Today at Disneyland: Soundsational Parade
Today was the last day of our "summer staycation," and it was back to the Disneyland Resort to see Disneyland's new Soundsational Parade!
First, a look at the Main Street Cinema dressed for July:
And some fun with "vintage" tinting from the Instamatic phone app:
Seen while waiting for the parade:
Generally speaking, I liked the parade, which was a big improvement on the Celebrate! non-parade. It had well-done floats with nice details.
However, I did not like the opening drummers dressed in pseudo-rapper style, no matter how colorful. The drummers were very talented, but the headbands and style of the costumes have negative connotations and don't belong in a Disney theme park.
The colorful floats:
Mary Poppins, Bert, and chimney sweeps end the parade:
My other main criticism is that the music was somewhat muted at times, and between that and the "remix" style, the parade didn't have a strong enough musical component, despite being "Soundsational."
In fact, at times it was downright odd when chorus dancers were lip-synching to the soundtrack, yet the music was so low that it was clear the dancers were only moving their mouths, not singing along. Typically that is not so apparent, and it's not good "show."
On the plus side, I especially liked the inclusion of THE THREE CABALLEROS and MARY POPPINS, and the PRINCESS AND THE FROG float was excellent. It was also fun to see Rapunzel take her place alongside the other Disney princesses.
The bottom line: while the parade is not quite at the level of the outstanding 50th anniversary parade or some of the park's great parades of the past, such as the MULAN parade, it's quite good and I'm looking forward to seeing it again. It's especially welcome as the park returns to a more traditional full-length parade which has been missing from Disneyland for the last couple of years.
posted by Laura @ 7:25 PM
5 Comments:
Does your west coast version of the Main Street Cinema still actually show movies? As I'm sure you know, "ours" was turned into a gift shop several years back. Ever since I was a kid the Cinema and Penny Arcade were two of absolute favorites in WDW. Both gone in FL.
Hi Ed! Yes, it sure does. I can't remember the last time I went inside, I need to make it a point to do that soon. :) The Penny Arcade is still here too!
Great to hear from you!
Best wishes,
Laura
Laura, I'm glad you liked the parade but I agree that it doesn't meet the standards that Parade of Dreams set. That's a pretty high bar to reach anymore I guess. I've heard others complain about the music and match up and yet I've not experienced that myself. Must have to do with where one is standing, a zone or something. I think my favorite float is Mary Poppins. Interestingly the first time I saw it, which was the day it premiered, the Pearly Band was on the float playing along. I've not seen them since which is a disappointment. Don't know if it is just certain days or what.
Hi Irene,
My oldest daughter was at work yesterday but had seen it previously, and she wasn't aware of music problems either. So I was interested that you have heard others complain about it, although not experiencing it yourself. We were sitting on the Hub with the parade directly coming toward us, right where it turns to circle the Hub.
The Pearly Band was on the float playing!!
Best wishes,
Laura
How very interesting about the sound being muted. In a backhanded kind of way, I like that, as Disneyland has gotten so loud that my enjoyment of the park is starting to wane (which depresses me no end, as Disneyland was the staple of my youth), though watching performers lip synch to almost nothing would be wrong too. I have to wear earplugs on most of the rides now, and when we went last year, and my little nephew was covering his ears and crying that the rides were too loud, well, it just makes me want to cry too that he can't even relax and enjoy the place anymore. The revamped submarine ride and the Winnie the Pooh ride were particularly loud offenders for him, and he didn't want to go back on any of them, simply because the volume is set ridiculously high. I keep hoping someday, movie theaters and Disneyland will come to their senses and drop the volume to a normal level -- particularly as both cater to children with young undamaged ears. In the meantime, at the moment, I'm enjoying your posts on Disneyland far more, so I can experience it vicariously. :-D
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