Perhaps the most iconic structure in all of Walt Disney World is Cinderella’s Castle in the Magic Kingdom. It’s the home of Cinderella’s Royal Table Restaurant, and it’s the location for the Dream Along With Mickey show. It’s also the backdrop for the Celebrate The Magic projection show.
But while the castle is a busy place and plays many roles, perhaps the biggest and most memorable is as the center for the Wishes fireworks show. Officially called “Wishes: A Magical Gathering of Disney Dreams”, the fireworks extravaganza has been the capstone event of a day at the Magic Kingdom since October, 2003 (with, in my opinion, the other event that finishes off a perfect day being the Main Street Electrical Parade).
About The Fireworks Show
The show is hosted by both Jiminy Cricket (the friendly bug from Disney’s classic 1940 film Pinocchio) together with the Blue Fairy (who you might remember was the fairy who told Jiminy that he would be Pinocchio’s conscience).
Much more than just some fireworks, the Wishes show combines dramatic lighting effects, projection effects, and musical score that is a walk through some of Disney’s most famous movies. Oh yes, there are fireworks too.
Jiminy tells a story about how he didn’t used to believe in wishes, but now he does.
The show includes twelve different pieces of music from these ten Disney movies:
- Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
- Pinocchio
- Fantasia
- Cinderella
- Peter Pan
- Sleeping Beauty
- The Little Mermaid
- Beauty and the Beast
- Aladdin
- Hercules
The show lasts about 12 minutes, and sources tell us it includes 557 different fireworks moments made up of 683 different fireworks.
Show Development
Four people are often credited with the development of the show:
- Steven Davison – Creator / Show Director
Today Davison is Vice President, Parades and Spectaculars (cool title, hu?). He started working at Disney in 1981 and had a hand in the It’s A Small World Holiday and the Haunted Mansion Holiday overlays at Disneyland, in addition to work on the World Of Color. - Eric Tucker – Fireworks Designer
Tucker was originally trained in France and has a background in music and theater. He is an employee of a California company called Pyro Spectaculars (a company that offers Pyro University Classes for those who want to learn how to become a pyrotechnic operator). - Steve Skorija – Music Director
Skorija works for the Walt Disney Company and participates in all the musical productions at Disney World. - Gregory Smith – Composer
Smith is an independent composer with a long history of working with Disney on projects like World Of Color. He has also composed music for the Paralympics, CBS, ABC, and ESPN.
Are you a fan of the Wishes fireworks spectacular at the Magic Kingdom?