Matt Paul’s 2/10-2/11/10 Media Event Video Coverage

WDWNT Author on February 16, 2010

“What’s New, What’s Next” – Walt Disney World Resort

“What’s New, What’s Next” – Interviews

“Celebrate Volunteers” Media Event

Epcot “Can Do” Cavalcade

“Disney’s Friends for Change” – Private Concert featuring Demi Lovato & Joe Jonas

Summer Nightastic Overview

WDWNT Author on February 11, 2010

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. (Feb. 10, 2010) – The “Main Street Electrical Parade” lights up the streets of Magic Kingdom and headlines a season of after-dark excitement coming to Walt Disney World Resort.

“After the sun goes down, our Walt Disney World parks will light up the night with ‘Summer Nightastic!’, ” announced Meg Crofton, president of Walt Disney World Resort, at a media event Wednesday.

Disney magic will shine and shimmer in a whole new light. Here’s a look around:

  • With floats and characters appearing for the first time at Walt Disney World Resort, Disney’s “Main Street Electrical Parade” returns with its joyous sights and sounds. Direct from Disneyland and marking its first engagement in Florida since 2001, the cherished parade will be led by Tinker Bell waving from the basket of a magical balloon aboard a new float. Pinocchio and Snow White join the parade this summer, aboard bright new floats. Disney’s “Main Street Electrical Parade” is set for its summer-long nighttime premiere in early June at Magic Kingdom.
  • The Twilight Zone™ Tower of Terror welcomes “drop-ins” this summer with even more pulse-racing surprises. New lighting effects and the addition of a new drop sequence, created especially for “Summer Nightastic!”, will bring unexpected frights to guests who step into that infamous service elevator. If they dare.
  • What could be more summery than fireworks on a star-studded night? Magic Kingdom will treat guests to a special summer fireworks spectacular. The night sky will explode in vivid colors and brilliant visual effects as whimsical music fills the air.
  • Other fun! The return of the Sounds Like Summer concert series to Epcot and extended evening hours at Disney’s Animal Kingdom several times a week add up to summer fun as only Disney can do – at all four Walt Disney World theme parks.

Official Announcement of “Summer Nightastic” from Disney

WDWNT Author on February 10, 2010

From the Disney Parks Blog:

Big news today…we’re thrilled to announce that one of the most beloved attractions in Disney history, the Main Street Electrical Parade, is returning to Magic Kingdom Park this summer – and it’ll be better than ever. The classic parade will feature new LED lights and new audio technology when it begins its limited engagement at Walt Disney World in early June 2010.

Main Street Electrical Parade
Tinker Bell will lead the parade waving from the basket of a magical balloon aboard a new float. The parade’s return is part of Summer Nightastic! — an amazing lineup of new and enhanced entertainment planned this summer at Walt Disney World theme parks. For example, there will be new lighting effects and a new addition to Twilight Zone Tower of Terror. Also, Magic Kingdom will treat guests to a special summer fireworks spectacular.

Main Street Electrical Parade

There’s plenty more planned and we’ll have more details in upcoming weeks but we wanted to tell you what we knew first on The Disney Parks Blog. Check back here for more.

“What’s New, What’s Next for WDW” Live Updates

WDWNT Author on February 10, 2010

In response to an overwhelming response from our followers, we are providing a number of ways to keep in touch with live updates from tonight’s announcements from the “What’s New, What’s Next for Walt Disney World” press conference from 5:30 PM through 6:45 PM ET. You can either follow the updates on Twitter by following us @wdwnt, by the special live interactive chat on WDWNTunes, or by refreshing this post that will be updated with information as it is provided. The updates will begin below shortly, we hope you enjoy our live coverage.

6:42 PM ET – Fireworks show at Magic Kingdom will be never seen before, not Magic, Music, and Mayhem.

6:29 PM ET – Summer Nightastic will also include extended hours at Disney’s Animal Kingdom seven days a week, Main Street Electrical Parade will be the version of the parade that performed at Disney’s California Adventure in 2009

6:20 PM ET – Presentation ended, more details coming from post conference events, so stay tuned

6:10 PM ET – Tower of Terror additions may be temporary for Summer Nightastic or permanent, not sure

6:07 PM ET – Wide World of Sports talk – http://twitpic.com/12h4e8

6:06 PM ET – Disney Cruise Line stuff, not our bag 😉

6:00 PM ET – Parks Blog has info already on June 2010 MSEP return: http://disneyparks.disney.go.com/blog/2010/02/main-street-electrical-parade-returns-to-walt-disney-world-resort-this-summer/

5:59 PM ET – Now on to Fantasyland Forest: http://twitpic.com/12h2tq

5:58 PM ET – Electrical Parade will have new floats that debuted at Disneyland in 2009 for WDW 2010 return

5:57 PM ET – Tower of Terror at Hollywood Studios to get new drop sequences and effects, Magic Music and Mayhem fireworks coming to Magic Kingdom

5:56 PM ET – MSEP officially returns for Summer Nightastic: http://twitpic.com/12h25z

5:55 PM ET – Main Street Electrical Parade to return to Magic Kingdom

5:54 PM ET – Talking about recent changes

5:50 PM ET – Talking about Give a Day, Get a Disney Day

5:48 PM ET – Crofton Begins Presentation: http://twitpic.com/12h0kz

5:46 PM ET – Still waiting: http://twitpic.com/12gznv

5:37 PM ET – Another look at the stage: http://twitpic.com/12gy1i

5:35 PM ET -Meg Crofton and Al Weiss have arrived and taken a seat.

5:26 PM ET – Banks Lee has a front row seat: http://twitpic.com/12gvnp, http://twitpic.com/12gvmx

5:04 PM ET – Matt Paul intimidated by Channel 6’s equipment 🙂

4:54 PM ET – Another pic from inside the grill: http://twitpic.com/12goob

4:50 PM ET – Blurry picture of new ESPN Grill at Wide World of Sports: http://twitpic.com/12gocx

4:45 PM ET – WDWNT is checked in: http://twitpic.com/12gndc

4:40 PM ET – The event is being held at the new ESPN Wide World of Sports complex, which will be dedicated as such later this month: http://twitpic.com/12ghsy, http://twitpic.com/12gigp

Summer Nightastic Comes to a Close, Still With No Dragon

WDWNT Author on August 21, 2009

According to the OC Register’s Around Disney blog:

The image of a giant glowing dragon spitting fire graces most promotional material — billboards, flags, fliers — for Disney’s Summer Nightastic events.

But the theme park’s official summer season will end this weekend without any appearance of the dragon in the water-and-light Fantasmic show because of technical difficulties.

Still, Disney officials promise that fans should get ample time to see the dragon, once it’s ready, because the Fantasmic show will be extended until the end of the year, said John McClintock, a Disneyland spokesman. Disney recently decided to add extra time for the show. On busy days, a third show is added at 11:30 p.m.

But a firm date for the dragon’s debut has yet to be released.

The dragon was supposed to emerge as the centerpiece of a revamped Fantasmic show, stretching 35 feet high in 17 seconds as “Sleeping Beauty” character Maleficent transformed into a dragon in the water and light show. The dragon then was to ignite the Rivers of America for 25 seconds, according to Disney’s press materials.

The dragon was designed to be 40 feet tall by 28 feet wide, weighing about 10,000 pounds.

But the dragon has yet to get off the ground in public, prompting much debate and discussion among Disney fans online. Fans even gave the dragon the nickname of Murphy after Murphy’s Law.

Disney has continued to release the same official statement about the dragon:

“Our goal is to exceed our Guests’ expectations every day. Because the dragon is technically complex and the largest and most fully animated Disney character ever created for a live stage show, we want it to be perfect before adding it to Fantasmic! However, Fantasmic! is a summer tradition at Disneyland, and we’re glad we have been able to offer the show throughout the summer. We’re happy so many Guests have been able to experience it.”

Al Lutz, editor of Miceage.com, a Disney watchdog blog, said he has heard that the dragon may be up soon, but he isn’t sure he believes it after so many delays. Lutz has monitored the behind-the-scenes problems on his blog.

“I’ve never seen so much attention on one thing,” Lutz said of the fans. “I find it fascinating.”

The Summer Nightastic season officially runs June 12 through Sunday, although some features will go beyond this weekend.

Here is the schedule for some promotions:

  • Disney’s Electrical Parade in Disney’s California Adventure will go on for the last time Sunday.
  • Sunday is the last day for Southern California residents to buy three day passes for $99. The first visit must be made on Sunday at the latest.
  • The fireworks show, called “Magical,” will go on nightly through Labor Day and on weekends until Sept. 20. A special Halloween fireworks show is set to begin Sept. 25.
  • Fantasmic shows will be nightly through Labor Day and on weekends through the end of the year.

Summer Nightastic is Here!

WDWNT Author on June 12, 2009

Summer Nightastic begins tonight at the Disneyland Resort, and in honor of that, here’s a new Disney press video with footage from all three main offerings, as well as interviews with Carla Carlile (show director for Fantasmic), Denny Newell (senior show director for Disney’s Electrical Parade), and John Addis (senior show director for Magical):

Some Modern Pixie Dust Brings A Classic Up To Date

WDWNT Author on June 11, 2009

Disney has released a short video and fact sheet about the return of Disney’s Electrical Parade tomorrow night as part of the already flailing Summer Nightastic promotion. The updates to the parade were much needed and the parade appears sparkling and new thanks to LED light technology and a recreated soundtrack:

Tinker Bell leads the procession on an all-new float and her trail of pixie dust enchants all the parade floats with new beauty along the way. The popular pixie waves from the basket of a balloon floating gracefully above a magical garden shimmering with fairy light.

In addition, enhanced versions of two classic favorites will return to the lineup after a 13-year hiatus – the shimmering diamond mine of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, and the Pleasure Island haunts of Pinocchio.

WHAT: The parade twinkles with approximately half a million lights.  Of those, nearly 10,000 are new “pixie dust” lights spread over the 17 floats. The new LED lights use one-quarter of the power of incandescent lights. The “Tinker Bell” float alone has more than 25,000 points of light and 75 percent are powered by an LED source.

WHEN: Nightly at 8:45 p.m., beginning Friday, June 12, and continuing through Sunday, Aug. 23, at Disney’s California Adventure.

LIGHTS ON DEMAND: A new control system makes it possible, for the first time, for each light to be programmed individually. One example is the new Tinker Bell float, which has 160 dimmers, by far the most of any parade float, to control the lighting. Programming for this parade took approximately two months.

AN EVEN BETTER HOEDOWN: The unforgettable musical theme of the “Electrical Parade,” which has inspired several generations of Disneyland Resort guests to clap along, was adapted from a synthesizer piece known as “Baroque Hoedown,” written in 1967 by Gershon Kingsley and Jean-Jaques Perrey. Disney themes are superimposed over the original piece. For Summer Nightastic!, the distinctive “electro-sytho-magnetic” “Baroque Hoedown” has new audio technology that gives it a richer, fuller sound.

FUN FACTS

  • More than 80 performers appear in each presentation of “Disney’s Electrical Parade.”
  • There are 11,000 lights on the dancers’ costumes alone. Thanks to the energy-efficient LED lights, some of the dancers’ costumes now carry only one battery pack instead of two.
  • All the floats are battery-powered. More than 500 batteries supply power for lighting, propulsion, audio and special effects.
  • Approximately five miles of wire is used throughout the floats.
  • The tallest float in the parade is the Cinderella clock tower, at 18.5 feet tall.
  • The “Fireworks Finale” float, the longest in the parade, has seven cars that span 118 feet.

HISTORY

  • Summer Nightastic! 2009 will mark the 30th summer of the “Electrical Parade” performances at Disneyland Resort.
  • The original “Main Street Electrical Parade” premiered at Disneyland on June 17, 1972.
  • The parade has been performed more than 5,000 times at Disneyland Resort.
  • It has been presented nearly every summer, with the following exceptions: a 1975-76 hiatus for the Bicentennial “America on Parade”; the 1983-84 break for “Flights of Fantasy” parade; and the “Electrical Parade” retirement from Disneyland following the summer of 1996. Renamed “Disney’s Electrical Parade,” it premiered at Disney’s California Adventure in July 2001.
  • The original “Main Street Electrical Parade” floats were “flatter” and less three-dimensional than the current floats. New floats have been added through the years and some – “it’s a small world” float, “Briny Deep” float, and special anniversary floats for Disneyland’s 25th Anniversary (1980) and Mickey Mouse’s 60th Birthday (1988) – have been retired.
  • One of the original floats, the “Title Drum Unit” near the beginning of the parade, was created using an actual bass drum, one of the world’s largest in 1972. This drum had been used in Disneyland parades in the 1960s, when Mickey Mouse used to beat it using large drumsticks.
  • Versions of the parade have been presented at Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World Resort in Florida (premiering 1977), Tokyo Disneyland (premiering 1985) and Disneyland Paris (premiering 1992).