Happily Ever After (fireworks show)

Happily Ever After is a fireworks and projection mapping show that debuted at the Magic Kingdom on May 12, 2017. Unlike its predecessor Wishes, the show includes more advanced technology such as projection mapping, lasers, and searchlights, as well as pyrotechnics. The music also includes a theme song from Angie Keilhauer and Jordan Fisher.

On March 12, 2020, Walt Disney World announced that all fireworks shows were suspended and temporarily closed, due to the COVID-19 outbreak. However, on June 15, 2021, following Walt Disney World Resort's reopening, Walt Disney World announced that the fireworks show would return on July 1, 2021, along with an updated version of Epcot Forever at EPCOT.

On September 29, 2021, the show had its final performance and was replaced by a new show, Disney Enchantment, as part of Walt Disney World's 50th Anniversary celebration, although the show has recently been enhanced to include Cinderella Castle's 50th anniversary facade. During the D23 Expo on September 11, 2022, Disney announced that the show will return on April 1, 2023 with new updated contents.

Show summary

The spectacular inspired guests to seek out and find their own “Happily Ever After” by showcasing some of the greatest adventures Disney characters have taken to achieve their dreams. The show featured the latest fireworks and pyrotechnics and original animation, plus a heart-tugging original score. And thanks to the inclusion of state-of-the-art projection mapping technology, more Disney characters than ever before will be featured in the show. The show was promised to feature the largest and most technologically advanced projection mapping display in Disney theme parks history.

Show scenes

• "Happily Ever After" (show theme)

• Wish
  • "Down in New Orleans (Prologue)" (The Princess and the Frog)
  • "When You Wish Upon a Star" (Pinocchio)
  • "Part of Your World" (The Little Mermaid)
    • Ratatouille
    • Tangled
  • "Out There" (The Hunchback of Notre Dame) (rumored to receive a twin to Disney Dreams!)
• Adventure
  • "Touch the Sky" (Brave)
    • A Bug's Life
    • Cars 3
    • Up
    • Finding Nemo
  • "How Far I'll Go" (Moana)
• Friendship
  • "Friend Like Me" (Aladdin)
    • "Trashin' the Camp" (Tarzan)
    • "Hakuna Matata" (The Lion King) / "I've Got No Strings" (Pinocchio)
    • "You've Got a Friend in Me" (Toy Story)
  • "The Bare Necessities" (The Jungle Book)
    • Wreck-It Ralph
    • Big Hero 6
    • Zootopia
    • Inside Out
    • Monsters University
  • "That's What Friends are For" (The Jungle Book)
• Love
  • "Love is an Open Door" (Frozen)
    • WALL-E
  • "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" (The Lion King)
  • "You'll Be in My Heart" (Tarzan)
    • Inside Out
    • Finding Dory
    • Up
    • Dumbo
    • Zootopia
    • The Incredibles
  • "I See the Light" (Tangled) / "A Whole New World" (Aladdin)
    • Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
    • Cinderella
    • Sleeping Beauty
    • The Little Mermaid
    • Beauty and the Beast
    • The Princess and the Frog
• Adversity
  • Mulan
  • "Wolves" (Frozen)
    • The Incredibles
    • The Little Mermaid
  • "Stampede" (The Lion King)
    • Aladdin
    • Sleeping Beauty
• Heroes Fight Back
  • "He's a Pirate" (Pirates of the Caribbean)
    • The Little Mermaid
    • Aladdin
    • Brave
    • Mulan
    • The Incredibles
    • Sleeping Beauty
• Peace Restored
  • "Go the Distance" (Hercules)
    • The Lion King
    • Aladdin
    • Tarzan
    • Mulan
    • Moana
    • Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
    • Cinderella
    • The Little Mermaid
    • Wreck-It Ralph
    • The Princess and the Frog
    • Frozen
    • Brave
    • Toy Story
    • Beauty and the Beast
    • Pinocchio
    • Sleeping Beauty
    • Alice in Wonderland
    • Peter Pan
• Reprise of "Happily Ever After"
  • "You Can Fly" (Peter Pan)

Trivia

• The title and the theme song both came from Hong Kong Disneyland's 10th Anniversary celebration.
• Pirates of the Caribbean is the only live-action film in the show.
• Moana is the only non-Pixar film in the Adventure scene.
• Shere Khan himself does not appear in the show. However, during the "That's What Friends are For" sequence, a voice clip of either George Sanders or Bill Lee as Shere Khan was used to make it look like the castle itself is sentient and appears to be "singing" the last line before looping into "Friend Like Me".
• Unlike past fireworks shows at the Magic Kingdom, Tinker Bell descends from the castle at the very end (weather permitting), rather than the beginning.
• As part of #DisneyMagicMoments, and because of the ongoing pandemic, Disney Parks released the full fireworks show (which taken from the live-stream for the first show in 2017) on their official YouTube channel as a "virtual fireworks display at the end of your day".
• Due to the makeover of Cinderella Castle for the 50th Anniversary in 2021, the projection at the beginning and the end of the show also received several detail update.

See also

• Mickey and the Wondrous Book
• Remember... Dreams Come True
• Disneyland Forever
• We Love Mickey!
• Disney Dreams!
• Ignite the Dream: A Nighttime Spectacular of Magic and Light
• Once Upon a Time
• Together Forever: A Pixar Nighttime Spectacular