I was skeptical of the “Glow with the Show” concept when I first heard of it because it was described as, “You get these Mickey ears that light up during World of Color.” Thinking it would be similar to the sea of spinning flashlights and String Things you see at Fantasmic! at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, you can see why I wasn’t too excited.
Well, luckily I had the opportunity to attend the Glow with the Show preview at the media event at Disney California Adventure on June 14, where we were provided with a set of the light up Mickey ears and were directed to the World of Color viewing area. For a split second I thought, “Wouldn’t it be cool if they could sync these to the music like Coldplay does with those wristbands at their concerts?” But then realized that too outlandish of a thought. “There’s no way they could… *MUSIC BEGINS AND ALL THE LIGHTS SHUT OFF* Oh my gosh, the Mickey ears are synced to the music!!!”
And so began the next 30 minutes of pure awesomeness. As if World of Color wasn’t enough of a visual spectacle already, they go and throw in the coolest concept I’ve ever seen. Plus, they’ve added in a new segment for the upcoming Disney-Pixar feature, Brave. Check it out in video!
Now, a couple things: the Mickey ears cost $25 at Disney California Adventure. And, while I think that the idea will be appealing to a lot of frequent Disney visitors, people who don’t know what World of Color is are not likely to invest more money in something they don’t fully understand. Also, if you buy the ears, that’s wonderful, but you can’t see the ones sitting on top of your own head. So you have to hope that enough other people purchased them and will be in your line of sight during the show.
So I’m not sure what Disney’s plans are for the future of the concept (whether there will be a special “Glow with the Show” section or something like that), but I do know that it is yet one more insanely cool innovation that I hope lasts a long time.
Note: the Mickey ears also interact with the lighting at the new Mad T Party in Hollywood Land, which replaced ElecTRONica!
cool experience !
Your video was AWESOME! I’m loving your new blog. Living in Orange County, California, I have taken the Disney Land Resort for granted and have used my annual pass all of three times, despite living and working 20 minutes from the parks. Your enthusiasm and love for everything Disney, especially over the past few weeks, has reinvigorated my love of the parks and I plan on visiting the park more frequently. I’d love to stop by and say hello in person the next time you are at the resort.
I was telling people all day today about the electronic Mickey ears… and that they work in the Mad Hatter Dance place too… Very cool.
Wishful thinking here but ideally they would make the hats available to all guests at the beginning of the show and then we would drop them back at the end… a little like what we do with the 3D glasses for some attractions. Not gonna happen but a girl can dream.
I think they should work for the music for the fireworks too… and all the parades… we would be “Be the Magic” in the park!!! Its a good idea I think they would sell many more of those ears!
I have to get myself some of those ears dude! My ears are just plain they dont light up all cool like that. Everyday Disney seems to come up with something new. Its Pretty Cool!