Review: Celebrate the Magic at the Magic Kingdom
By Dave Shute
CELEBRATE THE MAGIC: A GREAT FOLLOW UP TO THE MAGIC, THE MEMORIES AND YOU
On our December visit we had a chance to see the new evening show at the Magic Kingdom, Celebrate the Magic.
This show replaces the stunning prior show The Magic The Memories and You, and is just as good–though a little different.
It continues the jaw-dropping transformations of Cinderella’s Castle, but leaves out the former show’s photos of park guests. Instead, it has a much more extensive focus on classic Disney films and characters–making it even more fun to most, but a little less personal.
Disney suggests seeing this show from the Castle forecourt, the hub, the bridges leading to the Castle, or Main Street.
But because it happens right before Wishes, and a second time on nights with a second Evening Parade right before that parade, you want to pick your spot so you can see whichever of these two might also be on your agenda.
To see both Wishes and Celebrate the Magic, the best spot is between the Castle end of Main Street and the hub; this is also a good, though crowded, spot to see the Evening Parade.
The best strategy is to see it before Wishes, since there’s lots of other good spots to see the evening parade that don’t get as crowded as the Main Street area, but also don’t give a good Castle view.
FINDING OUT WHEN CELEBRATE THE MAGIC IS SHOWING
So far, it seems as though the show is scheduled to start 15 minutes before Wishes, and on nights with a second Evening Parade, 25 minutes before that parade starts.
However, to double check show times for your dates, see Disney’s page on this show here.
The red circle shows where on the page you can see the show times for a specific date.
If you click the little calendar icon that I’ve put the orange circle around, you can change the date to the date of your visit!
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10 comments
Hi Dave ,
I am trying to figure out my nighttime entertainment, particularly @ the Magic Kingdom, as we have the Fantasmic Dinner Show Package so I have that straight. We have park hopper so are able to hop around if necessary. We are staying @ AoA
Here is my current itinerary, including already made reservations:
Sunday 8/10 – Travel and Check in/Hollywood Studios
Monday 8/11 – Epcot; 630 reservation @ San Angel Inn. Was thinking of doing Illuminations this night?
Tuesday 8/12 – Magic Kingdom; 1125 reservation @ Chef Mickeys (Should we do Celebrate the Magic/Wishes this night?)
Wednesday 8/13 – Magic Kingdom; 8am @ Bibbidy Boutique, 10am @ CRT, 615 @ Hoop De Revue. (Is it even possible to make Celebrate the Magic/Wishes on this night?) I know we have a lot going on but plan to take a long mid day break after CRT.
Thursday 8/14 – Animal Kingdom; Hop over to Hollywood for 6pm Mama Melrose Fantasmic Dinner Package (View Fantasmic! this night)
Friday 8/15 – Magic Kingdom; 645 reservation @ Be Our Guest
Saturday 8/16 – Visit our fav. park during the day (probably Epcot) 7pm reservation @ Ohana.
Sunday 8/17 – Universal/Check in to Royal Pacific
How does everything look to you? We can do the entertainment @ Magic Kingdom any of the nights we are there (Tues, Wed, Fri.) Which night looks best?
This is our first time and I’m a little confused about the shows… Can you see the Electrical Pageant, Celebrate the Magic and Wishes all at once?
As alwasy, thanks for your advice/suggestions 🙂
Rachel, at MK your dates the Main Street Electrical Parade is at 9, Celebrate the Magic will be around 9.30 or so, and Wishes at 10. I expect the Parade to also be added at 11p most of these nights, which would make Wednesday night possible, but for now, I’d target seeing all three of these Tuesday. Your other plans look fine!
I’m visiting Magic Kingdom on a night with two parades and two celebrate the magic shows. I want to capitalize on the majority of the people watching the first parade then first Celebrate the magic by riding rides. I want to grab a last second spot around Tomorrowland (as close to Main street as I can) and watch the one showing of Wishes Fireworks. As soon as this has ended I’m hoping the vast majority will head for the exists which is when I want to snag a Hub spot. Then watch Celebrate the Magic and final electric parade. Does this sound like a good plan??? I want to avoid having to wait an hour for a good spot for the early shows and fight the crazy crowds leaving. Any advice appreciated 🙂
Kat, this will work most nights, but not really busy ones. What is the date you are thinking of?
Thanks for the fast respose!!! We will be @ Magic Kingdom on May 22. I believe the crowd level will be about a 5 out of 10.
Hi Dave,
I’m stressing out of the best places to view Celebrate the Magic and Wishes. I’ll be there on 9/24. I have other nights I’ll be seeing the parade but this is my only chance for Wishes and Celebrate the Magic. I have a 1 year old, 6 year old, and a 7 year old. The boys would absolutely love this show!
Where do I need to be and how far in advance? Is a FP worth this and how great it that view and how early do I need to arrive for that? Are they hard to get?
I’m sorry for the quiz! It’s our first trip! LOL
Danielle, the entry on Wishes covers where to see all of them: https://yourfirstvisit.net/2010/10/05/review-wishes-at-the-magic-kingdom/ FastPass doesn’t help wiht corwds, but it does with waits. Using a FP+ for it kinda depends on how may total days at MK you have (and thus how many FP+ to play with.) If you have three MK days, sure; if two, maybe.
Hi. I am planning a trip for my 2 year old and 4 year old boys. I took my now 4 year old when he was 2 in May of 2013. At that time, the electrical parade and Celebrate the Magic were only listed on Disney’s website for one showing when we researched the trip. It was a rough night that first night when we attempted the parade. We were so pleased to later find out that we could skip all that chaos and ride the Dumbo ride a hundred times and still catch a second showing of the Celebrate the Magic and the paradewithout fighting such a crowd (my son was terrified by the fireworks!). The new trip we are planning is in April of 2015 and again there is only one showing of the parade and projection show during the time we are scheduled. Could you predict whether or not there might be a second showing of these after the fireworks? (I understand that a prediction is only a prediction and could prove to be inaccurate, but I feel like you might have a better guess than I do!)
Thank you so much for this site and such helpful info!
LW, thanks!!
I could for a different month by looking at the final calendar for the week. But for April, with the moving Easter, my data is not worth much for that…but give me your dates and I’ll see what I can find…
Thanks! Our dates are April 22-26, 2015.
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