Fantasy in the Sky

Fantasy in the Sky
Disneyland
StatusRemoved
Opening date1958
January 9, 2015
September 9, 2016[1]
January 11, 2019
Closing date2002
May 20, 2015
January 29, 2017
January 17, 2019
ReplacedRemember... Dreams Come True (2015)
Disneyland Forever (2016)
Replaced byBelieve... There's Magic in the Stars (2000)
Disneyland Forever (2015)
Remember... Dreams Come True (2017)
Magic Kingdom
StatusOperating
Opening date1971
October 1, 2004 (Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party Version)
December 30 of any year
Closing dateOctober 11, 2003
October 31, 2004 (Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party Version)
January 1 of any year
Replaced byWishes: A Magical Gathering of Disney Dreams (2003)
Tokyo Disneyland
StatusRemoved
Opening date1983
1995
2001
Closing date1988
1996
2003
ReplacedStardust Fantasy (1995)
New Century in the Sky (2001)
Replaced byStarlight Fantasy (1988–1993)
Starlight Magic (1998–2000)
Disney Magic In the Sky (2003–2012)
Disneyland Park (Paris)
NameTinkerbell's Fantasy in the Sky
StatusRemoved
Opening date1993
Closing date2005
Replaced byWishes: A Magical Gathering of Disney Dreams
Ride statistics
Attraction typeFireworks spectacular
DesignerDisney Live Entertainment
Disabled access Wheelchair accessible

Fantasy in the Sky was the first fireworks performance at Disneyland in Anaheim, California, beginning in 1958[2] and running until 1996 (with short engagements in 2004 and early 2015).[3] The show also appeared at the Magic Kingdom in Lake Buena Vista, Florida from 1971 until 2003, at Tokyo Disneyland in Urayasu, Chiba, Japan from 1983 until 1988 (with engagements from 1995 until 1997, and again from 2001 until 2003) and at Disneyland Paris from 1993 to 2005 in Marne-la-Vallee, France.

Walt Disney requested a fireworks show against the backdrop of Sleeping Beauty Castle at Disneyland in 1958, to keep guests at the park for longer hours and provide much needed night-time entertainment. Early shows were performed by having cast members manually launch hand flares. The show lasted less than five minutes, and was accompanied by music, with no narration (as is common in Disney parks fireworks today).[4] The show was extremely popular, and became a vital component of the Disneyland experience.

When the second Disney park, the Magic Kingdom, opened in Florida in 1971, it was only natural to duplicate the show there. The predecessors to Walt Disney Creative Entertainment, the company who create all the entertainment for Disney parks worldwide, were able to produce a much larger show with a bigger budget and more space to work with Cinderella Castle is almost three times as tall as its Californian cousin.

As the shows aged, many guests began to miss out the fireworks in their visits as they had seen them so many times. In early 2000, to celebrate Disneyland's 45th anniversary, the Disneyland Entertainment team produced a lavish fireworks production to replace the old show, Believe... There's Magic in the Stars. Many guests formed a sentimental attachment to the show, especially when the company created a new additional section of the show, for Christmas, Believe... In Holiday Magic. Believe was itself replaced in 2005 with a special fireworks spectacular, Remember... Dreams Come True, celebrating Disneyland's fiftieth birthday, making it the most expensive fireworks show Disney has ever developed, with shells all around the park and projects, pyrotechnics and creative lighting. Believe was actually discontinued in 2004, while WDCE were developing Remember. Disneyland Entertainment made a new, smaller show Imagine... A Fantasy in the Sky, using elements from both Fantasy in the Sky and Believe, created to bridge the gap between Believe and Remember.

At the Magic Kingdom, Fantasy in the Sky was only discontinued in 2003. Following the example of Believe at Disneyland, Walt Disney Creative Entertainment developed another show aimed at creating emotional responses among guests, and the result was Wishes. The show was an instant hit, and the theme of the show became the official Magic Kingdom song, as well as forming the base music for Remember at Disneyland. In 2005, the show was extravagantly updated with two additional tags (like the Believe holiday tag) for Halloween and Christmas respectively. Both included additions such as releasing fireworks all around the theme park from launch sites surrounding the Seven Seas Lagoon, not just the castle area. HalloWishes and Holiday Wishes became hits in their own right. A third special themed fireworks show, Magic, Music and Mayhem was created in 2007 for Mickey's Pirate and Princess Party and became a hit in its first two seasons. Two more special fireworks shows debuted in 2008 themed to Independence Day and New Year's Eve, listed below.

At Disneyland Paris, Fantasy in the Sky was discontinued in 2005 to make way for Wishes, a multimedia version of the Magic Kingdom's night time fireworks display produced in honor of Disneyland's fiftieth anniversary. Fantasy in the Sky was sometimes known as Tinkerbell's Fantasy in the Sky or Fantasy in the Sky with Tinkerbell! in Disney literature and at Disneyland Paris.

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference Welcome Back Favorite Spectaculars was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Strodder, Chris (2017). The Disneyland Encyclopedia (3rd ed.). Santa Monica Press. p. 193. ISBN 978-1595800909.
  3. ^ Smith, Dave (1998). Disney A to Z: The Updated Official Encyclopedia. Hyperion. p. 196. ISBN 978-0786862238.
  4. ^ Geryak, Cole (April 5, 2018). "Disney Extinct Attractions: Fantasy in the Sky and Disney Dreams!". The Laughing Place. Retrieved July 17, 2020.