What Happened to This Part of Fantasmic!’s Finale?

Fantasmic! is one of Disney’s most popular nighttime spectaculars, and interest in the show is even greater than ever before since its return to Disney’s Hollywood Studios earlier this month.

Along with the show’s return to the Hollywood Hills Amphitheater came enhanced lighting effects and several new sequences featuring characters and stories from Aladdin (1992), Mulan (1998), Moana (2016), and Frozen 2 (2019). The rest of the show remained similar to how it has been performed in years past, with iconic moments featuring Sorcerer Mickey and dozens of favorite Disney characters.

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Like any live performance, there are backup plans in place when unexpected circumstances call for it at Fantasmic! During one recent performance, however, it seemed even the backup plans did not make an appearance, leaving Guests in the audience watching a rather uneventful leadup to the show’s finale.

If there is any issue with the boat (captained by Mickey as Steamboat Willie) that appears just before the end of Fantasmic! the B-Mode option to keep the show going has the characters who are normally on the boat stand on the mountain instead. This setup keeps them further from the audience of course, but it has always been a solid backup for when technical difficulties interfere with the boat.

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In one recent performance of Fantasmic!, Guests were surprised to see that both the characters and the boat itself never made it onstage. Instead, music continued leading into the finale with Sorcerer Mickey on top of the mountain, but the couple of minutes with only the soundtrack playing seemed quite unusual to Guests who knew what they were missing.

@akdirossi was in attendance at the show that ran without the boat scene, sharing a video of this part of the performance to TikTok:

@akdirossi

Did captain Mickey call out and get a point? ⚓️🚢 #fantasmic #wdw #disneyworld #disney #mickeymouse #steamboatwillie #hollywoodstudios #dcp #disneycollegeprogram #dcpfall2022

♬ original sound – Allison DiRossi

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Fortunately, this incident is not a regular occurrence (the normal B-Mode featuring the characters on the mountain really isn’t either), but we hope everyone working backstage was okay and that this is not a sign of the show’s condition, especially after such a long closure and recent refurbishment.

Disney’s official description of Fantasmic! reads:

A Night When Dreams Come True
Fast asleep, Mickey Mouse dreams that he is a mighty sorcerer’s apprentice with the power to control water, color and magic. The Disney Villains—including Maleficent in the form of a towering, 40-foot-tall dragon—turn Mickey’s dream into a nightmare, but don’t underestimate the power of Mickey’s imagination!
The fantastic fantasy includes Disney Characters from some of your favorite animated films:

Moana
Frozen 2
Mulan
Aladdin
Pocahontas
Beauty and the Beast
The Little Mermaid
The Lion King

We will continue to monitor any updates from Fantasmic! at Walt Disney World and will report back if new developments are available.