"When stars are born, they possess a gift or two."

"...One of those is, they have the power to make a wish come true."

Wishes.

Ah Wishes.  What can I say?  If you've been to Disney it's one of those things you *know* - and you wont forget it.  We can share a wistful smile here and nod knowingly.  You're with me, yes?

For those that aren't there in the moment, Wishes is the firework spectacular that comes at the end of the Day in the Magic Kingdom.  It's set just behind Cinderella's Castle, but makes the Castle just as much a part of the show as the music, rockets and sparklers.  The buildings beauty is magnified to epic proportions by the lighting, which changes colour and effect throughout.  You'll see it shift from scene to scene as though it were part of it's very own Disney movie.

*How* do they make fireworks so big??

Picture the most amazing firework display you have ever seen.  Magnify the size of the explosions by about 10.  Lengthen it a good deal - just when you think it's over, start it up again.  Twice.  Picture fireworks raining down like magic sparkles of every colour imaginable.  And shaped fireworks - heart shapes...  Mickey shapes...!  (how?!)  I couldn't tell you how many times my children told me that they could see the magic sprinkling off of the shooting wishes - but I can tell you I agree with them, I saw it too.

The reason this blog entry took so long in coming - I was *determined* to do this activity!
This is 'Wishes' by Supergirl.

The music is wonderful.  Honestly, I still can't think the lyrics "Starlight, star bright" without welling up a little.  It was far and away the most magical point of our trip for me.
My Star was born 9 months ago, my Starbaby.  He even has Star as his first middle name - he's my Disney baby and some day he has to see these fireworks.  I so look forward to seeing his face lit up in the magic of it all, his eyes sparkling with the 'pixie dust' reflecting in them.  The Wishes soundtrack soothes him when he's otherwise inconsolable, it helps him to sleep when he's too tired to drift off by himself.
So the Blue Fairy tells us that when a star is born, they possess the gift to make a wish come true - can you guess what I wished on my Star?

'People watching the fireworks' by Sunboy

Everyone gathers from the front of the Castle, right down Main Street USA to the entrance gates.  And yep, you get a view of it all even from way back there.  In fact, in some ways the view is better there than close up, because if you're too close then the castle can get in the way - but what makes up for it is a perfect view of the Castle animation, a fab view of Tinkerbell flying from the Castle right over your heads (yes, really!), and a wonderful sense of community, as you all crowd together waiting.  The night we were at the castle gates we got talking with a man on leave from the US army, he was there with his family and had lots to talk about, as did we!

You can even get a view of Wishes from Tommorowland Terrace, a restaurant on Main St USA.  They have a dessert party upstairs each night, which sounds absolutely wonderful!  Desserts?  Fireworks?  View of the Castle?  Not needing to stand and wait?  Perfect.  But beware - much time is needed for advance dining reservations!

An activity so fun, that even mummy might get a little carried away and make her own...  *ahem*

So today we finally got around to our Wishes activity that I have been meaning to try for ages.  I can remember at school, doing firework scratching pictures, with crayons and a knitting needle - did you ever do one?  It's pretty simple. 
All you need for the Disney pic we made is a sheet of card, colourful crayons, black crayons, a knitting needle (we used a crochet hook), a glue-stick and a cut out silhouette of Cinderella's Castle.

Start off by colouring a huge patchwork rainbow on to your card.  You could use paper as we did, but it's much harder to cover with crayon, I'd use card next time.

Then cover it all with black crayon.  Be prepared for this to take some time, and be prepared to ache a bit by the time you've done it!  Smaller children may struggle to cover the page, so it might be best if you do this bit and leave them to get creative on the firework etching.

Now the fun bit!  Get scratching.  It's harder than you might think to draw fireworks, but the colours showing through make up for any lack of artistic talent.  I suggest trying star shapes with a 'tail', and spirals - of course you'll want some hidden Mickeys in there too! 

If you google a Cinderella Castle silhouette or colouring page (I'd do it for you but my search wont work!) then print and cut this out, and you'll be left with the perfect shape to stick in front of your lovely firework display.  Beware those flags though, they rip off rather easily!