Extinct Attractions - Laserphonic Fantasy

Welcome to Extinct Attractions. This week, I looked back at an attraction that felt as 1980s as one could get.

This past Tuesday, two new shows debuted at Disney’s Hollywood Studios - Disney Villains: Unfairly Ever After and The Little Mermaid - A Musical Adventure. The shows added some fresh new experiences for Walt Disney World guests to enjoy. I’ll be at the park later this year and I’m definitely looking forward to checking out the new shows, especially the Disney Villain show as the first full-time experience based on Disney Villains.

Via D23 

Each year, we’ve seen a few new attractions trickle into the parks at Walt Disney World, with Epcot’s most recent addition being the addition of Luminous: The Symphony of Us. There’s been quite a bit of turnover in Epcot nighttime shows recently, which is very reminiscent of the park’s earliest days that featured a different show each year.

A few weeks after the park opened, Carnival de Lumiere debuted as the first Epcot nighttime show, only to be replaced a few years later by A New World Fantasy. The former was also pretty short-lived with today’s attraction, Laserphonic Fantasy, taking the spot on June 9, 1984, actually using the same soundtrack as A New World Fantasy.

Like many of its successors, Laserphonic Fantasy utilized a central barge with some water fountains attached to it. Today, it’s also commonplace to use water screens, but this show was the first to use laser graphics on a water screen as well as the first to include non-continuous lines in laser animation.

Laserphonic Fantasy was exactly what you’d expect based on the name. The soundtrack was all classical music that was generally pretty recognizable, which helped move the show along in an orchestral way. Paired with the music was a laser show, prompting shades of the Main Street Electrical Parade in how everything was approached. The lasers made some rough animations in the central area to pair with the water fountains and fireworks to create an extravaganza of sorts.

The show itself is a little hard to describe because it was all extremely smooth with one section flowing into another, though without a true story. It somehow felt like both an extreme product of the 1980s, while simultaneously being ahead of its time with all of the different elements it included. It was a perfect fit for early Epcot because it was characterless, but with a more elevated take on a nighttime show. In a way, it was hypnotizing in how it presented itself, really just drawing me in. The final fireworks finale really took the cake, too, with fireworks everywhere, just filling one’s whole field of vision.

Via YouTube

Laserphonic Fantasy was a pretty cool experience that helped buck the trend of a new Epcot show every year. It managed to stick around until January 1988, when IllumiNations began its legendary run in the park. It made sense to do something so much larger, but I’m grateful something like Laserphonic Fantasy existed to help pave the way.

Via Buzzfeed 

As always, don’t forget to check out my interactive maps of the Disney Parks throughout the years where you can watch or learn more about all the attractions from every Disney park around the world.

Thanks for reading and have a magical day!