Theme Park Insider readers selected Aladdin as their pick for "Best Live Show" in last year's Theme Park Insider Awards, and the attraction continues to rank as our readers' favorite Disney theme park attraction in the United States.
I saw the show yesterday afternoon for what likely will be my final time. Aladdin is the only live show I've ever seen that got better with year performance. When "Disney's Aladdin: A Musical Spectacular," (its official title) opened in December 2002, it was a good show — by far the best attraction in the then-struggling Disney's California Adventure theme park. But Aladdin improved consistently over the years, growing from an entertaining show to a wildly hilarious must-see attraction.
If you are in Southern California and for whatever reason have not seen Aladdin, do yourself a favor and buy a ticket to California Adventure tomorrow (Sunday), the show's final day. Get there when the park opens at 9 am and go directly to the Hyperion Theater in Hollywood Land to get a Fastpass for one of the day's shows. The energy inside that theater on its final day will make you fall in love with live theater... if you haven't fallen in love with it already. Though I must warn that you will feel a twinge of regret for not having seen this show before now, when you could have had the opportunity to enjoy it many more times.
Aladdin is closing to make way for a new live musical production based on Disney's Frozen. It will be unfair to judge that new production against Aladdin, for the simple reason that even Aladdin, when it opened, wasn't anywhere near as good as it is now.
The key to Aladdin's long-running success has been Disney's willingness to keep changing the show. Recognizing that one of the best parts about the 1992 animated musical was the late Robin Williams' inspired riffs on pop culture, Aladdin's production team supplied the DCA show's Genie with an ever-changing supply of fresh jokes — an arsenal that's grown even more powerful over the years.
Here's what might have been the best joke from yesterday. When the evil Jafar demands that the Genie make him sultan (c'mon people, we're over considering anything a spoiler at this point, aren't we?), the Genie complied... then paused for a loooong moment. As the theater grew restless at what seemed like a flaw in the production, the Genie took on a pained expression, then said, "there's been a mistake — Miss Philippines is actually the sultan."
I though that Disney was going to have to call in paramedics, because people in the audience were dying. I'm sure that Anna and Elsa's legions of fans will adore the new Frozen show, but there's no way that franchise has the potential to deliver the my-stomach-is-cramping-and-tears-are-coating-my-face laughter that Aladdin is delivering in its final weekend.
And that Steve Harvey joke wasn't even my favorite gag in the show. That would be the Genie's final dismissal of Iago as "a Tiki Room reject," a quip that flies over the heads of many California fans, who aren't aware that, at Walt Disney World, Iago literally was a Tiki Room reject.
So, farewell, Aladdin, and congratulations to everyone involved in its production. You have earned every honor you've been given over the years, including those from us. We hope that Aladdin's success will continue to inspire the theme park industry to create even more wildly entertaining live productions in the years to come.
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The photo showing Aladdin and Jasmine at their wedding originally didn't have a formal gown for Jasmine. She previously wore her two piece greenish outfit at the finale. It took a few years for them to finally give her a decent wedding gown.
I am surprised that Disney is getting rid of this show. I have seen it and it is one of the best shows in ANY Disney park. The closest show to come to it is Festival of the Lion King which is a very different show.
Maybe it will get another life in DHS?
Personally, I wish Aladdin would stay. I like Frozen as a movie, but not as a stage show. Yes, it hasn't even come out yet as a show, but Frozen the movie just doesn't have the same charm as Aladdin the movie does.
Hopefully we are all wrong and Frozen at DCA will be a home run.
If you watched the Frozen show at Disneyland's Royal Theater and the Sing Along Show at California Adventure, there are plenty of ways to make Frozen equally beloved.
Olaf will be the Genie equivalent with opportunities to ad-lib his lines.
Hans and Wisselton will be the villians.
Anna will be the kind and gentle one like Jasmine.
Elsa will have powers like the genie and cause a snow storm in every show no different than the high energy elephant parade in Aladdin.
There will be romance between Anna and Kristoff no different than Aladdin and Jasmine. Both reluctant at first and flourishing in the end.
Of course, there will be trickery from Hans similar to Jafar.
The adaption of Aladdin to the stage changed the animated movie's approach. Frozen will have the same issues. It won't be the animated movie that you're sick of. I hope they add a new song.
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