“Wishes,” “Happily Ever After,” Rare Character Sightings Highlight Cast Celebration
After a number of cancellations during the winter months due to weather, the annual cast member Disney Service Celebration at Magic Kingdom finally took place yesetrday evening. This year, Magic Kingdom will close early not once but twice over the next couple weeks to honor those who marked anniversaries with the company both in 2020 and 2021.
Last night wowed the crowd with ultra-rare character sightings and entertainment spectacles. Most notably, cast members in attendance had the opportunitity to experience re-created scenes from both “Wishes” and “Happily Ever After,” the most recent two fireworks displays that dazzled Magic Kingdom each night prior to the debut of “Disney Enchantment” last fall.
They opened the Cast Member Service Celebration fireworks with the music from Wishes, and it still hits just right yβall π₯Ή pic.twitter.com/Ed61UbOwyi
β Courtney Guth (@Courtney_Guth) May 4, 2022
In an added bit of nostalgia, the themes to EPCOT’s former fireworks show “Illuminations” and Magic Kingdom’s nighttime parade “Spectromagic” also played prior to the fireworks spectacular, according to a Tweet from theme park reporter Scott Gustin. The evening also featured a full performance of “Disney Enchantment.”
I SCREAMED LAST NIGHT I WAS AT DISNEY CAST SERVICE HONOREE AND THE CASTLE TURNED INTO THE 25th ANNIVERSARY CAKE! π₯Ήππ pic.twitter.com/xd7NHvOlEq
β Hunter N. (@hnterdisney) May 4, 2022
The “Wishes” performance even debuted new projections that captured the magic of past Walt Disney World anniversary celebrations, including the 25th anniversary birthday cake design as seen in an image posted by @hnterdisney on Twitter.
Character Sightings Delight Cast
ThrillGeek shared one of the most magical pictures to come out of New Fantasyland with Ariel and Eric catching “Wishes” near the grotto side-by-side with her crab pal, Sebastian.
In a more ghoulish photo-op, ThrillGeek also captured a super spooky moment when cast members snapped photos with the Hitchhiking Ghosts of the Haunted Mansion.
π» Hitchhiking Ghosts meeting Cast Members during the Cast Member Service Celebration. pic.twitter.com/bxXE3gaOLx
β ThrillGeek (@thrillgeek) May 4, 2022
Even our favorite trash compactor Wall-E made an appearance in Tomorrowland in another clip caught by ThrillGeek.
WALL-E meeting Cast Members at the Cast Member Service Celebration tonight at the Magic Kingdom. pic.twitter.com/iZ887RDnai
β ThrillGeek (@thrillgeek) May 4, 2022
The next cast member celebration takes place on Sunday, May 15th, again with the park closing at 4:30 p.m. as it did yesterday as well. The cast member celebration is a tradition that dates back as early as the 1970s and honors cast members starting with ten years of service and beyond, according to Disney Parks Blog. Congratulations to all involved in the long-awaited honors!