Top 10 Disney Nighttime Spectaculars & Fireworks Shows of All Time
Over the last two decades, we’ve seen numerous nighttime spectaculars and fireworks shows at Walt Disney World and Disneyland, as well as in Paris, Tokyo, Hong Kong, and Shanghai. Some are guest favorites standing the test of time, running for decades. Others are short-lived, only lasting a season or two by design. Much like attractions, not all of these are created equally.
Similar to Sarah & Tom’s 10 Favorite Disney Attractions Around the World, we thought it’d be fun to put together a list of the best fireworks shows and nighttime spectaculars worldwide. As there are far fewer shows and spectaculars than there are attractions, we opted to include both present and past offerings. We figured that’d make the list easier.
We were wrong. It made the list way too challenging, as it turns out that there are a ton of Disney nighttime spectaculars we absolutely adore. Nevertheless, it did make putting this list together a lot more fun, as it offered a nice stroll down memory lane. It also offered a great reminder that, in some regards, Disney is still at the top of its game.
When it comes to nighttime spectaculars, it’s difficult to deny that Disney Live Entertainment has stepped up its game in the last decade-plus. Sure, there have been some pretty big missteps (looking at you, Disney Enchantment and Harmonious!), but the hits far outnumber the misses. The overall quality and production value of Disney nighttime spectaculars is only improving.
No offense to Fantasy in the Sky or its loyal fans, but seeing that (without the added special pyro) and then seeing a modern show is such a stark contrast. Of course, many fans undoubtedly have nostalgia for the older and long-running fireworks shows…and that definitely plays a role in their celebrated status. But in general, the grandeur and wow-factor of newer nighttime spectaculars puts the old fireworks shows to shame.
Before we get going, we have a few rules for this list. First, no single or two-day seasonal shows are eligible. The main reason for this is because I haven’t seen some of the more obscure stuff, like the Bastille Day fireworks at Disneyland Paris or the one-off ‘Welcome to Our World’ fireworks in Florida. There’s also the reality that the Independence Day and New Year’s Eve shows excel by virtue of volume. While I’m easily impressed by explosions, we want to focus on quality over quantity (of pyro).
Next, hard ticket event shows are also ineligible. This means nothing from Magic Kingdom’s Halloween and Christmas Parties or Disneyland After Dark. Anything that is paywalled behind a separate ticket doesn’t count. (Honestly, this is just a cop out because we didn’t have space to include HalloWishes or Holiday Wishes. Those are the only hard ticket shows that would make the list, anyway, and they’d be tied for #11.)
Additionally, night parades aren’t included. Those are their own thing, distinct from fireworks and other nighttime spectaculars. Frankly, I don’t really know why, but that seems to be the conventional thinking. (There was a draft of this that included Main Street Electrical Parade, Paint the Night, SpectroMagic, and Dreamlights all as “N/A” just to reinforce the point that night parades are important/beloved, and Walt Disney World really needs one again…but this list was already too long.)
Finally, there’s no specific scoring criteria–this is just how particular shows move us the most, plus analysis of their complexity, scale, and quality. Yada yada yada. Even with all of these self-imposed and seemingly arbitrary limitations, we found ourselves snubbing several nighttime spectaculars we love, including Symphony in the Stars: A Galactic Spectacular (Star Wars Weekends fireworks), Frozen Fireworks, Disneyland Forever, Magical, and Disney in the Stars at Hong Kong Disneyland (we have yet to see Momentous, so it wasn’t eligible).
With that said, here’s the list in no particular order!
Happily Ever After, Magic Kingdom
Happily Ever After is the fireworks show that Magic Kingdom deserves. It takes many of the best elements of modern castle park nighttime spectaculars, and integrates them into a distinctly Magic Kingdom fireworks spectacular. The sharp contrast between Disney Enchantment and Happily Ever After underscores just how different in quality and sentimentality two similarly-styled shows can be–and made us appreciate Happily Ever After even more, somehow.
Happily Ever After excels largely thanks to a fantastic arrangement paired with song and movie choices. There’s a thematic progression to the show that makes sense–it goes from adventure to friendship to romance to overcoming adversity to attaining a ‘happily ever after.’ In a sense, this is the Disney animated film archetype, but in montage fireworks show form.
Happily Ever After’s song choices are fantastic, and the pyro pairings are truly superb. The whole stretch from “Friend Like Me” to “I See the Light” is powerful stuff. “Go the Distance” is a fan favorite for people of a certain age in the fandom, and the show’s titular theme song by Jordan Fisher has already become a modern classic. Disney Live Entertainment perfected the castle park fireworks show formula with Happily Ever After, and it’s rare to capture this kind of lightning in a bottle twice. Or it was rare, until earlier this year when the next entry on the list debuted…
Wondrous Journeys, Disneyland
One of our main motivations for creating this list because we haven’t sufficiently recognized Wondrous Journeys. We loved it from the first viewing, and it somehow continues to improve in our eyes as we form more of a sentimental attachment to the show. We are now comfortable definitively dubbing Wondrous Journeys as Happily Ever After: Disneyland Edition.
Wondrous Journeys is Disneyland’s new nighttime spectacular for the 100 Years of Wonder celebration, created to pay tribute to legacy of the Walt Disney Animation Studios. Wondrous Journeys features nods to every film released by the iconic studio over the past century. This means music, characters, and iconic moments from movies including Encanto, Beauty and the Beast, Mulan, Hercules, The Princess and the Frog, Peter Pan, Sleeping Beauty, Snow White, Frozen, Treasure Planet, Big Hero 6, Moana, and many more.
Wondrous Journeys is perfectly paced, has a coherent thematic through-line and semblance of story, and is brimming with powerful moments. Unlike so many recent nighttime spectaculars, it doesn’t drag anywhere. Wondrous Journeys is exceptional from start to finish, and masterfully pairs pyro with projections, music and more.
Everything about Wondrous Journeys is amazing, from the original song to the way the movie songs are weaved together to the show’s arc–everything. Suffice to say, Wondrous Journeys is to Disneyland what Happily Ever After is to Magic Kingdom. Except with Baymax, Blue Fairy, and arguably even a more cohesive narrative thread. (But minus the big ‘ole castle!)
Wishes! A Magical Gathering of Disney Dreams, Magic Kingdom
They say Tom Brokaw is the ‘voice of a generation,’ but for those of us who spent evenings in Magic Kingdom during a certain era, Jiminy Cricket was the voice of our generation…at least as it related to Walt Disney World visits. The omnipresence of Jiminy’s voice, setting the mood in Magic Kingdom at night is something I still miss.
For our first several years visiting Walt Disney World together, the one-two punch of Wishes and SpectroMagic were the defining nighttime experience in Magic Kingdom. The two mirrored one another in their orchestral style, and felt like two halves of a whole, even if they debuted at different times and are, ostensibly, dissimilar.
Wishes was the icing on the (castle) cake that is a day in Magic Kingdom for an entire generation of guests. Wishes differed from previous castle parks fireworks shows that predated it in that it used a narrative thread to weave songs together, tugging at the heartstrings of guests in the process.
It wasn’t just pyro and music. Wishes resonated emotionally on its own terms, starting with a young girl singing the lines “star light, star bright,” followed by Jiminy Cricket’s opening narration about wishes coming true and Tinker Bell flying down. By the time the character ‘montage’ of Wishes lines finishes in the opening scenes, you’re hooked. Wishes was a bit schmaltzy, but it had heart and was oozing with nostalgia value. It’s no wonder so many Walt Disney World fans still miss it.
Magic, Music & Mayhem Fireworks, Magic Kingdom
For us, one of the many “golden ages” at Walt Disney World was 2007 to 2010. Admittedly, a big part of this is personal nostalgia. We were really getting into the parks as adults, and even honeymooned at Walt Disney World. Sure, there was stagnation when it came to new additions, but it was also a time of unprecedented discounts, Extra Magic Hours at Magic Kingdom until 3 am, Pirate & Princess Parties and Summer Nightastic.
With those last two events came the Magic, Music & Mayhem Fireworks (subsequently renamed to the Summer Nightastic Fireworks during that free festivity). When it comes to this bombastic nighttime spectacular, our glasses are not rose-colored. This was truly and unquestionably one of the greatest fireworks shows that Walt Disney World has ever produced, featuring perimeter bursts and other great effects.
The show was hosted by the Fairy Godmother of Cinderella with the three good fairies from Sleeping Beauty ‘fighting’ over the colors of the fireworks. Magic, Music & Mayhem also had a lot of instrumental music medleys from those movies, plus Beauty and the Beast and The Little Mermaid, with dialogue to weave a narrative together.
The highlight was when pirates stormed the Magic Kingdom, with characters from Peter Pan, music from Pirates of the Caribbean, and what seemed like a New Year’s Eve level of pyro as the pirates attacked Cinderella Castle. That single scene might be the best in the history of Magic Kingdom fireworks.
Celebrate Tokyo Disneyland
Celebrate Tokyo Disneyland is my favorite castle park nighttime spectacular of all-time. This nighttime spectacular was a brilliant love letter to the park, starting with an appearance by Mickey Mouse in Cinderella Castle’s balcony to conduct Tokyo Disneyland is Your Land against an opening montage of park attractions. It was a powerful start to the show, and fitting for Japan. Every time we saw it, there was a collective gasp from the audience when seeing the actual Mickey Mouse in that balcony, and not a projection. A little touch, but one that had a big impact.
From there, Celebrate Tokyo Disneyland hit the ground running. The show started in Adventureland with a strong scene from the Tiki Room before continuing to Jungle Cruise and building in intensity to Pirates of the Caribbean. Celebrate Tokyo Disneyland then moved on to Westernland, and where the best scene of the show happened: a goat and the Country Bears, riding around in a Big Thunder Mountain Railroad train helmed by Mickey Mouse.
I don’t recall what happened after, because I was always too busy picking up my jaw from the floor. Celebrate Tokyo Disneyland was a nighttime spectacular for theme park fans with great tributes to the park, its characters, and attractions–it was the perfect anniversary show. I wish that U.S. Disney Parks leadership had the good sense to do a nighttime spectacular like this for Walt Disney World’s 50th Anniversary, instead of a glorified Disney+ sizzle reel.
Disney Dreams, Disneyland Paris
Disney Dreams is like Happily Ever After plus World of Color, plus some other stuff thrown in for good measure. The show simultaneously has fire, fireworks, projections, lasers, and fountains–all of which make it one of the biggest draws at Disneyland Paris, and more substantial than fireworks shows at Magic Kingdom or Disneyland in California.
Guided by Peter Pan’s shadow, guests take an extraordinary journey during Disney Dreams as scenes are projected on Sleeping Beauty Castle and iconic iconic songs play from Disney and Pixar fan favorites Beauty and the Beast, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, The Lion King, Tangled, and many others. Disney Dreams leans heavily on Parisian-influenced Disney films, which means movies that normally don’t receive much attention are more prominent, and the standard ‘go-to’ films play second fiddle.
Disney Dreams was the first fireworks montage show of the modern era (also including Happily Ever After and Wondrous Journeys) and, like Happily Ever After, it has returned by popular demand following a subpar replacement that didn’t garner the same stratospheric guest satisfaction scores.
World of Color, Disney California Adventure
Featuring projections, fire, and other amazing effects, the dancing fountains of Paradise Bay present a jaw-droppingly beautiful montage presentation of Disney animated classics in World of Color. There’s no story to speak of and the vignettes arguably drag on a bit too long, but you will be so blown away and entranced by the colorful fountains, projections, and other visuals that you’re unlikely to notice.
My favorite way to watch World of Color is from the very front row, dead center in the wet zone. This spot is surprisingly easy to obtain during the second showing, especially on chilly evenings in Southern California (more often than you might expect for those who haven’t visited). From the front, World of Color is a sensory overload in the best possible way, a veritable feast of fountains, lights, colors, and music. From that perspective, the lack of story and narrative cohesiveness don’t much matter. Vibe-wise, World of Color is the perfect way to end a day at Disney California Adventure.
Fantasmic, Disneyland & Hollywood Studios
The king is dead, long live the king. Although not presently being performed at Disneyland due to a dragon who got carried away with her fire breathing, a new version of Fantasmic has debuted at Disney’s Hollywood Studios to replace Pocahontasmic! The new heroes sequence with an Aladdin chase, Elsa’s “Show Yourself” song, and stirring moments with Pocahontas, Moana, and Mulan is now the best segment of the show, and far superior to what it replaced (“the boring part”).
At both Walt Disney World and Disneyland, Fantasmic is an evening extravaganza unlike fireworks shows or other nighttime spectaculars. It combines various elements–fire, water projections, lasers, and fireworks–for a show that uses dreaming and the power of imagination as a jumping off point for montage scenes with various heroes and villains.
The latter characters turn Mickey’s dream into a nightmare, and the little mouse uses the power of his imagination to overcome them. Along the way, Fantasmic races through a number of Disney stories and the elaborate production features dozens of live performers, massive sets, and rousing music to tell its larger-than-life story.
The story is largely the same at Walt Disney World and Disneyland, with a variety of differences that give each the edge in various places. The biggest difference is the setting. Disneyland’s Fantasmic benefits heavily from its almost organic location on Tom Sawyer Island along the Rivers of America. That Fantasmic feels like it comes out of nowhere, and puts guests in the middle of the action.
By contrast, Fantasmic is in a colossal amphitheater, making for a more impersonal production that doesn’t pack quite as much punch. From a practical perspective, it’s also much easier to see at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, and doesn’t result in the same bottlenecks. In the end, both versions of Fantasmic are fantastic–and they definitely were not equals prior to the reimagining of the DHS version.
Illuminations, EPCOT
I knew its days were numbered for years, but I still haven’t come completely to terms with losing IllumiNations. We saw it so many times that I can still play the soundtrack and be instantly transported right back to those summer nights at EPCOT when IllumiNations provided such a satisfying end to the day. It’s like it never left. For me, the retirement of IllumiNations closed the book on classic EPCOT Center and also on that era of entertainment from when we’d started visiting Walt Disney World.
If you never saw IllumiNations, it’s impossible to explain. Photos, works, or even video do not do it justice. You simply had to be there. But even then, plenty of people found IllumiNations to be boring. IllumiNations is very much an if you know, you know type of thing. It was timeless, abstract, ambitious, powerful…and also completely lacking in Disney characters.
The progress of mankind told symbolically through fireworks and a beautiful soundtrack, Illuminations was my favorite nighttime spectacular anywhere, ever. You could say that it didn’t “feel” like a Walt Disney World show because it didn’t have any character IP. However, those who have been going to Walt Disney World for decades know that this is exactly what made IllumiNations a distinctly Disney show. The high caliber of the show, the orchestration of the music, and the optimistic feeling it leaves you with once it’s over. IllumiNations was quintessential Disney from a different generation.
Remember… Dreams Come True, Disneyland
“Good evening, this is Julie Andrews. Once upon a time, there was a magic kingdom made of hopes and childhood fantasies. A timeless place, where every land was filled with wonder. A place where everyone who entered its gates would be given the gift of the young at heart: the power to wish upon a star and unlock its magic. Are you ready to wish upon a star? Then it’s time to open your heart and remember… dreams come true.”
I still get goosebumps when hearing the above opening for Remember… Dreams Come True. Same goes for the next segment, lifted from Wishes, and the one after that with Walt Disney’s 1955 Disneyland dedication speech. Oh, and the one after that, boarding the Disneyland Railroad for a grand circle tour of the original magic kingdom. And the one after that, and so on and so forth.
Remember… Dreams Come True combines two things that I love: fireworks and Disney theme park history. (RDCT also features a lot of great effects, such as the Haunted Mansion Stretching Room and Star Tours lasers.) The show is a tribute to the visionary man and the monumental place he built, which changed the course of history…and all of our lives. Those things are exponentially more meaningful to me than any animated movies.
What makes Disney fireworks spectaculars special is how they utilize fireworks in emotive shows. For this theme park nut, nothing accomplishes this better than Remember… Dreams Come True or Celebrate Tokyo Disneyland. As the park-centric fandom grows with each passing year thanks to Disney Vacation Club, Annual Passholders, and fanbases locally and spread out across the globe, I hope we start to see more shows like this in the future at Walt Disney World and Disneyland.
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Your Thoughts
What are your top 10 Disney theme park nighttime spectaculars and fireworks shows? It doesn’t matter how many parks you’ve been to, I’m still interested in knowing some other favorites. Do you think we missed any shows that should have made the list, or made any poor picks? Any questions? Hearing feedback about your experiences is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
Love this. I have soft spots for all the shows on this list. But I do think fantasy in the sky deserves a little more love, and not just because it was the original and I am a curmudgeon. There was, like ROE, a kind of sweetness to it, a feeling of a collective experience that was shared. And the simplicity of it had a kind of organic homespun magic to it, similar to MSEP. The new shows sometimes feel like a hat on a hat on a hat, cramming so much in and hitting you over the head with the “message.” I like all the shows on this list. But for me fantasy in the sky has a warmth to it that we’ve come to undervalue.
My first visit to Disneyworld was in 1997 and Google tells me the fireworks at Magic Kingdom then were Fantasy in the Sky, I remember being totally Wowed by them, wonder how they would compare now, I feel they were better than the show we saw when I returned last year, do I just have rose-tinted glasses on?!
My beef with WONDROUS JOURNEYS is that it’s a love letter to Disney animation with BARELY any The Little Mermaid. AKA that movie that brought the studio back from the precipice after the Dark Age and started the Renaissance (and yes it’s my personal favorite Disney movie and no I’m not biased at all. :P).
I was told by a cast member at WDW back in April that the ’89 Mermaid had been embargoed for the Disney hotel movie nights because of the upcoming Live Action remake but I’m wondering if that order went wider? Because I also saw the recent Lighthouse Immersive Disney Animation thing during a trip Boston and that also had shocking lack of Mermaid content.
Whether that’s the reason or not, the lack of Mermaid bumps WJ to the bottom of my list.
Another wonderful article – sincere thanks & whilst I haven’t visited anything like as many times as you guys, I’ve been visiting every Disney Park since Shanghai since the early 80’s & the ones that truly stand out are in my list !
THE castle show that stands over all others is definitely Disneyland’s Remember, Dreams Come True. Even though I was already a Disney Theme Park “veteran” of sorts by then, it blew me away. Like you, the parks mean infinitely more to me than even my very favourite Disney movies – Star Wars & Indy maybe a different story but the mere fact that this production was created to highlight the park that us guests had just spend our day touring made it a true delight & it felt like a trip around our beloved park. The soundtrack is perfect & arguably my favourite ever effect is when fireworks fire up around the hub creating a Haunted Mansion stretching room. I could listen to the soundtrack all day … unfortunately my wife doesn’t share my passion quite so strongly however she does love Julie Andrews so she’s ok with my impression of the intro !
Fantasmic represents a Disney vacation to me & would sit in my Top 10 Disney Park moments of all time, alongside attractions. The emotional pull of the show is symbolic to my attachment to the Disney Parks & an evening closing with a ride on the Rock n Roller Coaster, ideally a storm-backed trip to the Twilight Zone & back before enjoying a cold beer watching Fantasmic probably tops my all time favourite few hours to spend in any Disney Park …. it would have been finished off eating a gourmet apple on the bench in front of the Villains-inspired candy store at the other end of Sunset Blvd but that’s now gone. We visited FL for the first time in a while last Summer & Fantasmic wasn’t showing – it just didn’t feel right … suffice to say we’ve just booked 2 weeks at CBR next April/May and it’s right at the top of one of the things I am most looking forward to. I loved Fantasmic in Anaheim BUT, there’s something about the amphitheatre show at the Studios that makes it far more “signature” for me.
EPCOT’s Illuminations was similar in that it just was EPCOT (Center) for me. It was perfect in every single respect … although I think by my final viewing I did think it was time for something new. Despite it’s reputation I found Harmonious (& Enchantment come to think of it) to get much better second time around last year. I am very excited to experience two new spectaculars next year however … here’s praying they’ll realise they don’t have to shoehorn in trying to please every guest & just do what Disney does best.
Whilst I have seen shows at all the other parks other than Shangai – none have left a particularly lasting impact as the shows above but here’s hoping that changes next year !
Not sure if it’s still the case, but in 2012-2016, IllumiNations was inexplicably the BGM for the Customs area of O’Hare. It was equal parts entertaining and jarring to be standing in line at an airport, staring at a Customs officer, and humming along to WDW music while in Chicago.
I liked Once Upon a Time, but I think that’s a nostalgia thing for me more than actual show quality, because it debuted at TDL while I was living there. Mostly I just loved the precision of the projection mapping during the Beast/Gaston scene.
That wasn’t just in Chicago!
Disney actually produced the video that U.S. Customs and Border Protection used for welcoming people into the United States. I haven’t seen the video in a while, so I’m not sure whether it’s still in use, though (last I saw it was 2017 at LAX, IIRC).
That makes sense. I just always went to O’Hare because I was flying to Asia out of Buffalo on United, and I will pay extra money to NOT go to LAX, so Chicago was my best alternative for transfer.
Illuminations: Reflections of Earth will always be #1 in my heart. Like you said, quintessential Old School Disney. Especially the holiday version with Let There Be Peace on Earth added on (we called those the “Armageddon barges” LOL).