It was 1923 when a 22-year-old Walt Disney stepped off the train in a bustling, eclectic, young Los Angeles, eager to make a name for himself in the glitz and glitter of Hollywood. One hundred years later, the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio he founded there with his brother Roy has become the Walt Disney Company – one of the largest, most enduring, and most successful entertainment companies on Earth.
Even Walt – the persistent dreamer – could never have imagined that a hundred years later, his last name would be synonymous with a library of characters, companies, theme parks, stories, and products ranging from Mickey Mouse to Elsa, much less acquired portfolios that include Star Wars, Marvel, National Geographic, The Muppets, Pixar, ABC, ESPN, and a whole lot more.
Disney is no stranger to annual promotions, with cross-company parties celebrating the New Millennium, the Year(s) of a Million Dreams, Happiest Homecomings, and even, back in 2001, 100 Years of Magic, celebrating Walt’s birth. But the Disney100: 100 Years of Wonder promotion looks to be the biggest yet in scope, unfolding across not just Disney’s theme parks, but its studios, subsidiaries, and spin-offs. Arguably, it couldn’t come at a worse time. After years of painful adjustment thanks to the 2020 pandemic and a major shakeup with leadership that’s shaken shareholders, too, Disney100 is a public-facing celebration even as Disney privately decides what its next century should be about…
Still, the company is putting on a brave face, launching the 100 Years of Wonder promotion with some splashy entries at its theme parks. What has the Mouse House got in store for those who visit its U.S. destinations in 2023? Here’s a sampling…
Disney World
To be sure, the launch of Disney100 is fairly subdued at the company’s flagship resort in Florida.
That’s because right now, Disney World is wrapping up its own 50th Anniversary promotion – “The World’s Most Magical Celebration” – which many fans contend was nothing of the sort. To be fair, Walt Disney World’s 50th did happen to fall right in the wake of the pandemic, with major projects across the resort stalled to such an extent that they missed their target openings and tie-ins.
But excuses aside, there’s no question that Disney World misstepped with its 50th, which, we argue, forgot to celebrate Disney World. Almost no where in the 18-month celebration did Disney bother to actually reference Disney World’s history. The “Fab 50” golden statues installed across its four parks weren’t of landmark rides, but of modern animated characters. The two nighttime spectaculars ostensibly launched as part of the 50th – “Disney Enchantment” at Magic Kingdom and “Harmonious” at EPCOT – made zero mention of Walt Disney, the celebration, or Disney World, again focusing on modern franchises and sing-alongs. (It wasn’t until a full year into the shows’ runs that a Walt-centric tag was added to the front of “Enchantment,” as if someone went, “Oh yeah, I guess we should mention him.”)
As evidence of how lukewarm reception was, both shows – clearly representing tens of millions of dollars in investment – have already been announced to be “glowing away” at the end of the campaign, representing significant financial and creative write-offs. While EPCOT will temporarily return the “EPCOT Forever” show (which also served as a placeholder between “Illuminations” and “Harmonious”), Disney announced that Disney100-focused nighttime shows would launch sometime in 2023. (The fact that we don’t have more information tells you just how quickly this decision was made and how fast Disney must be working to try to get these offerings off the ground.)
That’s to say nothing of the slashed perks and new upcharges that have forever redefined Disney Parks in the eyes of many longtime fans, making what should’ve been Disney World’s triumphant anniversary into a year when a quarter of Theme Park Tourist readers said they’re done visiting Disney World, and this time they mean it.
It’s likely that once the 50th officially wraps up (March 30, 2023), its golden “EARidescent” color scheme will be washed away across the resort, likely with platinum-tinged “Disney100” banners taking its place. Whether that’ll mean a decorative wrap to Cinderella Castle, we again don’t know. Which makes some sense, since Disney will want to squeeze all the marketing it can out of the 50th before announcing what’s to come after.
But without a doubt, the anchor of the Disney100 celebration in Florida will be the much, much, much-anticipated opening of the Modern Marvel: TRON Lightcycle / Run – a ride that was allegedly once targeted to open at the start of the 50th, back in 2021. Almost humorously long-delayed, TRON has now been smartly co-opted as a part of the Disney100 promotion with an expected (but unofficial) opening in April 2023. Hopefully people like it, because for the first time ever, Disney’s semi-annual D23 Expo in 2022 announced zero new rides, meaning that once TRON opens, the only other announced project on Disney World’s horizon is the re-themed Splash Mountain debuting in late 2024, with no known projects in 2025 or beyond…
So far, this doesn’t sound great. For Disney’s biggest promotion ever, its flagship resort gaining two nighttime spectaculars that may or may not be good, maybe some decorations, and a long-delayed ride? Well… it doesn’t sound great. But let’s head to the West Coast where the celebration really stands…
Disneyland
Given that Disney World is wrapping up its own 50th Anniversary, it makes sense that Disneyland is serving as the company’s central campus for the Disney100 celebration in the parks. And even though Disney California Adventure’s Buena Vista Street is (literally) recreating the Los Angeles Walt stepped out into in 1923, it’s Disneyland Park that’s serving as the real hub of the celebration. In any case, between both parks, no less than three significant attractions co-debuted on January 27, 2023.
Unlike Disney World where we aren’t sure when, how, or even if the Disney100 celebration will have much of a visual presence, Disneyland’s Sleeping Beauty Castle received a wonderfully pleasant Platinum overlay of iridescent silver and purple banners, new fountains in the moat, and a “Wishing Star” topper (which will also tie in nicely with Walt Disney Animation’s 2023 release, Wish, which is meant to reveal the origin of the Wishing Star seen in so many Disney films).
Speaking of the Castle, Disneyland also debuted two nighttime spectaculars in January, including Wondrous Journeys. This projection & fireworks show (projected on the Castle, “it’s a small world,” and the Rivers of America’s water screens) is notable for its ambition. Between the three viewing areas, it features allusions to every single animated film from Walt Disney Animation Studios from Snow White to Strange World – yep, even the stinkers.
The show’s original song, “Wondrous,” was previewed at D23 Expo in September 2022… But the real show’s debut really cemented it as a new classic in the Disney Parks songbook. Actually, Wondrous Journeys is an incredibly spectacular show, beginning with Mickey Mouse, Snow White, and Sleeping Beauty and growing into a crescendo of that includes Baymax from Big Hero 6 flying over the castle. A catchy, emotional, and celebratory tribute to Disney Animation over the last century, Wondrous Journeys just might’ve broken Disney’s recent nighttime spectacular curse, becoming a new fan favorite.
At Disney California Adventure, the hardware that powers World of Color has again been co-opted by a promotional overlay, becoming World of Color – ONE. Frankly, every time Disney has tried to use World of Color to play any show except the original World of Color, the results have been… well… mixed. It’s hard to beat the original show’s slow reveal of the fountains’ abilities, the iconic intro and outro created by the classic “World of Color” theme song from Walt’s television show, and the embrace of the water show’s abstract, emotional, and non-narrative form.
“World of Color – One” tries once more to create a show worth losing the original for, this time via a custom-made new song called “Start a Wave.” Working off of the idea that one person can create ripples of change, the sentimental show again leans heavily into Disney Animation from the last decade but will notably include Disney, Pixar, Marvel, and Star Wars – the first time all of Disney’s four anchors will be part of the same nighttime show.
To be sure, World of Color – One is a good show, and proves just how far Disney Animation has come since the original World of Color debuted in 2010. The new show manages to include references to Coco, Moana, Encanto, and other recent flicks that simply didn’t exist back then, not to mention references to Avengers: Endgame and The Force Awakens, neither of which existed in 2010. “Start a Wave” is a nice enough tune, and makes the new World of Color a softer, subtler, more reflective show compared to the upbeat, jangling, and high-energy Wondrous…still the replacement of the iconic “World of Color” song is something like replacing the intro and outro of Fantasmic, meaning Disney can and should rotate out some of the clips within World of Color, but should probably keep the theme song in any future renditions of the show.
Our only other issue is that both Wondrous Journeys and World of Color – One both feature many of the same recent animated features, giving the same “samesies” vibes that made Disney Enchantment and Harmonious such oddly overlapping shows to have likewise debuted together back in 2021. At least franchise-focused, character-centric shows make more sense in a company-wide Disney100 celebration than they did with Disney World’s 50th…
Otherwise, Disneyland used the 100th to debut its version of Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway, launching January 27th (the same exact day as “Wondrous Journeys” and “World of Color – One”). Even though it probably would’ve made sense to add the trackless dark ride to Disney California Adventure, it made its debut in the already-stuffed-with-E-Tickets Disneyland, even though the land that it’s inside of – Mickey’s Toontown – was still in the midst of a massive refurbishment lasting until the spring.
Speaking of which, that revitalized land – with fresh new play areas, all-ages-and-ability-levels interactives, and a lightly re-themed coaster (Chip & Dale’s Gadget Coaster) – will debut later in March, also part of the Disney100 celebration. (At least Mickey & Minnie-themed attractions feel like fitting pieces of the Disney100 puzzle given their focus on Walt’s original 1920s characters.)
Then, on February 24, Disneyland will welcome back Magic Happens – a parade that debuted at the park in (gulp) March 2020. Yes, after having run for the public for less than two weeks, this parade will return in grand form for the Disney100 celebration. Thankfully, the parade is already decked out in iridescent platinum!
Co-produced by Todrick Hall, the hip-hop-pop score intertwines with Disney soundtracks, exploring how “Magic Happens” when you learn how far you can go (Moana), when you remember those you love (Coco) and when you step into the unknown (Frozen II). It’s a surprisingly poignant parade with 21st century music and costumes, and seeing it return (or really, for the first time) is a huge plus. (That recurring, echoed chorus “That’s when / magic / happens / whoa / that’s when / magic / happens / whoa” is a real ear worm.)
(It should be noted that fans have also caught glimpses of the beloved “Paint the Night” parade being tested outside of its storage space at Disney California Adventure. While it could be for routine upkeep or a move out East, the parade’s return to California Adventure would give each of the California parks a nighttime spectacular [“Wondrous” and “One”] plus a day-and-night parade [“Magic Happens” and “Paint the Night”], not to mention “Fantasmic,” really beefing up these parks’ entertainment lineups ahead of the Disney100 summer season.)
Disney100 inside and outside of the Parks
There’s no question that if you’re looking to bask in the Disney100 celebration in a Disney Park, your best bet is to head West to Disneyland while Disney World tries to figure itself out after the 50th. With new parades, new shows, and new rides on the docket, this will be a banner year for Disneyland.
But we still need to acknowledge that this is a celebration planned in the reign of Bob Chapek, and despite his surprising dismissal in November 2022, the finance-and-franchise-focused CEO’s fingerprints will remain on the company (and especially this promotion) for years. It’s no surprise that in the parks, Disney100 is shaping up to really be a celebration of Disney+ and the last ten years of Disney, Pixar, Marvel, and Star Wars… but we hope and believe that especially at Disneyland (where nostalgia actually sells), we’ll actually hear about Walt and the first 50 years of Disney animation that often fail to find their way into nighttime shows.
Disney100 is also unique, though, in the way it’ll extend beyond the parks… Check back at Theme Park Tourist this winter as we unveil our Disney100 Road Trip – a must-see, cross-country list of destinations for Disney fans outside the theme parks this year.
