Fireworks Returning to Disney World & Disneyland!
Disney has announced the return of fireworks in July 2021 at Magic Kingdom and Epcot at Walt Disney World in Florida, and at Disneyland in California. Here are the full details as announced by the company! (Updated June 16, 2021 with commentary & FAQ by Tom.)
As Disney continues to ease health safety rules and the situation improves, there’s a new sense of optimism with many positive signs moving forward.
More families are making travel plans, friends are dining out together, and more Americans returning to work. For its part, Disney Parks is gradually bringing back more beloved experiences.
A tradition since 1957, fireworks shows are what Walt Disney called the perfect “kiss goodnight” at the close of a magical day, and this summer the skies above Disney theme parks will sparkle with color once more.
Beginning in July, just in time for the nation’s Independence Day celebrations, the incredibly popular nighttime fireworks spectaculars are returning to Disneyland and two parks at Walt Disney World!
July 1, 2021 marks the start of nightly fireworks performances at Walt Disney World!
At Magic Kingdom, Happily Ever After will transform Cinderella Castle with lights, projections and pyrotechnics, as moments from favorite Disney stories encourage you to grab hold of your dreams and make them come true.
As part of the ongoing transformation of EPCOT, “EPCOT Forever” will produce a spectacle of fireworks, music and lighting effects over World Showcase Lagoon, highlighting the themes of innovation, exploration, imagination and celebration at the core of the park’s past, present and future.
No word yet on when Harmonious will debut, but it has been testing and is still expected later this year.
As Disneyland welcomes back out of state guests in addition to Californians, the fun starts July 4, 2021 with “Mickey’s Mix Magic” presented nightly throughout the summer.
State-of-the-art projections, show lighting and lasers will transform Main Street, U.S.A., Sleeping Beauty Castle and the façade of “it’s a small world” into a dazzling, family fun dance party that goes sky high with fireworks to celebrate the leader of the club, Mickey Mouse.
Commentary & Answers to Frequently Asked Questions
What does this mean for Disney After Hours Boo Bash nights?
Probably nothing.
As we’ve stressed repeatedly, one of the advantages of the Disney After Hours line of events is that it occurs, as the name suggests, after normal operating hours. Unlike Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party, the park will not close early on nights when Boo Bash is scheduled. In the past, this has meant that fireworks are not put behind the “paywall” of a hard ticket event, and day guests are able to see them.
This is critically important to crowd distribution, especially in October during the kickoff of Walt Disney World’s 50th Anniversary. Normally, the Halloween Party would really mess with crowds over the course of the entire week. On a MNSSHP night, there would be no fireworks or nighttime entertainment for day guests, the park would close at 6 pm, and crowds would be miserable on non-party nights.
Disney After Hours Boo Bash was planned with the return of fireworks in mind; this is one of the many reasons this event is running instead of the Halloween party in what’s sure to be a busy fall.
What about the return of Fantasmic?
There was a point when a heavily-modified Fantasmic was rumored to be the first nighttime spectacular to return to Walt Disney World. That was several months ago, and I have not heard anything credible since. It seems as if Disney opted to undertake a fairly significant refurbishment project to the amphitheater and its infrastructure instead.
Given the performer-heavy nature of Fantasmic, it’s likely we’ll have pretty decent advance notice of when it’s going to return. My guess would be this fall, but that’s a complete guess. I don’t have any more or better info than you at this point. I’d expect a projection show on Grauman’s before then.
What about Rivers of Light?
Rivers of Light has been permanently retired. It wouldn’t surprise me if the concept is reborn under a different name, but perhaps not. None of its incarnations were hits with guests.
Has Walt Disney World released fireworks showtimes?
Yes.
Happily Ever After will start at 9:15 pm and Epcot Forever will start at 10 pm in the month of July 2021. Expect that schedule to change in August to accommodate Disney After Hours Boo Bash and the slightly earlier sunset time. (Additionally, Epcot’s hours will likely be extended.)
Any word on dessert parties?
Haven’t heard anything whatsoever, but that doesn’t mean Walt Disney World isn’t working on their return. Despite prices increasing just before the parks closed, those were as popular as ever. Our guess is that they’re back by October.
What does this mean for Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party?
This might seem like an odd question given the topic, but it’s presumably coming up because fireworks = entertainment = Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party. (I follow the logic!)
Here as with Fantasmic, I have heard zero credible rumors. My gut puts it at about 50/50, with the main reason for not having it being the havoc wreaked on Magic Kingdom crowd levels at a time that will undoubtedly have unprecedented attendance. Magic Kingdom having a full schedule of operating hours from October through January is pretty critical to managing attendance levels.
With that said, Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party is an incredibly lucrative event for Walt Disney World–more profitable than After Hours even at significantly lower price points–so perhaps Disney will find a way to make it work.
What about World of Color?
What now feels like an eternity ago by virtue of how much has changed since then, I heard that World of Color was likely not returning until 2022.
However, reopening plans and the pace thereof–especially at Disneyland–have accelerated dramatically since then. What was true even a month ago may no longer be the case, with internal timelines potentially looking better. That’s true not just for World of Color and not just at Disneyland, either. It’s probably a generalized good note to end this. There are still some practical impediments to some evening entertainment returning, but no announcements would surprise me at this point.
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Your Thoughts
What do you think of the news that fireworks will soon return to Walt Disney World and Disneyland? Any predictions about Fantasmic, World of Color, or other evening entertainment that’s still on hiatus? Do you agree or disagree with our advice? Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing your feedback–even when you disagree with us–is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
This is great news!!! We aren’t much for camping out for fireworks. We use that time to hit as many big rides as we can but this is one step closer to fantasmic (which we do love!) and Christmas and NYE offerings being normal this year!! Woo hoo! Enjoy avengers! Hope you scored Spider-Man. I had no expectations but it was fabulous!!
Woo Hoo! Best news for our August trip!
This is the best news! Even if we knew it was coming, it’s still nice to hear it officially. Masks were a big change but I said for months that it would finally feel normal again when fireworks were back and here we are!
I don’t suppose there’s any word (or rumor) on Fantasmic? That would truly make everything complete in my mind (I mean, besides FP or whatever replaces it)
More great news! No one does fireworks like Disney. We made a bet and booked at BLT late July and so far, it’s paying off big time. We did Pandemic Disney last year, and were happy to get to go at all, but I’m ready for more normal.
Can’t wait for the Disneyland update from today!!!
Most excellent news, indeed! It’s just not a full day without the lovely smell of burning black powder! I love it!
@Andy
Thanks for the info! I should be able to look up some good viewing locations. I think World of Color might not be back immediately, which I’m sad about…I saw some pictures online that made it look like it’ll need some maintenance before it can return.
@GC
You’re not the only one for sure. I travel with a noise-sensitive individual so the last year has been great for Disney World trips for us. Though they can also pretty easily duck inside somewhere to get away from the noise and crowds if need be, it was still pleasant.
THANK YOU SARAH!!!
While Tom is off photographing hamburgers YOU give us the best news of the year.
Super impressed you knocked this out on the phone while entering Avengers Campus. Thanks for the great news! Enjoy your day!!!
Okay, I’m calling it, the pandemic is officially “over” in the USA! This was the sign I was waiting for!!
Those dessert parties are like legalized robbery. I bet they’re back sooner than later (if they can staff them) since the margin has to be good for Disney on an event like that. I don’t say that to knock your choice. We’ve done it twice and love the simplicity of not having to stake out space to watch the show. We soured on it when Disney got greedy and added a second party after the fireworks so it doubled the number of people in the same viewing area and we felt a lot more like the sardines outside the gated area who didn’t pay almost $400 per family. LOL
I’m crossing my fingers and toes that they might be able to get cast members to bring Fantasmic back by the end of July 🙂
@Maggie Before the pandemic Disneyland had fireworks and Fantasmic. They have an array of fireworks shows that come and go, Mickey’s Mix Magic being the most recent one. So it’s not a “new” show, but it’s new enough that a lot of visitors won’t have seen it before.
Across the esplanade, DCA does World of Color, which remains closed (but you’d have to think will be back soon to help balance nighttime hopper crowds between the parks).
Pretty impressive that y’all posted this on the fly…thanks! And have a great day out there!
Wow, great to hear for my July 10th trip to Disneyland, thanks for the fast reporting! I feel like I’m seeing a unicorn post – short and sweet, while entering a new land, posted by Sarah. Out of curiosity, what did Disneyland have before the pandemic? Was it just Fantasmic? Is this “Mix Magic” is something new?
Be interesting to see what this means for WDW park hours and the timing with August Boo Bash dates.
Right now, Epcot is scheduled for 9pm close from mid-July onward. That would point to running both EF and HEA at 9pm in July and August. Unless they anticipate busing completely fixed by then, you wouldn’t want a massive exodus from your 2 largest parks at the exact same time .They can’t really extend Magic Kingdom hours for many August dates due to Boo Bash. So now I suspect. Epcot will get extended to 10 or 11 for July and August nights.
Meanwhile… Magic Kingdom in August on Boo Bash nights. Boo Bash is scheduled for 9:30. In past DAH events, the DAH event started at the same time regular hours ended. And typically HEA was run BEFORE closing time, not right at closing time. So will we see HEA at 9:00 pm, with summer hours extended to 9:30?
We should get a sense this Friday, when they update early July hours and likely list fireworks times.
I must be be one of the few people on the planet who can take or leave the fireworks, parades and character greetings – in fact when my kids were kids they hated all 3 so we just enjoyed eating or riding rides with shorter lines while everyone else is herded together elsewhere!
the random single float parades have been great and hope they keep these!
Thanks Sarah,
If you have magic kingdom reservations but park hop after 2 do you envision any problems getting into Epcot or back into magic kingdom. We’re scheduled to go on July and can envision quite a throng on that first night!
Do you think there will be any non-scheduled performances in the days leading up to 7/1? I know they will generally test stuff out and we’re there June 22-27 so hoping we can get lucky and catch something.
Probably not on the top of many people’s list of urgent questions but what do you think the chances are that dessert parties will return? I was hoping to cap off my daughter’s birthday at Magic Kingdom in September with a dessert party while watching the fireworks. Thanks!