"Dragonless" Fantastmic

[Disco Duck]

So I was watching Fantasmic on March 11th, 9pm...and lo and behold...maleficient did not retract down after her little scene...she stayed up there...the dragon never came up...so Mickey Mouse struck down Maleficient...

So as of tonight Fantasmic is lacking:

Pinnochio
Ursula
Dragon
Mark Twain

It was probably the worst show of Fantasmic I've seen...I really hope nothing bad happened to dragon...on the other hand, if this is temporary and by temporary, i mean like less then a month, maybe they are enhancing the dragon and putting a newer one...that would be great...get rid of the Dragon on a stick...and make it more lifelike...

[Gemini Cricket]

I've seen that version. Not as fun. I forget if Maleficent shoots fire out of her wand...

[Disco Duck]

nope she doesnt...but she keeps doing cheorography (spelling)...as she does when she is on the ground level...she just waves her colorful wand...and then mickey strikes her with his sword...sparks comes out...and you hear the sound effects of the zapping...but no green lights that kill her down...

[MiceMan]

Sounds lame

[Disneyfreak]

This poor poor show. It needs a refurbishment really really bad. They need to stop the show for a year or two and enhance all the effects and replace all the animatronics. This would really refresh the show and the popularity of it.

[Jspider]

I've heard this part runs sometimes if the dragon fails to pop out of it's trap door or something as part of a contingency plan?

[Reaver]

If only they could put in the dragon that was on the commercial. That got me so jazzed the first time I saw it on TV! Then I saw the wireframe with rags they were using, and I was bummed. Still, it's better than no dragon at all. Barely...

[DisneyMickey]

I'm sure there was a technical issue. I have seen a show where the Twain stayed docked at last minute, the Columbia was way behind its queue when it shot off the canon(it hadn't even reached the dock and was still partially behind the island), Ariel's barge didn't come out, and there were only 5 characters dancing on the island at the end of the show. Let's hope they get it working again since it is the most important part of the "evil segment." However, I do agree that the show could use a break and a thourough check-up and refurbishment. Unfortunatly, the show will be running all this month and next month to make up for no fireworks and then continue in May throughout the summer. Yikes! Let's hope that amazing sound system doesn't blow out!

[Disguy]

If only they could put in the dragon that was on the commercial. That got me so jazzed the first time I saw it on TV! Then I saw the wireframe with rags they were using, and I was bummed. Still, it's better than no dragon at all. Barely...

I felt the same way when I saw the show a few years ago. Not to say I don't love Fantasmic, but it did not look anything like it did on the commercial. I could have sworn the first time I saw the show it looked much more realistic. Was this my imagination?

After all the long refurbs Fantasmic has had you'd think they would be able to fix some of the issues that plague it.
:confused:

[Soulquarian]

I felt the same way when I saw the show a few years ago. Not to say I don't love Fantasmic, but it did not look anything like it did on the commercial. I could have sworn the first time I saw the show it looked much more realistic. Was this my imagination?

After all the long refurbs Fantasmic has had you'd think they would be able to fix some of the issues that plague it.
:confused:

I asked myself the same question when I visited in December. Maybe they did have a more realistic dragon... :confused:

[AaronInCal]

I felt the same way when I saw the show a few years ago. Not to say I don't love Fantasmic, but it did not look anything like it did on the commercial. I could have sworn the first time I saw the show it looked much more realistic. Was this my imagination?

After all the long refurbs Fantasmic has had you'd think they would be able to fix some of the issues that plague it.
:confused:

Yeah, they always make the commercials look so much better than the actual product. For example, McDonald's Big Mac.. Whenever it's in a commercial, notice how the meat is aways the same size as the bun? But what you actually get is not much more bigger than a silver dollar!

Anyway, Fantasmic had a really big rehab a couple years ago whe they drained the River. Also didn't it have another big one a couple years before that?? Maybe they try to enhance what they already have instead of replacing it totally, so it eventually gives out altogether. Hopefully the Dragon is a very minor technical problem for just one night.

[Witches of Morva]

ORWEN: Well, us Cauldron girls heard a story--way back in 1992 when FANTASMIC first primiered. An Imagineer said that, originally, they were going to use one of those baloon-like, blow-up props in the shape of a dragon. Supposedly they even made a giant baloon in the shape of a dragon. But, the story goes, that one day when they were blowing the dragon up with hot air, it came loose and started shooting off into the sky in many different directions--just like a real baloon does--never to be seen again. And it was too expensive to try and replace it with another one!

ORGOCH: Sure would like ta know where the dang thing landed, then! Think a addin' THAT ta yer collection!

ORDDU: The former Imagineer who told us this story certainly sounded sincere enough as he was telling it. But who knows if it's an actual fact?

[Scout]

Well, if you watched the 10:30 show last night then you got to see the Dragon.....Sometimes things happen at the last minute and things have to be changed. Who knows what the issue was during the first show whether technical or performer or what, but I'm sure you were shown the best show possible for that night without having to cancel the show....

[Mr Ness]

The dragon was working for the second show last night.

I was talking to a cast member last night while my friends and I were waiting for the second show. She was telling us about some of the worst horror stories she's seen for Fantasmic.

She made some mention of Ursula, and I asked her what the chances were of that ever coming back. Then she told us about how a couple of years ago, they tried to bring Ursula back out of retirement, but, unfortunately the skeleton was rusted, and midway around the mill, she collapsed in the middle of a show. That was the last anyone's seen of her.

Also, back when the Columbia went down, they tried running it without it for one show. What they did was played the soundtrack and apparently projected something onto the mist screens. She said that after that, they cancelled the second show of the night.

Anyway, so where was I? Oh yeah, the dragon did come out last night, but Malificent didn't rise up into the air. She was actually standing further up stage and more stage center than she normally does, and then they just cut the spot on her when it went into the mist screens. Also, when she was dying, the dragon didn't have the veins of electricity running through her. Other than that, I didn't really notice anything else wrong.

EDIT: Heh, Scout beat me to it.

[mrfantasmic]

The odd thing is, Fantasmic does get regular rehabs at least twice a year. Now these don't always do the trick, as seen by rides like Space Mountain and Matterhorn. Sometimes you've just got to completely replace something.
There are contingency plans in place for if something goes wrong, as well as a "Stop All" which some readers may have seen before. As Mr Ness said, the dragon was working again. Hopefully they got those issues worked out.

[Disneynut]

My friend who works Fantasmic said the large doors were stuck for the first show and had to be opened manually for the second. Sad that so many elements of the show were missing. We love Fantasmic! but understand how it might frustrate those who do not see it regularly and do not have a chance to get back to the park to see it again soon.

[Fantasmic_Freak]

Ok, i was there last night and talked to everybody in black shirts and helped one lead lighting tech fix the lights and the reason the Dragon aka Bucky is down is because of the alternative ending, easily said is that because the island doesnt have the dark time needed to take bucky off stage and also because the characters have to get on stage and off in a hurry before the pyro goes off and mickey comes out, quick costume changes there!

[VWSpawn]

A friend who worked on Fantasmic a long time ago told me that the original dragon, the one in the commercials, caught on fire. So they replaced it with the one they have now. but I'm not 100% sure of this. just thought i would share.

[MickeyMania]

Well, the Ursula was okay but the Pinocchio stuff, if I remember right, was dancing along with painted wooden props of dancing dolls that made basic movements. Not exactly the most entertaining part of the program.

The show really isn't the same thing without the Dragon, I think it's just down for repairs. I think they do have multiple ones, really. Do an image search with Google for Fantasmic Dragon and pictures of about several differently dressed mechanical effects will appear.