Wondrous Journeys is Disneyland’s celebration of more than a century of Walt Disney Animation Studios storytelling. Created for Disney100, the nighttime spectacular weaves references to all 62 Walt Disney Animation Studios feature films into one connected journey. Those references are spread across Sleeping Beauty Castle, Main Street, U.S.A., the Rivers of America and the façade of “it’s a small world,” which means no single viewing can reveal everything. To catch every film reference, you really need to experience Wondrous Journeys from multiple locations around Disneyland.

What makes Wondrous Journeys special is how much is happening beneath the fireworks. Songs overlap. Character dialogue bridges one story into the next. A butterfly becomes the connective tissue that carries the audience through the show, while familiar Disney moments are reworked into something new.

How D23 Changed the Way I Watched Wondrous Journeys

That became even clearer at D23, when the Imagineers pulled back the curtain on how Wondrous Journeys was created. In our “8 Things We Learned About the Story Behind Wondrous Journeys” look at that panel, we heard about the challenge of bringing more than a century of Disney Animation together, the different Disneyland locations used as storytelling canvases, the butterfly that connects the show, and a soundtrack that took more than a year to create.

One of my favorite revelations was the wishing sequence, where four iconic Disney “I want” songs — “Belle,” “Go the Distance,” “How Far I’ll Go,” and “Out There” — are woven together into a quartet. Four characters. Four different movies. Four different musical styles. Yet they somehow become one conversation about wanting something more.

Hearing the Imagineers explain moments like that changed the way I watched Wondrous Journeys. Instead of simply watching the projections and fireworks, I started listening for the connective tissue: the dialogue, the lyrics, the transitions and the way one Disney story leads directly into another.

That D23 panel ultimately inspired this project and led to this video and guide, a true labor of love: the complete Wondrous Journeys script and lyrics, with the narration, character dialogue, songs and musical transitions presented in the order they appear in the show.

The result is this complete Wondrous Journeys script and lyrics guide, following the nighttime spectacular from its opening invitation through its final turn of the page.

Wondrous Journeys Opening Narration

The show begins with its central idea. More than 100 years of Disney Animation stories began with someone believing the impossible might be possible.

Narrator:
For over 100 years, Walt Disney Animation Studios has invited audiences to believe in things never thought possible. And so tonight we once again invite you to wish upon stars to step into the unknown and to join us on this our Wondrous Journey.

Dinosaur — Plio speaking:
Some things start out big, and some things start out small, but sometimes the smallest thing can make the biggest changes of all.

Section 1 — Opening / “It’s Wondrous”

Original Song: “It’s Wondrous”

Hard to know just where it starts
How it grows from just a spark
It’s Wondrous!

I feel it now with you and me
A gentle stream of energy
I know, it’s Wondrous!

From dream to a wish to one very first try
From jumping to falling to learning to fly
Each stroke of the painter, each motion that meets the eye

It’s the magic that we call life
It’s the stardust that lights your eyes
It’s the flight of the butterflies
Right when you see it, can you believe it?
It’s Wondrous!

(Oh, oh, oh, oh)
It’s Wondrous!
(Oh, oh, oh, oh)
(Oh, oh, oh, oh)
It’s Wondrous!
(Oh, oh, oh, oh)

The Butterfly Transition

The butterfly becomes one of the most important visual and storytelling elements in Wondrous Journeys. It moves us from the opening celebration of creativity into something at the heart of nearly every Disney story:

Section 2 — Wishing

Music: “When You Wish Upon a Star”

Snow White:
I’m wishing (I’m wishing)
Aurora:
I wonder
Aurora:
They say if you dream a thing more than once, it’s sure to come true.

Pinocchio — “When You Wish Upon a Star”:
Like a bolt out of the blue,
Fate steps in and sees you through…
When you wish upon a star,
Your dreams… come… true.
Hercules:
Haven’t you ever had a dream, something you wanted so bad you’d do anything.
Belle:
I want adventure in the great wide somewhere
I want it more than I can tell.

And that leads directly into one of the most fascinating musical moments in the entire show.

Section 3 — The Quartet: Four Voices, One Song

This is the sequence that really stood out during the D23 Imagineering discussion.
Disney takes four completely different songs from four different animated films and builds them into a single musical conversation.

The voices are:
Belle — Beauty and the Beast
Hercules — Hercules
Moana — Moana
Quasimodo — The Hunchback of Notre Dame
Each character wants something beyond the world they currently know.

Hercules — “Go the Distance”
I have often dreamed / Of a far-off place
Where a voice keeps saying / this is where I’m meant to be.
Moana — “How Far I’ll Go”
Every turn I take
Every trail I track
Every path I make
Every road leads back
to the place I know
Where I cannot go
Where I long to be
Hercules:
Where I long to be
Moana:
What is wrong with me?

Four Songs Overlap

Quasimodo:
Out there
Living in the sun
Give me one day out there
All I ask is one
To hold forever
Out there
Where they all live unaware.
Moana: How far I’ll go
Hercules: I’ll be strong
Belle: I guarantee
Hercules: Where I belong
Quasimodo: Just to live one day
Belle: There must be more
Hercules: I’ll find my way
Moana: Where I want to be
All: Out there

Section 4 — Almost There

Music Transition: Bayou

The Princess and the Frog — James, Tiana’s father:
But you remember that old star can only take you part of the way.
You got to help it along with some hard work of your own.

Music: “Almost There” — The Princess and the Frog
There’s been trials and tribulations
You know I’ve had my share
But I’ve climbed a mountain
I’ve crossed a river
And I’m almost there
I remember Daddy told me (What did he say)
“Fairytales do come true
You gotta make ’em happen
It all depends on you”
and I’m almost there
I’m almost there
People gonna come here
From everywhere
And I’m almost….

Section 5 — Ready to Fly

Music Transition: Flight

Quasimodo — speaking:
Will today be the day?
Are you ready to fly?
Good day to try.
Peter Pan — speaking:
Come on everybody, here we go.

Music Transition: “For the First Time in Forever” — Frozen

Treasure Planet — Long John Silver:
You got the makings of greatness in you, but you got to take the helm and chart your own course.
Stick to it, no matter the squalls!

Section 6 — Immortals

Music: “Immortals” — Big Hero 6

We could be immortals (immortals)
But not for long (for long)
Ooh oo oo oo oo oo oo oo oo oo ooh

Atlantis: The Lost Empire — Milo Thatch:
Okay, here’s the plan. We’re gonna come in low and fast and take ’em by surprise.
Wreck-It Ralph — Sergeant Calhoun:
It’s make your mamas proud time.
Raya and the Last Dragon — Raya:
Note to self… don’t die.

Music: “Immortals” — Big Hero 6
Sometimes the only payoff
For having any faith
Is when it’s tested again
And again, every day
Wooh, wooh, oo oo wooh oo oo oo wooh
Oo oo oo ooh
Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh

Music Transition: “I’ll Make a Man Out of You” — Mulan

Music Transition Back to “Immortals” — Big Hero 6
We could be
Immortals (immortals)
We could be
Immortals (immortals)
We could be
We could be
Immortals (immortals)
Immortals (immortals)

Section 7 — Giving Up

Encanto — Mirabel:
I will never be good enough.
Zootopia — Judy Hopps:
I came here to make the world a better place, but I think I broke it.
Music Transition: “King of Pride Rock”
Moana:
I’m not the right person, you have to choose someone else.
Choose someone else! Please!

Music Transition: “I Am Moana”
Sometimes the world seems against you
The journey may leave a scar
But scars can heal and reveal
Just where you are

Section 8 — Family / Dos Oruguitas

Mulan — Mushu:
We started this thing together, and that’s how we’ll finish it.
Frozen II — Anna:
I believe in you, more than anyone, or anything.
Encanto — Mirabe:
Nothing can ever be broken that we can’t fix together.

Music: “Dos Oruguitas” — Encanto
Ay mariposas, no se aguanten más
Hay que crecer aparte y volver
Hacia adelante seguirás
Ya son milagros, rompiendo crisálidas
Hay que volar, hay que encontrar
Su propio futuro
Ay mariposas, no se aguanten más
Hay que crecer aparte y volver
To fly apart, to reunite
Wonders surround you, just let the walls come down
Don’t look behind you, fly till you find
Your way toward tomorrow

Section 9 — A Wondrous Finale

The Little Mermaid — Ariel:
Have you ever seen anything so wonderful in your entire life?

It’s the magic that we call life
It’s the stardust that lights your eyes
It’s the flight of the butterflies
Right when you see it, can you believe it?

It’s the magic that we call life
It’s the stardust that lights your eyes
It’s the flight of the butterflies
Right when you see it, can you believe it?
It’s Wondrous

Winnie the Pooh — Narrator:
And so, we come to the end of this chapter.
Winnie the Pooh:
Oh no please, can’t we go back to page one and do it all over again?
Winnie the Pooh — Narrator:
But Pooh, It’s just another turn of the page and I, for one, think what comes next will be Wondrous!
(oh, oh, oh, oh)
(oh, oh, oh, oh)
(oh, oh, oh, oh)
ohhhhh
Wondrous!

Post-Show — “It’s Wondrous” Reprise

It’s hard to know just where it starts
How it grows from just a spark
It’s Wondrous.

I play a chord you sing along
And soon enough we’ll have a song
It’s Wondrous.

I took all my dreams and I gave them a try
A guy used to falling when learnin’ to fly
They say that it’s wondrous
But do you wonder why?

It’s the magic that we call life
It’s the stardust that lights your eyes
It’s the flight of the butterflies
Right when you see it, can you believe it?
It’s Wondrous.

A moment comes for everyone
To take a chance and when it’s done
You’ll know, It’s Wondrous.

I took all my dreams and I gave them a try
A guy used to falling when learnin’ to fly
They say that it’s wondrous
But do you wonder why?

It’s the magic that we call life
It’s the stardust that lights your eyes
It’s the flight of the butterflies
Right when you see it, can you believe it?

It’s the magic that we call life
It’s the stardust that lights your eyes
It’s the flight of the butterflies
Right when you see it, can you believe it?
It’s Wondrous.

(Oh, oh, oh, oh)
It’s Wondrous!

(Oh, oh, oh, oh)
It’s Wondrous!

Right when you see it, can you believe it?
It’s Wondrous!