MK should "randomly" throw in a version of Fantasy In the Sky

[civileng68]

Ok, before you read the rest of this, please note, I'm not talking about on special nights like the Halloween party or Christmas party or Senior night or whatever. I'm talking about on normal nights through the year.

I think that on random, COMPLETELY random, NOT A PUBLIC Schedule to be seen! that Fantasy in the Sky should be shown after Wishes. Just imagine it going like this......................"wishes ends with the big finale"...............then just as the castle lights up, the PA voice comes on and says "Ladies and Gentleman, you've selected a great night to attend Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom, and as our honored guests, we welcome you to enjoy a great Fantasy in the Sky!" then the show starts.

Ok, maybe my choice of words is lame, but you get the point!

 

[Chuck S]

I can't imagine setting up another full show of fireworks, having a second set of launchers set up and programmed. Very, very expensive for Disney to do.

 

[civileng68]

I can't imagine setting up another full show of fireworks, having a second set of launchers set up and programmed. Very, very expensive for Disney to do.

Well really that's not an issue because on many special occassions they've done it. In fact FITS really is not a heavy load of shells like Wishes is, so really the space that was laid out for FITS initially was very small. In fact even Wishes is run out of a fairly small area, as they are just efficient with their use of space, and now that they are using pneumatically launched fireworks instead of black powder they don't have to worry about fire hazzards as much, meaning they dont need a large area to launch from.

 

[WDSearcher]

It's really hard for WDW to do things "randomly." And it really doesn't have anything to do with cost. It has to do with guest expectations. Let's take a simple example -- washcloth animals left on the bed by Mousekeeping. It used to be a cute little surprise that people would talk about on the boards -- an extra bit of Disney magic. Then, pretty soon, it became a big deal -- "Why didn't WE get washcloth animals?" "How do you request washcloth animals?" "Did we not get any washcloth animals because we didn't tip enough?" -- it became expected. So many guests were actually complaining that they DIDN'T get them, that some resorts discontinued the practice altogether. Guests would get upset at the hotel staff when they saw them, asking why THEIR child didn't get the special washcloth animals.

Same with "surprise FITS." You've got someone planning their trip and they can choose Tuesday or Wednesday to see Wishes. They choose Tuesday -- they see Wishes, they have a great time. Then they hear from other guests that on Wednesday, Disney also showed FITS and it was so cool!! Then, guest #1 goes to the front desk of their resort, (a) wanting to know why they didn't know about the extra FITS show, because if they did, they'd have re-scheduled their Wishes night so they could see them both; and (b) wanting to know when they're going to do it again. So then the front desk folks -- who know when it's coming again, because they have a full internal schedule of events -- is faced with either lying to the guest or telling the guest, at which point it no longer becomes a surprise, because people start telling each other and changing their plans and then on the "surprise" nights, MK is absolutely PACKED with people expecting FITS. At which point, it's no longer a surprise.

How do I know this? Because the exact same thing happened during the "Surprise Celebration" for the 20th anniversary. There were surprise appearances from Roger Rabbit throughout the day, throughout the parks, and surprise giveaways of things like annual passes and such. Guest Relations took a LOT of complaints that year from guests who just didn't happen to be in the right park at the right time -- those who missed the surprises and were upset. People would come back and post about how they were surprised at Indiana Jones or whatever, and people got all involved trying to figure out a pattern and trade times and places, and planners went into a tizzy trying to rearrange their schedules to be at such-and-such a place at such-and-such a time because someone predicted the surprise would happen. It was a nightmare.

So ... it sounds like a fun idea -- adding a little FITS at the end of a day. But from a practical standpoint ... not as simple as it sounds.

 

[civileng68]

It's really hard for WDW to do things "randomly." And it really doesn't have anything to do with cost. It has to do with guest expectations. Let's take a simple example -- washcloth animals left on the bed by Mousekeeping. It used to be a cute little surprise that people would talk about on the boards -- an extra bit of Disney magic. Then, pretty soon, it became a big deal -- "Why didn't WE get washcloth animals?" "How do you request washcloth animals?" "Did we not get any washcloth animals because we didn't tip enough?" -- it became expected. So many guests were actually complaining that they DIDN'T get them, that some resorts discontinued the practice altogether. Guests would get upset at the hotel staff when they saw them, asking why THEIR child didn't get the special washcloth animals.

Same with "surprise FITS." You've got someone planning their trip and they can choose Tuesday or Wednesday to see Wishes. They choose Tuesday -- they see Wishes, they have a great time. Then they hear from other guests that on Wednesday, Disney also showed FITS and it was so cool!! Then, guest #1 goes to the front desk of their resort, (a) wanting to know why they didn't know about the extra FITS show, because if they did, they'd have re-scheduled their Wishes night so they could see them both; and (b) wanting to know when they're going to do it again. So then the front desk folks -- who know when it's coming again, because they have a full internal schedule of events -- is faced with either lying to the guest or telling the guest, at which point it no longer becomes a surprise, because people start telling each other and changing their plans and then on the "surprise" nights, MK is absolutely PACKED with people expecting FITS. At which point, it's no longer a surprise.

How do I know this? Because the exact same thing happened during the "Surprise Celebration" for the 20th anniversary. There were surprise appearances from Roger Rabbit throughout the day, throughout the parks, and surprise giveaways of things like annual passes and such. Guest Relations took a LOT of complaints that year from guests who just didn't happen to be in the right park at the right time -- those who missed the surprises and were upset. People would come back and post about how they were surprised at Indiana Jones or whatever, and people got all involved trying to figure out a pattern and trade times and places, and planners went into a tizzy trying to rearrange their schedules to be at such-and-such a place at such-and-such a time because someone predicted the surprise would happen. It was a nightmare.

So ... it sounds like a fun idea -- adding a little FITS at the end of a day. But from a practical standpoint ... not as simple as it sounds.

Very good point! and you are exactly right! In that case then, just like they used to do Random EMH that were scheduled, couldn't they do a scheduled FITS but just do it on occasion?

 

[WDSearcher]

Very good point! and you are exactly right! In that case then, just like they used to do Random EMH that were scheduled, couldn't they do a scheduled FITS but just do it on occasion?

They probably could, but again ... you schedule it and plan it, and the park FILLS with people there to see the special FITS performance after Wishes. What would have been a "normal" night with "normal" attendance becomes a crush of people trying to see the one time that month that FITS is going to be done.

With EMH it's different ... you're limited to only the people at the resorts. If you added a scheduled FITS show, you'd have resort people, off-site people, locals, and those wacky fans who would drive up from Miami just to see it. My guess is that many guests would see it as a bad thing -- their normal evening at MK, along with their normally great seating for Wishes, is now ruined by an influx of people all there just to see this "special event."

And how do we know this? Because that's exactly what used to happen when they would announce scheduled (but rare) performances of "Sorcery in the Sky" at MGM. Which is part of the reason why they don't do that any more.

 

[Luv4Disney]

I don't think that would be a good idea because "Wishes" is SO much better than "Fantasy in the Sky." It would make the old show look bad. LoL.