*UPDATED* The New Maleficent Dragon's First Public Debut During Fantasmic! 9/1/09

After months of false starts and frustrating anticipation, the Fantasmic dragon made her first public appearance at Disneyland tonight. Even though she wasn't at 100%, her presence alone made the crowd that was waiting for the whole summer, applauded with satisfaction and enthusiasm. You just had to be there live to feel the excitement and buildup, THAT was magical! There was a big turnout for the big event that also had a few media people covering the story and also a lot of reserved seating for Disney executives.

The new Audio-Animatronic dragon was built to replace the previous dragon which was a mechanical dragon's head on metal telescopic supports. The new dragon was designed to be a full-bodied replica of Maleficent's final form in Sleeping Beauty, standing at 45 feet tall. It proved a technical challenge. An unspecified failure forced the debut of the reinvented dragon to be delayed beyond its marketed premiere date.

My only gripe was that the dragon didn't spit out fire, but it's ok. After 2 failed attempts to see her in person, I was happy. Now it's just the matter of time, when she's fully operating.
(highly recomend viewing it in HQ)

Category:

Entertainment

Tags:

• Fantasmic
• maleficent
• murphy
• dragon
• disney
• disneyland
• rivers
• of
• america
• debut
• appearance

[angeld76]

cool footage! My kids went crazy when they saw this in 2008!! OMG i wana go back! This was cool Ben! Thx for sharing! U got great seats!

[Goldenpup101]

THAT IS SOOOO COOL X3 I was actually there a couple weeks ago and since I live all the way in New Jersey, I can never go visit Disneyland again, so I wasnt able to see any animatronic dragon :/