Disneyland recycles old shows into Summer Nightastic
With no new major attraction to promote this year, Disneyland has strung together a series of existing nighttime shows under the banner of Summer Nightastic — in the hope visitors will ignore the giant construction site next door that is Disney’s California Adventure.
With a heavy sprinkling of pixie dust, Disney has transformed what is normally regarded as periodic maintenance and “plussing” into a smorgasbord of “all new” offerings. A look at the what’s-old-is-new-again lineup:
* The Tomorrowland Terrace stage, which first debuted in 1967, gets redubbed TLT Dance Club, with live bands and DJs.
* Tinker Bell’s Pixie Hollow, added in 2008, gets a LED lighting upgrade and sees a return of the area’s old pop-jet fountains.
* The 17-year-old Fantasmic gets a new 40-foot-tall animated dragon and a pair of eels to accompany Ursula the Sea Witch and high-definition video projectors.
* The circa-1972 Electrical Parade brings back three old floats (including Snow White and Pinocchio) and swaps in Tinker Bell for the traditional Blue Fairy lead float, which is sure to irk Disney purists.
* Continuing a half-century nighttime tradition, the “Magical” fireworks show (I wonder how long it took to come up with that name?) marks the most dramatic change from past seasons — with the addition of a flying “Dumbo” character and a magic theme featuring music and audio clips from “Pinocchio,” “Mary Poppins,” “Cinderella” and “Sleeping Beauty.”
To paraphrase Uncle Walt: Disneyland will never be complete as long as old shows can be repackaged as new again.
Summer Nightastic runs from June 12 through August 23.
Find the latest amusement and theme park news at the Los Angeles Times Funland blog: www.latimes.com/funland. Follow Funland on Twitter.
— Brady MacDonald, Los Angeles Times staff writer
Image: Disneyland
11 Comments on “Disneyland recycles old shows into Summer Nightastic”
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May 18th, 2009 at 9:43 pm
You are annoying.
June 3rd, 2009 at 2:34 pm
I agree very annoying
June 9th, 2009 at 11:51 am
You come across as very cynical and full of yourself. People don’t like cynicism.
Two people have called you annoying, (and that’s only in THIS comment section, among other descriptive words) I have to agree with them.
And its very hard for me not to call you worse words. However, I will restrain myself because I pride myself as NOT being mean-spirited and cynical like you.
I will not be reading anything from the LA Times anymore.
June 9th, 2009 at 3:20 pm
Boo Hoo! The truth is annoying sometimes.
June 9th, 2009 at 8:33 pm
/\ Wrong. The “truth” isn’t annoying. The author is.
Its not “recycling”. While its true that some of the new Summer additions are based on something that already exists, There is something new added to each of them. Or “enhancements” as Disney would say.
It would have been recycling if nothing new was added. But they are enhancing Fantasmic, The Electrical Parade, Tomorrowland Terrance, and the newer Pixie Hollow with new things, As well as the ALL NEW fireworks show with an appearance by Dumbo.
(It is very unfortunate that the new dragon will be delayed, But hey, that’s life.)
In his profile he claims that he is not a critic. That is false. This very blog post contains plenty of editorializing and cynical comments.
He also claims to love Disneyland and Walt. I see none of that in his posts.
So now that I have made myself clear,
Bye!
June 12th, 2009 at 8:21 pm
Yes, God forbid a guy give his opinion on something at Disneyland without all the apologists coming out and being hurt about it.
June 12th, 2009 at 10:32 pm
Granted, it’s a recession, but keep in mind that the last new E-Ticket built at Disneyland was Indiana Jones in 1995. Everything at Disneyland since then has either been a remake or a flop, including second gates.
To paraphrase Uncle Walt again: Disneyland will never need to compete as long as there are Disney zealots in the world.
June 13th, 2009 at 12:18 am
Are we suppose to think this writer can be objective after the whole… my wife didn’t get her free gift card because we were blocked and didn’t want to go into the park, but to just pick up our freebie… Even though the rules were clear and a block out ticket had to be bought all so they could give the gift card to his daughter. Whining all the time that Disneyland wouldn’t bend the rules and just give you the card!
June 13th, 2009 at 12:17 pm
After that whole cheesy gift card stunt that Brady and his wife Nancy Luna tried to pull at Disneyland a few months ago, I no longer put much stock into the cynical and critical writings here.
Clearly there is a chip on a shoulder because Disneyland forced Brady to play by the rules and wouldn’t just hand over free money to his wife during her celebratory birthday drive-by at Disneyland’s customer service window.
And the Electrical Parade and Fantasmic needed to be updated and freshened. This stuff at Disneyland looks great, and I’m sure all of the employment Disney provides their local community by continuing to invest in their property is more appreciated now than ever before. Thank you Disney!
June 13th, 2009 at 1:05 pm
Isn’t this blog from the same guy who wrote about his wife’s ridiculous dust up with Disneyland guest relations over a free birthday admission? Recycled shows notwithstanding, based on his past reviews I have to take everything this writer says about the Disneyland Resort with a tremendous grain of salt.
June 13th, 2009 at 8:57 pm
“Isn’t this blog from the same guy who wrote about his wife’s ridiculous dust up with Disneyland guest relations over a free birthday admission?”
You mean the free birthday admission that Disney is using during a recession to increase attendance? You people act like Disney is doing it out of the kindness of their hearts. They decided to develop this promotion because it would make them more money than if they hadn’t done it.
Brady McDonald was right in the blog post where he made a “fool” of himself. The rules are simply not guest-friendly. A free admission to the park on a blockout date is not that big of an incentive when you could either go the next day or wait until the end of the Summer.
The gift cards should be given out on blockout dates. If someone wants to drive or otherwise get to the park to pick it up on their birthday, more power to them.
I read another account of a guy who didn’t receive the gift card for his AP daughter because he visited City Hall after closing. Rules are rules, but are they good rules? Saddle the promotion with as many rules as you possibly can to create enough confusion to get away with not giving out some free gifts!
Brady McDonald is no more foolish than the insane pin traders who visit the park every day.