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Credit: DisneyDisneyland Resort officials have canceled at least four scheduled Sleeping Beauty Castle fireworks shows in the last week, removing them from the nightly entertainment lineup. Thousands of guests waited over an hour for the perfect viewing spot on Main Street, U.S.A., only to find out that strong winds in Southern California had forced Disneyland Park to put the nighttime spectaculars on pause.
Disneyland Park rotates through several fireworks shows throughout the year, from the year-round Wondrous Journeys to the current offering, “Believe…In Holiday Magic.” Guests in Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge can enjoy an alternate version of the fireworks show with an exclusive soundtrack that turns the Disney fireworks into “Fire of the Rising Moons.”
Unlike Walt Disney World Resort and other international Disney parks, Disneyland Park doesn’t offer fireworks shows every night due to its proximity to residential neighborhoods in Anaheim. Unfortunately, this means that recent weather conditions have further reduced the already limited nighttime entertainment lineup at Disneyland Resort.
Last week, a Disney Park guest and Reddit user, u/CoasterCar, spoke out after attempting to see “Believe…In Holiday Magic” four times and failing to do so. According to the social media user, the fireworks show was canceled all four times due to wind conditions in Anaheim:
4 Attempts at viewing the winter fireworks and all failed 😞
4 Attempts at viewing the winter fireworks and all failed 😞
byu/CoasterCar inDisneyland
The user’s photo showed thousands of other Disney Park guests, who presumably also wasted at least an hour waiting in a prime viewing location on Main Street, U.S.A., only for the seasonal fireworks to be canceled. In the comments, other Disney Parks fans shared their experience with the unreliable nighttime spectaculars in Southern California.
“Yep, Santa Ana season is the norm for December too,” said u/wizzard419. “World of Color is the safe bet, but this year no holiday show so just go on rides while everyone else camps out for shows not happening.”
“I paid for the terrace viewing then cancelled because I don’t want to be stuck paying $200 for a cold sandwich and no fireworks,” u/orTodd replied.
While Disneyland Resort obviously can’t control the weather, many guests expressed frustration that the Disney park doesn’t warn guests that fireworks shows could be canceled ahead of time.
“This has been my major complaint though is if they are seeing things wonky with the weather we can’t see at ground level start making announcements earlier instead of us losing a large chunk of the evening waiting for nothing,” u/hutchi41 wrote. “If we see crappy weather we don’t ‘camp out’ but all looks fine to us we grab a spot. Yes I am aware the weather can change in an instant but I think they know it’s gonna be sketchy far before they announce it to us.”
“My husband said the same thing!!” u/Coolgurl26 replied. “I’m the Disney one and he came with me because I wanted the Xmas experience with just him and I. We got front row Wednesday in from of the castle 2.5 hours before, for them to tell us 10 minutes before it could be cancelled. He’s like why didn’t they tell us hours again it could be possibly be canceled. Then I wouldn’t waste so much time. So it was canceled Wednesday and Thursday, but we did see them from a distance on Monday.”
Disneyland Resort typically makes a park-wide announcement when nighttime spectaculars are canceled due to weather, technical issues, or other unpredictable conditions. Ask a Disney cast member for the latest updated entertainment schedule.
Have you ever experienced a canceled fireworks show at Disneyland Resort or Walt Disney World Resort? Share your story with Inside the Magic in the comments!