Walt Disney World‘s newest fireworks show, the Summer Nightastic! Fireworks Spectacular, opened this weekend at the Magic Kingdom.
The show replaces the popular “Wishes” nighttime entertainment at Walt Disney World for a limited summer run.
When I went to see the show on its opening night, I was worried. I’m a sucker for fireworks, but I was such a big fan of the “Wishes” show and soundtrack that I was afraid the evening would end in disappointment.
The score includes classic Disney tunes, as well as newer music from the “Pirates of the Caribbean” movie soundtracks. The show is hosted by the Fairy Godmother and other “famous fairies” in the Disney stable.
There’s a recurring fight between Fauna and Merryweather over the color that the fireworks should be (“Pink,” “Blue,” “Pink,” “Blue…”), just like the magical fight they had over the color of Aurora’s birthday dress in “Sleeping Beauty.”
Capt. Hook and his pirates arrive to lay siege to Cinderella Castle until a familiar fairy — Tinkerbell — shows up to save the day.
Disney promised “dazzling effects” for this new fireworks show, and they delivered. The cannon battle for the castle is particularly impressive, with smoke that obscures it and the reflection of a skull-and-crossbones flag denoting that the pirates have taken over Walt Disney World’s most famous landmark.
Disney’s typical fireworks show happens over and behind Cinderella Castle, which means you really need to be in front of the castle to get the full effect. And you know what else that means: The areas of the park in front of the castle get crowded with what seems like the entire global population in the 30 minutes before the show begins.
Bigger displays that happen around the park — dubbed “perimeter fireworks” — were reserved for special events, such as the Fourth of July and Halloween. But the Summer Nightastic! fireworks will have perimeter fireworks every night.
They are cooler, of course, because at certain points in the show you have fireworks exploding in a circle surrounding. And they give you a chance to be cooler, too, because you can see them from just about anywhere in the Magic Kingdom and there’s no need for the larger summer crowds to all pack in one spot in the Florida heat.
The Summer Nightastic! Fireworks Spectacular runs nightly through Aug. 14 at Walt Disney World.