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View Full Version : Aladdin: WOW! Christmas Fantasy: something's missing



hbquikcomjamesl
01-02-2003, 07:59 AM
I spent New Year's Eve in DLR (something I've been doing for quite a few years, since it's about the only place I CAN go to be around a bunch of other people having fun stone cold sober; before that, when I still worked at the late lamented Costa Mesa Ice Chalet, I used to run a local church group's skating/broomball party), and managed to get to everything I'd planned for the evening.

After arriving around 5 PM, and poking my nose into DL just long enough to size up the crowd and find out how late the BB would be open, I went over to DCA for the 6:15 Aladdin. (I'd originally planned on arriving early enough for the 4:45, but the best-laid plans of mice and men. . . .)

WOW!

I'd walked in, thinking, "It doesn't have to be another BLAST!; please just don't make it another 'Waste of Time'."

WOW!

I think it would do very well indeed, expanded to a full-length Broadway production. It's definitely worth watching as it is. More special effects (and body-doubles) than Phantom and Les Miz combined, and yet those special effects didn't upstage the singing or acting. It had its few awkward moments, but I'd say we have a winner here, worth nearly the DCA admission price by itself.

After Aladdin, I rushed back over to DL, to catch the Christmas Fantasy Parade. And once again, I was in for a disappointment: the whole "Edwardian Carolers" unit, which was the number one highlight of the whole parade for me, is missing for the second year in a row. Am I the only one noticing this gaping hole? With that whole unit missing, the music doesn't even line up properly!

Speaking of music not lining up properly, while the evening's Electrical Parade did manage, as usual, to bring me near tears, I noticed that somehow the Circus unit had two different copies of its soundtrack running, at least a quarter-cycle out of synch with each other. How is that even possible? Also, I felt whoever was running audio cut to the closing music a bit too quickly after the Flag unit passed.

Both fireworks displays were quite good; does anybody know why there were a bunch of shells going off around 9:00, while I was in the Blue Bayou line?

Oh, yes; I almost forgot: I managed to run into Maynard during the Christmas Fantasy Parade; he was working Lincoln that evening, and when I said hello to him, he slipped into his customary pose. :)

I finished the evening with Soarin'; it was good, but somehow there was some sort of crud in the projector, evidently in an unusually difficult-to-clean area. Anybody know anything about that?

RStar
01-02-2003, 09:40 AM
I was there as well, but missed Manyard again!!

And the crud on the projecter for soaring was extreamly annoying. I would like to know what it was as well. I hpoe they fixed it.

I was at the Jan and Dean show and heard the shells go off. I thought it was the Belive fireworks show. I didn't notice the time, but was it not the Belive show?

I'm waiting for my AP showing of Aladdin on the 12th to see it for the first time. I'm hoping they get the bugs worked out by then. I hold great promiss for the show.

ldsguy
01-02-2003, 10:29 AM
Alright, well, as for the fireworks, I believe the 9:00 stuff was the tail end of Believe! I too was over watching the Jan and Dean show, it was realyl cool to see the midnight fireworks at Disneyland with DCA's little show in front of it. It made fo an excellent addition to the DL fireworks.

The crud on the projector on soarin was supposed to have been taken care of in the morning, I asked a CM about it and they said they had called maintence and were waiting for someone to come over, but couldn't close down that side for too long due to the crowds.

As for Aladdin, there will always be bugs in it, as with any other live show, it happens. Look at Fantasmic! as a prime example. I believe Aladdin is about at the point of being where it will be for the press event on the 16th. There could be a few minor changes here and there, but nothing too noticable. The main thing is double checking all the special effects to make sure they are working as reliably as they can.

JeffG
01-02-2003, 10:50 AM
Originally posted by hbquikcomjamesl

Both fireworks displays were quite good; does anybody know why there were a bunch of shells going off around 9:00, while I was in the Blue Bayou line?


ABC's "Dick Clark's Rockin' New Years" had a live cut-away to the fireworks going off at Disneyland at midnight. That show is only live in the Eastern time-zone, so that cut-away is actually at 9pm Pacific time. Because of that, Disneyland always has a fake countdown and a very short fireworks display at 9pm on New Year's Eve for the sake of the cameras.

-Jeff

hbquikcomjamesl
01-02-2003, 01:22 PM
Ah, yes. Dick Clark. Anybody get the feeling he's got a funny picture of himself, up in his attic? One that shows him with wrinkles, with his hair a peculiar shade of gray (like maybe Dorian Gray?)

Oh, yes; I almost forgot: Rod sure seemed to be in rare form. Rhinestone-trimmed tailcoat and all.