Fantasy in the sky?

[Tasscrapper]

Are these fireworks worth seeing? We will only have one chance but it is on Monday night which is a holiday/marathon day and I just don't know if I want to try and fight the crowds or if it would be better to try and enjoy rides with hopefully shorter lines. Or possibly go over to DCA. What do you guys think?

 

[squidlet]

I've heard the show is good, but quite short -- 4 minutes or so. It is sort of a place filler until the 60th anniv. fireworks starts. People probably won't be crowding around the castle for a good viewing spot, so ride lines wouldn't be any shorter.

 

[travelbug08]

It was nice enough, but very short. It was relatively busy when we watched last Friday.

 

[Tasscrapper]

Thanks guys. I think we will skip it. I had no idea they were only a few minutes long.

 

[disneychrista]

The good thing with Fantasy in the Sky is that you do not have to be in front of the castle to get a good view. It does not use the castle like the newer shows do.

 

[starlightbh8]

Anyone have a recommendation on a good place to watch this fireworks show? If the castle is not utilized for this show, then I'd definitely like to avoid that crowded area.

 

[Astylla]

I hear by It's a Small World or my favorite the esplanade would be good choices.

 

[GatorChris]

I've heard the show is good, but quite short -- 4 minutes or so.

4 minutes!?!?! This is getting worse by the day. It's not good enough that half the park is down for refurb. Not good enough that they cancel World fo Color for months. No. They introduce night time entertainment on par with Sea World. 4 minutes? Disney is cutting their budget....at my expense. I'm just wondering if there's any GOOD news coming out of Disneyland. The answer for my upcoming trip would be a resounding NO.

Welcome to the Refurb Celebration.

 

[disneyobsessed808]

The fireworks show is really not worth staking out a spot for. I saw them from Tomorrowland and it was fine.

Well, supposedly its in the name of improving/creating for the 60th anniversary.

I'm less bothered by refurbs than I am by the creeping insanity of crowd levels, at times that are supposed to be "slow"

 

[figment_jii]

4 minutes!?!?! This is getting worse by the day. It's not good enough that half the park is down for refurb.

I get that folks are frustrated and disappointed, but half of the park is not down for refurbishment. While I think it's fair to say that a lot of big things are down at various times this spring, it's an exaggeration to say that it's half of the parks. I just don't want folks to read this thread (or ones like it) and think that half of the parks are really closed.

Disney is cutting their budget....at my expense.

Disney is not cutting their budget if you consider that they're spending money to upgrade, refurbish, and improve attractions and shows. Yes, the guests that are going before the 60th kicks off are bearing the brunt of the refurbishments, but that's not the same as saying they're cutting their budget. Refurbishments happen and there isn't really any substitute they can roll out. For example, if they're going to refurbish Splash Mountain it's not like they have a second Splash Mountain they could open in it's place.

In terms of fireworks, Fantasy in the Sky is a place holder show that they're using while they refurbish the castle and work on upgrading the existing firework equipment. Assuming the rumors about the equipment upgrades, it's not surprising that they have to go back to far simpler show. They aren't going to invest in developing a placeholder show, so the only other option is to completely forgo fireworks while this work takes place. While a 4 minute older show is hardly ideal, I think it's better than the alternative of no fireworks at all.

I guess, my question to you would be what would they have to do to make you happy? I mean in realistic terms, given that they want to have the improvements ready for the 60th, what do you think they should do? The only things that come to my mind (that might make some folks happy - but still not all) are discounted tickets (which they're doing for SoCal residents, but it doesn't help travelers from elsewhere) and longer park hours (which probably doesn't make sense during the lower attendance periods of the year).

 

[GatorChris]

What should they do? How about not doing extremely long refurbs all at the same time (Soarin', Splash, Peter Pan, Matterhorn, Grizzly River, Redwood Creek). I get that rides go down for general maintenance, but months at time? At the same time? Maybe this happens a lot and I'm just not familiar with it. Plus with WOC going down, their "replacement" is to take away the firework show that apparently is awesome (I've been hoping and waiting to see it and finally got an AP to be able to catch it) and replace it with 4 minutes. I have friends who "purchase" enough good fireworks to last that long, and at less expense than a one day ticket. I guess my expectations for my upcoming trip are waaaaaayyyy too high. I'm sure we'll still have lots of fun. But night time entertainment is important to my Disney experience, so when it gets cut, I feel pretty down about it. I guess I just wish that something extra could be thrown our way instead of just more things being cut. I dread to think that with all these attractions down, what happens when one of the other rides goes down with a mechanical issue?

 

[figment_jii]

What should they do? How about not doing extremely long refurbs all at the same time (Soarin', Splash, Peter Pan, Matterhorn, Grizzly River, Redwood Creek). I get that rides go down for general maintenance, but months at time? At the same time? Maybe this happens a lot and I'm just not familiar with it.

As discussed frequently on this board, I really think it has to do with the upcoming 60th anniversary. They're doing some major refurbishments/over hauls in advance of that event. A fair number of closures in the winter is not uncommon, but this is more than normal. Still, the closures are what they are and there really isn't anything anyone can do about it. So why not focus on what will be open and what will be offered? The Frozen stuff is new, there are still plenty of other attractions that will be running. F! is nightly, along with the parades.

Plus with WOC going down, their "replacement" is to take away the firework show that apparently is awesome (I've been hoping and waiting to see it and finally got an AP to be able to catch it) and replace it with 4 minutes.

No, the replacement for WoC is nightly F!. Normally F! would only run on Fri-Sun (the same schedule as fireworks), while WoC would be nightly. Having nightly F! is unusual for this time of year, which indicates it's the replacement for WoC. I know for your family F! is not a good choice, but for many folks this is a big/good substitute.

I have friends who "purchase" enough good fireworks to last that long, and at less expense than a one day ticket.

See, that is one way then that our base points of view are different. I live in a place where fireworks are illegal to own or set off. So if you get caught putting on a show, the fines and jail time would far exceed the cost of a one-day ticket.

I guess my expectations for my upcoming trip are waaaaaayyyy too high...I dread to think that with all these attractions down, what happens when one of the other rides goes down with a mechanical issue?

In terms of expectations, it depends a little on what you are expecting and why. You've mentioned in other threads about a "perfect" trip and if that's the baseline expectation, then nothing is ever going to live up to that expectation. When one goes during the winter/spring before a major anniversary event; the schedule is likely to be off-kilter and things will be closed or different. Given that you know this in advance and you know that attractions close for issues (mechanical, safety, etc.) unexpectedly, I think you can gauge your expectations appropriately and avoid being disappointed when you get to the parks.

 

[Aladora]

Plus with WOC going down, their "replacement" is to take away the firework show that apparently is awesome (I've been hoping and waiting to see it and finally got an AP to be able to catch it) and replace it with 4 minutes.

With WOC going down, their replacement is to show Fantasmic! every night instead of just on the weekends.

Whoops, seems Figment beat me to this answer!

 

[disneychrista]

They introduce night time entertainment

They showed this for 40+ years.

Plus with WOC going down, their "replacement" is to take away the firework show that apparently is awesome and replace it with 4 minutes.

They can't show "Remember" because the Castle will be under tarps.

 

[GatorChris]

When one goes during the winter/spring before a major anniversary event; the schedule is likely to be off-kilter and things will be closed or different.

You had to go and bring up Off Kilter?

They showed this for 40+ years.


They can't show "Remember" because the Castle will be under tarps.

You had to go and bring up the Castle?

 

[figment_jii]

You had to go and bring up Off Kilter?

 

[T0rrent]

You can probably also blame the cal osha mandated refurbs as well for this. While it's typical for Grizzly and Splash to be down in jan/feb, some of these 60 refurbs seem to be pushed back due to how long BTMRR was down due to the delays, plus with what happened last summer where I believe all the mountains were down for a few days.

 

[djk]

Will this be the fireworks show offered until the 60th anniversary?

 

[disneychrista]

Will this be the fireworks show offered until the 60th anniversary?

Yes.

 

[cymbaldiva]

Hey I'm excited - I always loved Fantasy in the Sky!!!

I am pretty bummed about so many closures though - between that and shorter park hours I think a ticket discount would be nice...