Light Up the Night

We’ve talked a lot about the spectacles of Walt Disney World recently, haven’t we? There were intentional thoughts as to why we stayed away from Disney’s Animal Kingdom. For starters, we love the current daytime parade there. Secondly, as much as we love the photogenic nature of the park after dark, there are a lot of drawbacks and concerns that must be addressed when looking into the park as a nighttime destination. Then, embedded in the teaser announcement of the Avatar-inspired land and attractions, Disney went and announced a whole slew of new nighttime offerings that are coming to Disney’s Animal Kingdom.

The official release states, “As part of the largest expansion in its history, Disney's Animal Kingdom theme park will be adding all-new entertainment experiences including a new after-dark spectacular centered around and above Discovery River, new nighttime entertainment including live performers on Discovery Island (pictured) and a new night version of Kilimanjaro Safaris.”

Disney has a fairly long history of putting water to use in its nighttime showstoppers, dating all the way back to the early days of EPCOT Center up to, and through, the current versions of Fantasmic! and World of Color. The options for Disney’s Animal Kingdom to ever have a nighttime spectacular of a sort have always been fairly clear, it would have to be a parade, a new theater would have to be built (a la the Hollywood Hills Amphitheater), or it would need to utilize the ample water spaces provided by the Discovery River. Parades are nice, and filled with great pageantry, but they are not the heart-racing and emotionally connective ways to end a day at a park in Walt Disney World. Looking at the two other options, and having ample proving grounds from the Fantasmic! set-ups at Disneyland and Disney’s Hollywood Studios, Imagineering clearly decided to make the most of what the park had to offer in its natural setting.

For years the hindrance of a nighttime spectacular in Disney’s Animal Kingdom was the ability to use pyrotechnics. Fireworks would not only upset the animals in their habitats, but if any of the remnants from said explosives made their way to the animals, the results could be fatal for them. Disney has, for years, been perfecting lighting in nighttime settings, from the use of projections around World Showcase in previous incarnations of Illuminations, to the effects found in World of Color. Adding in the tricks that have surely been conceived to achieve Avatar’s bioluminescent scenery an upcoming attraction, it would seem all of these pieces can be put into play to light up the night without the use of a single rocket!

Continuing through the description, live music in and around Disney’s Animal Kingdom around and after sundown is nothing new. Harambe and Anandapur have both had musical acts and dance parties popping up over the last couple of years, and both have had success in holding the attention of guests in limited capacity, similar to guests’ attention-spans for the musical acts that appear all throughout World Showcase. With guests staying longer in Disney’s Animal Kingdom to experience all that the new Avatar-inspired land will have to offer, not to mention the park’s other big draws like Expedition Everest, there will be a need to entertain and keep guests from grumbling.

Lastly, Kilimanjaro Safaris will offer also have a new nighttime offering. We’ve been down this road before with everything from tribal performances taking place around a fire on the savanna to night-vision goggles to catch glimpses of the active animals. I’m curious to see what sort of angle the Imagineers are taking with this one. I would love to be a cheerleader for a new, nighttime animal experience, but my enthusiasm is going to be directly linked to how this is handled and what it actually looks like in execution. Basically, I am in a wait and see holding pattern on Kilimanjaro Safaris nighttime offerings.

If you have followed the Main Street Gazette for any length of time, you know that I am a big supporter of Disney’s Animal Kingdom, and that I fully believe you can spend multiple days in the park without every wasting time or repeating yourself. Am I in a minority with this thought? Sure, but it appears that Walt Disney World believes there is more to this park than just a passing glance can provide and they are doing their best to find ways to keep guests coming back after the sun has set on the day!

Disney This Week - 13 October 2013

This Week – On the Main Street Gazette

We didn't have much going on over here, but head on over to the WDW Radio Show where Lou Mongello and I spent some time talking all things Indy. But you call him Dr. Jones, doll!

This Week – Around the Disney Blogosphere

Ever wonder how much your own castle would cost? Leah Kaiz and Movoto Blog have you covered when they come up with the price tag for Cinderella Castle.

Mitch at Imagineering Disney does an incredible job of wading through the emotions and facts of a Club 33 expansion.

I certainly hope AJ Wolfe picked me up a Brioche Ice Cream Sandwich when she was doing research for The Disney Food Blog!

Estelle Hallick offers up her review of Jim Henson: The Biography at This Happy Place Blog.

An update on Disney’s Disability Access Service comes to us via Melissa Knight Coulter and Disney On Wheels.

The Tower of Terror 10-Miler is recapped by Disney Every Day and Amanda Tinney.

Sarah Holodick breaks down the Ocean Spray Cranberry Bog Reception on Eating WDW.

Passport to Dream Old & New and FoxxFur take a peek at how Orlando businesses welcomed EPCOT Center to town.

This Week – World News Roundtable

Roundtable Contributors: Estelle Hallick (This Happy Place Blog), Alan Mize, and Blake Taylor (BlakeOnline.com).

All the Disney Sides

Estelle Hallick (This Happy Place Blog) 

I'm kind of over these Disney campaigns. I know campaigns create merchandise that make money but I'm not sure why every year has to have a theme. (And this coming from someone who loves themes.) Technically, we are all showing our "Disney side" when we are in the parks (and not!) without slapping a label on it.

One positive though? I am really enjoying the new commercials because other parks seem to be getting the spotlight and that's pretty awesome to see after a whole lot of Magic Kingdom coverage.

Alan Mize 

Show us your Disney Side!  Disney has announced a contest for the month of October where guests are invited to create videos via Vine that showcase their Disney love.  Disney wants to see the part of their guests that comes out the second they cross into a Disney park.  Videos will be judged on creativity, originality, and expression of their “Disney Side.”  Each day, one lucky winner will receive $1,000 and one extremely lucky grand prize winner will receive either a Disneyland or Walt Disney World resort vacation valued at $10,000.

Recently, Disney seems to really be putting an emphasis on social media and trying to get their brand out there in different ways.  This is clearly another attempt at doing that.  Vine, as well as other short video apps, is very popular right now and it’s nice to actually see Disney jumping into something while it’s still relatively popular as opposed to after it has run its course.  See: American Idol Experience. While I won’t be submitting any videos of my own personal Disney Side, I feel comfortable saying that a lot of guests will jump at the chance to do this.  And in turn, I feel comfortable saying that Disney will jump at the chance to use those videos to promote their parks and resorts.

Pixar Packs A Moving Truck

Blake Taylor (BlakeOnline.com)

Pixar Canada, the Vancouver-based extension of Pixar Animation Studios, will shut down immediately. The studio opened in 2010 to create shorts and spinoffs for Pixar's legacy characters, namely from Toy Story and Cars. Nearly 100 employees will be laid off.

The reason given for the closure was to focus everything under one roof, at Pixar's headquarters in Emeryville, California. The decision makes sense, but one question lingers: Was it just the functionality of the Canada extension that didn't work out, or was it Canada's work itself that Pixar wasn't happy with? More specifically, does this mean the end of the Toy Story and Cars franchises for the near future? Certainly Pixar could continue to develop projects in Emeryville with both entities if they chose to do so, but without an entire branch of the company designed to do that very task, things could get more sporadic and inconsistent. I am personally a fan of the shorts and would love to see more; they allow more time with favorite characters without the pressure of a full-blown sequel.

Whatever the case may be, there is at least one more Toy Story treat to look forward to, this very week, in fact. The half-hour television special Toy Story of Terror will debut Wednesday, October 16, at 8 p.m. on ABC. Despite what one would assume, it was actually made by Pixar's Emeryville team, not Canada.