Credit: DisneyDisney abruptly axed Fantasmic! yesterday as the beloved show continues to encounter issues.
With versions on both coasts, Fantasmic! is one of Disney’s most popular productions. The original version is performed at Disneyland Park, where the show takes over portions of the Rivers of America and Tom Sawyer Island to immerse guests in the magic of Mickey Mouse’s imagination.
While the show has undergone a few changes over the years, its core premise remains the same. The show follows Mickey Mouse diving into a dream world filled with classic Disney heroes, villains, and animation sequences. The show features fireworks, water projections, live performers, and dramatic battles, culminating in Mickey triumphing over darkness.
For years, this final battle saw Mickey face off against an audio-animatronic Maleficent dragon, colloquially known by diehard Disney fans as Murphy. In 2023, however, the animatronic caught fire during a performance, leading to a lengthy closure for Fantasmic! When it reopened, it debuted a reworked finale that now features Maleficent (not in her dragon form) rising into the air.
Fans haven’t exactly praised the new Fantasmic! finale, claiming that it’s underwhelming compared to its previous iteration. Fantasmic! in general has been met with heavy criticism in recent months as parkgoers complain about broken effects and downtime.
Disney Cancels Fantasmic! (Again)
Last night’s performance of Fantasmic! continued to highlight the show’s ongoing issues.
Midway through the performance, the show abruptly came to an end. An overhead announcement apologized that “due to unforeseen circumstances, this performance of Fantasmic! cannot continue. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.”
Anyone know what shut down Fantasmic tonight mid-show?
byu/CletusTSJY inDisneyland
While Disney didn’t explicitly state why the show was cancelled, one Reddit user claimed that it was due to a technical error that meant Maleficent couldn’t make it onstage for the Fantasmic! finale. “The lift that was supposed to bring Maleficent up from under the stage malfunctioned,” they explained. “The actor was stuck down there.”
Another user backed them up, saying, “Maleficent was stuck in her pit and never came up. You could about only see her from the shoulders up. Show stopped right as she was supposed to rise.”
Last night’s fireworks were reportedly also delayed at the theme park. Disneyland currently performs Wondrous Journeys – which combines state-of-the-art projections on Sleeping Beauty Castle and along Main Street U.S.A. with pyrotechnics – as part of its 70th anniversary celebrations.
Other Issues For Fantasmic!
It’s only the latest incident to hit the show. In May, guests claimed that Fantasmic! has suffered from a severe lack of pyrotechnics lately.
No fireworks for the 2nd performance of Mid-tasmic. No dragon and no pyro. What’s the point of even running the show?
No fireworks for the 2nd performance of Mid-tasmic. No dragon and no pyro. What's the point of even running the show? pic.twitter.com/EAJkCUfMzZ
— RyanTheme Park (@Ryanthemepark) May 11, 2025
Earlier this summer, Fantasmic! was also axed two days in a row, with one guest claiming they’d been told one day’s cancellation was due to rain (an unavoidable obstacle) and the next was due to an actor calling out sick.
Have you noticed issues with Fantasmic! at Disneyland lately?