There’s so much to explore in Disney World during the holiday season.
Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party and Jollywood Nights are both returning to Disney World this year and are quite popular. However, there’s one extinct holiday offering that was immensely loved, and Disney World took it away after 2019. Unfortunately, Disney is refusing to bring back the Cinderella Castle Dream Lights, and we think we know exactly why.
Starting November 8th, 2013, Disney World introduced the Cinderella Castle Dream Lights, which took place at 6:30PM during the holiday season. This was a show with Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Donald, Cinderella, Prince Charming, and the Fairy Godmother to bring THOUSANDS of twinkling lights to life on the castle.
This was a short show, only about 8 minutes long, and all guests could experience it — not just those with Mickey’s Very Christmas party tickets.
Starting in 2014, the castle lighting changed to a Frozen-themed show — with Queen Elsa lighting the dreamlights.
This offering was beloved by so many guests, but 2019 was the last time we saw the Castle Dreamlights, and they have not returned since. So why did Disney get rid of this show?
We think we have an idea, and it mostly comes down to what you expect — money. Disney World transforms their parks into holiday wonderlands very quickly each year, and put a lot of effort into making sure they look their best. And that’s not cheap! So why would Disney spend all that money to place those lights on the castle when Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party sells out nearly every night without them?
Do we WISH Disney would bring them back regardless? YES, because we’d like to experience them no matter what, but logistically, it doesn’t make sense for Disney to spend all that money putting the lights on the castle that don’t solely draw people to the parks for the holiday season.
Not to mention that with Magic Kingdom’s fireworks shows typically include projections on the castle now, and having to rework the projections to look good around the lights isn’t ideal. It may not seem like a lot, but they can affect the dimensions on the castle, which can throw the look of the projections off.
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What extinct offering do you miss in Disney World? Tell us in the comments!
Never liked the cheap looking projection lights. The dream lights were far superior.
I’m very surprised there are so few comments about this.
I’m extremely disappointed that the lights have not appeared. Each year I’ve been hoping they will come back. They are way more beautiful than the projection of images onto the castle IMHO and everyone i know who has seen them agrees with me.
Disney has given up on improving the Disney experience, because all of us (guilty), keep throwing money at them no matter how much they cut out how much they increase prices. So a non magic accountant, whose running Disney, would ask “why improve anything, do just enough to keep selling out. Until more people start discovering the fun and magic that can be found many other places, usually for a lot less money, Disney will feel no pressure to give the fans what they want. The fans are coming anyway.
I think everyone should see the lights. It was so beautiful ?.
The solution that Disney Imagineers have yet to embrace is very simple.
Use the projection system to simulate the lighting effect. In fact, they COULD use the projection to make the lights twinkle, or use the effect in show to only temporarily have the Dream Light effect.
There is the time/money/resources needed to create that simulation, but that is far less expensive than adding the lights physically while preserving the projection system as is.
I would love for them to bring them back.
Personal preference, but I’d rather have the Dream Lights back on the castle versus the projections. Viewpoint impacts the projections along with my not great eyesight can make it difficult to even figure out what some of the projections are. We don’t really care about the projections as much as we love the fireworks and the beloved Dream Lights. It was so beautiful.