Epcot day after Thanksgiving, not bad at all, except . . . Part 2)

[jasper]

Everyone enjoyed TT, it was even better than I remembered from 2000. DD7 went on nervous and came out giggling, wouldn't stop talking about it for a day. We toured WS most of the afternoon, then HISTA (without glasses for DD7). We headed back to the Swan eventually for a break since we planned to come back in the evening for what was the BIG disappointment.

It was a little bit of a struggle convincing everyone to go back for Illuminations as it was. When we got back to Epcot, we split up for a bit; DW and DD12 hung our around France and then grabbed a viewing spot for Illuminations on the island under the France/United Kingdom bridge. I carried DD7 on my shoulders and walked quickly to Maelstrom (which was also down earlier in the day due to tech difficulties).

We arrived at Maelstrom at 8:50 pm and had a 10 minute wait. When we got off the ride (which was short but lots of fun), we had to wait 3 minutes for the Norway movie theater to open to make our escape back to where DW and DD 12 were waiting. This time I carried DD7 on my shoulders and really boogied back to France from Norway to make it back just before 9:30. Illumiations was delayed due to TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES!!! Only about 10 minutes though. Now the big dissapointment - Illuminations was dreadfully less than what we expected. Slow-paced, too much of the Globe stuff, no big grand finale, etc. etc. etc. Evening fireworks at Six Flags Great Adventure are better, and that's not necessarily saying all that much. For anyone deciding between Fantasmic and Illuminations, I would pick Fantasmic, and I haven't even seen it yet!!! Is there a chance that the fireworks were cut back because there was a decent breeze? After seeing Illuminations, I just can't believe all the hype. I wish we had spent the time playing mini golf at Fantasia Gardens. OK, I'm sure many will disagree, with me but I have seen some other poor reviews for Illuminations recently. So all in all, Epcot the day after Thanksgiving was loads of fun and much easier to handle than we expected as far as crowds go, but Illuminations was a bummer.

 

[ZachnElli]

Hmmmm. Weird. When I was there in July, there was no "globe" show, just fire works. Maybe I had the technical difficulties too, just different ones? I saw it in 2001 and it has been totally scaled back since then, that much I know and can watch the video to verify. In 2001, it was really awesome!

 

[Kallison]

I agree, there is a lot of globe action. We thought Wishes was spectacular. I remember way back to past Illuminations in 1990 that I thought were tremendous. Maybe time and age are coloring my memories! I'm never quite sure.

 

[Niagara2]

We were also there that night of the 10 minute delay. The start didn't seem the same to me so I think some of the show was not put on. There was a long time (around the globe) that nothing was happening. I thought it was me but thinking back, something was missing that night. It was very windy - 25 mph winds - and I thought they would call it for that. I actually got hit with a casing from the fireworks that night.
I suggest you give it another try some other night. It usually leaves us clapping and this time. it was just so so. The music seemed off at times also.

 

[jasper]

that was unimpressed by Illuminations. EPCOT was still great that day, but we shouldn't have planned our evening around Illuminations. I'm sure Wishes must be great from what I've heard, we'll have to catch that sometime.

By the way, not having Tapestry of Dreams was a shame, in fact I would vote to bring back the parade and drop Illuminations. They would probably save some money that way too.

 

[scoggs]

I was there during Thanksgiving week also. Saw Illuminations on Sunday, and thought it was pretty boring. I remember seeing years ago also and thought it was much better then. However, we did see Fantasmic on Thanksgiving and Wishes on the day after, and both were spectacular!! These 2 night time shows are much better than Illuminations, IMHO!!!

 

[jody]

What is Wishes?

 

[dgaston]

This is really interesting. Of course I know that everyone has different reactions to shows, but I find Illuminations moves me to tears. I appreciate the music composed just for this show, the movement from "Chaos" to the water, land, animals, and finally humans, and then creativity with the globe. I do enjoy Fantasmic, and thought Wishes was great, but Illuminations is my favorite. I wonder if the fire barge wasn't used due to the wind, or if some of the finale was scaled back when you were there or if it's just YMMV.

 

[gottaluvEeyore]

We were there Thanksgiving week but missed Illuminatiions. I'm glad now that we decided not to hang around for it Friday night. We saw Fantasmic! and Wishes and loved both of them.

 

[eeyore0062]

I have yet to see Wishes, but find Illuminations very touching. It is so much more than a fireworks show.... it is so moving and has such a wonderful message, it never fails to move me to tears. It is my favorite thus far in WDW.

 

[chase14]

we saw it on the 22d ,fire barge and all, seemed just at good as in the millenium year. it must have been scaled back because of technical or wind problems. saw wishes wednesday and thanks to this forum had best seats in house.

 

[tjkraz]

Originally posted by jasper
Slow-paced, too much of the Globe stuff, no big grand finale, etc. etc. etc.

I can appreciate the comment that it gets a bit slow in the middle. If you're expecting 25 minutes of non-stop explosions, then the "down time" may catch some offguard.

But with regard to the finale, I guess either we have different ideas of what makes a great ending, or there were technical problems. In the shows that I've seen, the performance ends with dozens (hundreds?) of individual shells blanketing the entire lagoon. In my mind, that's one of the most stunning displays I've ever seen.

I've never warmed up to Fantasmic. The last 5 minutes are wonderful. But the show as a whole doesn't do much for me. I always chuckle when people claim that there's no "story" behind Illuminations. Again, with the exception of the last 5 minutes, Fantasmic has always felt like a jumble of characters and movie clips with little substance to tie it all together.

And don't even get me started on the 1 1/2 to 2 hours you need to invest just to see Fantasmic.

 

[jasper]

Originally posted by tjkraz


But with regard to the finale, I guess either we have different ideas of what makes a great ending, or there were technical problems. In the shows that I've seen, the performance ends with dozens (hundreds?) of individual shells blanketing the entire lagoon. In my mind, that's one of the most stunning displays I've ever seen.

There was nothing blanketing the entire lagoon the night we were there. There were very few of the big, blossoming fireworks you would expect to see at the end of a performance. The fire barge was there, but there simply were very few big fireworks. Hey, Disney is great, one less than impressive show was not a big deal. Just a not so great investment in a few hours that could have been better spent elsewhere.

 

[seashoreCM]

Saw what I thought was a full Illuminations on Wednesday (Thanx. eve) except there were no green lasers crisscrossing the lagoon. Included a lot of low white fireworks shot up from the ends of the lagoon.

For those who did not see much fireworks, must have been part of a technical difficulty on a particular evening, or too much wind. If one person reported being hit by a shell casing, that means too much wind.

Disney hints:
http://members.aol.com/ajaynejr/disney.htm

 

[Micca]

Illuminations has been awe-inspiring every time we have seen it. Globe, fireworks, lights, etc. Sounds like something wasn't right that night, or that something has been changed

 

[eeyore0062]

That was a particularly breezyevening, with the cold front coming in. It would be a bit unsafe to do the entire display in those conditions. Please give Illuminations another chance, on a still night, and I think you will be very pleased!