New "Wishes" fireworks show

[msdroz]

Hi there... haven't been to MK since they removed the Electrical Parade and the Wishes show. These had so much sentimental meaning for me and I'm so sad that both of them are gone. Can someone share what the new show is like? We used to love seeing the fireworks from California Grill, is it still worth it? Will I still tear up from the music?

Thanks so much

 

[kniquy]

Can someone share what the new show is like? We used to love seeing the fireworks from California Grill, is it still worth it? Will I still tear up from the music?

Your best bet is to look on youtube. There are some full length videos of the show and music. I think it is just as moving and can't wait to see it in person. The projections look spectacular.

I do think because it is heavy in the projections that you won't get the same feel with just being able to see the fireworks and hearing the music. You have to at least once experience it in the park.

 

[disneygirlsng]

I cry every time I see it, it definitely has an emotional/sentimental factor, at least for me. I prefer the new show 1000000x more than Wishes, the story, message, projections, pyro, just everything about it is just infinitely better. But agree, that it is best experienced from inside the park.

 

[Liljo22]

Your best bet is to look on youtube. There are some full length videos of the show and music. I think it is just as moving and can't wait to see it in person. The projections look spectacular.

I do think because it is heavy in the projections that you won't get the same feel with just being able to see the fireworks and hearing the music. You have to at least once experience it in the park.

I don't agree with the last statement. Take the projections out and its fireworks with Disney music. I can see if the projections were scenes from the movies that matched up with the sound. If its emotional to the OP will be purely based off if the songs mean something to them personally.

 

[kj2mom]

I am a Wishes lover, have the album on my phone, and I was nervous about the transition. I instantly fell in love with HEA, the song is my ringtone and watching it online makes me tear up every time. I haven't seen it yet in person and it will probably be a couple more years before I get there but I do know I would want my first time to be in the park with a straight look to the castle. After I see it at least once I am sure I would enjoy other viewpoints such as California Grill, fireworks cruise, TTC loading dock but the first time will most definitely be in the hub.

 

[kniquy]

I don't agree with the last statement.

At least for your first time seeing it I would want the full experience. Certainly any time after that they would likely be satisfied with just the view from Cali Grill

 

[ITALIANNYC]

Your best bet is to look on youtube. There are some full length videos of the show and music.

Completely disagree with this.

Don’t watch any of the show on YouTube. Go in blind and enjoy it. That will make it special in its own right

Based on what I’ve heard I’m sure it’s going to be wonderful.

 

[goofyintoronto]

At least for your first time seeing it I would want the full experience. Certainly any time after that they would likely be satisfied with just the view from Cali Grill

I agree. For the first time, no doubt, see it in front of the castle. After that, by all means watch it from CG or where ever.

 

[disneydreamer1980]

I love love love HEA! But....I miss Wishes,lol. HEA is beautiful, the music is a compilation of music from the Disney movies mixed with the HEA theme song. Very projection heavy as others have said. It gave me goosebumps the first time I saw it.

 

[CplUseless]

I saw Happily Ever After in person for the first time 3 weeks ago after watching many different YouTube versions. The others in my group only had a general idea of the show and had maybe seen a couple pics online of the projections. Everyone had a priority of a cool view of the fireworks and listening to the music, with the projections being secondary. We ended up on The Tomorrowland Bridge and it was amazing.

The music is good but probably not to the same level as Wishes, and the fireworks are greatly superior.

Here is my view. (Don't worry, I put my phone away shortly after the start of the show here)

 

[msdroz]

Awesome tips everyone! Thank your opinions and suggestions, definitely seems like we will have to see it in the park first to see the projection aspect. I'm not typically a fan of battling the crowds so now onto research the best spots. Thanks again!

 

[maxiesmom]

Hi there... haven't been to MK since they removed the Electrical Parade and the Wishes show. These had so much sentimental meaning for me and I'm so sad that both of them are gone. Can someone share what the new show is like? We used to love seeing the fireworks from California Grill, is it still worth it? Will I still tear up from the music?

Thanks so much

I have to say, I didn't like it much at all. It didn't move me at all, and Wishes always had me near to tears.

 

[adrock1212]

Not to be the killjoy here, but just got back and was really UNimpressed with HEA. Wishes had a “theme” and all of the Disney movies behind it resonated with the pyrotechnics. Also, who doesn’t love when you wish upon a star and those two streams come across? And the final part with the new version of “tink”flying across? The stunt person didn’t even make it past the tomorrowland bridge and had to “swim”to the finish. Maybe it was an off night? Regardless, wishes is iconic; HEA seems like over engineered.

 

[MermaidMommy]

We LOVED Wishes. It was DD18’s favorite thing in all of WDW. She actually cried the day I told her it was leaving. So, we were quite hesitant about the new show, to say the least.

But, we were blown away by Happily Ever After. I think, overall, it’s a more uplifting show than Wishes was. I still love Wishes, and still miss it, but I think the music in HEA is more upbeat, where Wishes was more poignant.

We didn’t watch any of HEA before our trip so we could be surprised, but we DID listen to the score some. I think that hearing it and having some familiarity with it helped make the new show not seem so “foreign.” Plus, we liked the new music a lot, so it got us more excited about seeing it.

 

[CplUseless]

And the final part with the new version of “tink”flying across? The stunt person didn’t even make it past the tomorrowland bridge and had to “swim”to the finish. Maybe it was an off night? Regardless, wishes is iconic; HEA seems like over engineered.

Maybe it's a matter of perspective and attitude? From directly below her on The Tomorrowland Bridge it looks like she is going for exaggerated movements for the effect of the lights that outline her, because not everyone is below her when she flies over.

 

[Mickey's Best Girl]

I was so angry when I found out Disney was replacing Wishes and immediately hated Happily Ever After from the comfort of my home. I was an armchair HEA hater. My beloved Wishes? Are you kidding me?

Well, the joke was on me. I loved HEA. Surprised the heck out of me. The tears were alive and well as I watched the show with my DD.

It was a completely different experience than Wishes but we found it moving and spectacular all the same.

 

[WillowRain]

We watched it with music from our room at BLT every night, and finally at the castle the last night of our trip. It's great either way, but I cried like a baby in front of the castle, fwiw.

 

[Robo]

definitely seems like we will have to see it in the park first to see the projection aspect. I'm not typically a fan of battling the crowds so

now onto research the best spots.

 

[kkbrig]

I love to read that all of you cried because I’ve seen it 3 times and teared up at all and thought I was a crazy person!

Wishes I do not remember. I mean I remember seeing fireworks 3 years ago and 10 years ago but I don’t remember anything about them except that I had read a lot of hype about how moved I would be but I wasn’t.

I saw HEA 2 times last summer and then again tonight. I would have picked different songs because there are some in here that I didn’t even know like Hercules and Hunchback, but the projections are amazing and the fireworks themselves, if that’s all there was, are the best I’ve ever seen. Today was a very long day because we got there at 7:00. My husband didn’t feel well and went back to the hotel after dinner. My daughters and I decided to stay instead of going back with him but we did feel a bit guilty about this. Even so, I enjoyed every second and by the end I was in tears and holding my face.

There is so much going on that each time I saw HEA, I saw something new. Tonight we noticed several fireworks shapes that went with the story that we had not picked up on the former two. And I have never gotten a great view of the bottom half of the castle, so there are still tons of images that I haven’t seen.

 

[CarrieR]

Despite the advice in the thread, I would temper your expectations. HEA is okay. I can appreciate it’s improvement from a technical standpoint. I don’t hate it or anything, but... it’s not Wishes. It doesn’t resonate with me like Wishes did. (I’m also kind of resentful that with the projections, you “have” to see it from the madness up front... we usually caught Wishes from Fantasyland.) We do still catch it and it’s growing on me, but as a fellow Wishes lover, it’s missinc the je ne sais quoi that made Wishes special.

Go in with expectations tempered, and you might be pleasantly surprised... but at least you won’t be disappointed. JMO.