Awesome / Disney Theme Parks

Reach out and find your Happily Ever After!

Walter Elias Disney once dreamed of a place where all could laugh, & play, & learn together. The results were not only just as expected, but also beyond them. Even today, the parks never fail to impress! Here are some of the most amazing spectacles the Disney Parks can offer, all because of one man's dream...

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• Fantasmic!
  • Mickey Mouse's Moment of Awesome is the climax of the show, in which he defeats dragon-form Maleficent by imagining himself doing so (since the plot takes place in his dream sequence). Not only that, but he was able to simultaneously slay her, Chernabog, Ursula, and Queen Grimhilde in all three versions of the show at Disneyland, Hollywood Studios, and Tokyo Disneysea, as well Hades, Jafar, Frollo, Scar, and Cruella in the Hollywood Studios version.
    Mickey: You think you're so powerful? Well, this is my dream!
  • Anytime Mickey and Maleficent do battle within a show, it is bound to be awesome! Hell, in the Tokyo Disneyland show It's Magical! Mickey summons the brooms from Fantasia and then does battle with Maleficent's dragon form.
  • The show as a whole, featuring pyrotechnics (especially the water being set ablaze), stunts, and movie clips projected onto giant water fans, is a Moment of Awesome for the Disney Imagineers.
• Illuminations is indisputably the CMOA for the Disney fireworks coordinators and practical effects crew. Dude. Inferno barge. Don't forget the barge that floats unnoticed during the first "act" in a hidden part of the lake, then drifts serenely to the center. It carries a globe that is actually a spherical LCD screen and it shows an array of gorgeous images before splitting to reveal a twenty-first torch, representing the new century.
• Jim Henson's Muppet*Vision 3D was one of his last projects before his death in 1990, and it redefined 3-D theme park entertainment with its innovative integration of film, Audio-Animatronics, a live actor, and in-theatre effects like water and bubbles. Between all this and a fantastic, funny script (for both preshow and main event) that serves as almost a greatest-schticks reel of The Muppet Show, it's still highly entertaining.
• Tokyo Disney Sea as a whole is widely considered to be one, with the last remaining 20K Leagues ride (excluding the Paris walkthrough) and a whole area dedicated to Verne's works, an Indiana Jones ride and Tower of Terror on par with their American counterparts, and gorgeous Scenery Porn.
• Let us not forget the awesomeness that was the Lion King Parade — the music, the dancing, the puppets, the costumes, the live doves, giving out musical instruments to the audience, and how perfectly all of these elements harmonized together
• The World of Color is considered one of the most beautiful and must-see attractions of any Disney park. A beautiful fountain show that showcases a variety of Disney movies set to an epic soundtrack, this nighttime show is one of the many updates that helped California Adventure grow out of its early days and become on of the must-visit Disney Parks.
• If it's physically possible for a theme park queue to have one of these, then walking through Andy's toybox with the giant talking Mr. Potato Head at Toy Story Midway Mania would probably qualify.
• Awesome Music: Disney has had and continues to have some incredible musical talent on board. The Haunted Mansion, Illuminations: Reflections of Earth, Fantasmic...the list just goes on.
  • The Rock 'n' Roller Coaster at Disney's Hollywood Studio in Florida features Aerosmith. That is all.
  • Disneyland Paris gave us the orchestral beauty of Space Mountain: De La Terre á La Lune.
• The show at Magic Kingdom: "The Magic, the Memories, and You". The entire show involves projecting images on the castle to various classic tunes (standouts include several arrangements of Small World and our favorite Pirates theme). The images are just pictures taken of guests during the day, and put to different Disney backgrounds. Near the end of the show, mosaics start appearing, culminating in Walt himself, followed by a series of fireworks that are perfectly synchronized to the images on the castle. Add to that some truly touching moments (recently, the spaghetti scene from Lady and the Tramp and the thousands of lanterns from Tangled, the former of which drew "aww" from the crowd, and the latter cheers and applause), and it's one of the most amazing shows they've put on. It really has to be seen to be believed.
  • Try watching the show at Disneyland, where the images are projected over the face of it's a small world.
• Mickey Mouse wearing a '''Giant Dream Coat''' with a plasma ball◊ at Walt Disney World's now gone nighttime parade Spectromagic. Seriously, its awesome seeing Mickey playing with the plasma ball. But it's ever more awesome when Mickey is actually CONTROLLING THE ENTIRE PARADE'S LIGHTS AND FLOATS!
• The concept behind Disney World's "Enchanted Tales with Belle" sounds pathetically simple on paper: visit Belle in the Beast's castle and participate in a minimalist recreation of the night when Belle first met the Beast and his servants. Yet, the detailed interiors of Maurice's cottage and the castle, the transformation of one of Maurice's mirrors into a portal to the castle, and the lifelike audio-animatronics of Madame Wardrobe and Lumiere turn the visit into a memorable experience.
• The Celebrate the Magic! show has a Wreck-It Ralph segment done completely in 8-bit. During the show's first night, that segment was met with the loudest applause from the whole show.
  • And later, they also added the scene of "Let It Go" from Frozen (2013). There is always at least a few people singing along.
• The grand finale to "Sorcery in the Sky" where a giant inflatable Mickey Mouse, dressed as the Sorcerer's Apprentice appears atop the Chinese Theater and shoots fire from his finger.
• In 2010, Disney finally made a real-time talking Mickey Mouse. Unfortunately, this was only a temporary attraction that also appeared at the opening of World of Color, but soon permanently reappeared for meet-and-greets in 2011. That same year, Talking Mickey appared at D23 Expo with people who were present for the convention. A talking Minnie was later created for a California Adventure stage show, and more recently at the same park, there have been outdoors meet-and-greet opportunities with not only a talking Mickey and Minnie, but also a newly-created talking Donald.
• "Dreams", Disneyland Paris' current nighttime show, is just amazing.
• In the original Fantillusion parade at Tokyo Disneyland, Chernabog gets one hell of a Badass Boast.
  Chernabog: (Evil Laugh) Behold: Chernabog! Keeper of the fires of darkness. Beware those who defy me! The powers of evil are MINE! (Evil Laugh)
  • In that same parade, he manages to pervert an old children's nursery rhyme to further his goals.
    Chernabog: (Evil Laugh) Starlight, Star bright! We take this light and make it night! (Evil Laugh) Yesssssss!
• One huge one for Hong Kong Disneyland: Mystic Manor is near-universally regarded as one of the most original and best dark rides ever made, with heaping bathtubs of Visual Effects of Awesome.
• Disney's Art of Animation resort in Florida is a group of rooms and suites based on The Lion King, Cars, Finding Nemo, and The Little Mermaid. Part of the resort is this giant in-ground pool which is wired with a sound system that allows you to hear music underwater, crystal clear. Don't be surprised if your kids spend a lot of time under the water. It is that cool.
• The entire Frozen Summer Fun celebration at Hollywood Studios in the summer of 2014. With a procession, sing-alongs, snowman-making, ice-skating, a concert, and fireworks, it's amazing and a refresher in the summer heat. Also of an awesome note is that it was initially going to be at Magic Kingdom before it switched, so Hollywood Studios had only about two weeks to put it all together.
• In early 2016, Christopher Wing set it a mission to see every Disney Park and make it back to Disneyland California in eighty hours!
  • He starts by riding Mister Toad’s Wild Ride in Disneyland, before heading to California Adventure for Mater’s Junk Yard Jamboree.
  • He is able to get to Florida by Hour Ten, where he rides Spaceship Earth and meets Baymax in Epcot, the Great Movie Ride in Disney Hollywood Studios, Expedition Everest in Animal Kingdom, and then Dumbo in Magic Kingdom.
  • He then gets to Disneyland Paris at Hour Twenty-Nine, where he looks at the Maleficent Dragon under the Castle, and the Nautilus Walk Through attraction before riding Ratatouille: The Adventure in the Disney Studios Park.
  • He then gets to Hong Kong Disney at Hour Forty-Seven, where he rides Mystic Manor twice!
  • He reaches Tokyo Disney to ride Twenty-Thousand Leagues Under The Sea at Tokyo DisneySea, take a Monorail to the Disneyland Park in time to see the fireworks, visit Adventureland and ride Western River Rail Road, before making his way back to Disneyland in California.
  • Not only did he see all those parks in the time he set, but he does so with five hours to spare, and in time to see the Paint The Night Parade and have Dinner at Club Thirty-Three!? Now that's dedication to the mission, and time well spent!
• The premise of the Phineas and Ferb meet and greet at Hollywood Studios involves the two deciding to make their own movie and the guests are invited. They make their entrances by playing guitars to their theme song, "Today is Gonna be a Great Day". See footage here.
• Disneyland's 60th Anniversary in 2015 is being commemorated with three spectacular nighttime shows. First is an American export of Hong Kong Disneyland's trippy, LED light-using "Paint The Night" parade, which was already being met with great reception in HKDL, and also uses as its score (at least the demo) a medley of Owl City's "When Can I See You Again" and Jean-Jacques Perrey and Gershon Kingsley's "Baroque Hoedown", aka the old Main Street Electrical Parade tune. (At one point guests can even interact with the LED lights!) There's also "Disneyland Forever"◊, a fireworks show combined with projections similar to "The Magic, The Memories And You" except that the projections actually stretch around Main Street and other areas in the park, and a special version of World of Color with the subtitle "Celebrate! The Wonderful World of Walt Disney".◊ With all of this it's pretty easy to tell that summer 2015 in Disneyland is going to be a scorcher.
  • Even better, for the Disneyland version of Paint the Night, Owl City sings "When Can I See You Again" as certain floats pass by, along with the change of the chorus' lyrics.
• By far, the 20000 Leagues Under The Sea ride was one of the greatest and most fun rides that Disney ever made, combining Submarine Voyage with their most popular live-action movie at the time. There were a lot of amazing references to the book and the 1954 movie, as well as some stunning Scenery Porn. But how amazing is it? WDW was forced to shut down theirs, but Japan kept it and it's still one of the most popular rides in Tokyo Disneysea to this day. Along with that, it's been given actual tributes by the Imagineers several times, the Nautilus went on display at Epcot, and even the water from the ride was sent back to WDW when New Fantasyland opened. Now that is dedication.
• Sinbad's Storybook Voyage is another feat of awesome by Tokyo Disney. Beautiful sets, amazing animatronics, and perhaps one of the only forms of catchy music that isn't as annoying as Small World.
  • Keep in mind that the music for the whole thing was made by Alan Menken.
• The Jubilation parade from Tokyo Disney. The soundtrack can be found here.
  • The Forest unit features not only characters from Pocahontas and Winnie the Pooh, but also Brer Rabbit and friends from Song of the South and the Spring Sprite from Fantasia 2000!
  • There's also the Jubilation parade's replacement, the "Happiness is Here" parade.The soundtrack is so happy, and vibrant as the parade itself. Which features colorful floats for each Disney film like The Aristocats, Alice in Wonderland, and Lilo & Stitch.
    • Here's the version with three separate show stops.
• The Indiana Jones Adventure, in Disneyland and Tokyo DisneySea on the whole. Everything about our favourite fictional Adventure Archaeologist in one beautiful, incredibly immersive experience, with all the trimmings!
• The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror. Never has plummeting multiple times in an Evil Elevator at a Hell Hotel into Another Dimension in your own episode of The Twilight Zone been so fun. It's no wonder the ride is on countless "favorite-rides-of-all-time" lists.
• The Haunted Mansion. Since 1969, it has become a renowned classic icon for Disney fans and theme parks enthusiasts in general.
  • THE HATBOX GHOST IS BACK. People cheered when the gates to the Disneyland Mansion opened and the line just to see him went all the way through Port Orleans! Not to mention, after all these years, they found a way for Ol' Hatbox to work...and it looks absolutely stunning.
  • As well as that, he comes straight after Constance the Bride, who is arguably the scariest ghost in the Mansion. Best. Mood Whiplash. EVER!
• The Soarin' rides; many have described these simple simulator attractions as, simply, one of the most beautiful experiences they've ever had and a true testament to the term "Disney magic".
• The new 2015 "Harold, the Yeti" from Matterhorn Bobsleds is considered one of the best refurbishments to an old classic. "Harold" in the new version of the ride is given a complete makeover and now looks more ferocious and actively looks like he's trying to get you.
• Expedition Everest from Animal Kingdom.
  • The ride really likes to play up the tension: You load at the bottom, and then spend several minutes being pulled up the climb approach. This really drives home how high up you are. The peak moment comes a few minutes into the ride, when you come up around a corner and find that the track in front of you is ripped up. As the car noses to a stop right before the break and hangs in place, you realize that there is only one way to go from there...
  • The ride's Yeti. During the ride's opening days, the yeti was considered one of the most fearsome animatronics Disney has ever made, with its lifelike size and nearly swiping its claws at the guests. While it no longer operates due to the animatronic's movements, combined with the sheer weight, causing internal damage to the ride, it can still cause a good scare thanks to its impressive size and frightening appearance.
• Test Track from Epcot.
  • You ride vehicles to see what kinds of tests they go through before being sent out, including going through a 64.9 mile ride outside, making this ride the fastest Disney attraction in the parks.
  • The 2012 refurbishment not only adds a beautiful digital aesthetic to the queue and the ride itself, but it also gives you the chance to design your own car.
• Seeing Tinker Bell fly down from Cinderella Castle at the Magic Kingdom or from the Matterhorn at Disneyland. Awesome to see every time. Special mention goes to Disneyland, as Tinker Bell is able to fly a significant time around Sleeping Beauty Castle multiple times. The 2017 version of Remember Dreams Come True uses special fireworks and projection effects to make Tink appear to cover the castle in pixie dust, as an homage to the opening of the Disneyland TV series (in which she flew past the castle, and used a shower of pixie dust to make the episode's title card appear). Dumbo (Magical), Zero (Halloween shows), Nemo (Disneyland Forever), and even Buzz Lightyear and the house from UP (Together Forever) have also been sighted during the fireworks show.
• The entire nighttime parade in Tokyo Disneyland called Tokyo Disneyland Electrical Parade Dreamlights! Its one of the most beautiful and spectacular nighttime parades in any Disney park.
• The final float in Mickey's Soundsational Parade is...Mary Poppins!
  • Not to mention that the soundtrack heard during the parade, is extremely catchy. All of it. You'll be searching Youtube just to hear it again, even after you saw it for yourself or after the parade ended in July 17, 2019.
• Most people had an idea about the Hocus Pocus Villains Spectacular show for 2015's Not-So-Scary Halloween, but were still excited when the show started. It starts out with Jason Marsden reprising his role as Thackery Binx to introduce the show. When the Sanderson sisters make their first appearance, the crowd goes WILD. Major props to the actresses playing the Sanderson sisters. They have the character's down to a 't' from their hand gestures, their voices, and their facial expressions. Highlights include Sarah hypnotizing the stagehands by singing "Come Little Children" and Winnie leading a crowd of Disney villains - and the audience - in a performance of "I Put a Spell On You". A few other Disney villains ^spoiler especially Dr. Facillier, Oogie Boogie, and Maleficent also receive some awesome moments, with some of the baddies effortlessly scaring the sisters.
• ''Mickey and the Wondrous Book", Hong Kong Disneyland's replacement for the Golden Mickeys, is yet another moment of awesome for the park. Here's some reasons why:
  • The premise: Mickey and Goofy go on a giant search through a book that features every single story Disney ever created to get Olaf back to Arendelle.
  • The visual effects are simply stunning, and so is the CGI.
  • King Louie's dance moves are insanely awesome.
  • The Princess and the Frog starts off with Tiana singing about her dream restaurant...then develops into an art-deco◊ masterpiece as flappers and waiters dance all around her.
  • Ariel, Rapunzel and Merida singing together at once!
  • When Mickey and Goofy finally reach Arendelle with Olaf, Elsa comes out to sing her signature song...just to greet them!
  • The ending, with a stunning montage of live action actors and various Disney and Pixar characters portraying some of Disney's nicest endings. But perhaps the best one is, alongside all the fairy tales, Woody and Buzz shaking hands in Andy's bedroom. Yes, Toy Story is worthy of mention among all the classics!
• Rivers Of Light, despite the show being delayed at Animal Kingdom due to technical issues. This video showing a preview of the show is already looking fantastic complete with beautiful music and lighting effects. Same goes for projection show for Tree Of Life.
• When Frozen Ever After opened, it got a wait time of nearly five hours! It just goes to show that Frozen is perhaps the most popular of Disney's most recent works, even after Zootopia topped its record on its opening weekend. Heck, a huge chunk of the ride is awesome! First off there's a very animated Olaf animatronic at the beginning of the ride, who welcomes the guests to Arendelle. Then there's the fact the rehired the songwriters to do slight changes to the song lyrics. Best of all, fans are transported right into the Let it Go sequence(the most famous part of the movie). And just look at the animatronic Elsa character. She moves so fluidly. Although most of the track is borrowed from Maelstrom, the ride might be one attraction, that will become an E-ticket soon enough.
• Say what you want about Avatar, but you can't help but admit that "Pandora-The World of Avatar" at Animal Kingdom is amazingly detailed, especially the "Floating Mountains" effect replicated in real life!
• The Iguanodon animatronic from the long-gone Discovery River Boats at Animal Kingdom was pretty cool. You can still see it here.
• Star Tours, and Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge (a.k.a. Star Wars Land): The closest you'll ever get to actually being in the Star Wars universe.
  • Hyperspace Mountain at Disneyland and Hong Kong Disneyland, where Space Mountain is seamlessly combined with Star Wars.
  • Disney World's version of Galaxy's Edge also includes an immersive and elaborately themed hotel experience to bring guests even closer to living their own Star Wars adventures. It even comes with a transport system that can take guests between the hotel and the park.
• For the 25th anniversary of Disneyland Paris, the park held a special character cavalcade. The catch? Not only did they use all of the characters you'd expect to see like Mickey and the gang, the princesses, and some popular Pixar characters, they also went far enough to use some popular and rare characters too. The Three Little Pigs, King Leonidas, The Rescuers, Roger and Jessica Rabbit, Darkwing Duck, Kuzco, The Sultan of Agrabah, Chicken Little and Abby, Phineas and Ferb (who currently aren't available to meet), Milo Thatch and Kida Nedakh, Pleakley, Stitch's cousins,^note specifically Felix, Sparky, Sample, Angel (his girlfriend, not a "cousin" to him), Reuben, and 627 The Cheshire Cat, you name it. They were all there!
• Happily Ever After is a pure spectacle of epic action, legitimately moving moments, and gorgeous fireworks and projection. Is it any wonder that this show's moved millions to tears?
  • Quasimodo gets to reprise "Out There", getting an absolutely stunning spotlight on one of Disney's films often seen as a smaller cult classic. The castle is projected to look as gorgeous as Notre Dame herself.
  • Moana gets a segment singing "How Far I'll Go". The fireworks take on the shape of the swirl symbol of the Heart of Te Fiti, and the late Grandma Tala puts in a tearjerking appearance as well in her reincarnated stingray form.
  • A segment revolving largely around fun Disney moments features a medley of "Trashing the Camp" (much like Hunchback, this is another surprising spotlight for a movie that's been underrepresented in Florida for a while), "Hakuna Matata", "You Got A Friend In Me", "The Bare Necessities", bookended by "Friend Like Me" which is more of a showstopper than ever.
  • A segment depicting the epic battles of Disney starts with an introduction from the Emperor of China, who repeats his iconic wisdom that "the flower that blooms in adversity is the most rare and beautiful of all". Cue an attack from the Huns, followed by Syndrome and the Omnidroid and Ursula fighting Eric. Then the castle transforms into a war-torn Pride Rock, where Simba and Scar have their Battle Amongst the Flames set to "To Die For". This piece also accompanies Aladdin vs Jafar and Prince Phillip vs Maleficent. The Pirates of the Caribbean mini-segment is just as epic as you'd expect given the musical score of Hans Zimmer is booming.
  • The climax of the show starts off quiet, until the spirit of Mufasa appears on the castle. He gives most of his "Remember Who You Are" speech, only this time, it's set to the epic horns of the opening of "Go the Distance". The combination of the booming voice of James Earl Jones echoing around you accompanied by one of the most inspirational Disney songs ever is nothing short of bone-chilling. Oh, and did we mention that the music is accompanied by glass silhouettes of the many Disney heroes?
  • We end the show with some inspiring words that many a guest will take to heart.
  And so, our journey comes to an end. But yours continues on. Grab hold 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.
  • The fact that there's an ACTUAL SONG made for this show!
    • Seriously, how many nighttime shows have their own personal songs sung by Teen Beach Movie’s Jordan Fisher and The Voice’s Angie Keilhauer?
    • And as the final verses kick in during the finale, the line "We all have the courage to fly" summons a small chorus of "You Can Fly! You Can Fly!" slowly building up until Tinker Bell makes her long awaited entrance on the final chorus.
  • Perhaps sheer proof of the impact this show made in such a short few years, it's one of the very rare productions to make a permanent return after intending to be retired. Let's just say when the announcement of it's comeback was made at the D23 Expo, the crowd went wild.
• Brian Hull doing impressions of Disney characters at Disneyland. Not only he does them extremely well, he even earned some applause from Goofy himself for nailing his impersonation! That's right, he made the actor break character just with his impersonation of Goofy.
  • Hull first began his ascent by doing Let It Go with Disney characters. He has a full playlist of him doing these Disney voice impressions here (Including some at other parks). According to Hull, his interaction with Tiana as Ray the Firefly is one of his most loved videos he did on the playlist.
• Harmonious, the 2021-2023 nighttime spectacular at Epcot, contains rousing covers of several classic Disney and Pixar songs, many of them in the native tongues of the countries that inspired the films' settings.
  • "Opening Chants" contains the opening vocals from many films such as "Vuelie" from Frozen, the chorus from "The Bells of Notre Dame" from The Hunchback of Notre Dame, the extended version of "Nants Ingonyama" from the Broadway production of The Lion King, and Ariel's primary theme from The Little Mermaid.
  • "Awakening" is a medley of "How Far I'll Go" and "Go the Distance", sung in a variety of different languages. "Go the Distance" soon is sung in Greek, and the singers' voices are practically trembling with how much power they're putting into it, accompanied by visuals of great Greek pillars. The two songs then blend into one, and you'd be forgiven for assuming this was already the finale of the show.
  • "Middle East" brings in the 2019 remake version of "Arabian Nights", paying homage to one of the better received live-action remakes that found a following all of its' own. "India" follows up with an epic Bollywood-style cover of "I Wanna Be Like You".
  • "China" mostly revolves around "Reflection" from Mulan, incorporating gorgeous water painting-style visuals and soon an epic climax featuring motion-capture footage of real actors performing martial artists, recreating Mulan and Shang's training during the end of "I'll Make a Man Out of You".
  • "Africa" focuses entirely on The Lion King, and after "Hakuna Matata", it launches into an absolutely epic cover of "Can You Feel the Love Tonight". The visuals show the animals of the Pride Lands gathering to celebrate their future king, before transitioning into Mufasa's ghost appearing in the night sky before Simba.
  • "Europe" starts out slow and beautiful, having a choral cover of the "Prologue" theme from Beauty and the Beast while a projection of Belle and the Beast is shown, and even they are beneath a projection of the enchanted rose. As the score picks up, it crescendos into an almighty, booming cover of the main theme of "Hellfire", showing Disney isn't afraid to acknowledge the darkest song in its' catalogue, knowing how popular and amazing it is. We then get "Out There" covered in both English and French, and it's worth noting in the live proshot in 2022, the singers have visible Manly Tears. "Europe" then culminates in a mostly orchestral cover of "Touch the Sky" from Brave, with the proshot having an absolutely badass elderly bagpipe player going off, and Lindsey Stirling leading on strings.
  • "Latin America" has Luis Fonsi lead a heartwarming cover of "Remember Me" from Coco, which then transitions into a delightful cover of "Saludos Amigos", before returning to Coco with "The World Es Mi Familia". Just like "Awakening", you'd be forgiven for thinking this was the finale.
  • "U.S.A." devotes itself entirely to "Dig a Little Deeper" from The Princess and the Frog, with an epic gospel choir carrying it all the way through. The singers more than hold their own, however, and for the third time, you'd think this was the finale.
  • "Finale" provides one of the most surprising deep cuts in recent times for a Disney park show as it's entirely a cover of "Someday" from The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Even with the film's rise in status over the last several years, "Someday" hasn't had the same level of success likely due to being a credits song, but this show changes that by giving it all the gravitas it deserves. The projections then display a massive, blue heart before the true finale begins, with fireworks erupting from points around the entire world showcase as if to truly represent the meaning of Epcot and the song. These fireworks were deployed mere feet away from guests who got that much more immersed. For the very end, there was a massive bass drop where everything went silent before the final word of the song, "Soon!", and then we finally get the ending. Harmonious may have been short, but it left its' mark.
• Honey, I Shrunk the Audience managed to hit the much-desired sweet spot of Disney 3-D movies by being thrilling and hilarious — sometimes both at once as with the crawling mice effect and the sequence in which it seemed the entire room was lifted into the air and carried around.
• Wondrous Journeys, Disneyland's nighttime spectacular during 2023's 100 Years of Wonder, earned praise as a return to form for Disney's nightly theme park shows. With remixed clips and concept art from the Disney Animated Canon's first 62 movies, covers of some classic songs and deep cuts, and the rousing new theme "It's Wondrous," the show evokes a sense of joining characters both iconic and obscure through yearning, adventure, despair, and victory.
  • One early highlight mashes up "Go the Distance," "Belle (reprise)," "How Far I'll Go," and "Out There" into one of the most epic "I Want" Songs ever heard at the parks.
  • The journey proper begins as multiple characters and vehicles soar up into the air. An instrumental of "For the First Time in Forever" provides an adventurous accompaniment, then becomes almost ethereal when Gale lifts up Anna and Elsa. Before the music fades out, the comets from Sorcerer Mickey's dream fly towards a CGI wishing star.
  • To the surprise of first-time viewers, the above scene gives way to a tribute to Acclaimed Flop Treasure Planet; featuring a giant green starmap, audio of John Silver's "You Are Better Than You Think You Are" speech, and Jim Hawkins riding the RLS Legacy into a triangular portal. After it widens up to reveal San Fransokyo, Baymax flies around Sleeping Beauty Castle as "Immortals" pumps over the speakers.

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