Andrew looks back ten years at one of Disneyland's most infamous shows.

More... (http://www.mouseplanet.com/articles.php?art=mm070511ar)

First, I would like to thank Rich on his interesting article taking us down memory lane. It led me to a question...

What happened to all of the fiber optics that were embedded into the Main Street buildings? Is it still there? Does it still work?

What happened to all of the fiber optics that were embedded into the Main Street buildings? Is it still there? Does it still work?
The fiber in the window awnings is gone. I couldn't see evidence of fiber in the windowframes, but they're pretty high up to see from the street. I believe all of the Main Street buildings have been refaced since then, so I suspect the fiber was removed.

That article brings back all kinds of memories. Not all of them are even bad. :)

As big a disaster as the Light Magic AP party was for Disney overall, I have to admit that I still look back on it rather fondly. That party was also my first time meeting up with the people from alt.disney.disneyland, which eventually led to many of the most important friendships in my life.

In some ways, it is hard to believe that a full decade has passed since then, but in other ways it feels like a lifetime ago...

-Jeff

I remember being at the premiere/rehearsal and being utterly stunned at what was being shown. "Oooo, wow, look at the pretty float. ... Oh, another float - oh, it's the same one. ... And another one. ... Why are all the floats exactly the same?"

And this was pre-a.d.d. for me, so I was never "tainted" by any prior discussion. I loved the original artwork and was really looking forward to seeing it - and I don't remember any of the rest of the night because as I wandered around the park for the rest of the night with my companions, I spent all of it trying to figure out how to fix the show - and I could not.

I saw the show a few more times just for the heck of it, but usually, if we were in the area when the show would start, and we'd hear the first strains of music, we'd run in the opposite direction.

I do have the last performance, at Small World Mall, on tape thanks to a friend. I've watched it on occasion. It's more funny now than anything else.

I'm fairly certain I still have some of the confetti. I KNOW I still have that Dust Buster.

We didn't throw it ALL back...

AVP

Unfortunately, there's more info about why Light Magic was bad in the few posts here than in Andrew's article. I was very disappointed how Andrew put out a few interesting background facts and never really followed-up. I emailed him and (politely) expressed my disappointment.

Based on his posts, I know Andrew is a very sharp guy with a lot to offer. I'm hoping he will demonstrate his skills and knowledge in future articles. I'm also hoping he'll write a follow-up article detailing what was so bad about Light Magic.

(FYI, I don't send only bad feedback. In fact, this is the first time I've submitted negative feedback about a Mouseplanet article. On multiple occasions, I've send feedback about how great Mouseplanet articles are.)

(FYI, I don't send only bad feedback. In fact, this is the first time I've submitted negative feedback about a Mouseplanet article.
I'm honored, I suppose.

I'm honored, I suppose.

Sorry, Andrew. I don't mean to slam you or your article. I'm an amateur writer myself and it frustrates me when people beg to read my stories and refuse to give me any constructive feedback whatsoever. If there's something obviously wrong with what I write, I need to know about it because an editor and other readers will likely see the same problem. Obviously, if there's something particularly special or clever, I like to know that as well.

Your Light Magic article was well-written. I just thought it was lacking in follow-up and I thought you should know about it.

Your Light Magic article was well-written. I just thought it was lacking in follow-up and I thought you should know about it.

I think you're criticizing the intent of the story rather than the content. The article pretty much does what Andrew said it was going to do - show the "then" and "now" versions. It never said it was going to go into the "what was wrong with this show" details, and frankly, I'm not sure such an article would really be that interesting now. All of that was discussed ad nauseum. For anyone who was around for it at the time, I don't know that they'd want to rehash everything. For anyone who wasn't around, I'm not sure reading what someone had to say about something they've never seen would really help them. (I do find it amusing to hear people talk about how awful the show was, come to find out they're only regurgitating what they've read since they never actually saw the show itself, or even a video of it.) While there are some common points, the things that people disliked differed from person to person. Heck, I knew some people who really liked the show.

I thought the article itself was fine. It might just not have been the angle or focus that you were wanting.

I agree it wasn't Andrew's intent to detail the failings of Light Magic, but I still think it raised issues without resolving them. Just my take.

I do think it would be interesting to read details about what worked and what didn't work about the show. Yes, there have been many discussions about the show with lots of people weighing in. Wrapping some of that up with the perspective of a good writer would make a great article.

I guess it would be similar to movie reviews. Some people like them and many people hate them. Interestingly, many people hate movie reviews because they often disagree with the opinions of the reviewers. I think such an attitude misses the overall point of a review. Even if readers disagree with a reviewers opinion, they can still get a lot out of a well-written review.

I think many people would have enjoyed reading a detailed perspective about Light Magic written by Andrew or any other writer with a good Disney background.

I guess it would be similar to movie reviews. Some people like them and many people hate them. Interestingly, many people hate movie reviews because they often disagree with the opinions of the reviewers. I think such an attitude misses the overall point of a review. Even if readers disagree with a reviewers opinion, they can still get a lot out of a well-written review.

The difference I see is that while an article about a movie can talk about how it's perceived by various people, and how perceptions might have changed over time, and that all can be interesting, the reader can still then watch the movie and make up his/her own mind. In the case of Light Magic, no matter how much someone reads about it, there's no way for them to experience it for themselves to see which opinions they might agree or disagree with. Even if they were to watch a video of the show, that doesn't really give you the entire feel of the show, just as watching a video of Fantasmic doesn't do justice to how amazing that show is.

And why would you want to torture Andrew by making him actually re-live Light Magic? :)

And why would you want to torture Andrew by making him actually re-live Light Magic? :)

Very good point. I wouldn't wish such torture on poor Andrew.

For anyone who didn't get to see Light Magic, or who wants to see it again one more time, I found a clip of the finale on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OvvLZl5RY98

From what I can tell, not very many people liked the show (understatement, I know). I can agree that it wasn't even close to the Electrical Parade, but fans have a bad habit of not wanting change in the Parks. Walt said that the Park would be ever changing.

I believe the show died more from a lack to accept change than because of the show itself. No it wasn't the best show ever created, but it did have a creative and technological (for the time) twist. In comparison, the fiber optics were much more stricking and beautiful than the MSEP with it's strings of christmas lights.

Fans want change, but when they get it, they refuse it. That's just my take on things.

I believe the show died more from a lack to accept change than because of the show itself.

I think it's a complete misrepresentation to say that the show failed more because of the fans than because of the show itself. I was there the night of the "premiere/dress rehearsal". Everyone was so excited - you could hear and feel it in the air. It was deflated some when it became a dress rehearsal, not the premiere we'd been promised. And as each successive identical float rolled out, a little more air was let out until by the end of the "rehearsal", people were wondering what in the heck happened.

What surprised me the most was that it took seeing the show live for someone to figure out that it wouldn't work. On paper, it was pretty obvious. Yes, the fiber optics were great, but they were only visible when it was really dark. But with it being that dark, you couldn't see the characters or pixies. The only way to see the characters and pixies was to have the lights on - which then washed out the nice fiber optics.

And someone didn't figure out beforehand that the pixie masks were going to literally frighten children? It took about halfway into the summer before they figured it out and removed them?

And people waited a long time to see the show on Main Street and Small World. But for your wait time, you could end up sitting in between two floats, with really nothing to see than a scary pixie. That's what happened to me when I waited about two hours on the official public debut of the show. When it's not a rolling parade, it does matter where you sit. At least with the current Block Party Bash, the various floats are closer together and there's so much action going on everywhere that it doesn't matter where you sit. With Light Magic, the floats were so far apart, and especially with the projected movie, that if you weren't sitting in front of one of the floats, you really couldn't see anything. Random, anonymous pixie wasn't going to cut it.

I was there that summer, not the premiere/rehearsal day, and I didn't have a problem with the show. Yes, absolutely, it was not MSEP, and I missed that terribly, but I didn't think it was horrible.

I did think the Riverdance homage was unfortunate ... I didn't like it when it was hot and I don't like it now. It was bound to become dated. But that wasn't a major stumbling block.

My main problem was the film ... it felt more like a commercial than anything.

But I don't understand the characterization that the "Baroque Hoedown" clip in the show was mocking, as I believe it was called. When I saw the show, that part of the song sent waves of delight through the crowd.

Even now, I think the Light Magic theme is one of the best ORIGINAL songs I've heard Disney use for a parade. Too bad it was tied to a parade that some people were determined to destroy (Al Lutz, you know who you are!).

Even now, I think the Light Magic theme is one of the best ORIGINAL songs I've heard Disney use for a parade. Too bad it was tied to a parade that some people were determined to destroy (Al Lutz, you know who you are!).

There were a LOT of people who hated the parade, and quite a number of them/us were very vocal with our dislike. I think you attribute entirely too much power to someone by saying that one person who has no affiliation with Disney had the ability to bring down a parade. Disney did that all by themselves in the planning and development stage.

There were a LOT of people who hated the parade, and quite a number of them/us were very vocal with our dislike. I think you attribute entirely too much power to someone by saying that one person who has no affiliation with Disney had the ability to bring down a parade. Disney did that all by themselves in the planning and development stage.

I didn't say (or didn't mean to say) that Lutz did it all. But he built his reputation by torpedoing Light Magic. I'm sure lots of people hated it, but when I read then and now of the hundreds of APs storming City Hall for a refund, I rolled my eyes. It wasn't "Gimme a refund" bad. But the reporting of that incident greased the wheels for a lot of dislike.

Whatever. Disney learned a lesson, I suppose. But parades with stops still continue. They just got better at it.

I think you attribute entirely too much power to someone by saying that one person who has no affiliation with Disney had the ability to bring down a parade. Disney did that all by themselves in the planning and development stage.

I agree, cstephens. Al Lutz also started hating DCA the minute Disney shelved the WestCOT concept. It certainly wasn't Al who caused people to stay home in droves.

I'm sure lots of people hated it, but when I read then and now of the hundreds of APs storming City Hall for a refund, I rolled my eyes. It wasn't "Gimme a refund" bad. But the reporting of that incident greased the wheels for a lot of dislike.

So, did a significant number of people actually request a refund, or not? I'm sure there is at least a little hyperbole involved in the retellings (like AP holders wielding torches as they marched to City Hall). However, I was under the impression City Hall actually was overwhelmed with refund requests. Not so?

So, did a significant number of people actually request a refund, or not? I'm sure there is at least a little hyperbole involved in the retellings (like AP holders wielding torches as they marched to City Hall). However, I was under the impression City Hall actually was overwhelmed with refund requests. Not so?
As I recall, the refund line was pretty long. We (my wife and I) were not in it. We were disappointed by the show and by the switch from "grand premiere" to "first dress rehearsal", but the other special events that evening--Tomorrowland preview, menu tastings in New Orleans Square, some other stuff--plus the cameraderie of it being an AP-exclusive event, meant it was "worth it" to us.

So, did a significant number of people actually request a refund, or not? I'm sure there is at least a little hyperbole involved in the retellings (like AP holders wielding torches as they marched to City Hall). However, I was under the impression City Hall actually was overwhelmed with refund requests. Not so?

Not when I was there, but again, I wasn't there at the premiere. I just think it's crazy to rush en masse for refunds.

I think DCA did suffer from bad Internet publicity (not just Al, I'm sure). I know people who didn't go because they "heard" it was bad. But eventually, they went. And they liked it.

I'm sure lots of people hated it, but when I read then and now of the hundreds of APs storming City Hall for a refund, I rolled my eyes. It wasn't "Gimme a refund" bad. But the reporting of that incident greased the wheels for a lot of dislike.

I did ask for a refund but not that night. As I was on my way out, I noticed the fairly large line of people at City Hall, and I stopped outside just to listen to what various people were telling the CMs. A few days later, letters were sent out to everyone who was at the event, and refunds were offered then. At that point, I did send in my ticket, a VERY LONG letter, and a request for a refund. Dunno if they actually read the letter - they might just have tossed it. For me, I went because it was a premiere. I didn't really know about the other things that Andrew mentioned. If it had been billed as a dress rehearsal, I might have still gone, but the two are very different things.

Whatever. Disney learned a lesson, I suppose. But parades with stops still continue. They just got better at it.

Doing parades with stops wasn't a new thing. Lion King Celebration had show stops, and those were fabulous. And Light Magic was specifically billed as not being a parade - Streetacular. OK, make up a new dumb name for something you completely don't know how to do.

So, did a significant number of people actually request a refund, or not? I'm sure there is at least a little hyperbole involved in the retellings (like AP holders wielding torches as they marched to City Hall). However, I was under the impression City Hall actually was overwhelmed with refund requests. Not so?

No burning torches, and I never went inside City Hall, but yes, there was quite a long line going into City Hall. I could understand if they were overwhelmed because that line would have been long for a normal operational day. I suspect they wouldn't have expected that many people with that many complaints on an event night.