HalloWishes was a fireworks show that took place during "Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party" at Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom theme park from 2005 to 2018. It was loosely based on the popular Haunted Mansion attraction and includes vocal appearances by Disney Villains. It was replaced by Disney's Not So Spooky Spectacular!.
History
During the first few years of the Halloween Party, the evening's fireworks show was the original Fantasy in the Sky show, with the addition of a Halloween-themed finale. HalloWishes was created by Disney's Creative Entertainment division specifically for the event, first premiering in 2005 and before the show starts there was a fireworks show named villainy in the sky with new effects and projection. Its development was supervised by Steven Davison and designer Eric Tucker, who also designed ', ', Remember... and . The music has a predominantly electronic/rock/pop instrumentation with much symphonic arrangements, and was arranged byMark Hammond and David Hamilton. The vocals were arranged by Tim Davis, who would then go on to work with Adam Anders and Jimmy Levine in the arrangements of the songs and underscore for Glee. On April 26, 2019, it was announced that a new fireworks show would be replacing Happy HalloWishes starting with 2019's Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party. On July 17, the title was announced as Disney's Not-So-Spooky Spectacular.
Plot summary
The premise of HalloWishes is that the residents of the Haunted Mansion, led by the mansion's "Ghost Host," are preparing for a celebration of Halloween. The 999 happy haunts, called by Madame Leota, are the first to arrive as the opening lines of "Grim Grinning Ghosts" are played, followed by a pop band version. After the Ghost Host welcomes guests, the mood is set with "This is Halloween" from The Nightmare Before Christmas. Then the guests are serenaded with the spirits' special brand of karaoke in a medley of Disney's spookiest music. Later, some of Disney's most infamous villains join in, starting with Ursula from The Little Mermaid "plopping in" on the party and adding her own musical mix to the festivities. Jafar from Aladdin and Oogie Boogie from The Nightmare Before Christmas soon follow, and arriving last but far from the least is Maleficent from Sleeping Beauty, showing us how Halloween should really be celebrated. The party ends with the "scream-along" grand finale.
Soundtrack
The musical soundtrack of the show is Halloween-themed, and is in many cases the music of villains from various Disney films.
On September 25, 2009, Disneyland kicked off their yearly 'Halloween Time' promotion. The park introduced a new nighttime fireworks show called Halloween Screams. It is very similar to Hallowishes in that they use the same soundtrack. However, there are noticeable differences, the most notable being Jack Skellington replacing the Ghost Host as the 'master of scare-monies' and the inclusion of Zero, his ghostly dog.
On September 16, 2010, Hong Kong Disneyland kicked off their yearly 'Haunted Halloween' promotion. The park introduced a new nighttime fireworks show called Disney's Nightmare in the Sky. It is very similar to HalloWishes and Halloween Screams in that they use the same soundtrack. However, there are noticeable differences, the most notable being Maleficent from Walt Disney’s Sleeping Beauty replacing the Ghost Host and Jack Skellington as the 'master of scare-monies'.
