The Encanto Invasion Begins
Disney wants guests to talk about Bruno while they enjoy the benefits of solar power. However, Disney fans still might not feel Fantasmic. I’ll explain everything in today’s update.
It’s a Madrigal World
This week, Disney will introduce its first official Encanto attraction update, albeit a temporary one.
Nevertheless, it’s the first sign of things to come as Disney enhances its park intellectual property agility. Management wants the hottest properties in parks fast!
After a modest theatrical release last November, Encanto has evolved into the streaming service equivalent of Titanic on Disney+.
The film has absolutely dominated the Nielsen streaming charts, spending months as the most-watched streaming movie.
Disney executives have carefully tracked this impressive display of dominance and staying power. Now, the company is ready to go all-in on the Madrigal family.
I’d previously discussed that the 50th-anniversary version of the Main Street Electrical Parade will include Encanto elements on some floats.
Well, we’re getting something else before that happens. Starting on April 11th, i.e., less than 72 hours from now, Disneyland will alter It’s a Small World.
Lighting Up with the Night with Bruno
Before you freak out, the changes are temporary and modest in scope. Disney’s not about to wreck an attraction that Walt Disney personally had a hand in building.
Instead, at night, Imagineering magic will cast Encanto projections across the iconic front façade at It’s a Small World.
These projections will cause tiles to flip and move around just like the Madrigal family house does in Encanto.
In the process, sequences will display that pay tribute to the viral sensation that is We Don’t Talk about Bruno, the number one song in the world thus far in 2022.
These projections will only last for a few minutes, but they will run several times a night.
So, Disneyland fans will enjoy countless opportunities to catch the whole show. I’ll post a video once the digital story goes live at It’s a Small World.
Of course, there’s a larger point here. It’s that we should expect an explosion of Encanto content over the next few years.
Park officials are aware of the film’s tremendous popularity. It’s the new Frozen!
Remember how Anna & Elsa were suddenly ubiquitous at the parks? Expect the same of the Madrigals!
On the Fantasmic Front…
Speaking of nighttime presentations, Fantasmic! will return to Disney California Adventure on May 28th.
Park officials had previously indicated that Disney’s Hollywood Studios would also bring back its version in 2022.
Many analysts, including me, interpreted that as meaning a similar timeline. I fully expected Fantasmic! to reopen during the first half of 2022, which admittedly could still happen.
Alas, our friends at bioreconstruct recently posted something on their Twitter account that makes it appear unlikely.
Here’s a tweet that shows construction has been completed:
But here’s another that reveals Disney has drained the water surrounding Fantasmic at Hollywood Studios:
Obviously, Disney could spend a few days filling in the moat, and everything would be fine. Still, the draining of the canal represents a step in the wrong direction.
I had expected Fantasmic! to be up and running by Memorial Day, possibly even Easter. The latter obviously isn’t happening, while the former is in serious doubt.
Disney Adding More Solar Farms
Walt Disney World has committed to “zero net emissions by 2030.” Disney had previously taken several decisive steps toward this goal.
You may not know this, but the Orlando campus currently includes more than 500,000 solar panels at its solar farms.
We’re talking about two solar arrays that generate an astonishing 55 megawatts of solar power.
Remarkably, park officials aren’t stopping there, either. Disney only powers 10 percent of its parks via solar energy despite all the current panels.
So, the company is building two different 75-megawatt solar farms at various spots in the greater Orlando area. Notably, neither one will reside on Disney property.
Instead, Disney is adding 1,000 acres of solar paneling in Gilchrist County and Polk County.
These new power sources should go online in early 2023, no more than a year from now.
At that point, Disney will power 40 of its theme parks via solar energy.
Disney also solves a secondary issue by expanding its farms beyond Orange County.
The company is no longer reliant on the weather, at least not as much. Disney’s current solar farms tend to lose sunlight at the same time.
When Orange County experiences cloudy/rainy weather, park officials expect that at least one of the Gilchrist/Polk solar farms will have sunshine.
Here’s a staggering fact about the expansion per Yahoo!:
“The two new solar arrays will be capable of producing more than 375,000 megawatt hours of energy in its first year, which is the equivalent of removing 29,500 vehicles from the road annually.”
Friends, Disney is harnessing the power of the sun to reduce its environmental footprint by an impressive margin.
