Launch racks are back on the fireworks pads near Hollywood Studios that went quiet in 2020
New aerial photographs show the fireworks launch site off World Drive near Disney's Hollywood Studios stocked with dozens of launch racks in rows across its concrete pads. The site was built in 2016 for Star Wars: A Galactic Spectacular and sat dormant after that show ended in 2020, until Disney fired large shells from it during a recent overnight test. Disney has not said what the site is for.
The fireworks launch site off World Drive near Disney's Hollywood Studios, dormant since Star Wars: A Galactic Spectacular ended in 2020, is stocked and active again. New aerial photographs show dozens of launch racks lined up in rows across its concrete pads, days after Disney fired large fireworks shells from the site during an overnight test. Disney has not said what it is preparing.
Key Details
- Site: a fenced fireworks launch facility off World Drive, near Disney's Hollywood Studios
- Built: 2016, for Star Wars: A Galactic Spectacular
- Dormant since: 2020, when that show ended
- Recent activity: large shells fired during an overnight test; launch racks now set out in rows on the pads
- Announced use: none yet
What the aerial photos show
Aerial photographer bioreconstruct, who documents Walt Disney World construction from the air, shared three views of the facility on X. The site is a long, narrow enclosure surrounded by fencing and divided into several concrete launch pads, with a gravel service road running through it to reach each pad. Dozens of launch racks stand in orderly rows on the central pads. More racks, frames and other equipment are grouped and stacked near one end of the enclosure, the kind of surplus that suggests a show being set up rather than a one-off.
A site built for Star Wars, silent for six years
Disney constructed the facility in 2016 for Star Wars: A Galactic Spectacular, the nightly fireworks and projection show that ran at Hollywood Studios from June 2016 until the parks closed in March 2020. The show never returned after the reopening, and the launch site sat unused. Hollywood Studios has had no regular fireworks show since; its nighttime entertainment has centered on Fantasmic! in the Hollywood Hills Amphitheater and projection shows on the Chinese Theatre, neither of which uses these pads.
That changed when Disney fired large shells from the site during a recent overnight test, the first known use of the pads in years. The racks in the new photographs confirm the test was not a one-time check of old equipment.
What Disney might be preparing
Disney has not announced a use for the reactivated site, so what follows is the range of possibilities rather than a plan. The most immediate is Disney Jollywood Nights, the park's separately ticketed holiday event, whose Jingle Bell, Jingle BAM! finale has used fireworks in past years. The park's New Year's Eve celebration is another regular fireworks occasion. A private event could also explain a short burst of activity. The possibility that gets the most attention is a new nighttime spectacular for Hollywood Studios, which has not had a fireworks show of its own since 2020, though nothing Disney has said points to one.
The Buzz
Hollywood Studios guests have gone six years without a fireworks show, and the sight of a launch site being restocked is the first physical sign anything might change. The overnight test came first; the photographs put a shape to it. Until Disney says what the pads are for, every rack is being read as a hint.
What is still unknown: the show, and the date
Disney has not said what will launch from the site, when, or whether the activity is tied to a ticketed event. The nearest fixed dates on the calendar are Disney Jollywood Nights in November and December and New Year's Eve, and both have used pyrotechnics before. A new permanent show would be announced well ahead of its debut, and there has been no announcement. Guests staying at the resorts along World Drive should expect the occasional late-night test in the meantime.
