The Magic, The Memories and You!

A few weeks ago I had the privilege to attend the preview of the new castle projection show at the Magic Kingdom. There had been lots of chatter online about what this show would be like and would it be any decent. How can you project images onto the castle and have them look good? Well I’m here to tell you it is a great show and Disney figured out how to project on the castle, using 16 projectors. Actually I have a feeling that last summer’s Disney’s World of Color Roadshow in California-which projected images set to music on was a precursor to The Magic, The Memories and You! I watched all three Roadshow stops online and the technology is the same as that which is now being used in the Magic Kingdom and at Disneyland.

In the nighttime spectacle, photos of guests captured that very day in the park are projected larger-than-life among the spires and turrets of Cinderella Castle. In similar fashion, guest images are projected onto “it’s a small world” on select nights at Disneyland Park in California.

The ten-minute experience – called “The Magic, The Memories, and You!” – dazzles park guests on both coasts in ways never before experienced, themed to beloved Disney stories and with playful animated sequences that seem to defy the architecture of the buildings. The spectacle is scheduled most nights with up to two shows per night depending on theme park operating hours and other special ticketed events.

As many as 500 images shot that day project onto the castle each night the show is presented, producers estimate. Disney PhotoPass photographers capture guests creating new memories as they “smile for the castle.”

“Disney parks create family vacation memories to last a lifetime,” said Meg Crofton, president of Walt Disney World Resort. “What better canvas for those memories than Cinderella Castle, one of the most photographed icons in the world.”

Producers storyboarded the show as if it was a short animated film, explained Alan Bruun, associate creative director, Walt Disney World Entertainment. They weaved music, story, photography, video and animation into a new kind of nighttime entertainment.

After the sun goes down, 16 high-powered state-of-the-art projectors bring the castle to life as that day’s photos (and videos taken from Disney’s “Let the Memories Begin” online hub) seem to dance about the famous facade.

As classic Disney music weaves in and out of the new “Let the Memories Begin” theme song, turrets spin or rocket into space, vines grow, planets and cannonballs whiz by as the castle shimmers and magically transforms itself in playful and exciting ways to accompany the guests’ memories of fun, adventure and family experiences.

“The images dance to favorite Disney tunes and culminate in a spectacular finale punctuated by animated and actual fireworks,” Bruun said. “Guests see the castle behave in ways they would have never thought possible.”

Have you seen the show yet? Will you be seeing it soon? What are your thoughts? I would be so excited to have my family’s photo chosen for the show!

Comments

Jennifer S says
February 11, 2011 at 8:25 am
Oh cool! I remember seeing projection shows at Stone Mountain and that place with the 4 presidents whose names I can no longer remember! I bet Disney does it even better.
Jennifer S recently posted..8 Tips for Occupying Kids in the Car
shannon thompson says
February 19, 2011 at 9:50 am
disney allways puts on a great show that is pretty neat though they figured out how to get the picture to project clearly on the castle. 16 projectors i bet it was amazing.

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