Happily Ever After ending permanently Sept 29

[AlternateID]

I felt the same way for a long while, LOVED Wishes, was eh about HEA. Then one night we watched it while riding Dumbo, listening to the college program CMs sing their hearts out and it grew on me. Watched a 2nd time from behind the castle in New Fantasyland and it grew on me even more. Saw it for the last time this week and I cried!

Also cried like a baby the last time we saw Illuminations - I had spent nearly 20 years watching that show, from my husband and I dating to my kids growing up, so many memories for that one.

 

[luv2cheer92]

I just hope the new show has even half the emotion that HEA has. The message and story of it is just outstanding, leaves me crying like a baby (in the best way possible) every single time.

 

[Sparkly]

So glad to hear HEA is going. It was nothing more than an advertisement, IMO. My fear is that the next thing will be even worse. Seems there's very little creativity or effort at WDW anymore.

Seriously?! I literally require this to be satire.

 

[Deb]

I've only had one opportunity to see HEA. It was just my sister and I, two adults. Staked out our spot in advance, hung out and waited. Had a pretty good view of the castle. Right before the show started a man steps in front of me and pops his child onto his shoulders. Show over for me. I had literally no view of the castle. Never had this issue with Wishes because the prime viewing area was considerably larger. It's not right that only a small portion of people in the park can enjoy the show. I look forward to something different.

 

[Shughart]

Anything that spreads the crowds more would be better. I love HEA, but it was hard to watch. I'm hoping for more in the sky and less projections. Or projections everywhere, every land, not just castle and Main Street.

I really hope they can bring back a piece of Wishes into the new show, I like HEA a lot, but I loved wishes, and it really envoked an emotional response more than HEA did. I told my daughter, if they ever bring back a short run of Wishes, we would fly down even if it was just for a night. I don't plan to break that promise. We always stay about a week, but we can only do that for the summer, but I would fly to FL to watch Wishes for one night only any time of the year.

I agree. Watching from the hub is like watching the glow of 1000 cell phones. We found a spot on the benches along the walkway to the right of the castle (ice cream shop side, not Casey's side) where we could sit up on the benches/barrier and watch them without being super crowded and surrounded by screens. No projections, but I don't care for those. We could see the castle and the fireworks perfectly!

 

[oceanmarina]

If this is true, that was a pretty short lived show in Disney terms. Personally I still miss Wishes, so I won't be sad to see HEA go (again, if that's true). I do hope Disney Enchantment includes a nod to Wishes in some way.

Anything that spreads the crowds more would be better. I love HEA, but it was hard to watch. I'm hoping for more in the sky and less projections. Or projections everywhere, every land, not just castle and Main Street.

I really hope they can bring back a piece of Wishes into the new show, I like HEA a lot, but I loved wishes, and it really envoked an emotional response more than HEA did. I told my daughter, if they ever bring back a short run of Wishes, we would fly down even if it was just for a night. I don't plan to break that promise. We always stay about a week, but we can only do that for the summer, but I would fly to FL to watch Wishes for one night only any time of the year.

I had typed up a long response but my computer randomly refreshed so I'll just say, I only caught HEA once, on our last trip, in the rain. We were outside the main hub having just finished dinner at Crystal Palace and could barely catch glimpses of the projections through the trees. IMO, all the trees around the hub should be relocated. It will expand the viewing area and make nighttime shows safer by spreading out the audience. I really liked the music in HEA but the show overall ranked below Hallowishes (pre 2019 with the 180 degree bursts) and Holiday Wishes for me. Projections on the other side of the castle would also really help to spread out crowds. The surge of people by Casey's after the show felt unsafe.

yep to that. I agree the post HEA crowds by Casey’s were Bananas. I kept my kids close.

Did wishes have the pirates of the Caribbean music and Tink flying at the end? That was my favorite fireworks show at MK.

 

[PalmettoPath]

yep to that. I agree the post HEA crowds by Casey’s were Bananas. I kept my kids close.

Did wishes have the pirates of the Caribbean music and Tink flying at the end? That was my favorite fireworks show at MK.

Yes, Tink flew near the beginning of Wishes. And a big no to Pirates of the Caribbean. That would not at all fit the story of Wishes. And I agree, easily the best ever Disney night time show (full bias, of course).

 

[luv2cheer92]

yep to that. I agree the post HEA crowds by Casey’s were Bananas. I kept my kids close.

Did wishes have the pirates of the Caribbean music and Tink flying at the end? That was my favorite fireworks show at MK.

That is HEA. And yes, best fireworks show ever.

 

[luv2cheer92]

Yes, Tink flew near the beginning of Wishes. And a big no to Pirates of the Caribbean. That would not at all fit the story of Wishes. And I agree, easily the best ever Disney night time show (full bias, of course).

Pirates music with Tink flying at the end is HEA. That Tink flying moment is the most emotional moment of any fireworks show I've ever seen. So incredibly well done.

ETA: Realized my wording was off here, Tink does not fly to Pirates music haha. Though that would be interesting.

 

[Heather07438]

Then one night we watched it while riding Dumbo, listening to the college program CMs sing their hearts out and it grew on me.

This happened to me at Fantasmic. It was a windy evening and it was delayed so we were all goofing around in the stands singing and doing the wave etc. Then the show comes on with the section of CMs singing along. I always loved Fantasmic but boy, that was some experience all loving the show together. That’s one I’d really miss if they changed. And we were rained out the last chance we had. Come back Fantasmic!

 

[Eastern]

I've only had one opportunity to see HEA. It was just my sister and I, two adults. Staked out our spot in advance, hung out and waited. Had a pretty good view of the castle. Right before the show started a man steps in front of me and pops his child onto his shoulders. Show over for me. I had literally no view of the castle. Never had this issue with Wishes because the prime viewing area was considerably larger. It's not right that only a small portion of people in the park can enjoy the show. I look forward to something different.

This has happened to us many times.

 

[Alexis56578]

I only got to see Wishes once. I only got to see HEA once.

So from a non frequent flyer perspective, I think it's kinda neat to have a new thing to see. We had a great view for HEA the last time we were there, but we also got to the hub like an hour early. It'll be good to have something that's viewable from more than one location

 

[Seabean]

I Wish they would bring back an updated version of.....

 

[DisneyOma]

Seriously?! I literally require this to be satire.

not satire at all - I found it to be a constant stream of movie clips with weird transitions and random fireworks. Compared to Wishes, it showed limited creativity and looked like someone threw it together over a long weekend.

 

[luv2cheer92]

not satire at all - I found it to be a constant stream of movie clips with weird transitions and random fireworks. Compared to Wishes, it showed limited creativity and looked like someone threw it together over a long weekend.

That's gotta be the strangest take I've ever heard of it. You really don't get the story? And I find the creativity to be the some of the best they've ever done.

 

[lcc2]

That's gotta be the strangest take I've ever heard of it. You really don't get the story? And I find the creativity to be the some of the best they've ever done.

I agree. Seems like they don't understand the transitions and themes of the story. It is such a great show!

 

[cygnusx1jg]

Will HEA be taking place every night from now until Sept. 29 or will some nights be skipped?

 

[DisneyOma]

That's gotta be the strangest take I've ever heard of it. You really don't get the story? And I find the creativity to be the some of the best they've ever done.

I agree. Seems like they don't understand the transitions and themes of the story. It is such a great show!

Compared to Wishes? No, not even close. They jam a bunch of movie clips/characters onto the castle. They've got music from Brave, but stuff from Up and Cars, etc. They play weirdly distorted clips from the movies, not even bothering to size them, edit them, or create ones that fit on the castle. Huge sections of just slapping on music and showing characters.

 

[luv2cheer92]

Compared to Wishes? No, not even close.

I'm just gonna guess that you don't understand the story of it. Because if you did, I'm not quite sure how one could come to that conclusion. I get someone not liking it (well, not really, but everyone is entitled to their opinion), but to say it's just a mash-up of movie clips is just severely misunderstanding the show.

 

[lcc2]

Compared to Wishes? No, not even close. They jam a bunch of movie clips/characters onto the castle. They've got music from Brave, but stuff from Up and Cars, etc. They play weirdly distorted clips from the movies, not even bothering to size them, edit them, or create ones that fit on the castle. Huge sections of just slapping on music and showing characters.

Nothing wrong with disliking HEA. I happen to love it! Brave, Up and Cars are part of the "journey" segment of the show. You can read about all the different themes online. I personally don't see sizing issues but maybe that's because I enjoy the show so much.