Disneyland Forever


Disneyland Forever was a nighttime spectacular at Disneyland that premiered alongside the Paint the Night parade and World of Color—Celebrate! on May 21, 2015 as part of the park's 60th anniversary celebration. The show was produced by Disney Live Entertainment, under direction of Steve Davison. Disneyland Forever incorporates fireworks, projection mapping, fire, lasers, and searchlights to depict scenes from Disney films. The show's original run ended on September 5, 2016, upon conclusion of the Diamond Celebration. The shows exit song, "A Kiss Goodnight", would be later be released on CD with a book bearing the song's name.
A second run for Disneyland Forever began on June 7, 2019, marking the first time the show has been presented since the end of the Diamond Celebration. Many enhanced elements that were developed for Mickey's Mix Magic were incorporated into the show. On August 2, 2019, it was confirmed on a livestream of the first performance of the Main Street Electrical Parade that the show would have its final 2019 performance on September 2, 2019. Disneyland Forever closed at Disneyland again on September 2, 2019, to prepare for the return of Halloween Screams for public showing for the first time since opening year on September 6, 2019.

Technical details

Disneyland Forever featured fireworks launched both from backstage areas and from selected locations within the park, as well as the largest projection mapping display ever presented in a Disney park. During the show, video and images are projected on Sleeping Beauty Castle, the buildings along Main Street USA, the Matterhorn, the facade of It's a Small World, and along the Rivers of America, using a total of 25 projectors. The projections in each area are different in order to evenly distribute crowds and to encourage people to view the show multiple times from different locations. The show also features fire effects, lasers, searchlights, and other effects, and is approximately fourteen minutes and forty-seven seconds long.
The projection mapping technology installed for Disneyland Forever would remain after the show concluded its initial run; it has since been implemented in Remember... Dreams Come True ; Disney's Celebrate America; ''Halloween Screams ; Believe... In Holiday Magic for the holiday season; Together Forever, the Pixar fireworks spectacular; Mickey's Mix Magic, the Mickey's 90th anniversary fireworks show; and Wondrous Journeys'', the Walt Disney Company's 100th anniversary fireworks show.

Show summary

Two new songs were written for the show: the theme song "Live the Magic" and the exit song "Kiss Goodnight", the latter of which was written by composer Richard M. Sherman and sung by Broadway star Ashley Brown. Other songs co-written by Sherman and his late brother, Robert B. Sherman, including "Step in Time" from Mary Poppins and "Heffalumps and Woozles" from Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day are also featured in the show. The rest of the soundtrack includes music, songs, and audio from Disney and Pixar films and archival footage of Walt Disney.
The show features seven themed sections:

Voices

Additional information

  • Although Kiss Goodnight and Live the Magic are exit musics of this show, in the past, this portion can be altered due to special July 4 celebrations in 2015 and 2016 respectively, instead they played a finale of Disney's Celebrate America in a special Independence day tag with fireworks.
  • * When Disney opted to run the show for the 2015-2016 holiday season, the preshow/post-show from Believe... In Holiday Magic was used.
  • Coinciding with the Grand Opening of Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge for the Summer 2019, the show began a return engagement on June 7, 2019, featuring the many technological elements that are developed for other firework shows, such as Pixar Fest's Together Forever and Mickey's Mix Magic.
  • Disneyland Forever's second run in 2019 marks the first time that the Rivers of America gets mist screen changes since its refurbishment in 2016 and in the Fantasmic viewing area, lasers, fountains and searchlights, as well as projection in the area and fog effects were utilized in the show, which is leftover from other firework shows. Pyrotechnics that launched in the area was cut as well.

Alternate versions

In cases where inclement weather will affect the night’s performance, alternate versions are considered.
  • For its debut season, the finale segment was shown with slightly different projections are seen in their respective viewing areas, while the searchlights and lasers still function. This precedent was first used in 2007 for Believe... In Holiday Magic snowfall finale and later in Remember... Dreams Come True.
  • For its 2019 return, additional low-level fireworks were introduced the weekend of July 6, 2019. That night’s showing saw select new fireworks mixed with the traditional shells. A version consisting of all low-level pyrotechnics, including the standard assortments for regular performances, premiered the following evening due to high winds. It is expected to be the B-show for those occasions, following a precedent started in the 2018 holiday season. Neither Tinker Bell nor Nemo make appearances for those reasons and for safety considerations, although Nemo made appearances on August 24, 2019.
  • On rare occasions, Mickey’s Mix Magic will take its place.