Walt Disney World: Have you ever noticed a parade that zips by you or saw a shorter show then you remembered and you saw clouds overhead and looks like it was going to rain?
This last monday I saw for the first time "Taste of Fantasmic!" The first show of Fantsmic was cancelled due to the weather. The 3-4 minute show is intended to give guests what to expect from the actual 27 minute full length show minus the characters and boats but is away for Disney to get rid of the live fireworks then manually taking them out.
I have to say it was really cute! It started with "Little April Showers" from Bambi with the water cannons and fountains and then went into a short villain montage and and a short finale montage with fireworks.
I remember seeing the High School Musical Pep Rally. Since I hate the poor excuse for a TV movie, I hoped the show would come to a grinding halt. As the show progressed into "Stick to the Status Quo", the music faded out, then the usual inclement weather spiel played. That made my day.
I have seen 2 shows cancelled due to weather. First it was High School Musical 3: Senior Year Pep Rally. There were a crowd of little girls, and the intercom said before it started: Due to incliment weather, HSM3 Pep Rally won't be performing today. More recently was Dream Along With Mickey. Lightning was around so the show was cancelled. BUT, the characters went out for meet and greets with the audience.
When I went to Sea World Orlando to see Clyde and Seamore take Pirate Island, the rain was absolutely pouring and they still played on, performing the entire show in the rain (the actors were soaked by the end of it and messing up lines, which made it even more hilarious)
I remember going to Disneyland a couple years ago and I missed the first half of the first showing of Fantasmic because I simply did not know. So I stayed around for the second show and they cut from the dragon to the finale. It just ended rather abruptly and the normal lights for the park came back on. The cast members played it off like this was normal. Even when I asked what happened. I was told that is how the show is supposed to be. I was rather miffed.
Wow. I remember a few parades that stepped off only to have the skies open while the parade was en route. If there was lightning in the area, the parade leads would tell the floats to switch into hyperdrive (or so it seemed) the dancers would just run to keep up and we'd have to haul a-- behind the parade to get up the ropes and stanchions in time.
Typically, the parade would cancel in inclement weather, but Central Florida storms sometimes blow up with little notice, and the parade gets hung out and has to rush back to get in ASAP. (You can't just leave the floats out in the street - that'd be a bigger lightning hazard.)
Continuing with unrelated things we are upset about: I hate it when guest scream or yell out random things in the Library scene at the Tower of Terror. Its not the Haunted Mansion and because I work there I hear a lot of different things being yelled at so you may think its witty but its not original.
Also Robert you know at the end of the parade there CM's that hold the rope, well I did that for the first time the other day and its a lot harder then I thought it would be! My bosses like to have kids grab the rope also but they obviously dont know that they need to be a certain distance from the float and all they wanted to do is run and be right next to it so not only I had to make sure guests on the sides were stating away but I had to play tug-of-war with the kids to get them to stay back! It was kind-of exhausting afterwards!
Back on track a bit...
I know Disny with Lights Motor Action (LMA) and many other outdoor atractions they will cancell shows or stop attractions because of rain or especially lightning in certain mile radius. I believe lightning its 5 miles for LMA and Astro Orbiter its even further.
As a Jungle Cruise skipper I can tell you that when we would get stuck in the hippo pool and the hippos would attack and I emptied the revolver ... things would get TOTALLY out of hand!
At Tokyo Disneyland, if their Electrical Parade, Dreamlights is canceled due to rain, they present "Nightfall Glow." It features four floats specially designed for rainy nights (Notice umbrellas built into the scenery) and the characters wear special costumes specific to this parade. It's got a relaxing song, and is able to move at a regular pace instead of speed through the parade route at warp speed. Very classy. Video supplied by "pluchan"
^^^^^^ That's a good idea, having a rain based show that doesn't require extensive planning (meaning adjustments can be made in a relatively short time to switch to this parade should the park need to)
