Ride Guide – Mickey’s Philharmagic
Florida Guide > Magic Kingdom
Set in the heart of Fantasyland, Mickey’s Philharmagic is a stunning 4-D movie. What is 4D? It is a 3D movie with the added dimension of special effects to make the experience much more immersive.
You enter the theatre for Mickey’s Philharmagic and it appears to be quite a grand theatre, with classic theatre style seats and the stage, with proscenium arch, grandly at the front of the auditorium. In the pre-show area there are many posters from previous operatic shows displayed in the lobby to add to the sense of entering a more formal orchestral performance. That formality is soon lost as you hear Minnie, Goofy and Donald getting ready for the show!
The film starts quite simply with the curtain raising and Donald trying to organise the instruments into order, ready for conductor Mickey to come and take charge of proceedings. You know Donald, though, he can’t resist meddling with things that he really oughtn’t too! Soon we are on a whirlwind adventure, visiting many classic Disney musical moments.
There are two factors that make this show really stand out from the crowd amongst 3D shows. Firstly, the proscenium arch and stage soon disappear to reveal a much, much wider movie screen. Amazingly this is almost imperceptible and you soon find your complete vision being filled by the movie unfolding in front of you. Secondly the fourth dimension of the special effects really does add another dimension to the overall experience. The beauty of this additional element is that there is nothing intrusive to let you see where this element of the show is coming from and at one level this dimension works so well as you are not consciously over aware of its presence. The smell of warm apple and cinnamon pie, however, or the rush of air from a champagne cork flying past you tone in perfectly to the movie unfolding in front of you. Let’s just say that I am just thankful that they didn’t decide to incorporate a fourth dimension for the scene with the electric eel!
The technology used for creating the 3D effect also has created stunning results. Personally I can find 3D films to be a bit hit and miss as to how effective they are, but in this one you really do feel that thing are positioned in three dimensions and really come out of the screen towards you.
For me the wonderful thing about this show is that it does work so well on so many levels, the music is great, it has a flow to the story of it, the immersive environment of the 4D elements works really, really well. Added to the facts are that there is not too often a long wait for this ride, that the auditorium can provide a cool shelter on a warm day, it is one attraction that is loved by all our family and that it is perfectly positioned perhaps half way around the park really do make Mickey’s Philharmagic a must do show on every trip.
Ride Facts:
Minimum Height – Not necessary
FastPass – Yes
Single Rider – No
Location – Magic Kingdom, Fantasyland
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