SpectroMagic | |
Magic Kingdom | |
Attraction type | Parade |
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Opening date | October 1, 1991 |
Hosted by | Jiminy Cricket |
Music | SpectroMagic |
Vehicle type | Units |
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SpectroMagic is an evening parade presented at the Magic Kingdom park at the Walt Disney World Resort. Produced by longtime Disney Show Producer Ron Logan, it is similar to the Main Street Electrical Parade, which was its predecessor, directed by Don Frantz. The parade incorporates elaborate, brightly lit floats, a musical score, and many sound effects. The floats are populated with Disney characters and represent scenes from Disney's movies and short films.
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“ | ...a lot of the preliminary technical work for the Fantillusion parade was proof of concept in this parade. So it's kind of the interim step between The Main Street Electrical Parade and Fantillusion. | ” |
—John Haupt[1] |
The parade went on a hiatus in the May 1999 when the Main Street Electrical Parade made its return to the Magic Kingdom. SpectroMagic returned in April 2001 with the following changes:
Unlike the Main Street Electrical Parade (which welcomes spectators with a synthesized voice provided by Jack Wagner (announcer)), SpectroMagic's Opening announcement is provided by Jiminy Cricket who says: "Welcome to the Splendor, the spectacle, the sparkling sensation, where the romance, the comedy and thrill of Disney Fantasies come to electric life…. And now the Magic Kingdom Proudly Presents in a million points of musical light, the Magical World of Disney in SPECTROMAGIC!”
The main theme for SpectroMagic ("On This Magic Night") was composed by movie composer John Debney. Together with Steve Skorija, he arranged music by Disney composers into a 14-minute suite. The parade's scenic designer was Ken Dresser.
In the parade there are 29 units, and 7 whirly units giving a grand total of 36 units in the parade.
Disney refers to floats as "units." Each unit has a driver cleverly hidden in the unit. All audio is controlled through DTMF tones transmitted by RF signals from the antennas on Cinderella's Castle to each unit. Each unit has its own audio themed to the unit, with the main parade theme played on the zone speakers. Each zone is anywhere between 70 to 80 ft in length. The audio is stored on the unit as digitally encoded information. All the audio and other effects are stored in DACS (Digital Automation Control System). The lighting effects and other special effects are all controlled by on-board computers which initiate their own cues using a Programmable Logic Controller. The cues are sent via the antennas to the units. The main control center is located under Main Street USA. The PC (Production Center) is where all Magic Kingdom parades are stored. It is located behind Pirates of the Caribbean and Splash Mountain. In its original run in 1991 most units used Amiga software developed by Richmond Sound Design Ltd. running on Amiga computers to generate animations that were synchronized via MIDI Time Code with the local audio and projected onto the side of the unit.