Behind the Disney World 2003 campaign that launched Mickey’s PhilharMagic and ‘Wishes’ fireworks

In fall 2003, Walt Disney World introduced Magical Gatherings, a marketing strategy to encourage extended families and large groups of friends to vacation together. Disney even incentivized the occasion with exclusive experiences only available for parties of eight or more people (more on those later).

“The Magic That Happens When People Come Together” at Disney World in 2003

As is tradition, Disney aligned the opening dates of several new attractions with the launch of their marketing campaign. “Wishes” fireworks and Mickey’s PhilharMagic at Magic Kingdom, Mission: Space at Epcot, Disney’s Pop Century Resort, and the interactive Pal Mickey toy were all selling points of Disney’s Magical Gatherings season.

At the time, a 12-page primer about Magical Gatherings ran in my local paper, the Charlotte Observer, though I suspect it appeared in other publications, too. The insert quoted Alice Norsworthy, then-senior vice president of Walt Disney World.

“With so much to see and do for everyone, Walt Disney World really is the perfect place to celebrate the magic that happens when people come together — Magical Gatherings,” said Norsworthy.

The advertising supplement also informed readers about the four steps to planning a Magical Gatherings vacation:

1. Put your group together
2. Decide the best time for everyone
3. Choose your resort hotel
4. Give us a call

The process seems blissfully simple compared to the intricacies of today’s tools like Genie+.

Disney 2003 Press Coverage, Pre-Social Media

Oct. 8-10, 2003, Disney hosted about 2,000 media representatives in Orlando to officially kick off Magical Gatherings and check out the new rides and shows. Online coverage of the Magical Gatherings kick-off is preserved on All Ears and Mouse Planet.

The press event’s special guests included Julie Andrews, the B-52s, Jim Belushi & the Sacred Hearts Band, Wayne Brady, Brian Setzer Orchestra, Sugar Ray, and others. Mickey even appeared in his PhilharMagic costume.

During the media event, Disney executives formally announced the upcoming projects Stitch’s Great Escape!, Soarin, and “Lights, Motors, Action! Extreme Stunt Show.” They also provided an update on the under-construction Expedition Everest.

A report in the Orlando Sentinel that week seemed to indicate some attendees expected Disney to announce a Spain pavilion for Epcot. Whether rumor or legitimately in development, no such pavilion exists 20 years later.

Exclusive Experiences for Grand Gatherings

During the Magical Gatherings promotion, Disney referred to parties of eight or more guests as Grand Gatherings. A handful of experiences were only available for these groups, as described in the aforementioned Charlotte Observer insert from 2003.

For example, during the Safari Celebration Dinner at Disney’s Animal Kingdom, families enjoyed a VIP ride on Kilimanjaro Safaris. Afterward, guests ate dinner at Tusker House, accompanied by live music and Disney characters.

Tony’s Town Square Restaurant at Magic Kingdom hosted the Good Morning Gathering. Characters, including Mickey, who joined guests for “special songs and fun.”

Epcot welcomed large groups to an International Storybook Dinner. The ad insert described the experience as including “international delights and tantalizing cuisine,” storytime with “a special guest,” and reserved viewing for “IllumiNations: Reflections of Earth.” At the time, All Ears reported the offering’s buffet was in the Odyssey building.

According to the newspaper insert, the Grand Gathering experiences began the week of Nov. 24, 2003. Some of them, or perhaps all, stuck around for nearly a decade. A 2011 response from a Cast Member on planDisney noted the exclusive experiences for Grand Gatherings would be discontinued in early 2012.

Mission: Space, “The Most Thrilling Attraction In Disney History”

Mission: Space officially opened at Epcot on Aug. 15, 2003, after “several weeks of previews,” according to the Orlando Sentinel.

One of the first passengers of Mission: Space was, appropriately, one of the astronauts in the inaugural expedition to the moon, Buzz Aldrin, who climbed aboard Mission: Space on July 28, 2003, as noted in a press release preserved on WDW Magic.

As part of the Magical Gatherings press event, then-Disney CEO Michael Eisner dedicated Mission: Space on Oct. 9, 2003, along with over a dozen astronauts, the Orlando Sentinel reported.

An Epcot guide map of this era described it as “the most thrilling attraction in Disney history” and 2003 print ad described it as follows:

“Get launched on the brand-new, white-knuckle thrill ride to the Red Planet. It’s intense! In fact, the liftoff alone has enough force to suck the goose bumps and gravity right out of you. And then of course, there’s the rush of ripping through space at over 37,000 mph! Sound good? Then get here. And get launched.”

Based on initial reactions in the Magical Gatherings newspaper insert, early guests considered Mission: Space more than one small step for Disney.

“This definitely beats them all,” one guest said. “I think it delivers 100 percent, absolutely,” another rider remarked. “It’s the best ride out here. In one word, number one,” declared a third guest, using two words.

According to the Orlando Sentinel, Mission: Space cost about $100 million, with roughly $50 million provided by its sponsor, HP.

In the 2006 book “The Imagineering Field Guide to Epcot,” author Alex Wright referenced Imagineers’ previous attempts to bring a space-themed pavilion to Epcot, “only to eventually fall short in terms of storytelling or the technology available at the time. These included various forms of blastoffs, space walks, and interplanetary encounters.”

Mickey’s PhilharMagic, Brought to You by Michael Eisner

Aligned with Magical Gatherings’ launch, Mickey’s PhilharMagic brought classic characters — like Mickey, Donald, Ariel, Lumiere, Jasmine, Simba, and Peter Pan — into the new millennium with computer animation.

D23 cites Sept. 30, 2003 as the official opening date of Mickey’s PhilharMagic at Magic Kingdom, preceding an opening ceremony on Oct. 8, 2003.

Imagineer Kevin Rafferty reflected on PhilharMagic’s development in his 2019 book, “Magic Journey: My Fantastical Walt Disney Imagineering Career.” According to Rafferty, the Imagineers’ original concept starred Tinker Bell, not Donald Duck. The switch was Eisner’s idea.

Whenever possible, Rafferty wanted Donald’s dialogue to come from archival recordings performed by Clarence Nash, the character’s original voice, and in the end, Rafferty only needed four new lines from Donald’s current voice actor, Tony Anselmo:

• “Where’s my hat?!”
• “A pie?!”
• “Thank you!”
• Humming to the tune of “Be Our Guest”

Several artists who created PhilharMagic’s ’90s-era film selections still worked at Disney in 2003, according to the fall 2003 issue of Disney Magazine, including Nik Ranieri, who animated Lumiere for PhilharMagic, just as he did for “Beauty and the Beast” and Roger Allers, director of “The Lion King,” who contributed to PhilharMagic’s brainstorm phase.

A few special effects seem to have been planned for PhilharMagic, but were ultimately canceled. Rafferty described in his book a pitch for the auditorium’s seats to ascend after being sprinkled with Pixie Dust. “Birnbaum’s Walt Disney World 2003: The Official Guide” teased the then-upcoming PhilharMagic as featuring “music, puppetry, and animated film.” There’s no puppetry in the attraction, though there is the robotic Donald gag at the end.

The PhilharMagic Circle of Life

Mickey’s PhilharMagic replaced Legend of the Lion King (which did heavily feature puppets) inside Fantasyland Theater.

When Magic Kingdom opened in 1971, the venue had been home to Mickey Mouse Revue, an attraction that featured Mickey as the conductor of an Audio-Animatronics orchestra comprised of familiar Disney characters. In this way, PhilharMagic revived a bit of the park’s retro roots (the Three Caballeros’ Audio-Animatronics from Mickey Mouse Revue can today be seen at the end of Gran Fiesta Tour at Epcot).

Wishes, “A Story In the Sky”

On Oct. 8, 2003, Julie Andrews dedicated Magic Kingdom’s new fireworks show, “Wishes: A Magical Gathering of Disney Dreams.” The production’s full name reflected the resort-wide integration of the Magical Gatherings theme (which came first: the chicken or the egg? The jury’s out). Andrews’ involvement was something of a twist of fate. Two years later, she narrated “Remember … Dreams Come True,” Disneyland’s fireworks that borrowed much of the “Wishes” soundtrack.

The fall 2003 vacation-planning insert in the Charlotte Observer named Steven Davison the “creator” of Magic Kingdom’s new nighttime spectacular.

“Disney wanted a story in the sky, so ‘Wishes’ paints the heavens with magical points of light,” Davison said. “It’s a thrilling trip to the stars, where emotions are created with music, color, and light.” Today, Davison is Disney Parks’ vice president of parades and spectaculars.

Jiminy Cricket narrated “Wishes” through a journey of good and evil featuring classic Disney heroes and villains. This story-driven focus was new for a Disney fireworks show, and while 2003 was before the days of projection-mapped buildings, “Wishes” did project a few simple shapes onto Cinderella Castle.

“Wishes” replaced “Fantasy In the Sky,” a show that had performed since the park’s 1971 opening (with a few occasional revisions). Unique among nighttime spectaculars, “Fantasy In the Sky” typically returns each New Year’s Eve at Magic Kingdom.

Eating in Space; Dancing with the Dead

The three attractions introduced during Magical Gatherings in 2003 continued to evolve over time.

In 2017, the calmer version of Mission: Space was reprogrammed as a space voyage overlooking Earth, in contrast to the original’s mission to Mars. In 2021, the Mission: Space pavilion expanded with Space 220, a table-service restaurant.

After debuting at Magic Kingdom in 2003, Mickey’s PhilharMagic later opened at Hong Kong Disneyland in 2005, Tokyo Disneyland in 2011, and Disney California Adventure in 2019.

In 2021, Imagineers introduced a new sequence to PhilharMagic, from 2017’s “Coco.” The scene lengthened the original PhilharMagic, rather than replacing any existing scenes.

“It was always our dream that we would add songs to it over time,” Imagineer Tom Fitzgerald said in a 2021 video on Disney Parks’ YouTube channel. “We looked at many different songs and many different movies, but we loved the idea of going into ‘Coco.’ That world, that land of the dead, is so visually striking.”

As for the music, Fitzgerald said Lee Unkrich, director of “Coco,” suggested “Un Poco Loco” as the song choice. The song’s co-writer, Germaine Franco, returned to adapt the tune to fit the more “orchestral” palette, as she put it, of the rest of PhilharMagic.

“Wishes” remained the same throughout its 14-year run. In May 2017, the classic fireworks show took its final bow. “Wishes” was replaced by “Happily Ever After,” itself subsequently replaced by “Disney Enchantment” during Walt Disney World’s 50th anniversary celebration. “Happily Ever After” returned in April 2023.

Pal Mickey and Pop Century

Around the time of Magical Gatherings’ launch, Disney introduced Pal Mickey. Something of a precursor to My Disney Experience, Pal Mickey was a plush toy that shared fun facts and touring tips based on your location within the parks. If you have one, apparently Pal Mickey still works today.

December 2003 saw the opening of Disney’s Pop Century Resort – or at least, the first half of it. Disney originally intended to build all 10 decades of the 1900s, and even got started on the resort’s second phase However, the turn of the century was ultimately scrapped in favor of Disney’s Art of Animation Resort, which Disney announced in 2010 and opened in 2012.

The Impact of 2003-Era Disney

Magical Gatherings at Walt Disney World in 2003 may have been a brief marketing campaign that only lasted a year (if that). Nevertheless, the influence of the attractions introduced during its tenure continued for many years, and still does today.

For starters, “Wishes” retained its full name — “Wishes: A Magical Gathering of Disney Dreams” — until its 2017 closure. Though most Disney literature naturally shortened it to “Wishes nighttime spectacular” or just “Wishes,” the pre-show audio announcements used the “Magical Gathering” distinction the entire run.

As stated earlier, the exclusive Grand Gatherings experiences for large travel parties continued until 2012. Additionally, Mission: Space and Mickey’s PhilharMagic continue to evolve for new generations. Disney may not use the exact phrase “Magical Gatherings” today, but many features within My Disney Experience basically still practice the promotion’s preaching — of getting everyone in the family involved on the vacation planning —  two decades later.

In August 2004, the Orlando Sentinel reported the campaign’s success by comparing the same timeframe from the year before and noting Q2 2004 saw a 20% increase in attendance at Walt Disney World theme parks and 9% increase in hotel occupancy.