Few nighttime spectaculars have captured the imagination quite like Fantasmic!, Disneyland’s open-air celebration of Mickey Mouse’s dream world. Since its debut in 1992, the show has combined music, fire, water, and Disney’s greatest heroes and villains into a sprawling production along the Rivers of America. But today, as Disneyland Resort prepares to mark its 70th anniversary, Fantasmic! finds itself in a strange place: still running, but far from whole.
The show has seen changes before. In 2017, a major refurbishment introduced new segments from Aladdin, The Lion King, and Pirates of the Caribbean. But in 2023, a fire during a performance scorched one of its most iconic elements—the towering Maleficent dragon animatronic, affectionately nicknamed “Murphy” by fans. Since then, Fantasmic! has returned to the park, but the version now playing looks—and feels—very different.
Changes Hit Fantasmic!
Since resuming performances, Fantasmic! has done so without Murphy, whose absence looms large in more ways than one. During the climactic face-off between Mickey and Maleficent, the full-scale animatronic has been replaced with a less ambitious version: Maleficent rises above the stage, but without the fire-breathing grandeur fans once expected.
The post-fire changes don’t stop there. From 2017 to 2023, the Sailing Ship Columbia featured an action-packed Pirates of the Caribbean scene, with Captain Jack Sparrow battling cursed pirates across the deck. That sequence has now been retired in favor of the show’s previous Peter Pan segment, which sees Peter squaring off against Captain Hook to rescue Wendy.
For some, it’s a welcome wave of nostalgia. For others, it’s another reminder of the show’s scaled-back scope.
Reports from recent performances haven’t helped.
One video shared on X, formerly known as Twitter, showed a full Fantasmic! performance with no dragon (as is now the norm) and no pyrotechnics. “No fireworks for the 2nd performance of Mid-tasmic,” one user wrote. “No dragon and no pyro. What’s the point of even running the show?”
No fireworks for the 2nd performance of Mid-tasmic. No dragon and no pyro. What’s the point of even running the show?
No fireworks for the 2nd performance of Mid-tasmic. No dragon and no pyro. What's the point of even running the show? pic.twitter.com/EAJkCUfMzZ
— RyanTheme Park (@Ryanthemepark) May 11, 2025
Fantasmic!’s Declining Legacy
Fan reactions online have skewed critical. “It’s so funny seeing DL Fantasmic! fall far from its supposed grace in real time,” wrote one user. Another noted, “Cutting costs in one of the worst possible ways.” Some have even speculated that Disney is intentionally phasing out the show by slowly removing its signature elements: “I have had this weird sneaking suspicion… that Disney is phasing Fantasmic! out by getting folks off of the hype train.”
In recent days, a growing number of fans have asked whether Fantasmic! should simply end altogether. “As much as I hate to admit it, Disneyland’s Fantasmic! is a shell of its former self right now,” said one X user. “It’s actually wild to me that they haven’t restored Murphy and some of these missing effects for the 70th. It’s been 2 years since the fire.”
Meanwhile, at Walt Disney World in Florida, the show continues with fewer changes and more consistent performance quality (even if it does have its own fair share of glitches and incidents). It’s led some to ask whether Orlando should now be the show’s permanent home.
With Disneyland’s 70th anniversary celebrations about to begin, the park is bringing back beloved classics, from Paint the Night to the epic fireworks spectacular Wondrous Journeys (which will also axe its own pyrotechnics on select nights). And yet Fantasmic!—once a symbol of Disney’s creative ambition—has been left to run in a diminished state. Whether it’s temporary or the beginning of a slow fade remains to be seen.
What are your thoughts on the current state of Fantasmic! at Disneyland?
