Bluey in the Fantasyland Theater: Driving Changes at Disneyland?


Disneyland has been suffering lately from a lack of shows. While the shows aren't The primary draw of a theme park for me, they are central to the experience. When I'm going to a park, I am most excited for the rides. The shows are icing on the cake. However, they play a role in giving variety to the day and for getting off your feet for a few minutes. 

Closing shows is like closing rides

There was a time when Disneyland was filled with shows. Just 20 years ago, there was a 3D show running in the Magic Eye theater through the day, as well as a live theater show in the Fantasyland theater. These shows were stopped in 2020, and have not been back since.

The Magic Eye Theater could hold 500 people at a time, and lasted a bit longer than 20 minutes. In a regular operating day, which equates to roughly 1,500 viewers per hour. The live theater show would run roughly 5 times a day, with 1,800 seats in the theater, for a total of 9,000 person capacity in the day. While it's true that the theaters typically weren't full, they did pull in a decent crowd. Even assuming they were about half full, having these shows gone is like permanently closing Thunder Mountain. It means there's less to do, and it makes a difference during the day. 

California Adventure suffers from this less severely, but there is no longer a show in the Hyperion Theater. That theater could hold 2,000 guests an hour, and in the days of Aladdin: The Musical Spectacular, the theater was full for nearly every show.

Shows take a lot to put on

The reduction in shows is likely to do cost savings. It can be expensive to have an entire cast, but there's actually a need for multiple casts. Between needing to run five shows a day 7 days a week and needing to have backup performers in case of emergency, it takes a lot of people to put on the show. Show. But preparing the show takes quite a bit of work as well, between rehearsals, direction, and technical crew.

Bluey in the park

However, we're getting our first clues that Disney is willing to look at these as long-term parts of Disneyland entertainment. Compared to the investment of building a new ride, building a new show is cheap. This makes it a good testing ground for characters that may not have the longevity Disney wants. As of right now, Bluey is quite the popular show for both adults and kids. That's likely why Disney has chosen to make a theater show. If this performs well, it may become a regular part of the Disneyland lineup. This will serve as a test bed for whether modern audiences are still interested in stage shows at theme parks.

Disney describes the show as a day at Bluey and Bingo's school, accompanied by comedians, musicians, and the chance to dance.

Permanent changes to the parks?

Disney Jr. Dance Party at California Adventure

The theater is going to need some upgrades to accommodate this show. First off, the set and scenery will need to be updated. But secondly, the concept art is shows people dancing near the stage. In the current theater, there isn't room for that; it was built for onstage performances and has benches for seating. To make room for the dancing guests, some of these benches will need to be removed. This could signal that Disney does not intend to change this back to a regular show in the near future. 

It'll also be interesting to see what happens to Disney Jr. over in California Adventure. That show has been a dance party for several years. This will be the first time Disney has two children's properties, each with their own dance-party show in a single resort. This may be a way to draw in more families by creating entertainment specific to young kids, or it could signal that Disney Jr will be closing soon to make room for other expansions in California Adventure, like Avatar.

This could also be a way to drive ticket sales after 2025 has seen weaker attendance numbers. Even during the 70th Anniversary celebration, which should have driven significant traffic, attendance has been low. This is also the second update announced for Fantasyland in the last few months, after the addition of Rapunzel's Tower to Storybook Land. Disney is pressing on updates to try to recover their attendance.

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