Extinct Attractions - Starlight Magic (2000)

This week, I looked back at Tokyo Disneyland’s 15th anniversary and the fireworks show that accompanied it.

Earlier this week, VisionQuest debuted on Disney+, the first new Marvel television show since Wonder Man back in January. It will be interesting to see how closely it ties into Avengers: Doomsday as the last bit of Marvel content before the big event in December. 

I’m also intrigued to see if the film spurs on some more Marvel content at the Tokyo Disney Resort. It is the only Disney resort to not have a full Marvel attraction either completed or in active construction. They did add Baby Groot into it’s a small world, which is really cute having experienced it when I was at the park last year. The little guy was added all over the place and was the perfect size to pair up with the children of the world.

Via Disney Wiki 

To celebrate the park’s 15th anniversary, Tokyo Disneyland added a parade called Disney Carnivale while also replacing the Stardust Fantasy fireworks with a new show called Starlight Magic. Opening on July 17, 1998, the fireworks were created well before projection mapping, so the exact presentation of it was quite a bit different from what we usually see today.

Starlight Magic was fascinating because it was very minimally connected to Disney. The songs throughout were largely pieces of classical music that would sound very familiar to guests. Throughout, there were plenty of flashing lights to try and bring some more movement and energy into the show.

The fireworks were also extremely close to the guests, largely launching off the castle. There were some bigger ones off in the distance, but if I were watching the show in person, I would be nervous of getting a little singed. 

Via Amazon 

In some ways, the show almost felt like a ballet because of the classical music and almost elegance to it. In fact, it was not until the next to last song when Disney characters even emerged at all. With a big fireworks extravaganza, Donald, Goofy, Pluto, Minnie and Mickey came out to wave at everyone and do a little bit of a dance. 

Interestingly, they came off of the little stage in front of the castle after the show ended with “When You Wish Upon a Star,” the only Disney song included. It served as a nice ending to the show because who doesn’t get a little teary-eyed when they hear the song?

Overall, Starlight Magic wasn’t the most exciting show in the world, but it was cool that they did something unique with it and tried something new. The show closed a year after it opened, but it was popular enough that it came back rebranded as Starlight Magic 2000 for the big Disney millennium celebration. But that wasn’t enough for the full millennium extravaganza with Millennium Symphony in the Sky debuting later that year. But that wasn’t quite the end of its journey with a follow up show called Starlight Dreams hitting the park in 2008.

It’s fun that such a simple show could inspire so many different things.

Via Cheezburger 

As always, don’t forget to check out my interactive maps of the Disney Parks throughout the years where you can watch or learn more about all the attractions from every Disney park around the world.

Thanks for reading and have a magical day!