Starting this evening, performances of “Happily Ever After” at the Magic Kingdom will move slightly later as the seasons change.
“Happily Ever After” Showtimes Moving
From tonight, May 14, performances of the “Happily Ever After” nighttime spectacular will shift from 9:00p.m. to 9:20p.m. nightly as the parks transition to summer. This is the first adjustment of the show’s schedule since it returned on April 3, following the conclusion of the Walt Disney World 50th Anniversary celebration and its nighttime spectacular “Disney Enchantment.“
During this time of year, the sun sets at later times, as late as 8:26p.m. around the summer solstice next month. Right now the sun sets around 8:08p.m. in the Orlando area, meaning showtimes need to move in order to have complete darkness for the iconic Magic Kingdom fireworks.
For the moment, showtimes for EPCOT Forever and the first performance of “Fantasmic!” seem to be staying at 9:00p.m.
Are you excited to see the return of “Happily Ever After?” Let us know in the comments below!
“Happily Ever After” Returns to the Magic Kingdom
Following the end of the 50th anniversary celebration and the final performance of Disney Enchantment, “Happily Ever After” has returned to Magic Kingdom. The nighttime spectacular is virtually unchanged except for the addition of Main Street, U.S.A. projections.
The show is a fireworks and projection mapping show that premiered at the Magic Kingdom on May 12, 2017. The announcement that it would replace the popular “Wishes: A Magical Gathering of Disney Dreams” caused some disappointment among Disney fans.
The show went away during the pandemic, then returned on July 1st, 2021, for a few months before being replaced by Disney Enchantment, which performed nightly since the World’s Most Magical Celebration began on October 1, 2021.
The return performance features new projection mapping that extends down Main Street U.S.A. for a fully immersive experience at Disney’s Magic Kingdom.
We had the chance to experience a preview of Happily Ever After, but the show has officially returned for nightly performances at 9:00 p.m. each night through May 13 and at 9:20 p.m. beginning May 14.
The theme song of Happily Ever After is performed by Angie Keilhauer and Jordan Fisher. Fisher advocated for the return of “Happily Ever After” to Magic Kingdom, tagging Walt Disney World in a Tweet last summer to ask, “Is ‘Happily Ever After’ gonna come back at some point? Like… Shouldn’t it come back?”
Fisher and Keilhauer were both among the crowds at Magic Kingdom tonight to experience the return performance of “Happily Ever After.”
Disney songs featured in Happily Ever After include “Down in New Orleans” from “The Princess and the Frog,” “How Far I’ll Go” from “Moana,” “Friend Like Me” from “Aladdin,” and “Love is an Open Door” from “Frozen.”
Clips and characters from films such as “Finding Nemo,” “Brave,” “Big Hero 6,” “Mulan,” and “Pirates of the Caribbean” are all projected onto the buildings of Main Street, U.S.A. and Cinderella Castle as part of the Magic Kingdom nighttime spectacular.
And of course, Tinker Bell flies from the castle as she has at the climax of almost every Magic Kingdom nighttime spectacular (weather permitting).
The Happily Ever After poster replaced the Disney Enchantment poster at the Main Street, U.S.A. train station the same day.
The Official Return of the Happily Ever After Nighttime Spectacular at Magic Kingdom
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