Originally Posted By mickeymorris1234 Do you think they will be doing a soft opening the first weekend in June. That is when I am going and I'm hoping to see it before the mass mayhem comes.
Originally Posted By mousermerf I sure as hell hope so, otherwise I'm screwed. I'm supposed to be picking people up at the airport on grand opening night and getting moved out of my apartment.
Originally Posted By DlandDug No predictions here, but I really wouldn't count on soft openings or sneak previews. That's just the vibe I'm gettin'.
Originally Posted By SuperDry If you're right, that's going to be quite a night on June 10, if they have the media there for a big press night as has been talked about. It had better work right that night!
Originally Posted By danyoung Mouseplanet has been reporting that there will be absolutely NO soft openings for this show, as they don't want any video to get out on the web before the 11th. We'll see. . .
Originally Posted By Schmitty Good Vibes That makes me wonder. Who would search the web for a sneak preview of WOC? Only the diehards (boy, did I check myself a bit and then come up with the term 'diehards'). And who is going to crowd in for the first weeks of shows, having seen a video or not? Yep, same group. I can appreciate Disney wanting no leaks, but I don't think it would hurt attendance one bit - unless this is Light Magic II. I doubt that. I'd think Disney would want to have some practice runs, if only to rehearse crowd control. I'd bet a large percentage of people who enter DCA on these dates would be unaware of the new show.
Originally Posted By mickeymorris1234 Micechat continues to say the Soft Opening will be starting anytime now. As soon as next week and will increase in frequency up to the opening weekend for crowd control practice. I think at this point it is out Steves hands what happens and is in the complete control of TDA when it comes to soft openings and such. Steve just needs to make sure it works at this point and let TDA do what it wants. We'll see though.
Originally Posted By danyoung >...unless this is Light Magic II. < I'm betting that is indeed a factor. I always thought LM was a pretty good show that just needed a little tweaking. But due to the overwhelming bad response on its first test run night, it never had a chance. I can see Disney wanting to play WoC safe and not show it at all till the 11th. As we've all been saying, we'll see . . .
Originally Posted By Schmitty Good Vibes Thanks, danyoung, you got it and put into better words than I could. After the first show, it didn't stand a chance.
Originally Posted By DlandDug >>I always thought LM was a pretty good show that just needed a little tweaking. But due to the overwhelming bad response on its first test run night, it never had a chance.<< Um, not meaning to be unpleasant or anything, but LM ran an entire season, and was tweaked quite a bit. It still failed. The public rejected it, regardless of what the "opening night" was like. It failed for many reasons, not simply because a bunch of rude guests booed what was essentially a dress rehearsal.
Originally Posted By DlandDug >>I'd think Disney would want to have some practice runs...<< I am inclined to believe that what Disney wants and what they can realistically do at this point may not be in harmony. They are in final countdown mode, and aside from some vague announcements several weeks ago, we haven't seen much to suggest there will be a lot of soft openings for the public. I hope I'm wrong, as I would love to see this before the madness of the regular schedule kicks in.
Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt When people say this thing "failed" I wonder what they mean. Did attendance drop that year? Were there tons of complaints? It's strange that the parade was never permanently replaced - not even with a non-lighted parade.
Originally Posted By mousermerf The same way Stitch's stupid Celebration at MK failed - guests didn't like it and stopped showing up. It was bad - bad bad. Google it and watch some video, I don't think anyone can watch a video of it now and not admit it was pretty darn terrible. It's a weird cross between older Cirque du Soleil with the creepy fairy masks, some celtic thrown in apparently tying into Lord of the Dance crazes, and generally poor staging and poorly designed floats.
Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt I saw it person and thought it was OK - certainly not as bad as you describe, and I didn't walk away with the impression that it was a terrible experience. I should add that when I saw it the crowds were just as thick as they'd been for the EP. Since LM only ran one season, and attracted sizable crowds, I'm wondering what measure they used to decide to can it and not bring in a suitable replacement.
Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt "It was bad - bad bad." Is there anything that Disney has done that you absolutely love mousemerf? I might be wrong, but I don't think I've ever read one post by you where you were completely satisfied with something at the parks.
Originally Posted By DlandDug >>When people say this thing "failed" I wonder what they mean.<< Well, it was deemed bad enough that Disney chose to scrap it rather than continue it for the five years they needed to amortize the costs. Although there were many reasons for people to dislike it, I was surprised that it never returned. My guess is that the biggest issue was the lack of capacity. The "big crowds" were largely caused by the fact that everyone had to crowd into the two viewing areas, leading to complaints. Since many had to be turned away there were complaints. The "streetacular" was not nearly as satisfying as the MSEP, so there were those complaints. It must have been a pretty grim summer to be working the front desk at City Hall!
Originally Posted By Ohana <<<Is there anything that Disney has done that you absolutely love mousemerf?>>> Yes, EPCOT Center on opening day. Only the first 10 minutes though before anyone touched anything and the first piece of gum hit the ground.
Originally Posted By SuperDry <<< The "big crowds" were largely caused by the fact that everyone had to crowd into the two viewing areas, leading to complaints. >>> Interesting. I know that some have said that they don't like the entire concept of show stops in parades - perhaps this is a left-over legacy from what happened with LM?
Originally Posted By TP2000 I wasn't a big fan of Light Magic, but I thought it was kind of fun in spots. I saw it probably a dozen times that Summer of '97. I remember vividly one night being there with my folks, and my Mom got to chatting with some Brits standing next to us at Coke Corner, and they absolutely raved about it. They were staying at the Disneyland Hotel and had seen LM the night before, and made a point of getting front row seats to see it again a second night. They just loved it, and my Mom charmed them by reminding them that if it wasn't for all those great British writers that Mr. Disney wouldn't have had such wonderful material to work with. Artistically it wasn't that bad once the kinks were worked out and it really got up and running around the 4th of July. But the crowd control for it was a nightmare all summer long. It wasn't a parade, and it was hard for people to get that. You had to get a good spot in advance, and it caused all sorts of crowd control problems for the CM's. It likely cost the park a fortune in CM labor and damage control, and since Pressler was firmly in charge then the spiraling labor costs probably helped do it in. Not sure it would have stood the test of time for a decade or more, but in '97 it was kind of catchy and unique. At least for most of us who were actually in Anaheim watching it in person.
Originally Posted By CuriouserConstance "Is there anything that Disney has done that you absolutely love mousemerf?" Those are the types of questions that never get any sort of reply out of mousermerf. He literally is a master at ignoring any question that's at all personal in nature or accusing in any way whatsoever.
