Every longtime Walt Disney World fan has an era (or three) they wish they could turn back the clock to revisit–golden ages of rides, entertainment, celebrations, and more. If we’re being honest with ourselves, that “and more” is often the decisive factor. It’s about grasping at the sands of time that have slipped through our fingers; revisiting the places of fond memories with families and friends. Seeing the parks through the eyes of a young child before they grew up, with parents or grandparents as they grew old, during a honeymoon phase…you get the idea.
One of these eras for us was quite literally during our honeymoon. Our “Disneymoon” to Walt Disney World was in June 2010, about a week after the start of the Summer Nightastic celebration. If you’ve read recent posts about our 2024 D23 Wish List or How Walt Disney World Can Compete with Universal’s Epic Universe in 2025, you’ve probably seen reference to Summer Nightastic.
For this, we want to dive a little deeper into what Summer Nightastic was and why it behooves Walt Disney World to bring it back next year (or something like it). But we also want to be transparent and ‘disclose’ our biases up front, as we have a certain sentimentality for Summer Nightastic that could be coloring our perspective. I doubt that’s the case–Summer Nightastic was objectively good. A strong offering coming out of the Great Recession that gave Walt Disney World a big boost as it tried to compete with the Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Islands of Adventure during its opening season. We’ll let you judge for yourself, though…
Since Summer Nightastic occurred a decade and a half ago well for just over 2 months, most of you probably didn’t experience it. In a nutshell, it was an entertainment and evening-centric special event occurring across all four parks (but mostly Magic Kingdom) from June through August 2010.
The flagship entertainment of Summer Nightastic was the return of Main Street Electrical Parade from Disneyland, which made its first engagement at Walt Disney World since 2001. The fan-favorite parade had a bunch of new-for-Florida floats that had been added for its runs in California, and there was a lot of excitement among Disney diehards to see it again for the first time in nearly two decades.
This is where my rose-colored glasses come off. While we looked forward to seeing Main Street Electrical Parade during Summer Nightastic for the first time as adults, we quickly realized that–at least for us–it was inferior to SpectroMagic. After a few viewings, we were “over” MSEP and ready for SpectroMagic to return.
We became bitter when its run was extended “by popular demand” and downright cynical when it indirectly caused the demise of SpectroMagic. It took me a long time to get over that and fully enjoy Main Street Electrical Parade again–even at Disneyland! Regardless of our personal feelings about the parade, I can still admit Main Street Electrical Parade was a big draw for Walt Disney World fans in 2010.
For us, the real highlight of Summer Nightastic was the return of the Magic, Music & Mayhem Fireworks from the Pirate & Princess Parties. Few people attended that hard ticket event, so the fireworks were simply renamed to the Summer Nightastic Fireworks and advertised as new.
The show was hosted by the Fairy Godmother of Cinderella with the three good fairies from Sleeping Beauty ‘fighting’ over the colors of the fireworks. Magic, Music & Mayhem also had a lot of instrumental music medleys from those movies, plus Beauty and the Beast and The Little Mermaid, with dialogue to weave a narrative together.
The highlight was when pirates stormed the Magic Kingdom, with characters from Peter Pan, music from Pirates of the Caribbean, and what seemed like a New Year’s Eve level of pyro as the pirates attacked Cinderella Castle. That single scene might be the best in the history of Magic Kingdom fireworks.
When it comes to this bombastic nighttime spectacular, our glasses are not rose-colored. The Summer Nightastic Fireworks were truly and unquestionably one of the greatest fireworks shows that Walt Disney World has ever produced, featuring perimeter bursts and other great effects. It’s our recollection that it was the highest-rated Magic Kingdom fireworks show of all-time at the time (meaning it got better guest satisfaction scores than Wishes; Happily Ever After wasn’t around yet).
While those two pieces of tentpole entertainment in Magic Kingdom were the highlights, Summer Nightastic brought more to the table.
At Disney’s Hollywood Studios, the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror added new effects and a summer-only drop sequence – to the mix for guests daring to step into the attraction’s infamous service elevator for a ride into the “fifth dimension.” On Hollywood Boulevard, the Rock n’ Glow Dance Party featured a DJ and live rock band in the shadow of the Sorcerer Mickey Hat.
Over at EPCOT, the “Sounds Like Summer” concert series brought popular rock tribute bands to America Gardens Theatre in World Showcase every evening at 5:45 pm, 7 pm, and 8:15 pm. (Very similar idea to the EPCOT festival concert series–and a concept that continued until 2016.)
Animal Kingdom didn’t get anything entertainment-wise, but it did have longer operating hours. Keep in mind that this was long before Pandora, at a time when Animal Kingdom regularly closed at 5 pm or 6 pm. During Summer Nightastic, it was frequently open until 8 pm.
Other parks saw summertime extensions, although that was more par for the course during this timeframe. Disney’s Hollywood Studios saw later closings on Star Wars Weekends nights; EPCOT hours were unchanged. Magic Kingdom was open until 11 pm or midnight every night, with evening Extra Magic Hours until as late as 3 am.
As for why Walt Disney World should bring back Summer Nightastic, let’s start with that last point–park hours.
Disney has realized that summer is no longer peak season in the parks, and has reduced hours accordingly. This summer, Magic Kingdom has had only a handful of 11 pm closings. On the vast majority of dates, it closed at 10 pm. No other park has closed later than 9 pm. Animal Kingdom is routinely back to 6 pm closings.
The problem with this is that sunset in Orlando during the summer is around 8:30 pm. This means Animal Kingdom is closing before sunset every single night, EPCOT and DHS are barely hitting dusk, and Magic Kingdom has an hour or two of nighttime. Summers are scorching in Orlando, so to have so few hours that offer even a slight reprieve from the heat is a dubious decision.
As a short term business decision, it makes sense that Walt Disney World has more limited hours given the lack of summer crowds, but it’s still wild that–without paying extra–there are so few dates when any park is open for more than an hour of nighttime. This is precisely why Extended Evening Hours are more popular during the summer months and After Hours events have sold out despite lower crowds. Guests want to spend more nighttime hours in the parks. It’s obvious and unsurprising.
It’s also unsustainable. Guests will visit during summer, be stuck with unbearably hot daytime hours, determine it’s “not worth it” and not return. Not only that, but they’ll tell their friends about their poor experiences and warn them against visiting during the summer. It’s a vicious cycle, and the summer slowdown won’t just continue–it’ll worsen.
As a simple matter of guest satisfaction and intent to revisit or recommend metrics, Walt Disney World needs later closings during the summer months. It’s the most obvious way to beat the heat and make the parks more attractive from June through August–and they might as well make it into a marketable point while they’re at it.
The summertime dynamic is basically the opposite of what Walt Disney World has done for the rest of the year. Over the last decade-plus, Walt Disney World has made a concerted effort to redistribute crowds and increase the popularity of once off-season dates. October went from slow to convention season. Winter now has EPCOT’s Festival of the Arts. Then there are the huge youth events at the ESPN Wild World of Sports, more runDisney races, and a range of other offerings strategically scattered across the calendar.
Ironically, these all aimed to make other dates as popular as summer by adding events to the months that weren’t June through August. Walt Disney World has been exceedingly successful at this, but guess what? Now it’s the summer season that has an empty calendar of events and is in need of assistance.
It’s not feasible to add sporting events (for reasons that should be obvious) and businesspeople likely have the good sense not to schedule conventions in Orlando during summer for the same reason. However, diehard Disney fans like us are known to be unsensible from time to time. If there’s a big summer celebration, we’ll flock to the parks for it. Even with all my recent bellyaching about summer heat and humidity, I’ll be the first to book more summer time in the parks if Disney gives me compelling reasons to do so.
As for what Summer Nightastic should or would need to consist of beyond later park closing times, the obvious thing is entertainment to fill those evening hours. Back in 2010, Walt Disney World determined that the tentpole entertainment should be concentrated in Magic Kingdom, with Main Street Electrical Parade at 9 pm and 11 pm, and the Summer Nightastic Fireworks in between at 10 pm.
A lot has changed since then, and I don’t think a new parade and fireworks are a good idea in Magic Kingdom. Just seeing the crowd flow issues caused by such a dynamic during the holiday hard ticket events, I think the better approach is a new night parade at Magic Kingdom plus smaller-scale entertainment elsewhere in the park plus major counterprogramming in the other parks.
There are already strong rumors of a new nighttime parade coming to Magic Kingdom, but I’ll believe it when I see it. I’ve been burned too many times in the past, even via credible sources claiming a night parade at Walt Disney World was a “done deal.” With that said, I want to believe.
It makes complete sense for a brand-new night parade to finally debut at Walt Disney World in 2025. A new night parade could anchor a summer celebration at Walt Disney World and is the best card that can be played at this stage in the game as an “answer” to Epic Universe.
As for what the counter-programming in other parks could be, it’s conceivable that other evening entertainment comes to Disney’s Hollywood Studios and/or Animal Kingdom. With regard to DHS, Fantasmic is still recently reimagined, so it probably would be smaller scale. Maybe a DJ and dance party and/or new projections show. Perhaps an ‘After Dark’ version of Tower of Terror a la Mission Breakout during Halloween. I’d love a return of Star Wars Weekends or something of that nature, but that feels like wishful thinking and longing for a time that’s gone for good.
When it comes to Animal Kingdom, I’ve droned on endlessly about a drone show. Suffice to say, I refuse to believe Disney Dreams That Soar is the end game for drone displays at Walt Disney World. There’s no way that the company spent all of that money developing nighttime entertainment for a show at Disney Springs. It’s just too good to be the final culmination of drone shows at Walt Disney World. It’s gotta be proof of concept–a test of the technology for something bigger and better in 2025.
Animal Kingdom is the obvious landing place for a drone show at Walt Disney World. Changes would have to be made for staging and to address legal liability, but it could be done. And it makes sense, given that Animal Kingdom is in need of a boost and will likely be hit hardest by Epic Universe. Drones would solve a lot of problems for Animal Kingdom, and provide the counterprogramming to a new night parade at Magic Kingdom that’s probably needed.
At either Hollywood Studios or Animal Kingdom, I’d also love to see a nighttime stage show. I’d happily trade that for the daytime stage shows that are absolutely miserable in the summer. No one wants to stand around for 25+ minutes in direct sunlight with no shade. (If the rumors are wrong and there’s no night parade at Magic Kingdom, the stage show makes the most sense there–but logistics make a new parade + fireworks + stage show a terrible idea.)
Then there’s EPCOT. It’s way too early to replace Luminous: The Symphony of Us, but I could see ‘enhancements’ added to that nighttime spectacular. More likely, Test Track 3.0 could serve as the big draw for summer (even though it’ll exist beyond August). I’d also add a new summer festival at EPCOT, but I would’ve done that this year–so I won’t belabor that point.
While I’d expect all of the above to be included in the price of admission, I also wouldn’t mind seeing more upcharge offerings. The vanilla After Hours have grown stale, but what about a themed one at Hollywood Studios or EPCOT a la Jollywood Nights or Disneyland After Dark Nites? DHS could be a fun setting for ‘Disney Afternoon Evenings.’ (If Magic Kingdom is getting a new night parade, I don’t think it’s wise for it to have hard ticket events–even though a reprise of Pirate & Princess Party or Villains After Hours would be awesome.)
Ultimately, it makes too much sense to not do Summer Nightastic from Memorial Day through Labor Day (or thereabouts) at Walt Disney World in 2025. Summer attendance is trending downwards at Walt Disney World–and has been since 2016 when you remove the closure and pent-up demand anomalies of 2020-2022.
It’s the one time of year going in the ‘wrong’ direction for Disney, and they should do something to reverse that. A limited-time seasonal celebration that would be marketable to casual guests and cause fans to flock to the parks. It would create a sense of urgency and give a boost to a time of year when many people otherwise would avoid visiting.
Then there’s the need to have some semblance of an “answer” to Epic Universe (again, counterprogramming is probably the more apt term). Obviously, Walt Disney World is not going to have anything that can compete with Epic Universe in 2025 on a 1:1 basis. That wouldn’t be possible, nor is it even the goal–the goal is peeling away visits from Universal’s existing gates (and capturing on-site hotel stays) from tourists doing longer stays and planning to see more than just Epic Universe.
As should be obvious, this isn’t just nostalgia talking. Whatever Walt Disney World does for Summer 2025 will differ entirely in substance from Summer 2010. Heck, it probably wouldn’t even be called “Summer Nightastic,” as that’s not exactly a name with strong brand awareness among fans. (Even if it is a good name that succinctly conveys the when and what of the special seasonal celebration.) Not only is a Summer Nightastic-like event exactly what Walt Disney World needs, but I’d be willing to bet it’s what we’ll get. Here’s hoping we find out soon–the D23 Expo is less than two weeks away!
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YOUR THOUGHTS
What do you think of a Summer Nightastic (or similar) celebration at Walt Disney World? Would something like this convince you to book a trip to WDW in Summer 2025? How do you think Walt Disney World will (unofficially) attempt to “compete” with Epic Universe next year? Agree or disagree with our assessment? Any other thoughts or commentary to add? Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing your feedback–even when you disagree with us–is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
