Fantasmic - Old vs New

[Serrina89]

Hi DISers,

Fresh back from a one day trip to Disneyland. My main purpose was to see the new Fantasmic and I got to say I was disappointed

I did feel like the story was more cohesive. Instead of choppy visuals thrown together, the story of fantasmic was more complete and explained how mickey got from here to there. I liked that they included more movies and included more of the newer princesses. If i'm not mistaken, the maleficent dragon looked more awesome as well.

The biggest gripe, I had was that their was less acting and tangible decorations. The majority of fantasmic was on water screen projections.....I hated how they cut the evil queen transformation and the Pinocchio spinners. Mickey had less outfits and his defeat of maleficent was less epic. Fantasmic usually makes me cry. This one --- not so much.

Did anyone like the new one better?

 

[IDigDug]

I liked the new, spruced up lighting effects and thought the dragon sequence was great. I miss the Peter Pan sequence. PoC felt really out of place to me. I didn't care for the Aladdin flying carpet part. I'm pretty neutral on the princesses, and while I like the song from Tangled (I loved it in the Disneyland Forever fireworks) I think the Snow White song had more of a crescendo and made the segment feel a bit more dramatic.

The old Fantasmic! always gave me some serious "feels" and the new version really didn't. My only guess is it's something with the new soundtrack hat just doesn't hit the right notes. F! used to be a must see for me every trip, but now I don't feel like it's as big as a priority. During years we take more than one trip to DL I'll probably skip it.

 

[Butterfly123]

I loved the old Fantasmic, and I like the new one too, but...ok, here's the thing. I felt like when it was redone parts of it were overdone. It sometimes feels just a bit too big, and bright and too much for the space it's in. Not all of it, though. And it felt like a lot of jumbled Disney stuff thrown in just because. But they did a beautiful job on some of the additions, and it's Fantasmic, so it's still pretty great!

 

[figment_jii]

I can't really say whether I like the old F! or the new F! better. There are elements of each show that I like better than the other show and there are things that I don't like as much about each show. I guess overall, I think the new F! and the old F! are about equal.

In terms of the new F!, I found the PotC sequence to be the biggest disappointment. I really liked the original opening, where a cannon fires off and then the lights come up on the Columbia. It felt very dramatic. I don't really mind the switch from Peter Pan to PotC (although, I do miss Tick Tock at the end), but I didn't like the "story" used for the PotC. I'm not sure why Elizabeth Swann needs to be wearing a pink baby doll tutu outfit, but it looked awful and doesn't seem to fit with her character from the movies. I wished they had used her character when she was closer to being the Pirate King opposed to being the damsel in distress.

Other than the PotC issue, I liked the new Aladdin effect. I'm kind of "meh" about princesses, so whether it's Snow White, Ariel, and Belle or Rapunzel, Ariel, and Belle, it's fine with me (honestly, I'm just glad it wasn't Anna & Elsa). I liked that Kaa is still in the show, with his glowing eyes, and the monkeys on the rafts. I don't really miss the Pinocchio sequence, but it was never one of my favorite parts of the old F!. I liked the confrontation sequence (it felt similar to the old one to me); the fire effects on the river are still really cool. And I really like the use of the Mark Twain at the end (also looked the same from the old F!).

 

[Butterfly123]

I can't really say whether I like the old F! or the new F! better. There are elements of each show that I like better than the other show and there are things that I don't like as much about each show. I guess overall, I think the new F! and the old F! are about equal.

In terms of the new F!, I found the PotC sequence to be the biggest disappointment. I really liked the original opening, where a cannon fires off and then the lights come up on the Columbia. It felt very dramatic. I don't really mind the switch from Peter Pan to PotC (although, I do miss Tick Tock at the end), but I didn't like the "story" used for the PotC. I'm not sure why Elizabeth Swann needs to be wearing a pink baby doll tutu outfit, but it looked awful and doesn't seem to fit with her character from the movies. I wished they had used her character when she was closer to being the Pirate King opposed to being the damsel in distress.

Other than the PotC issue, I liked the new Aladdin effect. I'm kind of "meh" about princesses, so whether it's Snow White, Ariel, and Belle or Rapunzel, Ariel, and Belle, it's fine with me (honestly, I'm just glad it wasn't Anna & Elsa). I liked that Kaa is still in the show, with his glowing eyes, and the monkeys on the rafts. I don't really miss the Pinocchio sequence, but it was never one of my favorite parts of the old F!. I liked the confrontation sequence (it felt similar to the old one to me); the fire effects on the river are still really cool. And I really like the use of the Mark Twain at the end (also looked the same from the old F!).

I wondered why they had to dress the female from potc scene in a awful pink getup, but I figured it was a character from the new potc movie which I haven't seen. It's worse if that was supposed to be Elizabeth Swann! So much for strong women characters.

 

[ckmiles]

Quick question for these that have seen both (WDW and DL) are they the same?

I admit Im not a fan of the WDW- its a little dark for my taste.

 

[figment_jii]

Quick question for these that have seen both (WDW and DL) are they the same? I admit Im not a fan of the WDW- its a little dark for my taste.

They are the same basic story/premise, but the show elements are very different. I'd be inclined to say that DL version is even darker than the WDW version, mostly because the PotC sequence and the more realistic looking dragon. That being said, the finale at DL is much better (the Mark Twain versus the little boat used at DHS).

 

[Serrina89]

The aladdin effect wasnt working/didnt happen when I saw it

 

[ckmiles]

thanks Figment!

 

[JenniBarra]

Quick question for these that have seen both (WDW and DL) are they the same?

I admit Im not a fan of the WDW- its a little dark for my taste.

If I could have the DL show in an arena like WDW, I would be a happy camper!

 

[ktlm]

I wondered why they had to dress the female from potc scene in a awful pink getup, but I figured it was a character from the new potc movie which I haven't seen. It's worse if that was supposed to be Elizabeth Swann! So much for strong women characters.

We all missed and preferred the Peter Pan segment. I did like POTC, but my 11 year old DD immediately deemed it "sexist" due to that outfit. She was not amused, and left complaining the whole way about that one!

 

[GeneralTso]

I thought the old one was pretty boring. We've seen it a few times and after that, just walked by as it was going on. Never even crossed our mind to pay for something and get seating for it. It was kind of a "throwaway" show for us.

Saw the new one last month, I like it! I always like it when they update and change things up though. I'm not one of those "Walt is turning over in his grave" people who hates any Disney change, ever.
I don't think I need to see it over and over again. It's the same basic format.

 

[KipperBun]

We all missed and preferred the Peter Pan segment. I did like POTC, but my 11 year old DD immediately deemed it "sexist" due to that outfit. She was not amused, and left complaining the whole way about that one!

I felt the same way as your daughter but mostly because all Elizabeth did was yell for Jack to save her. The movie version of Elizabeth could save her own darn self. I also loved the original Peter Pan segment so I was doubly disappointed.

 

[3DisMunchkins]

I felt the same way as your daughter but mostly because all Elizabeth did was yell for Jack to save her. The movie version of Elizabeth could save her own darn self. I also loved the original Peter Pan segment so I was doubly disappointed.

I have to agree. Although I did like the show...I really got tired of hearing "Jaaaaack!" during the POTC scene. Her voice was way to whiny for me! I'm not sure why they felt the need to make the female character so annoying! I'm not even sure who she is supposed to be???
I too missed Peter Pan and especially Wendy!
Just my opinion...

 

[HydroGuy]

Quick question for these that have seen both (WDW and DL) are they the same?

I admit Im not a fan of the WDW- its a little dark for my taste.

I have seen F! at WDW twice and I might have been happy with it except for having seen the DL version 12+ times. The last time I saw F! at WDW I swore never again. The DL version is so much better IMO.

I have not seen the new DL version yet, something I hope to remedy in October.

As for darkness, I guess there are parts that are dark but overall I felt it was all part of the story of Mickey's dream.

Bottom line is I think everyone should see F! at DL. It is a really good show.

 

[ckmiles]

OK- I will make every effort to see Fantasmic next month.

thanks!

 

[scrapshappen]

I miss the Peter Pan sequence too. It was one of the reasons I preferred DL version of WDW.

 

[GenGen22]

I also like both of them equally. They both have good parts that the other didn't. There isn't anything about either of them that I disliked.

 

[closetdisneylover]

Okay, this is strictly my opinion on this subject as Fantasmic is very dear to my heart. I worked as a cast member for 2 summers out of high school back in 1997 and 1998. For two summers, I was in one of those "Charlie Brown" outfits doing crowd control for Fantasmic. It was one of the best work experience of my life and I highly recommend to all youngsters who are looking for work experience. When I wasn't working Fantasmic or the parade on Main Street, I was assigned to the Country Bear Jamboree (not glamorous, but thank god for the A/C).

Back on topic...

During those 2 summers, I got to watch Fantasmic twice a night, totaling to about maybe 100-200 times. Never did the show get old. It didn't get old because of the great music, fireworks, effects, and most importantly, the great story that flowed from start to end. You know you are watching a good show when it takes you on an emotional rollercoaster.

Fast forward to today to my adulthood. This is my 3rd year as an AP holder. I never thought of ever being one since I worked there before. In fact, when I was a cast member, I didn't even go into the park before/after work or on/off days. I don't know why, but I think I just wanted to being somewhere else besides at Disneyland outside of work. I only went back on my very last day with a colleague before going to college. Oh those memories...

But I digress again...

I signed up as an AP older during the 60th anniversary, and wow did Fantasmic (and other parts of Disneyland, especially the 60th fireworks) bring those emotions back. To me, Fantasmic WAS one of the best shows to have been ever put together.

Oh how I was so excited a few weeks ago when Fantasmic was to reopen. When the show started, I noticed the upgrades to the effects (lasers, etc). Those are good. Then I noticed they tweaked the music. And that's when it fell apart for me. The newly tweaked story (and some of the singing) just doesn't flow anymore. And just just like everyone else has said, the PotC scene is completely out of place.

See...Fantasmic is about Micky losing control of his dreams and fantasy. It is about how evil tries takes over. And finally how Micky defeats evil and takes back control. The key themes are dreams and fantasy, and hence the prince and princesses, Peter Pan, Tick-Tock, Pinocchio, Micky killing of the Dragon with his sword, etc.

In the newly revised Fantasmic, they managed to remove/replace half of the Fantasy that makes Fantasmic.

How these changes can even get sign-off from Disney is interesting to me. I mean, and this is my opinion, the original is hands down better than this revised one. Even the finale in the original had more oomph. I remember the original kept lifting me up, and building, until finally bring me back down with the Columbia character celebration.

Yes the Columbia character celebration is still there, but it not just about any single scene of the show. What made Fantasmic great was how all of the scenes interconnected and how the interconnection stirred my emotions.

Disney, keep the new whiz-bang effects, but please, revert back to the original Fantasmic music/story.

Yours Truly,
ClosetDisneyLover