Steve Davison: The man behind our beloved fireworks, parades and other spectaculars



Steve Davison is a well known person among Disney Parks fans. He's the current Lead Creative Executive of Parades and Spectaculars as of this year after spending the past few years being the Vice President of Parades and Spectaculars. He had his beginnings with the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim when he used to be a model maker when he began his career in 1981 with the Disneyland Entertainment Art Department. After being an Art Director and a Senior Art Director with the department for several years, he became a show director and had his first big test with It's a Small World Holiday which became an instant hit and put him on Disney's radar. In 1999, he was tasked with creating a fireworks show to replace the aging Fantasy in the Sky fireworks show. For a person who had no experience with fireworks, this was no easy task. However, he overcame those obstacles and created "Believe! Theres Magic in the Stars" for the 45th Anniversary of Disneyland. The show was an instant hit and it propelled him even further. His next project "Haunted Mansion Holiday" took years to get approved after fans and management alike had problems with the idea. But soon enough, Haunted Mansion Holiday became an instant hit as well, returning year after year with new things (like the Gingerbread house that always changes). In 2003, he would soon transfer over to Walt Disney Imagineering to be the creative director for parades and shows for all Disney Parks. 

For all his sudden expertise with fireworks,  when he opened Luminara in 2001 at the struggling Disney California Adventure, he soon realized that maybe a full fireworks show may not be the best idea for Paradise Pier. The show, while having a mild reception, had problems with the firework smoke going to the hotels and the nearby residential areas. Steve would return to Paradise Pier 2005 to start developing a new nighttime show for the pier. 

In 2003, with a new role with Imagineering, Steve further expanded on his firework craft with "Wishes" at Walt Disney World in the Magic Kingdom Park. Like Believe, the show was also an instant hit and would continue to perform to this day. 

Steve Davison also created some well known Disney Parades. His first parade known on record was Disney California Adventure's Eureka parade. He would also create 2 Pixar Parades for the park (Party Bash and Play Parade), Walt Disneys Parade of Dreams at Disneyland for the 50th Anniversary and several other parades at other Disney Parks (including Tokyo Disneyland Resort which is the only resort not owned by Disney.*). 

Remember Dreams Come True was a huge firework show at Disneyland that was created to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the park in 2005 and was the first show to incorporate a new flight pattern for Tinkerbell and also new firework launch locations for Disneyland. He'd continue the use of it with the additions of Dumbo in the summer firework show "Magical" and Zero in Halloween Screams.

Back at Paradise Pier, Steve would bring in "World of Color", his first fountain show. While Disney has incorporated dancing fountains at shows like Fantasmic!, there had never been a large scale show like World of Color done by Disney. As it was the case with Believe, he had a lot to learn. But this time, he pulled out the stops on World of Color by bringing in paper and sand artists, conducting the music in the United Kingdom, and even bringing in a dancer to inspire the fountain movements. This would also be the first Disney Park show to be changeable. Steve Davison made it clear that World of Color would always be changing. He would bring that same concept to Disney Dreams in Disneyland Paris 2 years later. His World of Color team along with the Resorts entertainment Department would join to create the New Years Countdown and the 4th of July pre-shows that reintroduced fireworks at Paradise Pier. This time, the 2 mini-shows would be more successful than Luminara, and better managed. 

Over the years, he became a small Disney celebrity himself. His show presentations are always energetic and hilarious such as his presentation of Remember back in 2005:




I've been a big fan of his and have met him twice. He really is a remarkable person!

*Tokyo Disneyland Resort is owned and ran by the Oriental Land Company who pays Disney for  rights. In return, Disney loans their own Imagineers to the resort.*

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