New Fireworks Show


WishesFan

Member
Anybody know if a new fireworks show is coming anytime soon? I'm sure Wishes will run for a couple more years in DW, but let's be honest- Believe is getting pretty outdated.

PS: I got my Ragtime CD yesterday from the local library so I can finally finish my music project and send it to Bruce Healey! Please wish me luck. Thanks!
 

Gurgitoy2

Active Member
Well, there is one planned for Disneyland's 50th. So, Believe will run for another year at least.
 

X-S Tech

Active Member
I think Believe has much more longevity than Wishes. Wishes suffers from the same syndrome that LightMagic did. Its only purpose is to imitate the success of another show. Light Magic was trying to follow up Electrical Parade, but in reality took much of it's theme from Fantasmic!.

When Electrical Parade opened it's message was pretty simple. It was an electrical parade. The gimmick of this and the inherent appeal of Disney's characters was enough to make this a great parade.

In 1992 Fantasmic opened. As a show it had more story than MSEP and also a theme. The theme was broad but appealing: Imagination. It was an appropriate theme for Disney. A bit corny yes, but nobody can deny that Disney was nothing if not Imaginative. The umbrella theme of Imagination was used to reference several more specific ideas: dreams, love, wishing upon a star, faith, hope, good v. evil, etc....

Light Magic tried to take these same sentiments, but obviously they couldn't use the Imagination theme. Instead they took one of the lesser themes, Wishing upon a star, and then tried to rebroaden that into "The magic of Light" theme that made the parade an appropriate replacement for MSEP. But the magic of Light is something people had never heard of. And it sounds lame. It sounds like something that a GE think tank would come up with to sell higher wattage bulbs.

Not only was it a silly theme, but it's seemed so unnecessary. There was so much less light on any of the floats than MSEP had, that it was almost drawing attention to it. Pixie Power or Celtic Dance would at least have been a more accurate theme for the parade though no more appealing.

I think Wishes has done the same thing. They've seen teh success of Believe, and tried to imitate it's heart and theme. Wishes is too specific a "type of belief" . what about faith, innocence, and trust, all sorts of belief that Believe covers. Wishes is no where near as innappropriate as LightMagic but it leaves the same taste in my mouth. Imitation.
 

WishesFan

Member
I would quite agree! I'm sorry, when I said that Believe needed to go, I was referring to the fireworks themselves. I absolutely LOVE the Believe music and theme. After seeing Wishes and the new fireworks technology they use, I guess I just got spoiled and was expecting something more from the Believe fireworks display. Sorry about the confusion.
 

Gurgitoy2

Active Member
Well, the 50th plans I hear now are to cover the entire resort. The fireworks would start in Disneyland, move out into Downtown Disney, and end up at DCA. That way the whole resort could be in on it, rather than just Disneyland. Also, Sleeping Beauty Castle is supposed to get a really neat projection show while the fireworks are going off. Of course all of this is subject to change, but I'll be at least the projection part will stay since they seem to already have some of the equipment and are testing it out on the Castle.
 

boo52m

New Member
The tenative working title for the 50th DL show is "Reach For The Stars". Also IMO, if we're slingin mud about who's show is imitating who's. I would have to say that Believe is imitating Sorcery In The Sky from the Studios. Which had opened way before Believe. One of the cloumnists on the Mic*Ag* website reported that the fireworks effects from Wishes were a complete ripoff of Believe. On the contrary, Believe's effects are a direct rip off of Sorcery.
But then again this is a music discussion.
 

X-S Tech

Active Member
Yeah it's the music and theme that I take issue with. There's only so much you can do with Fireworks and when believe debuted such startling new effects, it would have been silly not to use them at the other parks. I don't count that against them. And from what I remember Sorcery in the Sky was nothing spectacular. Wasn't the only thing unique about it that it was synced to film Music? I don't remember anything particularly interesting about the fireworks themselves. What would you say Believe is ripping off?
 

Gurgitoy2

Active Member
Didn't Sorcery in the Sky have a big inflateable Sorcerer Mickey too? I don't remember the fireworks being much different than Fantasy in the Sky though.
 

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