Just back. Not a big fan of HEA (breaks my heart!)

[yulilin3]

For those missing the old mk nighttime spectaculars https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=643046612702570&id=283051512035417

 

[Dug720]

I watched it in front of the castle twice and behind the castle once. I didn't enjoy it at all. You have to choose to watch either the projections or the fireworks, you can't do both at the same time. I didn't care for the jumping around and no flow between the segments. While I appreciated the technology behind the show, I didn't appreciate Cinderella Castle being used as a screen and found the entire thing meh.

Thank you!!!! That was my whole thing. Do fireworks OR a projection show. NOT both at once. Far too distracting.

Especially since it's not like they did away with the Once Upon A Time projection show.

 

[Haz23]

I loved Wishes the first time I saw it as it reminded me of the 'classic' Disney movies I grew up with, and it made me cry a lot (still does when I listen to the soundtrack now). I found it more magical experiencing it from behind the castle.

I was sad when I heard Disney were stopping it, so I watched Happily Ever After on YouTube and disliked it at first, but it's grown on me and I'm in love with the music. It reminded me of Disney Dreams from DLP which is similar, and even had a couple of the same projections I think. (It's since been replaced with Illuminations which isn't as good, imo).

I can't wait to see HEA live and sob all my make-up off!

 

[cindyfan]

But, am I crazy? Although the fireworks were amazing, as always, I just didn't care for the music accompanying. Later, I looked up the lyrics, and while there are some from movies I'm not familiar with, I think what I didn't like was how fast it jumped around. (Maybe I'll print out the lyrics next time so I can follow along that way.) Am I the only one?

Of course, I didn't let it ruin a spectacular show, but it doesn't make me eager to see them again.....

Nope, not crazy! And not the only one that feels that way. We saw it once and felt it was all crammed together without a good story or flow of the music.

I wore my Wishes t-shirt to my first and only viewing of HEA. Change is good, and now I can take advantage of those shorter ride lines during MK fireworks.

Sad to say.... we are with you!

We are headed back in Sept (only for 3 nights) and actually asked ourselves if we wanted to skip HEA to see Fantasmic or Illuminations or go to the MNSSHP? We decided on Illuminations twice and MNSSHP.
ALL of our prior visits when Wishes was viewing, we ALWAYS made sure we knew we'd be able to see it... never missed Wishes, but HEA is a kinda "well, if we miss it that's ok"!

 

[cindyfan]

I watched it in front of the castle twice and behind the castle once. I didn't enjoy it at all. You have to choose to watch either the projections or the fireworks, you can't do both at the same time. I didn't care for the jumping around and no flow between the segments. While I appreciated the technology behind the show, I didn't appreciate Cinderella Castle being used as a screen and found the entire thing meh.

This about sums it up for us too!

 

[disneyeek]

I never got to see wishes on any of trips when it was there, so I can't compare.

But I was meh on HEA. I'm glad I saw it, but no need to see it again.

Different strokes and all that...

 

[slpeters]

We loved HEA but never saw Wishes so no way to compare. We actually both cried a bit. Two grown men crying at the fireworks. I mean we're gay and all so not a TOTAL stretch...

 

[CeruleanMoon]

I'd never seen any of the nighttime shows at Disney until this most recent visit last month, so I don't have much to compare it too. I wasn't really moved by HEA though and came away from it feeling disappointed. I feel a bit bad about that when I read here how much the message meant to some people, but I found the show to feel a bit scattered and incoherent. I had trouble piecing together what the message was and what each movie scene had to do with each other. I'm guessing I'd probably appreciate it more if I could see it again. There was also so much going on that it was distracting! Between the fireworks and the castle projections and the lady in front of me with her phone blocking my view , I guess it was all a bit much for a first time viewing. I thought the transitions were very fast and somewhat abrupt, and I didn't recognize most of the music at all. I was also disappointed that they didn't show many of my favorite movies. (Beauty and the Beast was noticeably absent.) HEA is beautiful to watch but it didn't move me.

I watched some of the end of the night show though (what is that one called? I never hear anyone talk about this one) and I enjoyed it much more.

I really loved the Galactic Spectacular though. Star Wars holds a dear place is my heart, so I guess it's no surprise that I found that show much more rousing. I think I had my mouth open in awe the whole time.

 

[GADisneyDad14]

OT here, but I recently got to watch the Together Forever - A Pixar Nighttime Spectacular fireworks show at DL. For those that haven’t seen it, they use projections on the castle and on the buildings on both sides of Main Street. Talk about not knowing where to focus your attention! I was all over the place.

That being said, the effect was pretty cool (in my opinion) and I found myself sort of thinking it’d be great to see something similar at MK during HEA.

 

[BrianL]

OT here, but I recently got to watch the Together Forever - A Pixar Nighttime Spectacular fireworks show at DL. For those that haven’t seen it, they use projections on the castle and on the buildings on both sides of Main Street. Talk about not knowing where to focus your attention! I was all over the place.

That being said, the effect was pretty cool (in my opinion) and I found myself sort of thinking it’d be great to see something similar at MK during HEA.

Disneyland Forever was also like that. I loved being in the middle of Main Street during it!

 

[GADisneyDad14]

Disneyland Forever was also like that. I loved being in the middle of Main Street during it!

I had met someone earlier in the day that told me to stand not too far “down” Main Street... on Main Street but not too far past the flagpole. I thought he was toying with a DL newbie, but it was a really great spot to take it all in. There’s one part where Lightning McQueen zips down one side of Main Street and back up the other side - the visual mixed with the realistic surround sound audio was stunning.

 

[BrianL]

I had met someone earlier in the day that told me to stand not too far “down” Main Street... on Main Street but not too far past the flagpole. I thought he was toying with a DL newbie, but it was a really great spot to take it all in. There’s one part where Lightning McQueen zips down one side of Main Street and back up the other side - the visual mixed with the realistic surround sound audio was stunning.

And if you aren't on Main Street you don't even see the Coco figures on top of the buildings. DL really has a leg up on WDW in the fireworks show department. If only there wasn't any wind.

 

[bryanb]

I watched it in front of the castle twice and behind the castle once. I didn't enjoy it at all. You have to choose to watch either the projections or the fireworks, you can't do both at the same time. I didn't care for the jumping around and no flow between the segments. While I appreciated the technology behind the show, I didn't appreciate Cinderella Castle being used as a screen and found the entire thing meh.

Thank you!!!! That was my whole thing. Do fireworks OR a projection show. NOT both at once. Far too distracting.

Especially since it's not like they did away with the Once Upon A Time projection show.

A lot of people crowd into the hub, but it gets overwhelming. The projections and fireworks compete with each other. My advice is actually to watch from further back into Main Street.

You get a much better balance of projections and fireworks there, so that one does not overpower the other. (I also like to watch from the TTC, where of course the projections become unimportant, and from there the fireworks look huge!)

 

[Eastern]

Wishes was better. Bring it back.

 

[ChanduTail]

I'd never seen any of the nighttime shows at Disney until this most recent visit last month, so I don't have much to compare it too. I wasn't really moved by HEA though and came away from it feeling disappointed. I feel a bit bad about that when I read here how much the message meant to some people, but I found the show to feel a bit scattered and incoherent. I had trouble piecing together what the message was and what each movie scene had to do with each other. I'm guessing I'd probably appreciate it more if I could see it again. There was also so much going on that it was distracting! Between the fireworks and the castle projections and the lady in front of me with her phone blocking my view , I guess it was all a bit much for a first time viewing. I thought the transitions were very fast and somewhat abrupt, and I didn't recognize most of the music at all. I was also disappointed that they didn't show many of my favorite movies. (Beauty and the Best was noticeably absent.) HEA is beautiful to watch but it didn't move me.

I watched some of the end of the night show though (what is that one called? I never hear anyone talk about this one) and I enjoyed it much more.

I really loved the Galactic Spectacular though. Star Wars holds a dear place is my heart, so I guess it's no surprise that I found that show much more rousing. I think I had my mouth open in awe the whole time.

I wonder if this is part of the reason why the show doesn't resonate with some people. The movies in the show - Mulan, Tarzan, Hunchback, Hercules, etc - are the movies I grew up with. Of course, I love the classics too But those were the "current" movies at the time. It makes sense to me that someone who doesn't know them would find the show less appealing because the intended feeling/purpose of the chosen songs/scenes wouldn't be immediately clear.

 

[gillep]

I had met someone earlier in the day that told me to stand not too far “down” Main Street... on Main Street but not too far past the flagpole. I thought he was toying with a DL newbie, but it was a really great spot to take it all in. There’s one part where Lightning McQueen zips down one side of Main Street and back up the other side - the visual mixed with the realistic surround sound audio was stunning.

Continuing the OT discussion but I am so jealous! We have been trying to get down to DL to see the Pixar fireworks since they started but schedules have just not been on our side. We really loved how they did this with Disneyland Forever, and the Pixar show looks fantastic. My husband didn't believe me when I picked our spot to see Disneyland Forever as he thought we would need to be closer to the castle, but I had already seen them with a friend and knew he would love the Main Street effects and he was so excited when they started.

 

[Dug720]

I wonder if this is part of the reason why the show doesn't resonate with some people. The movies in the show - Mulan, Tarzan, Hunchback, Hercules, etc - are the movies I grew up with. Of course, I love the classics too But those were the "current" movies at the time. It makes sense to me that someone who doesn't know them would find the show less appealing because the intended feeling/purpose of the chosen songs/scenes wouldn't be immediately clear.

I am quite familiar with them. I just didn't like the show.

And that is 100% ok. Not everyone has to like everything.

 

[MickeyPretzels]

I am quite familiar with them. I just didn't like the show.

And that is 100% ok. Not everyone has to like everything.

Some people post on these boards constantly but never seem to like ANYTHING. It's baffling.

Incidentally, your description of the show as "schizophrenic" is offensive. You don't have to like it, but sneering at others who do (and at mental illness in the process) is highly uncalled for. Please find a kinder way to express your opinions.

 

[Dug720]

Some people post on these boards constantly but never seem to like ANYTHING. It's baffling.

Incidentally, your description of the show as "schizophrenic" is offensive. You don't have to like it, but sneering at others who do (and at mental illness in the process) is highly uncalled for. Please find a kinder way to express your opinions.

My apologies that you took offense at my initial description. Disjointed and jarring in its shifts might have been better.

As for the first part of your post, I like plenty at Disney (pretty much everything at Animal Kingdom, 95% of Epcot, much of Magic Kingdom - everything about the cruiseline - even the Value resorts). But HEA is not something I like. I happened to love ROL, which many seem to not like. But I'm not on here trying to convince people they must like it.

 

[mamamelody2]

DH and I really enjoyed HEA last November. 1st night, we watched from Main Street. 2nd, Fantasyland. 3rd, Frontierland. I think Frontierland may have been my favorite. That said, I would easily be able to skip watching HEA from the hub/Main Street come September, but our boys will be there for the first time since HEA, so we will be doing it.