Originally Posted By FerretAfros That surprises me. I have seen Illuminations at least 5 or 6 times since they added the wand, and I have yet to see a projection of any kind on SSE. Also, if anybody is interested the Orlando Magic Drum and Bugle Corps has "Chaos!" (the inferno barge music) as part of their show this year. The Drum Corps International (DCI) finals will be shown live at movie theaters across the county on August 10, so if anybody is interested in seeing it, check your theaters. I think they might also replay the finals on Labor Day weeked on ESPN 2.
Originally Posted By hopemax During Christmas season last year, they were projecting "Merry Christmas" in the various languages on SSE.
Originally Posted By Skylardad I had an absence of about 9 months from visiting Epcot between 2005 and 2006. Up until Siemens became the sponsor of the show I cannot recall the green laser chaser on SE. When Siemens became the sponsor of the show and the Inferno Barge returned is when I noticed the return of the laser chaser on SE - and I have seen it on every performance since then. It currently features the text "Illuminations Presented By Siemens" (not sure if that is the exact text, but it gives you an idea that this is part of the sponsoring contract) and then scrolls the outline of the continents around SE and repeats the text while the song "Promise" plays. After the song ends the scrolling ends and an edited version of the "Tapestry Of Nations" parade music plays as you exit the park. It was so nice to see the laser scrolling again, it teased me into thinking that some "old school" Epcot was returning to the park. It was one of those many, little touches that I loved about the Epcot of old.
Originally Posted By danyoung >After the song ends the scrolling ends and an edited version of the "Tapestry Of Nations" parade music plays as you exit the park.< It's pretty much the same version that's on the Illuminations CD, minus the introduction. It really makes for a nice soundtrack as you walk around the fast-emptying World Showcase.
Originally Posted By ChiMike ^^ I agree. In 1999 I really did not like the parade at all. I never really warmed up to it. But I did warm up to the music after so many experiences of it being played as post-show music. So in the case familiarity removed contempt.
Originally Posted By danyoung I'd have to agree with you that the parade didn't do much for me. I was really disappointed that all of the floats were exactly the same. Seemed like a very uncreative way of presenting a parade. And once you've seen a CM walking along with a sky kite, you're ready for something else. a
Originally Posted By ChiMike You hit it! I thought the floats and preformances were weird. I can go without rubberheads and princesses, I just couldn't get riled up for people bumping around with puppets to Gaia, Gaia, ohhhh Gaia.. for 20 mins. It's good to see someone else who thought that. The parade was a hit with many. Now for BGM, it's kind of catchy. I'm really in the minority on Wishes. Having watched Believe for a few years prior to Wishes' debut I was really let down by Wishes. It's got some great large-scale bursts, but the soundtrack is way too syrupy for me, it's the downpoint to the otherwise spectacular Remember fireworks.. BTW, SSWedGuy, how was DL? Remember Fireworks? You went already right? I liked the Believe soundtrack and I liked the various versions of FITS. To me nothing on either coast is better than the various Illumination shows. Oh, and I liked SITS at MGM.
Originally Posted By ssWEDguy >> BTW, SSWedGuy, how was DL? Remember Fireworks? You went already right? << Yes, I saw the new fireworks show at DL just 3 weeks ago. And after many, many months of watching WDW's best, I was really receptive to the latest and greatest that Disney had to offer. Here's the deal -- The DL fireworks are VERY GOOD. But anyone who says "They are clearly and absolutely better that WDW's" is full of it. They are VERY GOOD, and they top WDW in many ways. But not in everyway. I think both shows are good, on their own merits. They both do the same in-park castle bursts and timed fire sprays. The DL perimeter fireworks are very good, but much smaller overall than the bursts that WDW does on special occasions. (Probably because they all have to be fired off in a much smaller space, and there are neighbors to think about) The DL castle has a sequence that involves choreographed vertical fire jets that WDW's castle doesn't have. These fire jets are reminiscent of the fire that's part of Illuminations. And the DL castle also shoots a green laser at several points, again reminiscent of the lasers at Epcot. Tinkerbell's flight over the DL castle is EVER so much more complex and well done than her WDW slide to Tomorrowland. She even appears TWICE during the show. ---------------- Most interesting fact -- The first 3 or 4 minutes of the DL show is EXACTLY THE SAME as Wishes, including the music. For a while there I was thinking that "Holy cow, this show is just entirely Wishes." The only difference is that Julie Andrews speaks where Jiminey Cricket does at WDW. But after this 3 or 4 minute "Wishes" intro, then it launches into entirely new material, that features each of the traditional Disneyland lands and attractions. Very cool. Very well done. I'd watch it again.
Originally Posted By ssWEDguy >> To me nothing on either coast is better than the various Illumination shows. << I agree with this entirely. Though "Wishes" is a very close second.
Originally Posted By ChiMike >> But anyone who says "They are clearly and absolutely better that WDW's" is full of it.<< I think that is a little extreme. Everybody has an opinion. From reading things on here, micechat, wdwmagic, it seems that a majority of people think Remember is the best Castle fireworks show they have ever seen. So saying, "full of it" might be close the door to subjective thought. >>The DL perimeter fireworks are very good, but much smaller overall than the bursts that WDW does on special occasions. (Probably because they all have to be fired off in a much smaller space, and there are neighbors to think about)<< That's the nature of seeing a show at Disneyland. Things like the Castle/Matterhorn setting and post-fireworks snow on Main Street during Christmas seem to make up for it though, imo. >>Tinkerbell's flight over the DL castle is EVER so much more complex and well done than her WDW slide to Tomorrowland. She even appears TWICE during the show.<< I agree, it is a component like this, which make the MK tinkerbell effect look so bland, that cause me to think that Remember is a superior show. As well as your other examples and the show's 'attraction' theme, and the synched up fireworks effects. Especially the POTC battle scene with Matterhorn & HM stretching room. >>Most interesting fact -- The first 3 or 4 minutes of the DL show is EXACTLY THE SAME as Wishes, including the music. For a while there I was thinking that "Holy cow, this show is just entirely Wishes." The only difference is that Julie Andrews speaks where Jiminey Cricket does at WDW.<< And that is my least favorite part about Remember. >>But after this 3 or 4 minute "Wishes" intro, then it launches into entirely new material, that features each of the traditional Disneyland lands and attractions. Very cool. Very well done.<< I'm glad you think so. I do to. As much as I enjoyed Remember, there was something about the original Believe that I like over it. And especially over Wishes. Just my opinion.
Originally Posted By ChiMike >>I agree with this entirely. Though "Wishes" is a very close second.<< And just so I am clear, I don't poo-poo the fireworks shot off at MK. It's the song that I have a significant reactions to. >>the bursts that WDW does on special occasions.<< P.S. This is another thing that bugs me. Not going 100% of what you're capable of for the normal paying guests on a normal operating day. Remember has it's own problems but it had a very good track record with displaying all of it's intended sequences on a nightly basis. Not 100%, but better than 'for special engagements only'.
Originally Posted By ssWEDguy >> From reading things on here, micechat, wdwmagic, it seems that a majority of people think Remember is the best Castle fireworks show they have ever seen. << But that's just it. I saw both shows, and I was fully expecting to be as overwhelmingly impressed with the DL show as everybody else seems to be. And I was impressed. But I'm sorry -- it isn't "clearly much better than Wishes." To me that's the sound of someone who has to be sure to tell me that it's the best so that I'll be ready to agree with it. What's wrong with just saying it's a great show, and let me decide which parts I like better? Both shows have their "better" parts. I stick by my original statement. Anybody who says the DL show is "clearly and absolutely better, the best show they have ever seen" is overstating their case, and they're doing so unnecessarily.
Originally Posted By ssWEDguy >> It's the song that I have a significant reactions to. << No problem -- but it's interesting that the same song gets to me in a very positive way. I especially like the children's chorus singing in the wrap. The music itself may be the catalyst that makes us appreciate the visual parts of the program with different intensities. "Syrupy songs?" -- can't you truthfully say the same thing about a whole lot of what Disney has (so successfully) done musically over the years?
Originally Posted By ChiMike >>To me that's the sound of someone who has to be sure to tell me that it's the best so that I'll be ready to agree with it. What's wrong with just saying it's a great show, and let me decide which parts I like better? Both shows have their "better" parts. I stick by my original statement. Anybody who says the DL show is "clearly and absolutely better, the best show they have ever seen" is overstating their case, and they're doing so unnecessarily.<< I hope you don't think I'm trying to overpower your own judgment and will. I try to be very clear that I am stating my own opinions with my overuse of "I think" "In my eyes" "imo" etc, in most of my posts. And as an aside, in a previous conversation I really didn't mention Remember, I said that I thought Wishes was a poor man's Believe. On the same hand, because of personal preferences I am very comfortable saying that Remember is light-years beyond Wishes. >>"Syrupy songs?" -- can't you truthfully say the same thing about a whole lot of what Disney has (so successfully) done musically over the years?<< If I didn't, I should have said overly syrupy, if that phrase even makes sense. Because you are right to a point. A distinction I would make, one that again is my own opinion, is that most songs don't try as hard as the Wishes soundtrack. Take the children's choir component. We agree on some things and we don't on others, the choir is simply something we have a different preference for. I think the choir is probably the worst "moment" of the event. The song just comes across as simple. It tries to be charming instead of simply being charming. IMO! It's part of a collection of some recent entertainment pieces that lack any depth in my eyes. They simply throw out (Like the DL shows that I praise) buzzwords "wishes" "dreams" "magical" thinking that it suffices an enchanting theme and/or melody. Maybe if Wishes came out in 1995 I would react differently to it. And if I come across one more stage show or other ent. where I have to hear "Slave in the magic mirror" .... .. I'm going puke. Maybe it's time to move on to new references and themes.
Originally Posted By ssWEDguy Good discussion, Mike. You're not wrong -- but I was simply not as clearly blown away as I was expecting to be when I saw the show, as the majority seems to be. Many elements of the show, yes. But there are elements of other shows that do the trick well too. Maybe it's just a coastal thing. Isn't the DL show produced by the same group that did Wishes and Illuminations?
Originally Posted By ssWEDguy >> I am very comfortable saying that Remember is light-years beyond Wishes. << See, there's that "clearly better in all aspects" thing again. Better? Perhaps. Light-years better? That's a bit much. You know, maybe it's that the first 4 minutes in DL is "Wishes." The same music, the same arching rockets over the castle, the same blue star bursts. Maybe that just dilluted some of the rest of the show for me since it looked like the whole show was going to be Wishes.
Originally Posted By ssWEDguy Another thing I notice is that many of the folks that post on these boards are apparently long time, devoted fans, and frequent park attendees. The way things affect frequent visitors and park newbies can be quite different. I find sometimes that I have to refresh my delight in something in the parks through the eyes of the guest, instead of my own eyes.
Originally Posted By Spirit of 74 I also place Remember and Believe and any version of Illuminations above Wishes. The over-the-top moppets singing just turns me off. It is way over-done and add in the overdone good vs. evil (in the form of the magic mirror) deal and Wishes is a a lot more flawed than the other shows. The only part of Remember that I don't like (what a surprise) is the Wishes part. I also feel it was an example of Disney taking the cheaper way out instead of doing a 100% new show. Recycling ... it's the Jay Rasulo way.
Originally Posted By FerretAfros IMO, Remember is the best firworks show I have seen. However, throw Illuminations (which I think of more as a water/effects show) in the mix, and it's a tougher call. I think the exact things that turn some people off from Remember (the small scale etc) are the things that I really like about it. In WDW, I feel like I am watching any 4th of July show, with a castle in front. In DL, I feel like I am right in the heart of the action. Add in that the hub effects go all the way around, not just along the Fantasyland rooftops, and it really is a 360 degree experience. I've only seen the show from the hub and while riding Big Thunder (By the way, that puts the goat trick to shame) so I really don't know aobut the views from most of the park, but I could tell that there are certainly places where it would be terrible to watch from, where Wishes is pretty decent from all over. I guess it just adds to the charm of the show.
Originally Posted By ChiMike >>In WDW, I feel like I am watching any 4th of July show, with a castle in front. In DL, I feel like I am right in the heart of the action<< I agree! You put it much better than I.
