Wishes: A History

With Wishes Fireworks Show departing from Magic Kingdom in about two weeks, I felt it was an appropriate time to go over the history of the show and why it means so much to Disney fans everywhere.

PC:Disneyhints.com

Backtracking a bit, it had been rumored for a year or two prior that Wishes was to be replaced but they were pushed aside as rumors. They were anyway until it was announced that Dream Along with Mickey was ending its 10 year run on April 2, 2016 which was a little over a year ago. Once this was public knowledge it was speculated that Wishes would soon be next. Then on February 9th, the announcement was made that Wishes would end its almost 14 year run at Magic Kingdom.

Many fans were saddened by this news but a few, such as myself, were appreciative of its run but ready to see something new. My personal view is that change is necessary when it comes to theme parks and this was just one of them. But let us first understand the show’s humble beginnings and the effect it has made on million of Disney fans over the years.

Wishes was created as a replacement for its predecessor, “Fantasy in the Sky” fireworks show which ran for 32 years at Magic Kingdom. The concept of the fireworks show was to bring families and friends towards Cinderella Castle during the night to make memories. Steve Davison was assigned to create the replacement for”Fantasy in the Sky.” Davison is Lead Creative Executive of Parades and Spectaculars for Walt Disney Creative Entertainment. To put it simply, if it’s a parade or show at any Disney Park worldwide, chances are that he had a hand in its creation.

Here are just a few projects he had hand in bringing to life:

Disneyland

• World of Color
• Paint the Night
• Soundsational
• Haunted Mansion Holiday
• It’s A Small World Holiday
• Pixar Play Parade

• Mickey’s Storybook Express
• Ignite the Dream

When creating Wishes Davison stated, “they all might have different experiences during the day but at night we’re asking everyone to come to the Magic Kingdom to watch what happens when family and friends all make a wish together and see what happens in the sky”.

Disney had the pyro for this new fireworks show custom made by engineers just for this production. The show’s “Wishing Star”effect was designed to go about 100 ft above Cinderella Castle’s spires and even the character of the Blue Fairy from Disney’s “Pinocchio” is represented with a shell shaped like a star. A total of 683 pieces of pyro are involved in the production of the show along with 537 fireworks are cued and shot during as well. Wishes makes Disney World the biggest consumer of fireworks in the world at a mind blowing $33,000 a night. This means on average Disney World spends about $373,395,000 a year on the show. And while some changes have come to the show, the one constant is the beloved TinkerBell from Disney’s “Peter Pan.”

During the show, TinkerBell magically appears in the sky near the top of Cinderella Castle and flys across Magic Kingdom towards Tomorrowland. TinkerBell flys about 380 ft in about 30 seconds but the effect is truly one of the most memorable moments of the show.

TinkerBell’s View From Cinderella Castle

Close Up of TinkerBell

TinkerBell Flying During Wishes

As with any Disney production, it has a story. The show is hosted by Jiminy Cricket and the Blue Fairy from Disney’s “Pinocchio”, who leads guests through the wishes of beloved Disney characters, both good and bad, while encouraging guests to believe in their own dreams too. 16 songs are incorporated into the show, 15 of which are from Disney films such as “Snow White”, “Pinocchio”, “Fantasia”, “Cinderella”, “Peter Pan”, “Sleeping Beauty”, “The Little Mermaid”, “Beauty and the Beast”, “Aladdin” and “Hercules.” The show features voices from these various films like Cinderella, Peter Pan, Ariel, Aladdin and Genie. Genie’s voice was in more recent years paid tribute to in memory of Robin Williams who voiced Genie in “Aladdin.”

The show debuted on October 9, 2003, 8 days after Magic Kingdom’s 32nd Anniversary and it has been a staple in the park’s history ever since. But what is it about the show that makes it so beloved to Disney fans? It is because it achieves its goal every night that Davison sought out to make come true and that is to bring families and friends together to create memories. In the big picture, Families come to Disney World to make memories and this still rings true today. I know myself personally many of my best memories were spent at Magic Kingdom over the years with family and friends.Wishes brings everyone together who came to the Magic Kingdom for that one purpose and solidify them as a large group of people who spent their time having fun with loved ones and enjoying their company. Every single person who stands from the Castle Hub to Main Street created at least one memory during their visit that day and every single person watching Wishes has that in common.

People were drawn to Magic Kingdom through seeing beloved Disney characters adventures and ultimately watching their dreams come true. Even Walt’s Dream of a place where he could take his daughters to a place that was safe and fun spawned the creation of Disneyland and Disney World after his death. His dream and wishes essentially bring life to Wishes when you truly think about it.

Wishes has become so popular with visitors with its message that it has spawned several versions over the years including “Happy Hallowishes” which debuted in 2005 and is exclusive to the Halloween parties and “Holiday Wishes” which is exclusive to the Chritsmas parties. This also leaves the question of what fireworks show will be shown during these parties since these were wishes spinoffs? Will we receive spin offs of “Happily Ever After”? Only time will tell.

But even a version of the fireworks show was made for Disneyland Paris from July 16, 2005 until August 28th of that year and being shown nightly every summer until 2007. There is simply no denying the greatness of the show and its impact to generations of fans. With its departure, Disney is making sure fans get memorabilia merchandise to commemorate it, similar to the departure of Main Street Electrical Parade. Most of the merchandise has been constantly running low or selling out.

Wishes Exclusive Annual Passholder Ornament

Wishes Annual Passholder Exclusive shirt

Some fans have even petitioned to keep the fireworks show in Magic Kingdom but to no avail. In the end, Wishes achieved its goal. It brought people together to keep believing in their dreams.

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Merchandise Photo Credit: DisneyFashionista.com