There was a time when we never missed Fantasmic at Disneyland. It was a must-see every single trip, and we’d camp out for as long as necessary along the Rivers of America, purchase dining packages, or prioritize joining the virtual queue (when available). There were even weeks when we’d watch it a few times.
In the last two years, I’ve only watched Fantasmic three times total from start to finish–despite being in the park on a weekly basis. Admittedly, part of this is becoming a parent and leaving before the evening hours, but that doesn’t completely explain it. I’ve had plenty of solo time at Disneyland and still have opted against watching it. I’ve seen Paint the Night and Wondrous Journeys during that same span more times than I can count.
Meanwhile, I’ve made a point of viewing Fantasmic at Disney’s Hollywood Studios with regularity. Not every single trip since it often has to compete with end of night rides, but probably a half-dozen times or more per year. And there was a time when we’d go long stretches without seeing the Florida Fantasmic. How the tables have turned.
The reason for this is simple, and should be uncontroversial at this point: Fantasmic is better at Walt Disney World.
This is a bold statement only in the sense that the opposite was true for decades. For ages, the conventional wisdom was that Disneyland fans should skip Florida’s Fantasmic since it was a pale imitation of the “real” thing. But that hasn’t been the case for at least the last few years, and it just takes time for ingrained opinions to change. I am confident few unbiased observers watching both shows in 2026 would favor the Disneyland version.
For decades, their Fantasmic being dramatically better than the DHS version was a huge point of pride for Disneylanders. The viewing area is more intimate and it feels like the show comes out of nowhere, they said. Murphy the Dragon is better than Maleficent on a stick, they boasted. The Mark Twain and Sailing Ship Columbia add so much, they argued. Florida’s is basically Pocahontasmic, they half-joked.
The “they” in these sentences was me. For years, I said that if you hadn’t seen Fantasmic at Disneyland, you hadn’t really seen it.
Well, a lot has changed in the last few years. The first big one was that Disney’s Hollywood Studios reimagined its version of Fantasmic and added a new sequence that brings to life heroic moments from Disney stories such as Moana, Mulan, Aladdin, Frozen 2, and Pocahontas. That replaced the interminably long Pocahontas scene and the difference it has made cannot be overstated.
The other things all occurred on the Disneyland side of the ledger, with crowds and congestion making Fantasmic painful to watch upon its return.
Perhaps this is a “me thing” and reflecting my increasing curmudgeonliness as I get older, but the chaos for Fantasmic at Disneyland has made me appreciate the purpose-built stadium seating for Fantasmic at Walt Disney World. This is not a change to the show, but one in perspective for me, personally.
The actual big substantive change at Disneyland was that Murphy the Dragon caught fire and has been replaced with a belated B-mode after an incredibly lengthy closure. There are still little things that Disneyland’s Fantasmic does better, like organically rising out of the Rivers of America and featuring actual ships. But it’s no longer the superior show. It is very clearly inferior to Florida.
What Happened to Fantasmic at Disneyland?!
As noted above, Maleficent the Dragon (lovingly known as Murphy among Disneyland fans) erupted into flames during a performance of Fantasmic on April 22, 2023. Although the fire was put out relatively quickly and no guests or Cast Members were injured, the dragon was completely destroyed and damage was done to the lift mechanism and other aspects of the stage.
The nighttime spectacular was also pulled from the calendar through Memorial Day. Then the return was delayed through Labor Day. Then it was pushed back all the way to Spring 2024. Finally, Disneyland announced that Fantasmic would return on May 24, 2024, which it did.
Upon returning, Fantasmic featured new special effects, along with the iconic Peter Pan scene being restored to the Sailing Ship Columbia. This fan-favorite scene was a staple of the show from its debut up until the 2016 reimagining of Fantasmic, when it was replaced by a similar Pirates of the Caribbean battle sequence. This change was considered a win among fans, who largely preferred the Peter Pan scene to the more “mainstream” PotC sequence (the general park-going public loves all things Pirates of the Caribbean).
This modified Fantasmic also introduced “a thrilling new battle scene between Sorcerer Mickey and Maleficent.”
In reality, that “new” battle is basically the pre-existing b-mode that was used before when the show-stopping Murphy the Dragon wouldn’t work. It’s more or less equivalent to the climactic confrontation between the two in the Disney’s Hollywood Studios version of Fantasmic.
Back in 2024, there were statements from Disneyland and interviews with entertainment team members that implied a new dragon was coming, but never explicitly stated as much. Our expectation at the time was that would be a stop-gap, with a big announcement coming at the 2024 D23 Expo and a debut in time for Disneyland’s 70th Anniversary. Obviously, that was wrong. Here we are two years later, with Fantasmic limping along in b-mode and the 70th now winding down.
D23 Expo Prediction: Reimagined Fantasmic at Disneyland in 2027
Disney did make a splashy 70th Anniversary announcement at the D23 Expo two years ago, just not exactly what we expected. That celebration has featured the debut or return of several fan-favorite entertainment offerings with World of Color: Happiness, Paint the Night Parade, Wondrous Journeys Fireworks, plus several smaller-scale productions.
Although the 70th is starting to fizzle out as the year-plus celebration enters its final month, it was a smash success. And that was all without a reimagined Fantasmic. If anything, the marquee nighttime spectacular at Disneyland has been able to limp along, largely under the radar because fans have been “distracted” by all of the other great nighttime entertainment.
This includes me! Every month or so, I see a video making the rounds on social media showcasing the sorry show quality standards of Fantasmic. And every month or so, I tell myself that I need to make a point of watching Fantasmic to assess whether it’s actually that bad, or if those reports are overblown. But when push comes to shove, I find myself instead watching Wondrous Journeys and Paint the Night for personal enjoyment. I choose happiness (and even WoC Happiness) instead of sitting through the scaled-back Fantasmic.
All of this is also what makes a reimagined Fantasmic a fairly obvious prediction for 2027.
Paint the Night and Wondrous Journeys both end in August. Those will go into the Disney Vault, and almost assuredly will not be back in 2027 (maybe Wondrous Journeys will see a brief reprise during peak dates, but I’d bet against it). That means Disneyland only has a few entertainment cards to play.
One would be bringing back Main Street Electrical Parade for its 1,955th farewell run. I assume this will happen. But each time that ancient parade is trotted out again, its impact is lessened. MSEP hasn’t been absent for long enough to excite fans. They’ll also bring back Disneyland Forever or one of the other fireworks shows. Maybe a return of Pixar Fest or another summer celebration.
None of that would have the impact of a reimagined Fantasmic.
The only entertainment announcement that would be more impactful is the launch of a new night parade, which actually would make sense in the lead-up to several consecutive years of new attractions across the Esplanade at DCA. That strikes me as highly unlikely.
Paint the Night still has some mileage left in it, and it seems most likely that a Main Street Electrical Parade reboot happens for Disneyland’s 75th Anniversary in 2030. (Working backwards from that, my gut is that we’ll get the regular MSEP in 2027 and perhaps Paint the Night in 2028, before nothing in 2029 to build anticipation for the next night parade.)
With no new attractions debuting in 2027, Disneyland will need to lean on entertainment, and a reimagined Fantasmic makes the most sense as a tentpole. With summer attendance already struggling this year despite the ongoing 70th, Disneyland needs to do something big–unless they’re going to get really aggressive with ticket deals. (And honestly, it might not be either/or.)
It’s already been 3 years since the good version of Fantasmic went into the Disney Vault, and it’ll have been gone for over 4 years by the time Summer 2027 rolls around. That’s more than enough time to generate fan excitement and help entice locals and tourists alike to plan trips.
What makes the most sense is having a reimagined Fantasmic be the highlight, bring back the existing MSEP for one final time before a theoretical 75th refresh, and an enhanced version of the Remember Dreams Come True (my ultimate wish list entry) or Disneyland Forever (more likely) fireworks. Package that all together as a Summer Nightastic celebration, which ironically enough, was exactly how the original Murphy the Dragon debuted (or should’ve, prior to delay).
Note that this prediction is specifically a reimagined Fantasmic, and not just a new marquee dragon inserted into the existing climactic battle sequence. Disneyland will likely need to invest tens of millions of dollars to rebuild the Murphy Dragon Audio Animatronics figure. Given that cost and current state of the show, our expectation is that they introduce a reimagined version of Fantasmic.
Another big update to Fantasmic at Disneyland makes sense. Disney reimagined the Walt Disney World version of Fantasmic, and did so with great success and an incredibly positive guest reception. As noted above, the DHS Fantasmic features an all-new sequence that brings to life heroic moments from Disney stories such as Moana, Mulan, Aladdin, Frozen 2, and Pocahontas.
Disneyland could cherry pick the best elements from the heroic moments additions, while giving them a new twist and another original sequence or two. They could bring back elements from the original Fantasmic that were lost during the 2016 reimagining. There’s a lot that could be changed about the nighttime spectacular to revitalize and market the show as an ‘all-new’ version of Fantasmic.
It makes sense to reimagine Fantasmic from a PR perspective. It’s not exactly marketable to bring back Fantasmic and say, “we built the dragon that we accidentally burned down–locals, come check out the thing you’ve already seen many times!” By contrast, a reimagined Fantasmic with new scenes or other enhancements does give Disneyland something to promote and it will draw locals and Disneyland diehards.
Ultimately, given that Disneyland’s 70th Anniversary is winding down and the recent approach to leveraging the Disney Vault for entertainment, it’s safe to predict a mix of new and returning entertainment at Disneyland in Summer 2027.
Pulling from the playbook of the last 5 years, there’s a near-certainty Disneyland will bring back a parade (likely Magic Happens in the spring followed by MSEP in the summer, but not both at the same time). We’ll also get a new or returning fireworks show (probably Disneyland Forever) and return of the original World of Color. One option we can safely rule out is a daytime parade in DCA (period), and I’d probably bet against a new daytime parade at Disneyland, show in the Hyperion Theater, or brand-new World of Color.
The formula calls for “one big thing,” and the most logical option there is the overdue one: Fantasmic 3.0 at Disneyland. This is both our prediction and hope, as we’d love to see an enhanced and properly reimagined Fantasmic as part of an all-new Summer Nightastic celebration in 2027. If Disney wants to draw locals back to the parks during what will otherwise be an off-year, this is the best way to make that happen.
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Your Thoughts
What do you think about our prediction of a reimagined Fantasmic debuting in 2027 as part of a new Summer Nightastic (or similar) celebration? Expect this or another entertainment announcement made for Disneyland at the 2026 D23 Expo? Thoughts on the current show? Do you agree or disagree with our perspective that Fantasmic is now better at Walt Disney World? Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing your feedback—even when you disagree with us—is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
