Wondrous Journeys is a multimedia and fireworks show that premiered on January 27, 2023 at Disneyland in honor of Disney's 100th anniversary. The show received critical acclaim from the guests for showcasing nearly all animated films and shorts made by Disney.
On December 21, 2023, Disneyland announced that the show would return on March 22, 2024, until April 14, 2024.
The show returned on May 16, 2025 as part of Disneyland's 70th anniversary.
Show summary[]
A Spark of Inspiration[]
Gaze in wonder as Sleeping Beauty Castle and Main Street, U.S.A. become a marvelous canvas for 100 years of Walt Disney Animation Studios storytelling what are make Disney films. Thrill as talented artists transform empty pages brimming with possibility into beloved Disney characters and vivid animated worlds awash with magic.
All of this and more is brought to life by soaring music, stunning state-of-the-art projection technology—and on select nights, sensational pyrotechnics!
100 Years in the Making[]
For over 100 years, Walt Disney Animation Studios has unlocked a special kind of wonder in our lives. These films have inspired us to dream bigger, unleash our spirit of adventure, discover the power within—and realize that it's kind of fun to do the impossible. Wondrous Journeys is an enchanting celebration of the wishers, dreamers, and artists at Walt Disney Animation Studios who have shared their imagination and talents with the world.
Technical details[]
Wondrous Journeys is a multimedia show that premiered at Disneyland celebrating 100 years of Walt Disney Animation Studios and the entire company as a whole. It features a montage of every film released by the studio over the years which pays tribute to Disney as well as magical moments featuring characters from films, such as Encanto, Hercules, The Princess and the Frog, Frozen, and many other films.
The show also features special projection effects showcasing the tribute to the animation at Disney consisting of blank pieces of paper, pencil sketches, and transitions from black and white to finalized colors as well as featuring characters from Disney, such as Mickey Mouse, Bambi, Ariel, Mirabel, and Baymax. Just like in its previous predecessors, the multimedia effect stretches out to certain areas at Disneyland, such as Main Street, U.S.A., Sleeping Beauty Castle, the façade of It's a Small World, and the water projection at Rivers of America (on the water screens from Fantasmic!).
Show scenes[]
The list below shows complete scenes during the show. Due to differences in projection size, certain scenes are absent from the castle side and the Fantasmic! stage side.
- Introduction
At the start of the show, an introduction welcomes guests with the following words:
"For over a hundred years, Walt Disney Animation Studios has invited audiences to believe things never possible. And so tonight, we once again invite you to wish upon a star, to step into the unknown, and to join us on this our Wondrous Journeys."
Shortly afterwards, the music begins with Plio's opening narration from Dinosaur before the show theme It's Wondrous begins:
"Some things start out big, and some things start out small, but sometimes the smallest thing can make the biggest changes of all."
During the introduction, the projection on the Fantasmic! stage shows lights with the same colors as Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather, while other buildings just show blue searchlight-like lights.
- It's Wondrous (show theme)
- Steamboat Willie (Mickey's footage origin)/Orphan's Benefit (Donald's footage origin)/The Whoopee Party (Goofy's footage origin)
- Line drawing from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs with following support line drawing contents:
- Line drawing and concept art from Bambi
- One Hundred and One Dalmatians
- The Sorcerer's Apprentice from Fantasia
- Alice in Wonderland/Tarzan/The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh/Pocahontas/The Firebird Suite from Fantasia 2000/The Fox and the Hound
- Concept arts and animation from The Sorcerer's Apprentice/Aladdin/The Little Mermaid
- Concept arts and animation from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs/Frozen/Cinderella
- Transition featuring Philadelphia Orchestra's silhouette in Fantasia
- When You Wish Upon a Star (Pinocchio, instrument) with following support music:
- I'm Wishing (Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, first lyric only)/I Wonder (Sleeping Beauty, main melody)
- When You Wish Upon a Star (Pinocchio, reprise)
- During this scene, the castle side features see a flyover of the Blue Fairy, while other buildings use projection scenes from the film instead.
- Tangled
- Lilo & Stitch
- The Princess and the Frog
- Aladdin
- Chicken Little
- Peter Pan
- Cinderella
- Wish
- Songs of Hope and Yearning (all of which include concept art and animation)
- Almost There (The Princess and the Frog)
- Pocahontas
- The Lion King
- Alice in Wonderland
- Lilo & Stitch
- Oliver & Company
- The Rescuers Down Under
- The Black Cauldron
- The Aristocats
- Home on the Range
- Brother Bear
- Transition featuring The Hunchback of Notre Dame
- You Can Fly (Peter Pan)
- Features footage of ships and aircraft from Lilo & Stitch, Meet the Robinsons, The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad, The Great Mouse Detective, Moana, Peter Pan, Treasure Planet, Atlantis: The Lost Empire (Main Street), Strange World, and whales in "Pines of Rome" from Fantasia 2000.
- For the First Time in Forever (Frozen)
- Raya and the Last Dragon
- Encanto
- Mexico from The Three Caballeros
- Hercules
- Bumble Boogie from Melody Time
- Robin Hood
- The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
- Pedro from Saludos Amigos
- Big Hero 6
- Tangled
- Tarzan
- Aladdin
- Alice in Wonderland
- Frozen II
- The Rescuers Down Under
- The Rescuers
- Blue Bayou from Make Mine Music
- Mickey and the Beanstalk from Fun and Fancy Free
- The Pastoral Symphony from Fantasia
- The Sword in the Stone
- Dumbo
- The Sorcerer's Apprentice from Fantasia
- Transition featuring Treasure Planet
- Immortals (Big Hero 6)
- During the scene of The Golden Bridge from Big Hero 6, the castle side features a flyover of Baymax, while other buildings use projection animation of Baymax and Hiro instead.
- Opening speech includes:
- Milo from Atlantis: The Lost Empire
- Sergeant Calhoun from Wreck-It Ralph
- Raya from Raya and the Last Dragon
- Big Hero 6/Aladdin/Encanto/Wreck-It Ralph/Hercules/Moana
- Mulan/Hercules/Tangled/Raya and the Last Dragon
- Immortals (Big Hero 6)/I'll Make a Man Out of You (Mulan)
- Mulan/Hercules/Moana/Big Hero 6 (Main Street projections)
- Raya and the Last Dragon/Robin Hood/Aladdin/Hercules (Main Street projection)
- The Rescuers Down Under/Treasure Planet (Main Street projection) or Zootopia (elsewhere)/Frozen II
- Beauty and the Beast
- The Old Mill from Silly Symphonies
- Casa Madrigal's collapse from Encanto, with all related buildings except the tavern at the Fantasmic! stage (Sleeping Beauty Castle, all shop buildings at Main Street, U.S.A. and the It's a Small World building) collapsing in the same way while Baymax breaks a hole in Krei's teleportation portal space.
- Immortals (Big Hero 6, instrumental)/Mufasa Dies (The Lion King)
- Zootopia
- Frozen II
- Cinderella
- Alice in Wonderland
- Mulan
- The Lion King
- Bambi
- Pocahontas
- Tarzan
- Moana
- I Am Moana (Song of the Ancestors) (Moana)
- Dos Oruguitas (Encanto, instrumental)
- Mulan
- Frozen II
- Dos Oruguitas (Encanto, refrain part); all related buildings transform into Casa Madrigal with the following contents appearing as Casa Madrigal's glowing door style:
- The Madrigal family from Encanto
- Simba, Nala, Timon, and Pumbaa from The Lion King
- Aladdin, Jasmine, Genie, and The Sultan from Aladdin
- Belle and Beast from Beauty and the Beast
- Tiana, Naveen, and Louis from The Princess and the Frog
- Mowgli, Baloo, Bagheera, King Louie, and Rama from The Jungle Book
- Aurora, Phillip, Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather from Sleeping Beauty
- Moana and Maui from Moana
- Anna, Elsa, Sven, Kristoff, and Olaf from Frozen
- Ariel and King Triton from The Little Mermaid
- Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck, Goofy, and Pluto
- It's Wondrous (reprise)
- The Little Mermaid
- Tangled/Encanto/The Sword in the Stone
- Aladdin/Zootopia/The Little Mermaid
- Dumbo/Tarzan/Raya and the Last Dragon
- Frozen/Beauty and the Beast/The Black Cauldron
- The Sorcerer's Apprentice from Fantasia/Peter Pan/Cinderella/Pocahontas
- Treasure Planet/Atlantis: The Lost Empire/Symphony No. 5 from Fantasia 2000/Nutcracker Suite from Fantasia
- Peter Pan/The Rescuers Down Under/Bambi
- Moana/The Lion King/Brother Bear
- The show concludes with the following dialogue featuring archival recordings from The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh (with "When You Wish Upon A Star" as background music):
- Narrator: "And so we come to the end of this chapter."
- Winnie the Pooh: Oh no, please! Can't we go back to page one and do it all over again?"
- Narrator: "But Pooh, it is just another turn of the page, and I for one think what comes next will be wondrous..."
- Conclusion (final tones of It's Wondrous)
- The Firebird Suite from Fantasia 2000
- Big Hero 6/Home on the Range/One Hundred and One Dalmatians/The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh/Ralph Breaks the Internet
- The Princess and the Frog/The Jungle Book/The Emperor's New Groove/Meet the Robinsons/Pinocchio
- Bolt/Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs/Hercules/Strange World/Dinosaur
- It's Wondrous (Lawrence Version) (Exit Music)
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- Because the show's theme is "100 years of Walt Disney Animation Studios' storytelling", it is the first firework show to only feature franchises from Walt Disney Animation Studios.
- Therefore, it is the second firework show to only feature one main franchise after Together Forever: A Pixar Nighttime Spectacular.
- Both shows are held in Disneyland.
- Same to its predecessors, Disneyland Forever, Mickey's Mix Magic, and Together Forever: A Pixar Nighttime Spectacular; Illuminate! A Nighttime Celebration at Shanghai Disneyland, and Disney Enchantment at Magic Kingdom, the show uses multiple stages.
- All four firework shows at Disneyland use the following stages: Sleeping Beauty Castle, Main Street, U.S.A., It's a Small World, and the Fantasmic! stage near Rivers of America.
- All five shows tie in with anniversaries or other special events. Disneyland Forever is about Disneyland's 60th Anniversary celebration; Mickey's Mix Magic is about Mickey's 90th Birthday celebration; Together Forever: A Pixar Nighttime Spectacular is about Pixar Fest; Illuminate! A Nighttime Celebration is about Shanghai Disneyland's 5th Anniversary celebration; Disney Enchantment is about Walt Disney World's 50th Anniversary celebration; and Wondrous Journeys is about Walt Disney Company's 100th Anniversary celebration.
- With 62 franchises featured in the show, Wondrous Journeys surpasses Illuminate! A Nighttime Celebration (including 34 franchises) for having featured the most franchises in a fireworks show.
- Due to the show only featuring one main franchise (Walt Disney Animation Studios), it also has the most franchises from one main franchise featured in a fireworks show.
- Aside from several Mickey and Friends shorts, The Old Mill is the only animated short (specifically a Silly Symphonies short) to be featured in the show.
- This show marks the official park debut of both Asha and Valentino from Wish. Both protagonists make a brief appearance during the "When You Wish Upon A Star" segment as concept art.
- An alternative version with no projection debuted on November 2, 2025.
- Due to lack of projection mapping, the colored lights on the castle only used on night lighting and other projectionless firework shows are reused.
- This version does not run on It's a Small World and Rivers of America, and the Main Street, U.S.A. buildings keep the lights off, like all projectionless firework shows.
- The projectionless version is also the first projectionless firework show in Disneyland to contain songs from films released after 2007 and have no Mary Poppins songs.
