not. Even when they were mic'd, it was broadcast on a directional speaker located in the building facade, and the range was pretty much limited to the immediate audience area.

The new Dans have multiple mic'd sets, and those sets are broadcast using the entire set of Main Street speakers. It's extremely disconcerting to walk up Main Street and hear the Dans, but be unable to see them. They do one entire set while riding the Horse-Drawn Trolley up and down the street, which means you can be standing in front of the train station and hear them, despite the fact they are in front of the Castle. Personally, I don't like it. The Dans should be atmosphere talent, not area music. If they wanted that, they could have replaced the Main Street music loop with the old Dans' CD.

AVP

It's extremely disconcerting to walk up Main Street and hear the Dans, but be unable to see them. They do one entire set while riding the Horse-Drawn Trolley up and down the street, which means you can be standing in front of the train station and hear them, despite the fact they are in front of the Castle. Personally, I don't like it. The Dans should be atmosphere talent, not area music. If they wanted that, they could have replaced the Main Street music loop with the old Dans' CD.

Sounds like all I need to do is hack the frequency and then do my stellar rendition of "Like A Virgin"....and that'll put an end to the problem, real quick.

;)

Sounds like all I need to do is hack the frequency and then do my stellar rendition of "Like A Virgin"....and that'll put an end to the problem, real quick.

;)

I think "I Will Survive" would be a better choice...

So I made a point of watching the Dans today, and it seems that they have a variety of microphone configurations, depending on where they are doing their set. The set on the Trolley may be the only broadcast set (where you can here them from more than one zone of speakers), but most of the other sets are mic'd on the nearest zone of speakers.

I will probably lose my credentials as a True Disney Fan(tm) , but I personally enjoy watching these Dans quite a bit. Maybe it's just that their act is "fresh," but I think their interaction with the crowd is friendlier and more spontaneous, and they feel like a natural part of Main Street instead of a set piece.

AVP

I like these guys too. I really loved the old set, but these new guys are fun. I hopped on the trolley and to my surprise the Dans rode along singing (I hadn't seen that before it happened to me). I loved it! Quite the disney experience. It was really one of my highlights of all time disney. The other thing is that one (I didn't catch his name) was very interactive with my group. I asked him to take a picture, and he did so very well, running to the other side of the trolley to get the castle in the background, which I didn't ask for. Very personable and likeable, I think.

We were sitting in Town Square yesterday when we heard the Dans on the microphone. It actually made an acapella-sensitive friend jump when she heard it. We had to look around for a while to see where they were. They were just coming on onstage from the entrance/exit by the Mad Hatter and making their way to in front of the Emporium by the fire station. It was a little weird to hear them but not really be able to figure out where they were.