Main Street Electrical Parade!

[zackiedawg]

It's back! ; I actually avoided it on Nightastic - that's when I was shooting Epcot nights - I caught it Sunday night with Jeff (PolynesianMedic) for the official regular premiere. ; We were shooting around MK, and really didn't plan out a spot to catch the parade - I was wrapping up a full day of shooting and he had just arrived to start his trip - so I was headed home after the 9pm parade, and he was going to stay for the 11pm version.

So we didn't have front-and-center views - it was crowded, hot, muggy, and we were squeezed in against the ice cream shop at the end of Main Street - I actually had to shoot using live view and the flip screen on my DSLR, held above my head and shooting under the portico but over the crowd. ; Still - even if not the best of shooting conditions...I had to document the return of the classic parade:

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[PolynesianMedic]

See Justin, it does help to be tall! ; Anyway, I did stick around, and walked through the park to see if I could get anything handheld at night, with a slower lens, and it wasn't exactly worth it for the photography, I don't think that I got much for my time, however it was enjoyable to spend the time in the park. ; So here are a few from my spot I got near the front of the park.

 

[HW]

nice pics Jeff.

 

[zackiedawg]

Nice pics Jeff? ; What am I, chopped liver? ;

Actually, as Jeff knows, it was a pretty awful spot we were squeezed in at 9pm - my shots are all cropped nealry 50% to get rid of all the crowd heads and the roof of the portico on the ice cream place - plus the random blue glowing stick that occasionally swept through my shots (Jeff knows what that was too!). ; That, and I was too tired and hot to care anymore - 5 days of morning to late night walking around the parks had taken its toll - I had fumes left in the tank and Jeff had just arrived with a nice fresh tank for his trip.

Much better spot on the 11pm shots Jeff - at least you got a nice wide-open look at the floats down to street level without anyone in the way. ; Good shooting!

 

[Roger]

I see they didn't update the float again. ; It's DEP on Main Street. ; Glow away forever my....

 

[PolynesianMedic]

Thanks Justin, yeah that 9 pm spot was pretty crummy. ; At least you got to see the show. ; I wish they would have changed the float to say Main Street, but I have heard rumor that it is only supposed to be here through the middle of August sometime, so who knows. ; Maybe they didn't change it because it was a short time show. ; Oh well, it was nice to see it again.

 

[zackiedawg]

Exactly...just to have gotten to see it again was cool...especially if they end up stopping it in August before I get there again. ; I'm still going to call it the MSEP - that's where it was running, that's what it was called before, and that's what it will always be to me, even if they don't change the sign from DEP!

 

[Roger]

Disney California Adventure doesn't want it back before 2012. ; So unless it's going to Tokyo or Paris....it'll be staying in Florida until then. ; At the least. ;

 

[Craig]

great shots!
its great to see it again!

I completely missed that they named it DEP, Main Street Electrical Parade is the name for me, like the wedway....

 

[Grumpwurst]

Disney California Adventure doesn't want it back before 2012. ; So unless it's going to Tokyo or Paris....it'll be staying in Florida until then. ; At the least. ;

I've seen it at DCA a few times after all the construction walls went up. ; It was unbearable. ; So, I can see why they don't want it back, but I'd love when it goes back, it goes to Disneyland and back on Main Street b/c the parade normally ran during the time that the new World of Color will be dousing guests nightly

 

[Roger]

Yeah I didn't want to predict that it would return to Disneyland's Main Street. ; But that seems inevitable, unless they have the Light Magic floats hiding someplace. ; Rebrand it, get rid of the stops, and you might have a winner.

 

[Grumpwurst]

Yeah I didn't want to predict that it would return to Disneyland's Main Street. ; But that seems inevitable

It does seem inevitable, doesn't it.

I never understood why they felt it was too outdated and removed it in the first place. ; Maybe it was the carbon credit hit they were getting for all those incandescent bulbs but now they are rocking the LED and I think it really makes a positive difference.

To me the Electric Light Parade is just one of those nostalgic elements that should always exist in some form or fashion especially considering the most nostalgic portion of it is A) The soundtrack more specifically that opening B) Pete's Dragon and the spinning "creatures" C) The Eagle float at the end. ;

Pretty much everything else can be jacked around all they want and keep people happy (can we really keep everyone happy).

I'm glad the WDW folks get to taste it for awhile, but to me, it'll always be a DISNEYLAND exclusive. ; It's one of the most ingrained visual and audio memory I have from my annual early childhood trips to Disneyland every Christmas. ; My family would collect aluminum cans all year and cash them in to offset the cost of our Christmas Eve trips to Disneyland.

I think I, to this day, love this parade so much because my mom and dad loved it so much. ; That and the fireworks. ; My mother really, really really loves a good fireworks display and any other night time show that involved dazzling use of color and sound.

It's making me want to figure out how to get my parents to WDW or Disneyland for a family trip before they get too old (my dad is 71 and my mom is 68)

 

[Roger]

Meh, they wanted Light Magic because it was creating 100+ new characters "pixies" that they thought would move merchandise. ; Heck, even Disney Fairies had merchandise for years before the first movie came out.

MSEP was 24 years old when it glowed out forever. ; Light Magic didn't even make a full year. ; I don't think it was anything to do with carbon output back in 1996, it was all the merchandise. ; Paul Pressler was anointed as head of Disneyland in 1994, from the Disney Store, because of the way he grew that business. ; So from 1994 to 2003, Disneyland was run[nb]into the ground?[/nb] by merchandisers.

 

[Grumpwurst]

Paul Pressler was anointed as head of Disneyland in 1994, from the Disney Store, because of the way he grew that business.

I wish they'd promote someone up from Food & Beverage. ; Maybe, just maybe, we might be able to start getting the menus back to their glory days being that someone who came up through the dining segment of the business would care about the food and service.

Let's face it, people who worked in food service industries and relied on tips AND was good at it tend to be great customer service people the rest of their working career.

While Disney is still considered by many the Gold Standard for customer service, it doesn't mean they would be such if compared to their former self.

Kind of like on some of those sports video games where you can play the current line up of a team against a historical one. I'd be interested to see how Disney customer service and offerings would stand up against today's Disney.

But, things like Summer Nightastic and enhancing Disney's Electric Light Parade and new fireworks displays[nb]I must admit the much larger and more pronounced Tinkerbelle at Disneyland was much better than the debute during last year's Summer Nightastic. ; Granted, Dumbo was nowhere to be seen and was probably scrapped due to technical difficulties I heard plagued that idea due to winds and such[/nb] do make it seem like there might be a resurgance of the "if you build it they will come" mentality of the management while Walt was alive.

Sadly, in this new world order, very rarely will you find a company that is willing to invest millions into R&D for something that may fail miserably like Walt would do. ; Now, you almost have to guarantee a hit (even if it's only on paper) before the financial honcho's will greenlight a project.

 

[Roger]

Ray, *technically* they already have promoted some one from there. ; Just not recent experience.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/entertainmentnewsbuzz/2009/10/disney-names-new-president-of-disneyland-resort.html

He started his career with the mouse as a bus boy at the Contemporary.

 

[Grumpwurst]

Ray, *technically* they already have promoted some one from there. ; Just not recent experience

Yeah, not exactly what I was thinking when I made that statement....haha. ; I was kind of thinking of someone who had worked his way up through the Food & Beverage side of the house. ; Yeah, he started out at as a bus boy at the Contemporary, but I wouldn't call that a position that builds strong customer service skills. ; They usually have limited, if any, patron exposure

 

[ddindy]

For whatever it's worth, the Disney World calendar shows Specromagic returning on August 15. ; Seems like a waste to bring all those floats east just for ten weeks.

 

[PolynesianMedic]

Well maybe they have something else in mind. ; Who knows. ; I would love to see this fireworks show stay. ; I think it is better than Wishes!