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Jon Vincible
05-05-2008, 12:19 AM
I was in the park this past weekend (May 3rd and 4th), and was fortunate enough to catch Fantasmic! with a few friends who had never seen it. I was curious if Fantasmic! has a "budget" version of the show they perform this time of year when the crowds aren't yet at their summer size. A few things about this performance caught my attention:

1. There was no Maleficent dragon. There was a bit of projected Maleficent footage I have never seen, and then the Maleficent performer merely wiggled and writhed when Mickey attacked her with his sword.
2. The Mark Twain part of the show seemed to be missing about half of the characters. If memory serves me right (which it may not), I thought both sides of the boat (both facing the shore and facing the island) were filled with characters. The characters would wiggle their ribbons and rotate around the boat. In the performance I saw, there were only enough characters to fill the side of the boat facing the shore.
3. The finale fireworks seemed less impressive. I can't recall the exact fireworks that were used the last time I saw the show, but I remember the last part of the finale had tons and tons of red fireworks shooting up behind Mickey. In the show I saw, five white fireworks would shoot from behind Mickey in a spread pattern every time the major note struck.

I haven't seen the show since 2006, so perhaps they've changed a few things since then. However, It seemed more likely to me that this was the "not-quite-summer-yet" version. Can anyone shed any light on this?

ChipmunkStar
05-05-2008, 04:39 AM
1. There was no Maleficent dragon. There was a bit of projected Maleficent footage I have never seen, and then the Maleficent performer merely wiggled and writhed when Mickey attacked her with his sword.
According to reports, there have been a few problems with the dragon this weekend. Hopefully it will be fixed and Bucky will continue his death screams once again soon.



2. The Mark Twain part of the show seemed to be missing about half of the characters. If memory serves me right (which it may not), I thought both sides of the boat (both facing the shore and facing the island) were filled with characters. The characters would wiggle their ribbons and rotate around the boat. In the performance I saw, there were only enough characters to fill the side of the boat facing the shore.
No, there have always only been enough to fill one side. There's no point in having a (half)boat load of characters waving at the guest-less island.


3. The finale fireworks seemed less impressive. I can't recall the exact fireworks that were used the last time I saw the show, but I remember the last part of the finale had tons and tons of red fireworks shooting up behind Mickey. In the show I saw, five white fireworks would shoot from behind Mickey in a spread pattern every time the major note struck.
No, this this simply the new Finale that has been performed since the show came back from refurbishment fairly recently. I think it's nice to actually be able to SEE Mickey, rather than a giant cloud of smoke and some flashes of light within it (which would, of course, be the old pyro launches)

Jon Vincible
05-05-2008, 09:23 AM
Thanks for the quick reply. I'm glad to hear the dragon was simply malfunctioning and not taken out to cut costs for non-summer crowds. As far as the characters, I guess I was mistaken (I haven't watched my camcorder tapings of the show recently, :D). And for the finale, I agree with you that it is nice to see Mickey. Depending on the winds, there were performances where he was clearly visible even with all the smoke. However, the last performance I saw in 2006 had him covered by all the smoke.

Bytebear
05-05-2008, 03:34 PM
I saw the show on Friday, and there was no dragon. :crying: But, I was near the Haunted Mansion side, and when the Mark Twain came out, all you can see is the island side of the boat, and it was filled with characters. In fact, I remember thinking, oh, that's good that it is filled up. The effects do look less dramatic from upper levels though. This is one show that's better the closer you are to the water.

ChipmunkStar
05-05-2008, 03:37 PM
When the boat first appears, the characters are all on the island side. They then cross around the front or back of the boat to all come together for their "window" spaces for the Finale choreography. There are only enough characters for one side of the boat at a time, and with the exception of the very beginning of the boat's route, that is the audience side.

Bytebear
05-05-2008, 03:39 PM
That makes sense. And I figured once they got out of view, they jumped to the other side, but it's still a good effect. I didn't notice a reduction in characters. It's generally one character per opening.

Jon Vincible
05-05-2008, 06:13 PM
Hmmm it's all coming back to me now. Two years is just too long to stay away from Disneyland, heh. On a side note, the green flares that shoot up around Maleficent were retina-burningingly bright on Saturday! Or maybe my eyes are just "frightfully sensitive to bright lights."

Jim Dear and Darling
05-06-2008, 09:52 AM
I've noticed that a lot of times the later version of the show has a lot less characters on the Mark Twain and seems to be toned down a bit. So this wouldn't surprise me.

TTFN92
05-06-2008, 08:34 PM
On a side note, the green flares that shoot up around Maleficent were retina-burningingly bright on Saturday! Or maybe my eyes are just "frightfully sensitive to bright lights."

We saw it Sun. and thought that quite a bit of the lighting effects were extremely bright. I had to turn my head or close my eyes.

What exactly did they change in the refurbishement? I was trying to remember but couldn't. I haven't seen it enough to be able to pick it out. I thought something was supposed to be different about the projections on the water but I couldn't tell.

We did the center pole trick. We were walking around trying to find a place and I remembered the center pole. We headed that way and there were only a few people there so we got behind them. Just as we did, the pole went up and it quickly filled in behind us. Thanks for the tip.

Just as a reminder though, if you aren't going to get there until midway through the performance, please don't expect to get to the front because you are too short. A teenager tried to get in front of me and I wouldn't let her. I was sorry she couldn't see, but we stood there for 20 min. It wasn't my fault. I'm not that tall and had a fairly good view but not great, but it would have been worse if she were in front of me. She was mad that I wouldn't let her. When we have gotten there after it has started, we try to hold our kids to give them the best view we can, but it is our fault we were late, not everyone else's.

CindyR
05-07-2008, 12:36 AM
I agree about the people who show up late. When I watch Fantasmic we usually end up going to the second show and wait the entire time from after the fireworks until 10:30, and it's so frustrating when parents show up 15 minutes before it starts and try to shove their children in front. Either make viewing a show a priority and get there early, or accept mediocre views.

Some people are just completely inconsiderate though. Once we decided to go in front of the castle to view the fireworks and waited for a fairly large amount of time to be in the very front and this women was with four or five children and encouraged them to try and sit in front of us. :eek: And you wonder why there's teenagers who think it's okay to cut in lines.

Jon Vincible
05-07-2008, 09:49 AM
It seems pretty self explanatory, but the center pole trick: I assume the center light pole is blocking your view to begin with, but goes up before the show starts?

TTFN92
05-07-2008, 01:59 PM
It seems pretty self explanatory, but the center pole trick: I assume the center light pole is blocking your view to begin with, but goes up before the show starts?

Exactly. :)

Jon Vincible
05-07-2008, 04:44 PM
Awesome. Does it goes up at a specific time before the show starts?

IdahoMike
05-12-2008, 10:40 PM
Probably a little late for a reply, but on Sunday the 4th, the dragon was working for the 9pm show. (We won a dream that day for priority seating for Fantasmic!) It was quite nice to not have to stake out a spot for the show. Thanks CM Mickey! (appropriate name, eh?)

Another Dimension
05-15-2008, 01:56 AM
Today... is the 16th Anniversary of the official debut of Fantasmic!



:D

Phantom2006
05-18-2008, 10:44 PM
OK. I just got back from Disneyland, and I saw Fantasmic! It was really budget tonight. First, Peter Pan never came down from the top of the ship, and the crocodile was missing. Second, when the steamboat came out during the finale it did not have the sparklers lit. On the steamboat there were several missing characters and some were substituted in. There could have been more things but thats all I can remember.

p.s.. I saw the 10:30 p.m. showing.