Originally Posted By TDLFAN Those of you who know me would know that I am a huge fan of live entertainment at the Disney parks which is why I have always recommended Tokyo Disney Resort's offerings and considered them to be the best Disney parks have seen over the last 3 decades, consistently and in quality, simply the BEST and what sets the bar for other Disney parks to follow. In regards to parades, the fact that many of those TDL parades are to this day being released fully on dvd/blueray for sale in retail speaks volumes of how beloved they have been to the Japanese fans, and those of us who appreciate that aspect of the Disney theme park experience. Now.. I am finally glad to say the MK has somewhat arrived. In a long long long overdue time, we are finally treated to a parade that is worthy of today's standards, and one that the MK should be proud to deliver daily. Not to mention one that I feel is much better than the current Sounsational Parade at DL in CA. Without going too much into specifics... it's hard to deny offering a positive review to Festival of Fantasy that features a little piece of TDL artistry. As you all may know, the opening princess float and the 2nd to last Pinocchio/Fantasia float ahead of Mickey's balloon float (itself reminincent of TDL's current final Mickey float in the "Happiness is Here" parade) are recycled here from TDL's 25th anniversary parade "Jubilation". You all remember that? Same parade that some brit here claimed would be named "Jubilation" over "his dead body" back in 2008? Anyways... the two Tokyo floats have been slightly altered to participate here in the new MK parade. However.. the Princess float used to feature Belle, Cinderella, and Aurora and Princes on rotating sets that gave this float a flowing palette of elegance. Here? Such rotating platforms do not rotate, which in terms renders the Cinderella birds above the float stationary as opposed to them swirling around as it did in TDL. The Pinocchio float at TDS used to feature a very colorful "bubble gum type" prop that made the float look kinetic and colorful beyond the current form. That kinetic splash of jumping bubbles seems to be missing here as well. Little touches I know.. but made a hug difference. A norm that should set the Disney parks apart from the rest. But overall the new parade is a refreshing upgrade to what the MK has always lacked: a lavish, bigger than life parade. While DL, DLP, TDL and even HKDL laughed at the MK's inferior standard, now the MK can finally be proud of it's daytime parade. Gone is the old tired character barges that have been around since the days of the Tencennial parade from 1981, and replaced by rolling stages that are stunning, colorful, animated and simply enchanting. But.. not all is well here.. While some sequences and characters got a really impressive treatment, such as the Tangled float (my favorite), other more established characters like the Little Mermaid and even Mickey and Minnie, got robbed with less than impressive small floats but still equally colorful in their own rights. Did anyone see the hidden Mickey in the Ariel float? I did. Some other movies, like Brave are nicely represented, but frankly? I would have preferred a Tiana float since the Mardi Gras theme would have been more colorful and enjoyable in the context of the overall good vibe of the parade. (The Princess/Frog float is the best float at DL's Soundsational parade). I also noticed what appear to be strove lights on the floats. If that is the case, why not turn them on and give the float an extra dash of sparkle? Even TDL parade feature such little extra "flash". makes things livelier if that's possible. A highlight for many guests appear to be the Maleficent dragon float, with it's impressive torch like breath and mechanical inner working inspired by Steampunk I guess. While the fire breathing float it's impressive, it's a style that simple seems out of context here. It just doesn't match the look and feel of the rest of the parade. The only thing this float has in common with the rest of the parade is the sheer size of it. I still much prefer the fantastical look of the Dragon from the original opening day parade at DLP, which also spat fire by the way. The fire effect is great and I can see why Orlando fans are going gaga over it.. but it's not new. DLP did it first in 1992, and anyone who has seen TDS' Mythica barges, most of them also feature fire effects.. for years now. This is how behind the times the Magic Kingdom parades have been. I wonder how long this fire effect will work before it breaks down and Disney does nothing to fix or maintain it...knowing their track record for slacking off. But apart from WDW's lack of maintenance, there is no true innovation with Festival of Fantasy... it's just catching up with the rest of the Disney parks. And even HKDL's Flight of Fantasy parade has one over the new MK parade floats: hydrolic systems that elevate float props a good 4 stories up above ground, something that this new MK parade lacks, even as big as it is.. But in regards to the Dragon float, my issues with it remain in the overly exposed look of it. This is the only float where we can see the driver and the many pipes and inner workings of the float itself. Its a major let down for me, and as expensive as this float may have been, it just cheapens the parade's look and experience. But still a crowd pleaser for it's scope and intricate look. Lucky for the dragon's sequence, it features probably the most interesting and eye popping costumes of the entire parade. Reminiscing of menacing crows with animated wingspans... these costumes are Tokyo worthy. In fact...Costuming here is one of the best features of the parade, which is a good thing because of the larger than normal amount of performing cast members along the route of the parade. This is the single most important and appreciated upgrade for me, since the old costumes were amateurish and looked like they were bought at The Gap. So huge kudos for costuming. I however wonder how these costumes will hold for the long haul and when the hot summer months arrive with thunderstorms.. Will Disney send performers with umbrellas as seemed to be the case the past few summers with the old parade? The music.. started off promising for me with a huge fanfare opening the show... but quickly evolved into an upbeat forgettable song that dwells in medleys of Disney songs from the represented films. All Disney parades world wide are guilty of this and its not a bad thing, but the parade itself needs a major new musical component to make us remember it for being unique. TDL's current "Happiness is Here" is one such great parade exclusive song. Maybe I have to watch the parade again and pay attention since none to the music stood out to me, and even watching the parade on Main Street USA it seemed the music wasn't being played that loud over the loudspeaker system. A minor technical issue that I hope can be addressed. But all in all, Festival of Fantasy is a grand effort for the MK. A welcomed change of pace from the tired norm and one that, along with the new Fantasyland additions and park upgrades to come, will help the MK stay apar with the standards set by it's sister parks around the World. TDLFAN rates Festival of Fantasy a solid B+ effort. Can't bring myself to rate it higher due to the short running time of the entire parade. A parade this lively deserved a few more floats.. after all TDL's efforts are usually about 10 mins longer than the average 15 minutes we got with the new parade. But maybe this was all the budget they could afford this time around. I can't help but point out the element of "something new and something borrowed".. Yes, most of the procession is new, and in regards to the TDL floats and the fact that the music playing during the grand Marshal moment comes from HKDL's parade show mode... yes it all feels borrowed. Amazes me how tremendously HUGE the Tokyo Disneyland legacy is that continues to be recycled at other Disney parks and influences everything the other DL parks do to this day... something that I was praising long ago before it became so apparent.
Originally Posted By FerretAfros I'm glad to see you have a mostly-positive review of this parade. It's not all perfect, but it's a huge step in the right direction Is your report from yesterday's parade (Monday)? I read that it was some sort of media day, so the rotating for the princess float was turned off, to ensure better photos. It was working just fine in the video that I saw from Sunday I also agree with you that the design of the dragon float is really neat, but doesn't really seem to fit in with the style of the other floats in the parade. Everything else seems to be a mostly-literal translation of the films, while this takes it in a completely different direction (which is certainly not a bad thing, just different) How did you feel about the number of performers in the parade? In the videos I've seen, it seems like they could use some more non-character performers surrounding the floats. It often seems like a bit of a disconnect between the float and surrounding unit, since the dancers were all in front of their respective floats. Some along the sides or behind the floats would really help the transitions, and make the whole thing seem a lot more full, IMO
Originally Posted By dagobert Thank you for this review. I haven't seen a video yet, but I can't wait to see the dragon with the fire effects.
Originally Posted By TDLFAN >>>Is your report from yesterday's parade (Monday)? I read that it was some sort of media day, so the rotating for the princess float was turned off, to ensure better photos. It was working just fine in the video that I saw from Sunday<<< Yes it was from yesterday Monday during Media Day. My first time seeing the parade and No, I did not see video of it beforehand. If that is the case with the princesses float then I'm quite glad that animated aspect of the float was not cut off here.. Still the pesimist in me will ask how long it will work before it brakes and it's not fixed... >>>How did you feel about the number of performers in the parade?<<< In regards to that, considering we are talking about WDW, I never expect more than a small handful of performers so the number of performers yesterday seemed appropriate. I did see a few performers behind floats as well, but I realize the MK will never be like TDL where performers (and crowd control CMs) overpopulate the parade performance and route. I dream for the day when Mr. Overweight MK CM teaches me a happy dance to do along with performers on the parade show. Hahaha. As for the number of street performers... I get the feeling over the next few months we will see the number of them reduced and I wonder if there were more than usual due to being Media day?
Originally Posted By tcsnwhite Unless there are budget cuts, I believe this is the set amount of cast for the parade. It was no different for media day. As for TDL...I've noticed that their parade casts (while still larger than their US/Euro counterparts) are starting to get slightly smaller as time goes on. HIH, Jubilation!, etc. do seem to have even less performers than say, Dreams on Parade, and certainly the huge spectacles of earlier TDL parades like Carnival, etc...
Originally Posted By TDLFAN Agreed ^^^ But even with cut backs, seems to me they have many more cast members performing on parade over WDW's... and remains to be seen what Easter will bring to TDL's event lineup.
Originally Posted By SuperDry <<< and remains to be seen what Easter will bring to TDL's event lineup. >>> The stuff they've posted online so far implies that there is a new Easter parade called "Hippity-Hoppity Springtime", finally replacing Easter Wonderland which ran 2010-2012. Although, some of the costumes appear to be recycled.
Originally Posted By Mr X ***"Hippity-Hoppity Springtime"*** Good Lord. That sounds like a South Park parody of a Disney parade.
Originally Posted By TDLFAN In case anyone is interested in seeing what the new easter parade floats in Tokyo Disneyland will look like.. the click on the link below. Scroll down that page and you will see the floats (need to click on the arrows to scroll thru all renderings. And keep in mind... this parade will play for only a couple of months this year. Will probably come back next year again... but enjoy. <a target="blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.tokyodisneyresort.jp/fantasy/event/easter2014/show.html">http://www.tokyodisneyresort.j...how.html</a>
Originally Posted By FerretAfros Looks like it will be a really nice parade. I like the idea of featuring all of Disney's various rabbits, though I wonder where Oswald, Roger Rabbit, and Bean Bunny are (unless they're on old floats that will be recycled - I know there was an Oswald float in the old parade). I also like that they included some of the Funny Little Bunnies from the Silly Symphony That said, I'm confused why they have Max and Goofy doing Mousercise. I don't think we've seen that since the 80's, and I wasn't aware that Max was still a popular character (DL finally kicked him out of their Christmas parade a year or two ago)
