Living the Disney Life: Just Go With the Flow (11/3 - 11/5 2006)
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Sunday, November 5th
Woke up very excited this morning because a new show, Finding Nemo - The
Musical, was previewing at Animal Kingdom. New shows excite me more than new
attractions. A great attraction lasts maybe five minutes and usually requires a
long wait in line. Most shows last 20-30 minutes and can be experienced with
only a short wait in line. Consequently, I tend to experience shows I like much
more often than rides.
I went to Animal Kingdom Sunday morning crossing my fingers that 1) The show would be playing and 2) It would be good. I'll admit - the few things I'd heard from people who knew something about the show weren't good, so I didn't have high hopes. But first things first...
Christmas has arrived to Animal Kingdom (except for
the Jingle Jungle Parade)
Back to Nemo ... the show did run and the show was good. Very good ... great, even. In fact, I can't think of another Disney stage show I've enjoyed more and I've seen every major Disneyland show since 1995 and WDW show since 1997. Festival of Fools at Disneyland maybe, but only maybe. And considering this was the first day and surely kinks still need to be worked out, I'm very excited indeed.
It's kind of fun to see a show very early in its run. There're usually lots of execs and creative types there working things out, and lots of Cast Members in attendance. In fact, this show started with Anne Hamburger, the VP of Creative Entertainment, letting us know we were the first audience to see the show. If you get the opportunity to see the first couple of shows or the final show for something like this, don't pass it up.
(c) Disney
Anyway, the show was stunning. I loved almost all the songs (all created new for the musical). The sets and effects were really cool giving that underwater feelings. The puppetry works very well from the fish like Nemo to the giant puppets like Mr. Ray. I thought it flowed very well, especially considering it was a first performance. It didn't drag at all which is unusual for a show that comes in at around 30 minutes. Almost all the little treats we all love from the film are there and it is a complete retelling of the story. Just a wonderful show in every way. I saw it twice on Sunday and can't wait to get back over to see it again - Wednesday, I hope.
Finding Nemo isn't a film that comes to mind when I think of great Disney films. It was very enjoyable, but not especially memorable for me. But in the past month it's produced a truly magical musical and a very good attraction with one of the most memorable Disney scenes ever. I wouldn't have thought Finding Nemo warranted two attractions at WDW and a major new attraction at Disneyland. But I would've been wrong.
What a Disney weekend!
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-- Doobie Moseley
-- Posted November 6, 2006