Day 960: Paint the Night

The Main Street Electical Parade on steroids? Sounds just crazy enough to work, doesn't it? And let me tell you...it DOES. Prior to heading to Disneyland I definitely did my reserach, so that by the time I finally got around to seeing Paint the Night my first evening in the parks, I knew every word and note. I believe that throughout the course of my trip I "Stumbled" upon Paint the Night around 5 or 6 times for sure, which means I saw Paint the Night more than I did anything else other than World of Color. If that doesn't say something I don't know what will.

This new nighttime spectacular is largely based off of that original Main Street Electrical Parade, which we still enjoy at Magic Kingdom at the Walt Disney World Resort in Florida. I love the Electrical Parade, and while I don't always take the time to stop and watch it, over the past few years I've become more likely to take up residence along the Frontierland stretch for the later parade showing when there's no one there to enjoy the magic. However, having now seen Paint the Night, I want nothing more than an updated show at Magic Kingdom.

The only problem? I'm not totally sure it would fit.

The Main Street Electical Parade has become a staple of the Magic Kingdom, and change is always strange and difficult, but without a huge reason, like the Diamond Celebration was for Disneyland, a large scale parade update like that seems a bit odd. Granted, we just got Festival of Fantasy not that long ago while Disneyland's Soundsational has been there for years, so I'm not complaining. But that's not the only reason. Disneyland also has a huge Pixar presense that we don't find at Walt Disney World. Between Cars, Toy Story, Monsters Inc, Finding Nemo, and A Bug's Life, the Pixar name has certainly made a name for itself at the Disneyland Resort. They even have a whole parade dedicated to Pixar! And believe it or not, a huge portion of Paint the Night is based on those same films, with Cars, Toy Story, and Monsters Inc. floats along with appearances from many of our favorite Pixar Characters.

In particular, I was completely in love with the Cars section of the parade, which I think I could just stare at for hours. In a particularly magical moment, as we headed on the train from Toontown to Tomorrowland, we passed the staging location for the parade, similar to the way you do as you head through Frontierland at Walt Disney World, and the entire Cars section, was ready to go on. The dancers from that section waved to us as we passed, and as if they weren't already my favorite part of the parade, they definitely were then.

But we don't have a Cars Land in Florida. We may be getting a Toy Story Land, but we don't have A Bug's Land or a Monsters Inc. attraction either (we do have the Laugh Floor, but the scale of popularity is still no where near what it is in California). We have more Star Wars (actually guys a Star Wars segment of Paint the Night would be pretty awesome), and the Muppets, and what is apparently lots and lots of Frozen. So while there are definitely things that spill over from park to park, if Paint the Night ever makes it to Walt Disney World, I have the feeling it would be quite different from what we see at Disneyland.

Although if we're changing things can we just get Belle out of that dress and get rid of the Ariel float? Let's bring in some new characters! Star Wars, like I said, or a bigger Rapunzel float! Maybe even Figment? How cute would he be all lit up with his imagination?

How do you think Paint the Night would appear if it was at Walt Disney World? Would it be the same, or would you make some changes?

Have a magical day!

(Note: This blog post was written on September 8 due to the Disney Trip and College).

Day 827: Stars and Stripes Forever

Brace yourselves everyone! Within the next few blog posts there's not one, not two, but THREE Music focused topics, and this is just the first one. You see, this week has been an absolutely stressful week filled to the brim with performances, saxophone playing, auditions and regular work. When I spend a significant amount of my time on stage or in the practice room, you can bet that my Disney references for each day probably come from a similar location, hence post after post about Disney and music. I do, however, promise that each of them will be a little different than the last, so get ready, because here we go.

The other night, in the first performance of my week, I played with that SNC Saxophone Quartet as part of the Chamber Music Concert, filled with performances by other small ensembles, including a Bell Choir, Flute Choir, Brass Trio and Piano Ensembles. I happened to be recruited to turn pages for the Piano Quartet, specifically for their arrangement of Stars and Stripes Forever. Now, this is pretty much the quintessential American March, and in yet another upset in the Marine Band March March Madness Competition, apparently it was beaten out yet again this year by the Valders March. At Disney, however, Stars and Stripes Forever appears in full force, and if you've forgotten what the original piece sounds like, here's a recording to refresh your memory before we continue forward. That way you'll have it fresh in your mind to understand where the references come into play.

The Carousel of Progress: 

You can bet that while I was sitting on stage turning pages for the Piano Quartet, there was definitely one Disney attraction that came to mind: The Carousel of Progress. I know this show pretty well, so of course I instantly thought of the portion that takes place around Fourth of July, when the music James (the son) picks for the fireworks show that evening happens to be Stars and Stripes Forever. Now I'm pretty sure that the next time I go to see The Carousel of Progress I'll think of my SNC Piano playing friends, but is that really a bad thing? 

The Main Street Electrical Parade: 

While the Electrical Parade is filled with all sorts of music, including the main theme based on Baroque Hoedown, something I'm definitely going to look into more as time goes on simply because I'm a music major and it seems like an interesting topic to take a look at, Stars and Stripes Forever does indeed make an appearance in the parade towards the end in the "Salute to America" section. If you listen to the audio, which I've included below for your to listen to, you can hear the song mixed in with the other patriotic pieces in the finale. 

The Muppets: 

Now, while Stars and Stripes Forever probably appears many more times throughout the parks (I'm looking at you, American Adventure Pavilion), I couldn't end this post without mentioning everyone's favorite Eagle, Sam, and his crazy awesome love of America. So here, to round things out, is a Muppet Rendition of Stars and Stripes Forever: 

Now...try getting that out of your head! Good luck! 

Have a magical day!

(Note: This blog post was written on April 12 due to a busy week).