JoJo is at Magic Kingdom for the return of Happily Ever After cast member preview. (It returns for the public on April 3rd.) He says CMs are allowed to bring guests to the preview and someone invited him.
JoJo says he wants to talk about the importance of the fireworks show and why it’s an exciting time for everyone, but also for him personally. He also comments on the show that is ending, Enchantment. “When Enchantment first came out, it was received with some negative response from the fans, but over the year they made drastic improvements to the show, and honestly I like it now,” he states. JoJo says he has seen it maybe fives times in total, so apparently it wasn’t much of a draw for him.
JoJo goes to the entrance to Tomorrowland to try to peek at the media event that is going on there. He says it’s for the new Tron ride, but that invitees also got to see the new Toy Story Land restaurant. JoJo wasn’t invited to it, but he claims that he is not upset about it. He says, in a sour grapes way, that since he’s already ridden Tron, that it would be a waste for him to go to the media event.
Post-Enchantmen:
“Happily ever after is a beloved firework show that didn’t get that long of a life cycle, and it kind of ended abruptly, so when this firework show replaced it, people were literally like, expecting the next best thing. There was high expectations. Disney made the smart move [to replace Enchantment] and they were just like, you know what, instead of investing in a new firework show, which would cost more money, let’s just bring back the thing that everyone wants. They listened to the public and everyone’s happy about it.”
~ JoJo
JoJo then goes to Seven Dwarfs Mine Train and sees that it has a 95 minute wait. However, because JoJo knows a cast member who was willing to cheat the system (or “making some magic”, as JoJo calls it) and let him cut the line, JoJo gets to ride the ride right away, while the Enchantment fireworks are happening. JoJo describes the experiences of being able to cheat like that as “truly magical”. He says he is grateful for the experience (of benefiting from CM cheating).
The people at the end of the queue waiting for 95 minutes, of course didn’t get to cut the line or ride it while the fireworks are going off, but JoJo describes his being able to cut the line as “awesome”. He’s a person who only ever thinks about himself, despite the manufactured happy go-lucky “JoJo” persona that he portrays to fans both online and in person.
About the Enchantment fireworks, JoJo says, “Say what you want about Enchantment. Their fireworks are actually bigger that Happily Ever After. I can see these babies from my house!” Also, as he has said many time before, he says watching the Magic Kingdom fireworks from behind the castle is the best place to be.
JoJo next goes on Peter Pan’s Flight, because there was no line at the moment. As he exits, he says Magic Kingdom is his least favorite park because it’s hot, crowded, and he can’t buy alcohol there. (We see JoJo drinking often when vlogging at the other parks.) However, if he is coming in the evening, if the temperature is cool and he can ride rides, it’s better to him. “If I could always encapsulate this vibe right now that I’m having, where I can just get on rides and feel the magic, then man, it’d be my favorite and that’s not a lie.” It’s good when JoJo lets us know that something he says is not a lie.
Getting Personal:
“At the end of the day, even if I was having the worst day as a cast member, things weren’t going my way, anytime I’d see the fireworks, like, ignite the sky and hear the music, I would just start dancing. One time, I actually got in trouble, because I was creating too much of a show for the guests. Like, I was distracting people from the actual fireworks. I was just having too much fun. Point is that I always try to get my work done before the fireworks, because my nice little, like reprieve, a break between all the craziness of the parks, and it always talks about your dreams and pursuing them, and you know as a young adult, moving across the country to Florida, it really just, you know, stuck with me.”
~ JoJo
Next he rides on Haunted Mansion, and is joined by Emily Nelson. After the ride, he says he is going to try not to cry about Happily Ever After, and asks Emily if she expects to cry. She replies, “Absolutely.”
JoJo explains that the HEA is his personal favorite because he used to see it while working as custodial in Adventureland and Liberty Square. Specifically, he was workin in the area between Haunted Mansion and Liberty Tree Tavern.
After leaving the park and checking in for the event at the TTC, he and Emily return to the park and wait at the castle for the start of the HEA preview.
JoJo records the whole show, moving around the hub to show different angles and to show the new projections on the store fronts on Main Street.
JoJo sings over the music to avoid copyright strike. He could either replace the music with non-copyrighted music, or in editing, he could add a second audio track of him singing the music while at home, which would have the same effect as singing it in person. Instead, he sings while recording the video because he’s apparently too lazy to spend the extra time in editing and doesn’t care about anyone near him at the park forced to hear him (although he has claimed in the past that he does try to keep his voice low to avoid bothering other people).
After the show, JoJo says, “That’s awesome. It’s back baby.”
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