Disneyland: One Man's Dream- Fantasmic!

In 1992, Fantasmic! premiered. It was unlike anything ever done at Disneyland before, or any park for that matter.

The show features many Disney characters who are in Mickey's dream. Soon, the villians take over and turn the dream into a nightmare. While the plot itself is cute and fun, it's really the technology that leaves people in awe.

First of all, the light poles that appear are truly hightech. During the day, they are hidden underneath New Orleans Square, camoflauged from view. But at night before show time, they "magically" move out ofthe ground. Then after the show, they dissapear once again.

First, you have the characters that just appear and dissapear on the Island. They do this from underground pits below the stage via lifts. Pyro, fog, and other effects shroud the movement so we, the audience don't see it.

The mist screens are where the movie clips are projected. Recently, the cameras that project these became HD, so it's clearer then before.

In the final battle between Malificent and Mickey, Malificent becomes a dragon. A new dragon was supposed to premiere in June, but it broke and made it's debut three months later. The dragon lights the lake on fire. This pat is usually the part that leaves the audience in shock. How can a lake go on fire? Well, natural gas runs in pipes on the river floor, and during the show bubbles up to the surface. The fire emerges from the dragon and the lake goes on fire. When Mickey defeats the dragon, the gas is turned off, and the fire is extiguished.

The boats are also really cool. The Columbia becomes home to Peter Pan, and the fight goes uon between Peter Pan and Captain Hook. It even has a real cannon that gets shot off during the show. The Mark Twain becomes home to all the Disney charatcers during a stirring finale.

Fantasmic! has proved so popular, it has been running 2 shows most days of the year (sometimes even 3) for 17 years, with no end date in sight.

Here's the video. The show is truly great (Much better then DHS's show, which was copied from Disneyland. DOn't see it. It's very disapointing, especially after seeing Disneyland's show).