Is Disney in a Fireworks Slump? Here’s What We Know.
I think I speak for everyone when I say that I’d be much happier watching Wishes and IllumiNations at night than the current nighttime presentations.
Not all change is good, even though we all understand that Disney must keep its parks fresh and modern.
Sometimes, park officials overcorrect, though. The need for inexpensive new park content has recently led to some questionable decisions.
Is Disney in a slump with its fireworks and other presentations?
Why Disney Killed Wishes and IllumiNations
Let’s start at the beginning of Disney’s current woes. On the 17th anniversary of EPCOT’s opening, the park introduced a new nighttime presentation.
IllumiNations: Reflections of Earth instantly became the signature way to end the night at EPCOT.
Critics and guests alike adored the attraction. In fact, IllumiNations legitimately retired one of the Golden Ticket Awards (GTA).
The iconic industry awards recognize the best parts of theme parks. If something wins 10 times in a row, GTA ends the category.
From 2005-2015, Disney accomplished this feat with IllumiNations. It was unquestionably the best nighttime presentation for an entire decade.
However, as park officials plotted the 50th birthday celebration at Walt Disney World, they wanted to begin a new era at EPCOT.
So, Disney announced it would close IllumiNations in favor of a new nighttime presentation, HarmonioUS.
Disney later dropped the odd capitalization in time for Harmonious to open in 2021 to collective yawns. But I’m getting ahead of myself.
IllumiNations wasn’t even the only recent example of Disney killing a show because it wasn’t new. Management similarly canceled Wishes in 2017.
This presentation ran for 14 years. It earned universal acclaim and featured a soundtrack so pure that I still hear parts of it in my head as I type this.
Guests who visited Walt Disney World at any point from 2003-2017 ended their nights with either Wishes or IllumiNations. We all loved the parks for that.
While Disney also hosts the kiss goodnight, the reality is that these shows ended our vacation nights for the body of 15 years.
Disney’s Recent Presentations Have Gone Awry
I can understand why park officials wanted something new and bold for the 50th birthday party.
After all, Walt Disney World won’t host a celebration on this scale until at least 2046, arguably even 2071.
Still, Disney miscalculated in two ways. First, the company forgot something integral to the plot.
The timeless nature of Disney theme parks is precisely why we treasure them. We take comfort in knowing that Wishes and IllumiNations will play at night.
Nobody wants to do homework for their Disney vacation. But, since 2017, guests have needed to check to verify which nighttime presentations are running.
I haven’t even mentioned Disney’s Animal Kingdom until now. That park attempted to popularize Rivers of Light, but audiences firmly rejected the story.
In fact, Disney attempted several versions of Rivers of Light, each less liked than the previous attempt.
During the past year, Disney also tried a new kind of daytime presentation, KiteTails. But, unfortunately, that show has been such a debacle that it’s little more than a punchline.
Disney will put KiteTails out of its misery next week, and virtually nobody will miss it.
Other Nighttime Presentations That Struggled
The other recent Walt Disney World attempts at nighttime presentations have gone only marginally better.
In 2019, EPCOT introduced a temporary replacement for IllumiNations. EPCOT Forever was intended to tide guests over until Harmonious could debut.
While I quite liked the show, it came with a serious miscalculation. EPCOT Forever appealed to EPCOT fanatics…and pretty much no one else.
Disney sought to “celebrate the past, present, and future of EPCOT.” But, in reality, they played Figment and Soarin’ music that not enough people recognized.
The pandemic prematurely ended EPCOT Forever. However, to this date, I haven’t heard a single person say they missed it, which is problematic.
After all, Disney just announced it will bring back EPCOT Forever briefly in 2023 until the next park presentation is ready to open.
Why does EPCOT need a new show? Mainstream audiences soundly rejected Harmonious, and cast members didn’t like it much either.
Harmonious developed a reputation among cast members as tricky to operate and a blemish to the beauty of World Showcase Lagoon.
Those giant barges weren’t easy to hide during the daytime and were insanely difficult to maintain.
Park guests didn’t care about that, but they also never warmed to Harmonious. That’s because park officials chose a multilingual presentation.
While I found the concept inspirational and perfectly fitting for the World Showcase, I was in the minority here.
Disney simply couldn’t entice guests to watch Harmonious the way that they dropped everything for IllumiNations.
Magic Kingdom suffered similarly. The Wishes replacement, Happily Ever After, has proven divisive.
The show will return next year, but it currently focuses too much on new Disney intellectual properties.
That’s an indication of executive micromanagement, not creative license.
Fans love the classics rather than a nighttime show that’s trying to sell them merchandise.
Is Disney in a Fireworks Slump?
Have you visited the parks during the 50th-anniversary celebration? If so, what can you tell me about Disney Enchantment? Exactly.
Nighttime presentations should be gripping affairs so memorable that parts of them spring to your mind. I just said that Wishes is like that for me.
Similarly, I have the warmest memories of my family and me dining at Rose & Crown Dining Room while watching IllumiNations.
While we watched the two most recent nighttime presentations at EPCOT, neither one grabbed us.
Even EPCOT Forever proved too niche, as it targeted EPCOT fans, and there aren’t enough of us.
I spent too much of that show having to explain what the songs were to casual fans.
As for Harmonious, those barges were simply too ambitious in scope. Disney fans don’t want clutter like that at the World Showcase.
While I haven’t discussed Happily Ever After much, I didn’t hear many Disney fans clamoring for its return, either.
In truth, I think there’s something to the fact that Disney faces tough choices here.
If a nighttime presentation isn’t instantly successful, people want it replaced. That’s why Harmonious is leaving.
However, we need these shows to run for several years so that we can develop personal attachments to them.
Nobody has that with Disney Enchantment, and I’m dubious that many did for Happily Ever After, either.
The facts speak for themselves that Disney is in a creative slump with its nighttime shows, at least at Walt Disney World.
Final Thoughts
My gentle suggestion as they plan the next exhibitions at EPCOT and Magic Kingdom is to embrace the classics.
Just because a Disney movie is less than five years old doesn’t mean it has to be a part of the show.
If Disney had taken that approach 15 years ago, Wishes would have been about Chicken Little, Brother Bear, Home on the Range, and Treasure Planet.
How many of those movies do you even know?
I get that Disney has gone all-in on the concept of intellectual property, as they should. Disney storytelling is the gold standard in modern civilization.
Still, I’d rather the nighttime presentations focus on the films that have already stood the test of time.
At Disneyland, park officials announced a show offering tributes to all 60 Disney animated movies to date. And my first thought was, “that sounds exhausting.”
When a nighttime presentation plays, we’re all exhausted and nearly ready for the park day to end. We want comfort and the warmth of familiarity.
Recent Disney exhibitions have frankly required too much effort from park guests.
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Feature: Disney