Happily Ever After Returns to the Skies: A First-Hand Account of Reopening Night!
Through the misty rain, Cinderella Castle seemed to shine brighter than ever on the evening of July 1. Despite the showers, guests bustled about Main Street USA waiting for the return of the nighttime event we have been anticipating for the past 15 months: Happily Ever After! I was lucky enough to be among that electric crowd in Magic Kingdom last night, and it was one of the happiest nights I’ve experienced at WDW in a long, long time.
Arriving Early
It was pretty clear that everyone hoping to catch Happily Ever After’s reopening show last night were die hard Disney fans. Although rain fell for the majority of the day and evening, there was certainly no lack of energy among the guests waiting for the show!
The bulbs illuminating Main Street USA made the street look strikingly gorgeous through the lens of light mist. The buildings reflected off the pavement almost doubling the scope and awe that gives Main Street USA its awe…but it was the people who truly made the energy palpable.
Since the castle hub had filled up hours prior (and I wanted a good chance at getting out of the Park quickly after the show) I staked out my spot by the flag pole about 45-minutes before showtime.
It ended up being the perfect spot, because I had a great view of Disney’s media teams filming the momentous occasion on the platform of the train station about a half hour before fireworks too! As I took another look around, I noticed that slowly but surely, guests packed in every space from the Castle to the Train Station in anticipation of the fireworks.
Happily Ever After
10-minutes prior to the show, the pre-show announcement rang out across the Park to the sounds of thunderous applause and excited cheers from the guests. The fear had been in the back of my head all evening, but that glorious announcement confirmed that a little rain was NOT going to stop the show!
Then, with a minute to spare before 9:15, Town Square grew quiet. No one clapped. No one yelled. Even the youngest children knew not to disturb the silence: something special was about to happen.
Almost right on cue, beams of bright white lights enveloped the Castle to a perfectly-timed musical score that elicited a 15-second nonstop cheer from the entirety of Magic Kingdom!
The show was exactly what I had remembered yet somehow seemed brand new last night. For me, it wasn’t just the fireworks that made the night monumental. It was the unspoken feeling in the crowd that, after over a year of waiting, it felt shockingly normal to be there. Watching this gorgeous show and witnessing ‘the story come alive’ standing shoulder-to-shoulder with other fans meant only one thing to me: we’ve finally made it home.
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