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Fireworks 2015

The show was about 5 minutes longer last year, so it may have seemed like there were less fireworks but there may well have been the same amount, just less per minute.

:)
 
A good firework show needs a bit of both (fireworks and effects), the original (and Dr pop Rocket is no where near the epicness of the original) fireworks shows got that right.

Last year had the proportions right, it just didn't have the story behind it.
 
I think 2013 was the best year of recent ones, last year had far too many boring parts where not much happened and relied on the water screen too much, but the issue was in some places you couldn't see the water screen. If they are doing screens I would rather they got a couple of projectors up around the crowd so more people can see them. If not just get rid of them and go back to a voice over story.
 
For 2014s show you could really tell they started off with a good story and it ended up just being forced into a marketing piece.

It worked well in 2013, although last year it became far too much resort this, resort that, our amazing rides, we are amazing, spend all your money here!!1!!

People don't need to be reminded where they are every two seconds. They've had that all day. Provide a unique story with escapism instead!
 
100% agree with you James. A good story is far superior to self promoting babble any day.

But whilst I said that the purse strings were tight, I didnt mean at all that i didnt like the whole show. Every year, no matter how self promoting it is, I get to the end of the fireworks show with a smile on my face. 2014 with the smiler fireworks and the smiler / I crashed my car mix was wonderful. I would even go as far as to say magical.

And I agree with Big Dave when he wished for a Nemesis themed 21 celebration section.
 
All the shows since 2010 have been the same copy and paste job. Marketing led and boring beyond belief.

2013 and 2014 were mildly entertaining in that they worked in a little bit of dialogue and replaced the laser-gasm with a few other effects, but look at the track lists - virtually the same set up since 2010, a horrific pop mashup.

The 2 recent stories lack the camp humour of old shows.
 
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The music was good in 2013.. 2012 and 2014 where a bit iffy. That said I know they get a lot of complaints if the use too much classical which says a lot about the UK population.

The stories have always been dictated by marketing, which really needs to stop. That said the shows are still very good compared to the majority put on around the country but it needs some more narrative love.

The old fireworks displays where amazing, except for bloody Dr Pop Rocket, which was basically the current shows with a TV screen.
 
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Marketing led storylines can work if done well. The Smiler firework show worked because The Smiler wasn't the main part of the display. Instead they had a story about memories and then fitted The Smiler into it.

A case for bad marketing would be the Elements firework show of 2002 for Air. It was shockingly bad!
 
I actually quite liked that one, I agree it was a bit cringe, but they got everything else right. And at least they used real people in the video and not and some animated gif clip art like last years show. If you're gonna sink £25,000 of yer budget into a fancy water fountain & video projector, then at least make sure you've got something decent to put on it.

Air - as in the ride itself wasn't even mentioned in the whole show until right at the very end, but the old shows were nearly always based around whatever new ride/attraction was built that year. So I guess you could say it's marketing in a way. These past 2 years however have just been a general advert for the park. Not the least bit creative. Not cool.

They missed a big opportunity to do a real show for The Smiler. It could have been very similar to the Oblivion one, but instead we got "Hey, this Smiler thingy has something to do with memories, right? Not really, but go with that anyway and make a 20 minute advert of how our resort resort resort resort resort resort creates amazing memories".

Lame.
 
PeteB said:
All the shows since 2010 have been the same copy and paste job. Marketing led and boring beyond belief.

2013 and 2014 were mildly entertaining in that they worked in a little bit of dialogue and replaced the laser-gasm with a few other effects, but look at the track lists - virtually the same set up since 2010, a horrific pop mashup.

The 2 recent stories lack the camp humour of old shows.
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I agree the two recent shows in 2013 and 14 were too marketing lead, particularly with the use of the word resort rather than park. But the 2011 and 2012 were nothing but music, with In the Hall of the Mountain King as the finale and I really liked them, it showed what Jubilee Fireworks does best, great fireworks perfectly timed to music, there was no plot but it didn't matter as the fireworks were spot on.
Thats why I liked the Pop Rocket shows, it was a stupid, cheesy plot (Rita as a time travel machine?!!) that just existed to tie together great music and great fireworks.
The memories show in 2013 where it was audio only was OK, but last year with the water screens had too much stock footage of "families making memories" and not enough fireworks.
The other silly plotline cheesy show I remember from the 2000s was when Air opened and Earth, Water and Fire were jealous that they don't have coasters, so each element had themed colours (air blue, fire red, earth green) and it worked, but was still a bit cheesy.
 
Making no comment on its effectiveness but the footage for the water screens last year was filmed for the fireworks. It wasn't stock.

I thought the 2013 show worked well as it was more about the coasters rather with just a bit of "we are amazing" and the music was good.

Thing with fireworks shows though is it's always going to be very individual what pleases people. 2012 scored very highly for general public but enthusiasts generally hated it.
 
Dave said:
Thing with fireworks shows though is it's always going to be very individual what pleases people. 2012 scored very highly for general public but enthusiasts generally hated it.
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That might have more to do with a) people not knowing what they really want, and b) people don't have the vision for anything else.

Try asking someone if they like the idea of having a story in a fireworks display and you're gonna get "eh, what for, pointless" type responses. Show them an old Alton display or a recent Disney one and they think it's the best thing ever.
 
Dave said:
Thing with fireworks shows though is it's always going to be very individual what pleases people. 2012 scored very highly for general public but enthusiasts generally hated it.
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Maybe I'm not enough of an enthusiast, as I prefered the 2012 show too ;-)

But then at DisneyWorld I prefer IllumiNations at Epcot over Wishes at Magic Kingdom.
 
jon81uk said:
But then at DisneyWorld I prefer IllumiNations at Epcot over Wishes at Magic Kingdom.
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I'd agree that is technically a better 'show' and more entertaining, but people get caught up in the magic at Magic Kingdom. As they rightly should ha! :D
 
jon81uk said:
Maybe I'm not enough of an enthusiast, as I prefered the 2012 show too ;-)

But then at DisneyWorld I prefer IllumiNations at Epcot over Wishes at Magic Kingdom.
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That's the thing though isn't it I suppose, these things are so subjective there is nothing they can do that will please everyone.
 
I've been lots of firework displays, but only two at Alton in 2013 and 2014.

They were the two best displays I have ever seen. The lasers, music, storytelling, backdrop and atmosphere were amazing.

The 2013 Memories show was better than the 2014 Dreams and Nightmares show. Back lighting the towers at key points created an amazing atmosphere that the water screen could not match. There were fewer dead spots in 2013 and the character of each ride was captured perfectly.

Unfortunately, I can't make it to fireworks this year, but can't wait till my scarefest trip on 27th October.
 
2013 was incredible. Reminded me of the great shows of previous years. Last years show, meh, it was ok, but not outstanding. The good vs bad didnt really work, with too much reference to the "Alton Towers Resort" all the time. However,. I LOVED the way they lit up the Towers last year with the string lights. Never seen that before and it looked incredible.

Given the state of the world thesedays, and what happened in Alton, a nice happy, colourful show would be appreciated this year. Something euphoric to lift peoples spirits. Ive booked 2 nights in the enchanted village for this year so im looking forward to seeing the show.
 
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