Photos taken in the dead of night show that Disney is testing putting Walt and Roy Disney up on the castle during their fireworks show.
Twitter user Mike Wheeler has captured photos, likely from the Contemporary Resort, showing early morning castle projection testing indicating that Disney World’s 50th Anniversary fireworks special, Disney Enchanted, is getting a change. According to the photos he snapped, it looks like the theme park will finally be putting Walt and Roy Disney on the castle to celebrate the park itself and its birthday rather than just being a slideshow of mostly-modern Disney songs.
Picks from enchantment testing with new Walt Disney projections #disney #DisneyWorld #DisneyWorld50 #wdw #WaltDisneyWorld #Enchantment #WaltDisney @WDWNT pic.twitter.com/R6he0JAAGi
— 👨‍🦯mike wheeler👨‍🦯 (@Wheels_518) August 16, 2022
This comes at a time when some people are debating whether or not Walt’s name should remain in both The Walt Disney Company and Walt Disney World. It also arrives as some are claiming that Walt’s own invention, Zip-a-dee-doo-dah, is a callback to a minstrel song and either irrelevant (Disneyland’s statement) or racist. But neither Walt’s song being derived from a problematic past nor removal of his name from the company and/or park seem to be on the table for now. If we continue down the path of erasing the past however, you can be sure that debate will arise once more over the man behind the mouse.
Changing a show this late into a short-term celebration may seem odd but it’s not surprising given that Disney may have received negative feedback about both Disney Enchanted and Harmonious — two new fireworks shows at the their biggest Disney World theme parks.
One question asked, “How would you rate your overall experience with Disney Enchantment compared to your overall Experience with Happily Ever After? Would you say that Disney Enchantment was…” The options are “Better,” “About the same,” and “Worse.”
— Shannen Michaelsen, WDWNT
As for me, I think it’s a total positive. Walt and Roy deserve to be featured prominently as a celebration of Disney World being up and running for half-a-century. It’s their legacy. As someone who went the very first year it opened, I’ve loved watching Disney World grow and blossom. I’ve taken my family there countless times, celebrated major milestones there, and even won a few prizes on Who Want’s to Be a Millionaire while it ran. But without the genius and determination of Walt and Roy, none of that would have ever happened.
Thanks, guys.
Update 10:36 AM EST:
Mickey Views has done even better! They have video of the new addition. Seen in action, it’s not much… but at least it’s something.
The Walt intro addition to Disney Enchantment is now 100% confirmed thanks to OneLittleSpark JL who caught it during testing last night (3:55:00-3:57:00): https://t.co/JhNBJ56miM. The intro will be added IMMINENTLY pic.twitter.com/1uxFkVSJNl
— Mickey Views (@MickeyViews) August 16, 2022
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