Happily Ever After’s Emotional Return

Happily Ever After has made its heartwarming, emotional, and triumphant return to Magic Kingdom. We were on hand for the first night of fireworks in over a year at Walt Disney World, and will share photos of the crowds and pyro, plus thoughts on our experience and how this was about more than just fireworks–it truly felt like seeing the light at the end of the tunnel…exploding overhead.

As you’re no doubt aware, no nighttime spectaculars have been shown at Walt Disney World since pre-closure. As of July 2021, both Happily Ever After and Epcot Forever have now returned. Disney Enchantment and Harmonious will replace those respective shows on October 1, 2021.

No word yet on Fantasmic or the pyro and projection shows at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, but the latter should be back before fall. Our expectation is that nighttime is once again pretty normal by the start of Walt Disney World’s 50th Anniversary. See What’s Returning to Walt Disney World in 2021 & 2022 for more on all of that.

As with so many days the past couple of weeks, the return of Happily Ever After was a rainy one. (If you’re visiting in the near future, we’d strongly recommend reading our 2021 Storm Season at Walt Disney World & Hurricane Elsa Update.) There was an afternoon downpour, followed by several hours of light rain.

We had planned on arriving earlier, but the rain foiled those plans. Instead, we rolled up to Magic Kingdom at around 8 pm. Unsurprisingly, guests were already camped out in Town Square and the Central Plaza. Basically, everywhere from the Cinderella Castle Forecourt back to Casey’s Corner was packed with people roughly 90 minutes before the start of the fireworks.

Fair warning: nothing here is useful information for your Walt Disney World planning purposes. What follows is mostly just me being reflective about the last year, plus fireworks photos. It should go without saying, but the return of Happily Ever After is a big deal for locals and fans. On a normal night with this much precipitation, crowds would’ve thinned out more. Conversely, if it weren’t pouring for several consecutive hours, more tourists might’ve lingered in Magic Kingdom.

We’ll see where Happily Ever After crowds “settle” after the Fourth of July holiday. Our expectation is that you’ll need to arrive early to stake out a prime viewing location, as that was the case even pre-closure. While a few years old, Happily Ever After is incredibly popular–and for good reason (sorry, Wishes faithful). Between pent-up demand and fans wanting to see it one last time before Disney Enchantment replaces it for a couple years, it’s likely to be a few busy months on Main Street.

Since our main motivation for being there was to be there and enjoy the homecoming of Happily Ever After, I didn’t place much emphasis on photos. Given the crowds, weather, and ever-present likelihood of a last-minute shoulder kid, the conditions were far from ideal for photography, anyway.

We’ll be back to Magic Kingdom many times in the coming weeks and months and will have more/better photos and practical advice, so stay tuned for that. For now, some thoughts on the return of fireworks at Walt Disney World…

During Happily Ever After, I’ll admit that I got a bit choked up. Not because the princesses’ heroic journeys overwhelmed my emotions, but because this felt like coming full circle, closure, or something of that sort. I’m honestly not entirely sure. I think everyone realizes that it’s been quite a year and, to varying degrees, we’re all still processing that as we plow forward to normalcy.

Perhaps the most apt way to describe standing on Main Street in Magic Kingdom among a sea of excited and happy people while watching pyro explode overhead is an on-the-nose embodiment of reaching the light at the end of the tunnel.

We can hear Happily Ever After from our house, which started as a fun novelty but pretty quickly faded into the background. “Fireworks time” was like an afternoon storm, something so routine we took it for granted. When it happened for what we assumed would be the final time in a while last March, we paid attention–it was an emotional night for all of the wrong reasons.

Upon returning to Walt Disney World at the end of last June when DVC resorts reopened, I remarked that being there had a detoxifying effect—we didn’t fixate on the news, social media, or any real world problems. Our cares melted away, replaced by the magic of Walt Disney World. At the time, it was most definitely escapism. The concerns still existed, but we had a temporary reprieve from them.

Even though we knew it was (much-needed) escapism at the time, we naively did think the worst of it was behind us. We were quickly disabused of that notion by last July. Seeing the resorts and parks as ghost towns was a novelty at first, but the reality of what that meant for the people of Central Florida was crystal clear.

What happened in the ensuing months is well-documented. Throughout the fall and winter, the parks lost billions of dollars, laid off tens of thousands of Cast Members, and things got even bleaker. We haven’t called Central Florida home for that long, but it was nevertheless devastating to see all of this unfold. Experts forecast that it would take until 2025 for the region to recover, and it felt like things might never be the same.

All of this was flashing through my head while watching Happily Ever After. If I’m being honest, I barely paid attention to the show. If you asked me to recap it, I couldn’t. (Well, I could since I’ve seen it enough times, but you get the point.) It has been quite a year, and experiencing Happily Ever After for the first time since last March–except this time, from inside Magic Kingdom–was an emotional experience for all of the right reasons.

Obviously, the last year has unfolded differently for everyone–and for much of the world outside the United States, that light at the end of the tunnel is not “fireworks-sized” quite yet. However, it is in Central Florida, and it’s impossible to fully articulate just how different the mood is here as compared to last year. I was becoming increasingly optimistic by the beginning of this year, but I still never expected things to get this good, this soon.

It’s not just having the fireworks back. It’s seeing the park packed with happy and unstressed guests, visiting resorts where we’re not the only ones in the lobby, and so much demand for everything that Disney can’t keep up. It’s going from a situation where tens of thousands of people are losing their livelihoods and there are dozens of daily heartbreaking goodbyes on social media to one where Walt Disney World literally cannot hire people fast enough and is importing college students en masse in an attempt to fill the surplus of open positions.

It’s that instead of escaping a grim reality, we’re visiting Walt Disney World with sincere senses of calm, comfort, and happiness–celebrating having reached that light at the end of the tunnel.

I’m sure everyone would describe it differently, but that was the communal vibe and palpable energy of standing on Main Street for the first night of Happily Ever After’s return. Chatting before and after the show, people were excited about seeing the fireworks for the first time in over a year, but more so about what the returned symbolized. During Happily Ever After, with the start of each poignant segment, the collective cheers literally drowned out the audio. It was like everyone unburdening themselves from a year of stress all at once. It wasn’t just rain or joy in the air, but a sense of relief. We’ve made it to the other side.

Suffice to say, being part of that crowd was something special. And so, our journey with the return of fireworks in Magic Kingdom comes to an end. But yours continues on. Grab ahold of your dreams and make them come true. For you are the key to unlocking your own magic. Now go. Let your dreams guide you. Reach out and find your Happily Ever After!

Planning a Walt Disney World trip? Learn about hotels on our Walt Disney World Hotels Reviews page. For where to eat, read our Walt Disney World Restaurant Reviews. To save money on tickets or determine which type to buy, read our Tips for Saving Money on Walt Disney World Tickets post. Our What to Pack for Disney Trips post takes a unique look at clever items to take. For what to do and when to do it, our Walt Disney World Ride Guides will help. For comprehensive advice, the best place to start is our Walt Disney World Trip Planning Guide for everything you need to know!

Your Thoughts

Were you present for the return of Happily Ever After or Epcot Forever? Did you notice a similar mood from the crowd? Did seeing nighttime spectaculars at Walt Disney World once again make you similarly emotional or reflective? Looking forward to seeing the fireworks soon? Have your own thoughts on the comeback story of Walt Disney World, Central Florida, or the United States? Do you agree or disagree with our thoughts? 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!

52 Responses to “Happily Ever After’s Emotional Return”
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