When ‘High School Musical’ put on a pep rally in Tomorrowland

2023: The First Disney+ Show with Four Seasons

Here in August 2023, the “High School Musical” franchise still maintains relevance with the recent debut of the fourth and final season of “High School Musical: The Musical: The Series” on Disney+. The meta series launched with the streaming service in 2019, and has become the first Disney+ original series to reach four seasons of production. Equally as rare, the series went on out its own terms with a proper finale, rather than being cancelled.

Indeed, “High School Musical: The Musical: The Series,” with its self-awareness in check from the onset of its title, can be looked to as an unlikely success story of a legacy franchise rebooted in the streaming era.

The show leans into nostalgia, but doesn’t worship it. It honors what came before, even welcoming back a number of original “High School Musical” cast members. At the same time, the show creates a strong foundation on its own, helping launch the music careers of its stars Joshua Bassett and Olivia Rodrigo. It’s not hard to imagine this generation of Wildcats becoming just as beloved to their target audience as Zac Efron, Vanessa Hudgens, and company were to the teens of 15 years ago.

2006: ‘High School Musical Pep Rally,’ A Real Thing That Existed in Tomorrowland

Nothing says 2000s Disney quite like “High School Musical.” The television film, directed by Kenny Ortega (“Newsies,” “Hocus Pocus”), debuted on Disney Channel in January 2006. It quickly became a sensation, and all areas of the company began infusing “High School Musical” mania into their pipeline — including theme parks.

In October, 2006, “High School Musical Pep Rally” premiered at Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom. As part of the kick-off of the Year of a Million Dreams campaign, Magic Kingdom debuted a full sweep of new, park-wide entertainment that involved guests as part of the action.

In addition to “High School Musical Pep Rally,” new productions included “Main Street Family Fun Day Parade,” “Dream Along with Mickey,” “Captain Jack Sparrow’s Pirate Tutorial,” “Woody’s Cowboy Camp,” and “Let’s Have A Ball: The Happily Ever After Party.” All Ears documented opening week with photos, while Mickey Vacations preserved Disney’s original press release for the campaign.

Wildcats In Rockettower Plaza

“High School Musical Pep Rally” performed at Magic Kingdom on a temporary stage near Carousel of Progress (in 2009, Disney built a more permanent stage facility in the same area, still in use today). Admittedly, the show wasn’t the most logical fit for Tomorrowland. However, as an obviously short-term offering and a means for guests to experience a massive cultural phenomenon in a Disney park, its placement didn’t much matter.

Before the show began, a tired-sounding principal spoke seemingly from a school PA system. “Hey, everybody. Get ready to rock Tomorrowland.” Once the the performers arrived to the show area, dressed in Wildcat uniforms, they explained they were students from East High, the school from the film.

Live vocalists included Carson from the marching band, head cheerleader Emily, and Katherine, president of the student council decorating committee. These were all original characters developed for this show, rather than likenesses of familiar Disney Channel actors. This was probably a better move than attempting to include lookalikes of Zac Efron or Vanessa Hudgens (though Disney On Ice dared to do so).

“Live Out Your ‘High School Musical’ Dreams”

In the November 2006 issue of Mickey Monitor (publicly accessible online), Disney described “High School Musical Pep Rally” this way:

The crowd’s roaring. Pom-poms are waving. But the East High cheerleaders can’t do it alone. It’s gonna take your star skills to rock the Wildcats’ Homecoming Pep Rally! C’mon, get in the game! We’re all in this together. We’ll teach you the cheers, songs, and moves from the hit movie as you live out your ‘High School Musical’ dreams.

The show consisted of both prerecorded vocals and live singing. A troupe of performers engaged the crowd through audience participation in a 15ish-minute revue of the “High School Musical” soundtrack.

Guests got to learn the dance moves to “We’re All In This Together,” throw inflatable balls during “Get’cha Head In the Game,” and share their dreams into a microphone during “Stick to the Status Quo” (Phil Dunphy would love this show).

From Tomorrowland to Hollywood

Perhaps recognizing that “High School Musical” had more staying power than the film first let on, Disney soon made plans for a less-temporary-feeling production. Still called “High School Musical Pep Rally,” a revamped version of the show moved to its new home at Disney-MGM Studios (today Disney’s Hollywood Studios) on Jan. 22, 2007, according to Mouse Planet.

Studios’ incarnation of the show was different from Magic Kingdom’s in both form and function. For starters, rather than the performers portraying “real” East High students, they acknowledged that “High School Musical” was a hit movie, and they were excited to celebrate it with fans. This fit Disney-MGM Studios much better than the previous backstory would have, not that the first iteration of the story ever fit Tomorrowland well to begin with.

Additionally, rather than performing on a stationary platform, “High School Musical Pep Rally” rolled down Hollywood Boulevard on a portable stage, a parade float of sorts, before parking in front of the infamous Sorcerer’s Hat (“I’ll take ‘the most 2007 sentence ever’ for 800, Alex”). The refreshed show added two songs from the movie that Tomorrowland had omitted, “Bop to the Top” and “What I’ve Been Looking For.” Otherwise, the same basic premise, tone, and order of ceremonies remained from Magic Kingdom.

A Street Party on the Move

Around this same time, Disney’s California Adventure (today Disney California Adventure) also debuted “High School Musical Pep Rally.” Its production resembled the Disney-MGM Studios version, with a portable stage and show stops.

Online reports differ about when the west coast version began, whether aligning with the launch of Magic Kingdom’s show in October 2006 or Disney-MGM Studios’ show in January 2007. The most journalistic among potential sources, The Orange County Register, reported DCA offering “High School Musical Pep Rally” at least by December 2006.

As the 2000s continued, “High School Musical” only grew in its unstoppable hold on the youth of America. As sequels debuted, the parks updated their street processions accordingly; same setup, new songs. In 2007, “High School Musical Pep Rally” closed to make way for “High School Musical 2: School’s Out!,” which itself bowed in 2008 to welcome the mouthful “High School Musical 3: Senior Year — Right Here! Right Now!“

Walt Disney Studios Park in Paris mounted a pep rally of its own during this period, which was similarly updated with material from the sequels.

Making Room for Hannah and the JoBros

As any teenager of the 2000s can attest, “High School Musical” was just the beginning of Disney Channel’s music-focused dynasty. Intertwined within the release dates of the three “HSM” films were hit movies like “Camp Rock” and hit series like “Hannah Montana,” all of which propelled their musically inclined lead actors into the stratosphere as pop stars.

As such, in 2010, both Disney’s Hollywood Studios and Disney California Adventure debuted “Disney Channel Rocks!” The show, presented in the same style and format as its “High School Musical” predecessors, expanded its song selection to include hits from all manner of Disney Channel productions.

“Disney Channel Rocks!” was the last of this style of street procession to grace Hollywood Boulevard. Its 2013 closure concluded a six-year stint of Disney’s Hollywood Studios being Walt Disney World’s home base for “High School Musical.” Though a dance party at Disney’s Typhoon Lagoon water park coincided with the 2013 release of Disney Channel’s “Teen Beach Movie,” nothing specifically “HSM”-related (or Disney Channel musical-related, for that matter) returned to the parks thereafter.

More ‘High School Musical’ in Disney Parks

Though “High School Musical Pep Rally” and its various successors was the most significant representation of the franchise in Disney theme parks, it wasn’t the only “HSM”-adjacent project connected to the parks.

As was (and still is) typical of Disney Channel stars, the “High School Musical” cast made the rounds in many Disney press event circuits. This included visiting Mickey Mouse at Walt Disney World in 2006 during “The Happiest Celebration on Earth,” being among the first to ride Expedition Everest as Disney celebrated 50 years of theme parks.

In 2007, Downtown Disney at Disneyland Resort hosted the world premiere of “High School Musical 2.”

According to Character Central, Mickey and Minnie dressed in Wildcat gear for character greetings at Walt Disney Studios Park inside the now-closed Disney Blockbuster Café.

Yours truly was particularly proud of earning the Wildcats gym in the Virtual Magic Kingdom online game.

Over the years, both generations of the “HSM” cast performed in the parks during ABC’s annual Christmas Day broadcast (Kelly Ripa: “Look, Regis! Wildcat fever has taken over all of Main Street!”) Most recently, the stars of “High School Musical: The Musical: The Series” danced at Disneyland in 2019’s telecast.

In 2023, Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway opened at Disneyland. As guests wait in line, they see parodies of familiar movie posters. Among them is “High School Goofical 3: Senior Year,” featuring characters from “A Goofy Movie” substituting for the likes of Troy, Gabriella, and the Wildcats.

To finish off our journey through Disney history, we’ll leave you with this gem from ABC’s 2007 Christmas Day broadcast. Art.