MSEP to end Oct. 9 - Parade moves to Disneyland for a "limited time"

[mom2rtk]

Only loss I see is the folks who watched it will now be in line for attractions with me.

That's why this is a bad move for everyone, those who love to watch, and those who don't.

And even if something is in the works for an eventual move for PTN, it still massively throws this fall's guests under the bus. My friend visiting in November is heartbroken.

 

[mom2rtk]

This is a crappy, seemingly random decision, because now they're saying that PTN will also run at Disneyland "on select nights during the holiday season" (whatever that means). So Disneyland will have two nighttime parades, and WDW will have...none. All this so they can run PTN occasionally, and MSEP at DL when PTN is not being presented? That makes no damn sense.

Here's something that would make a lot more sense: keep PTN at DL, and MSEP at WDW. MSEP is wildly popular at WDW. I know some California locals have a nostalgic soft spot for the MSEP, but after seeing the technologically advanced PTN, how many will be disappointed by the old parade?

Or they could just move PTN to WDW during MSEP's run at Disneyland.

Any of these options would make a lot more sense than the clueless one they came up with. It's as if they really don't know what to do with two nighttime parades, so someone threw darts at a dartboard, and this is the result.

Or they're just cheaping out on us. Again.

I'm not looking at it as DL having 2 night parades. Starting 9/5 they will have no night parade for a while. I'm guessing they are keeping PTN there through the holidays to run on peak days only (maybe a week or two the end of December?) because they have no Fantasmic right now.

I keep reading through what was said. I think PTN is going somewhere. Jut not WDW.

 

[Lisa F]

Honestly I don't think this is so much a "Move the parade to DL" as a "stop running nighttime parades to spend money." I mean, really - it takes 3 months to move the floats to CA and get them ready to go? Someone said the new fiscal year starts October 1 at WDW. If that is true I think they are just taking this thing offline indefinitely with the BS about it going to DL thrown out there to make it seem like a happy and planned thing. If they intention were to bring it to DL then why aren't they bringing it to DL and running it rather than saying it will be coming "next year"?

 

[katie1992]

Soooo so upset about this, we are going in November, I have seen MSEP and Spectromagic but my Boyfriend has never seen a night parade. I hope they do bring something to replace it straight away but I'm not feeling hopeful.

 

[RachaelA]

I mean we all shouldn't be shocked that Disney is once again screwing people over 2 months before their trip! Thanks, Disney!

 

[k8Davies]

Now this might just me being cynical and I have no basis for this what so every - but do you think this is because of Holiday event ticket sales?

Not sure how they are doing on those, but with attendance down could this be an attempt to get numbers up? As the only way now to see a nighttime parade in the MK, past 9th Oct, is to go to see one of those.

As I said before I have no basis for this and probably just a bit bummed out as my trip is in November and I was really looking forward to seeing the parade again. So I might be unfairly laying unfounded accusations at Disney's door. (Although I would be shocked if this doesn't add a bit of a spike to their sales).

 

[Lisa F]

Soooo so upset about this, we are going in November, I have seen MSEP and Spectromagic but my Boyfriend has never seen a night parade. I hope they do bring something to replace it straight away but I'm not feeling hopeful.

I don't think they will. I think this is a cost cutting measure, pure and simple. If it were just about moving to to DL then why would it take 3 months or more to get it up and running at DL? They are taking all of the nighttime parades offline for the next 3 months. period. Sure they will show paint the night on "select holiday nights" but for the most part they knew that if they just said that they were discontinuing the nighttime parade at WDW for budgetary reasons there would be a revolt on their hands. In this case they are making it like it is something good. Bringing it home. It is a load of BS. How much does anyone want to bet that come December those floats are sitting in storage at WDW still.

 

[Lisa F]

Now this might just me being cynical and I have no basis for this what so every - but do you think this is because of Holiday event ticket sales?

Not sure how they are doing on those, but with attendance down could this be an attempt to get numbers up? As the only way now to see a nighttime parade in the MK, past 9th Oct, is to go to see one of those.

As I said before I have no basis for this and probably just a bit bummed out as my trip is in November and I was really looking forward to seeing the parade again. So I might be unfairly laying unfounded accusations at Disney's door. (Although I would be shocked if this doesn't add a bit of a spike to their sales).

I don't think it is because of Holiday ticket sales. I think those are doing pretty well actually. A lot of the hard ticket events are selling out or sold out. I think it is because they looked at the numbers of what it costs to run the thing and decided to cancel it. Only it would sound bad to say they are canceling it so instead they are "bringing it home." But not until the new year. Then you'll hear "no no we did not mean January, we meant June" or something. Attendance numbers were down in the summer and I think they are preparing for the worst for the fall/winter although many places are predicting that the fall/winter will be MORE busy than typical. I guess we will see. I am hearbroken.

 

[Princesca]

Either way, whether it's cost cutting or not, I think it says something about the negative impact of the "nickel and diming" that Disney has been doing that we are all very quick to presume that's the case. I think we kind of have Disney-induced PTSD... post-traumatic scrounging disorder.

 

[mom2rtk]

I don't think they will. I think this is a cost cutting measure, pure and simple. If it were just about moving to to DL then why would it take 3 months or more to get it up and running at DL? They are taking all of the nighttime parades offline for the next 3 months. period. Sure they will show paint the night on "select holiday nights" but for the most part they knew that if they just said that they were discontinuing the nighttime parade at WDW for budgetary reasons there would be a revolt on their hands. In this case they are making it like it is something good. Bringing it home. It is a load of BS. How much does anyone want to bet that come December those floats are sitting in storage at WDW still.

Totally agree. For all we know, "select holiday nights" at DL could be nothing more than Christmas week. Which would mean both resorts have no night parade for at least several months. Keep in mind DL has been operating without another key night show all year already (Fantasmic).

 

[Lisa F]

Totally agree. For all we know, "select holiday nights" at DL could be nothing more than Christmas week. Which would mean both resorts have no night parade for at least several months. Keep in mind DL has been operating without another key night show all year already (Fantasmic).

it could be christmas eve, christmas day, new year's eve, new year's day and that's it.

I didn't realize that fantasmic was not operating at DL. I have the dinner package booked, and hoping for the fireworks dessert package at HS. I hope I don't have to scratch those off my list too.

 

[gatorlisa]

I'm really bummed about this. I've seen Spectro Magic and Paint the Night, and they are fine, but I love MSEP so much more than either of those. It is the only thing I really have any memory of from my first trip to Disney in 1981 and I was so excited to find out it had returned when we arrived for a weekend trip in 2010. We still have some days left on a couple of non-expiring tickets and live a pretty manageable drive away, so booked a spontaneous weekend trip for the end of September to catch it one last time.

 

[DisneyWishes14]

Attendance is down, so it doesn't surprise me that they are eliminating the parade. Especially as we head into the holiday season with many nights in MK occupied with hard ticket events. From Oct. to Dec. of this year, if you want a nighttime parade, you'll have to pay for it! Attendance is down, revenue is up. WDW obviously wants to keep that trend going.

 

[mom2rtk]

it could be christmas eve, christmas day, new year's eve, new year's day and that's it.

I didn't realize that fantasmic was not operating at DL. I have the dinner package booked, and hoping for the fireworks dessert package at HS. I hope I don't have to scratch those off my list too.

We're probably going to DL the first week of the holiday season (right before Thanksgiving) but I'd be shocked if PTN was running. I really feel like they're only going to do it when they have to because of the crowds. And yep, that could be just a few nights between Christmas and New Year's.

Fantasmic has been dark since the first of the year because of the construction in/around the Rivers of America area. That's why I've been so shocked that they would discontinue PTN.

 

[goofyintoronto]

I love the Electrical Parade. And my trip in October starts the 12th. Oh well. I did get to see it earlier this year with my family.

I just hope (though without good reason) that Rivers of Light is finally up and running in October.

My trip also starts on Oct.12. Im so bummed that i'll be missing it. Oh well. I have seen it plenty of times I guess.

I agree with you on ROL, I hope its running before our trip. At this point though, the way things are going, I honestly doubt it.

 

[gorkt]

This is upsetting. I normally am not one to complain that much about this sort of thing but MSEP is a staple and I was really looking forward to it this trip.

 

[BrianL]

I LOVE MSEP and all, but I understand the need to move forward. That said, I don't like how they did not announce any kind of replacement (even if there would be a few months of downtime before it. No nighttime parade just feels wrong. Hopefully they are planning to do something new or bring over Paint the Night. It needs to be great to replace MSEP though.

 

[ariane37]

I love MSEP. I watch it multiple times each trip. I know the music annoys some but I love that too!! Very happy we're going for a quick trip in a couple weeks so we can watch it one more time.

 

[heath92681]

Either way, whether it's cost cutting or not, I think it says something about the negative impact of the "nickel and diming" that Disney has been doing that we are all very quick to presume that's the case. I think we kind of have Disney-induced PTSD... post-traumatic scrounging disorder.

This.

 

[heath92681]

I LOVE MSEP and all, but I understand the need to move forward. That said, I don't like how they did not announce any kind of replacement (even if there would be a few months of downtime before it. No nighttime parade just feels wrong. Hopefully they are planning to do something new or bring over Paint the Night. It needs to be great to replace MSEP though.

I have no problem with a change that moves things forward. The problem is right now I have zero faith that Disney is concerned with moving forward.