Another BAD night for Fantasmic...

[Goliath]

A few of you may remember a couple weeks ago, before WOC debuted, when there were several posts about a pretty screwed up performance of Fantasmic. The list of blunders include:

1. Opening music starting before the announcement, then stopping suddenly so the show could begin normally.

2. Sparks going off in Mickey's hands while he was going up the steps (shooting all over his feet), leaving him sparkless when he was actually pointing (and probably putting the actor in danger)

3. The Columbia stopping suddenly at the end of the Peter Pan segment. It wasn't in the light, but it was still noticeably not moving to its mark. It did start up again in time for the show to go on without problems.

4. And finally the dragon not showing up. Giving any regular attendees of the show a reminder of last summer.

Well, I hadn't seen the show since then, and tonight's 10:30 was not much better.

1. The light towers that raise out of the stage were out of sync. So one came up and then about 5 seconds later the second one rose. They didn't go down together either.

2. Maleficent was stuck in the ground. So when her flames came up, there was no one there. She didn't show up until she was supposed to be growing, but by that point we barely had time to see her, since they have to clear her for the dragon anyway. She looked really comical busting half way through the floor at the last minute.

3. Lastly, when the dragon shot fire it didn't catch the river along with it. So we heard the burning but saw nothing.

There were a few other weird things going on with the pyro stuff but nothing major. What's up with this show lately? Am I just catching bad runs, or has it really gone down? Before everyone said it was just getting back in the swing of things after the refurb, but because of the refurb it should be running without a hitch. Thoughts?

[JerrodDRagon]

^About two weeks ago everything looked good but the last time i went to the oar i was at WoC so i did not see the show, but im sure the show runs at 100% most of the time.

[Crazee4mm]

Anybody shoot any video of either of the above mentioned shows?

[Giraffe Lounge]

This past Wednesday at the 9PM show there was no Mark Twain... instead there were fairy dust projections until right before Mickey was up on the roof.

Not sure what could have gone wrong? Dont they normally have the characters on stage with ribbons if the Twain is out of the show?

The house lights also blinked on for a second or two during this section.

[Princess Jasmine]

I was there for both shows and definitely caught everything you mentioned.

[Krillinish]

This past Wednesday at the 9PM show there was no Mark Twain... instead there were fairy dust projections until right before Mickey was up on the roof.

Not sure what could have gone wrong? Dont they normally have the characters on stage with ribbons if the Twain is out of the show?

The house lights also blinked on for a second or two during this section.

I'm guessing all the characters were on the Twain before it was too late to realize it wasn't going to work. Otherwise, they probably would have prepared for the alternate ending.

[Fish_in_water]

not that i support Disney being out of sync, but i would lovee to see these screw ups any vids?

idk.. its scary that it's been so crazy lately.

[Princess Jasmine]

not that i support Disney being out of sync, but i would lovee to see these screw ups any vids?

idk.. its scary that it's been so crazy lately.

The Maleficent thing was definitely kind of hilarious.

[splash_mtn]

A few of you may remember a couple weeks ago, before WOC debuted, when there were several posts about a pretty screwed up performance of Fantasmic. The list of blunders include:

1. Opening music starting before the announcement, then stopping suddenly so the show could begin normally.

2. Sparks going off in Mickey's hands while he was going up the steps (shooting all over his feet), leaving him sparkless when he was actually pointing (and probably putting the actor in danger)

3. The Columbia stopping suddenly at the end of the Peter Pan segment. It wasn't in the light, but it was still noticeably not moving to its mark. It did start up again in time for the show to go on without problems.

4. And finally the dragon not showing up. Giving any regular attendees of the show a reminder of last summer.

Well, I hadn't seen the show since then, and tonight's 10:30 was not much better.

1. The light towers that raise out of the stage were out of sync. So one came up and then about 5 seconds later the second one rose. They didn't go down together either.

2. Maleficent was stuck in the ground. So when her flames came up, there was no one there. She didn't show up until she was supposed to be growing, but by that point we barely had time to see her, since they have to clear her for the dragon anyway. She looked really comical busting half way through the floor at the last minute.

3. Lastly, when the dragon shot fire it didn't catch the river along with it. So we heard the burning but saw nothing.

There were a few other weird things going on with the pyro stuff but nothing major. What's up with this show lately? Am I just catching bad runs, or has it really gone down? Before everyone said it was just getting back in the swing of things after the refurb, but because of the refurb it should be running without a hitch. Thoughts?

I was there and also saw the Maleficent scene. Pretty funny and we all were like whaaaaaat? (and noticed the lights that open the show issue also)

[Crazee4mm]

Kinda scary at the sheer number of missteps, technical difficulties, and missed cues for a show that is rapidly approaching 20 years old. Many of these "bugs" should have long ago been ironed out. For so many of the gaffes to be occurring within the opening weeks following a 5 month referb is very surprising.

While I do understand that a show with so many cast members (and technical crew) is subject fo a few "human errors" now and then. The same goes for the "technical side" as well. Things break or fail to work when the computer gives the cues. I understand that as well. It just seems like there is a snowball effect going on. Many errors in a single performance is very odd. And for seemingly unrelated errors occurring night after night puzzles me because they have had 5 months to upgrade, clean, and refurbish the infrastructure. Light towers "missing" their cues, Mickey's pyro fingers going off prematurely, unsyncronized "twinkle lights" on the cabin and surrounding foliage, missed cues with The Mark Twain leaving cast members stranded so as to not be able to appear for the "alternate ending" on stage, no lighting of the River when the dragon breathes fire, and "house lights" coming on during the performance all should have been technicalities that have been addressed years, if not a decade or longer, ago. This should not be happening unless someone is seriously dropping the ball when it comes to show preparedness. Fantasmic should be as bright and shiny as ever right now with no excuse for any technical difficulties. Human error will always be a factor though and despite what could be endless rehersals, will always be an excuseable defense.

[Young at Heart]

I wonder...did they transfer a lot of experienced personnel over to DCA for WOC, leaving F! with a lot of new people?

[bytemaster]

I don't know about Disneyland specifically, but I can tell you a few things from experience.

Often in shows, one tech glitch deserves another. One thing going wrong can throw a person, who then makes a second mistake, causing someone else to do the same thing, etc...

Or, if tech is automated, once one thing goes wrong, often you have to switch to manual or partially manual and it can be tough to keep up, especially with as much going on as there is in Fantasmic.

But having problems night after night, it sounds more like someone made some major upgrades during the referb and they have one or more of the following issues:

• Are not used to the new control software yet
• There is a bug in the new software revision that has not been diagnosed yet
• There is one or more "shorts" or some other sort of intermittent hardware failure / gltch that hasn't been diagnosed yet. this one may seem obvious, but it may not be. They still may be in the phase of diagnosing what went wrong.
• Simply Do not have all of the kinks worked out -- which really means any of the above or just not enough practice time / training.

Whatever it is, rest assured every time something happens, someone is looking into it and trying to prevent it from occuring again. At least, that is what a good tech crew does. Again, I can not speak to the specifics at Disneyland.

[Mac Daddy]

It's a bummer that things didn't go as well last night. I was there for the first show on Friday night, and things pretty much went off without a hitch. But it was also only the second time that I had seen Malificent go up and Murphy actually light the river. Considering the number of computerized actions in the show, I'm surprised they don't have problems like this more often. I spoke with one of the techs a few weeks ago on a night when there was no performance scheduled, and speaking a bit facetiously, I think he mentioned that there have been a total of five perfect performances since he's been there...but most people wouldn't notice the smaller tech issues when they happen, be it pyro that is a bit off, a burnt out spot, etc, etc.

On a side note, I was surprised that on Grad night, Wed of last week, that there was no Mark Twain at the 8:40 showing. Maybe they were holding it because it needed to dock when the high school kids came in? I didn't think the Mark Twain ran during Grad Night, but I could be wrong. Or maybe they just needed to save $$$ on the cast that is usually on the Mark Twain. It DID seem that there was extra pyro to fill that spot, but I could be wrong.

[Fantasmanatic]

Mistakes happen, and that show is really technical so it doesn't take much to get a snowball going. Bad performances are bound to happen now and then. Your admission ticket doesn't guarantee a perfect performance or your money back...

[Atari Adventure]

Let's remember folks that this is a live show. Not in a sound stage where a director can yell "action" or "cut" and have "take 17" to make it perfect. Ever been to a broadway show in New York that has been playing nightly for two years, they make mistakes too.

Add to that, as was mentioned earlier all the technology and POO is gonna happen sometimes.

As late Edward R. Murrow would say... And that's the way it is.