*We’ve been writing this post for many weeks now and since then, the situation with the COVID-19 virus has begun to unfold and the world is being affected in countless ways. The Disney parks have just been closed worldwide along with numerous other gatherings. We just want to put out a quick note that we hope everyone stays safe out there, and we look forward to when we can put this behind us. For now, we hope this post can bring back some fond memories*

I’m sure I’m not the only one that has wondered if there were candles that smell like Disney experiences. Well, I’m pleased to share with everyone that there is!

There are actually candles made to match nearly every scent that you experience at Disney. The good smells at least! XD

These fragrances are one of the things that really completes a Disney theme park experience.

via GIPHY

Why are Disney scents so nostalgic?

Fragrances are actually piped in to certain areas and rides in the parks to give a multi-sensory experience that leaves a lasting impression on guests.

I know that whenever I’m lucky enough to visit a park, that’s one of my favorite parts of the entire experience, it really sticks with you. That extra attention to detail makes a world of difference.

Here is a video from Youtuber mrcheesypop on the “Smellitzers” (no, that’s actually what it’s called) used at Disney.

Can you buy the same fragrance machines that Disney uses?

If you want to get your space scented the way that the Disney parks do, you can buy fragrance emitting machines similar to what they actually use.

It’s been known for a while that Disney uses a company called ScentAir to do many of their fragrances.

You can buy their home fragrance machines called ScentHD, off Amazon, along with the fragrance cartridges used.

These machines are pretty expensive however, and so candles are a nice alternative.

The search for Disney candle dupes

You can go back through years of discussions online and find that there are a bunch of Reddit posts and forum discussions with people talking about the scents that Disney uses and searching for scents that replicate these.

Most likely, that’s why you are here visiting our blog as well. Which reminds me, thanks for stopping by!

I decided to make this post as a compilation of some of the most memorable fragrances at Disney in candle form.

While I personally, haven’t had the chance to smell all of these candles, I tried to only include candles that were agreed upon by online communities to be accurate representations as well as use my own judgement by the fragrance notes.

Oh, and by the way, I’m just going to throw out a spoiler warning here for those that haven’t been on these rides. It may ruin the surprise of the real experience!

Top Candles That Smell Like Disney Experiences

For those that are interested, there are a few candle companies that focus specifically on replicating Disney scents. However, I didn’t want this post to just be a copy of their fragrance list, and so I will be choosing candles from various companies depending on which are agreed to smell the most accurate.

If your’re interested in the brands that specifically try and recreate Disney fragrances here is a list of a few that I found:

disclaimer: I receive a small kickback at no extra cost to you from many of the links on this list

1. Candles That Smell Like Rides and Attractions

1.1 Smells Like The Flight of Passage Ride:

Coastal Linen – Target

Buy Coastal Linen Online

Coastal linen is a nice cheap candle that matches the general scent of flying through Pandora and the ocean parts of the ride quite well.

The Coastal Linen candle from Target smells just like Soarin’ Over California/ Flight of Passage 🙂 littlepinksnowball on Reddit

The thing with the candles made to replicate the scent of this ride is that none really match the cave portion of the ride. I find this part to be the most memorable fragrance and scent of the ride and so I wanted to pick a candle that matched that fragrance as well.

However,one of the only mainstream candles I could find is a discontinued one from Bath and Body Works called ‘Salt Flower’. You may still be able to find it on Ebay now and then, but I haven’t found anywhere to reliably buy it.

However…

On Etsy I found something that would make an excellent combination to be burned alongside the coastal linen candle above if you really want to nail the exact scent of the ride with the cave-y smell as well.

Petrichor – Camp Good Road

Petrichor is the scent of earth after a rain and I feel that this paired with the oceanic fragrance of the candle above will have you back in Pandora at the light of a wick (or two).

Buy Petrichor Candle Online

1.2 Smells Like The Haunted Mansion

If I’m being completely honest here, I can’t remember exactly what the scent of the haunted mansion was but if I was going to guess it would be that of a dusty attic. Like musk and old books, and of course, that smell of fog machines because I’m sure those were used.

I read some of the reviews of ‘haunted mansion’ candles and noticed a lot of people saying they had a sweet smell to them. I can’t think of what that would be unless they tried to soften the scent with vanilla.

This is my pick going by what I think the candle should smell like.

Dusty Attic – Grizzly

Buy Dusty Attic Online

Another candle that had great reviews and is supposed to smell like the ride is the one below.

Ghostly Castle – Spireside Candle

Buy Ghostly Castle Online

1.3 Smells Like The ‘Be Our Guest’ Portion of Mickey’s Philharmagic

The smell that sticks out to me from PhilharMagic is the pie scene. I’ve got a couple choices for this one as well.

Farmers Market – Yankee Candle

There were a lot of people on the popular Disney discussion forum ‘Disboards’ who thought that this candle was an exact match for this scene in PhilharMagic. I went out and found it to give it a sniff for myself and I have to agree with them. It nails it. I also found Apple Cider to be a good match as well.

Buy Farmers Market Online

Another scent that everyone loves is the Philharmagic recreation from Main Street Melts.

Philharmagic – Main Street Melts

Buy Philharmagic Online

1.4 Smells Like The Pirates of the Caribbean Ride

The main smell in all the water rides at Disney is Bromine. It is a chemical used to clean the water which is more expensive than chlorine but also has a more mild scent. The video below goes into this in much more detail if you are interested.

There are also various other scents thrown in throughout the ride such as gunpowder, but the bromine is the main scent that will be familiar to you.

The thing is.. you can’t exactly put bromine in a candle. Because of this, we are going to have to settle for something that closely resembles it. Something that I found which most closely resembled it was this candle from LuxIllume in their Circa 1955 line of Disney inspired candles.

We Wants The Redhead – LuxIllume

This is the candle that inspired them to make more Disney scented candles after this one was found to be reminiscent of ‘the water, musty fog machines, and a splash of the chemical scent from treating the water’ found in the Pirates ride.

Buy ‘We Wants the Redhead’ Online

1.5 Smells Like Soarin’ Around The World + Over California

The prominent scent of this ride when it used to be Soarin’ Over California was the orange groves that you fly over. Now however, the ride takes you to places all over the world and gives you a variety of different scents throughout.

Here is a pick for the original Soarin’ ride that captures those orange groves perfectly..

Soarin’ Over Orange Groves – LuxIllume

Buy Soarin’ Over Orange Groves Online

When it comes to the new Soarin’ Around the World ride, there are quite a few different fragrances that are scent your way (aha).

Here is another standout scent from the ride. The scent from this part is similar to many Flight of Passage candles and so you could also go with the pick I made for that ride as well.

Over Fiji – Maple and Whisky Candle Co.

Said to be a spot on representation of the Fiji portion of the soarin’ ride. Which also means that this candle is also a good alternative to the Flight of Passage candle above and vice versa.

Buy Over Fiji Candle Online

1.6 Smells Like Spaceship Earth (Rome Burning)

If you’re familiar with this scent you’ll know that it’s pretty much what you’d expect. A burning smell.

For this ride, I found that lots of people universally agreed that Magic Candle Company nailed the scent with their ‘Rome Burning’ candle.

Rome Burning – Magic Candle Company

While you might not enjoy having a smokey scent burning all the time in your house, it will match that part of the ride. So if that’s what you’re looking for, this is the one!

Buy Rome Burning Online

2. Candles That Smell Disney Resorts or Areas of the Parks

Below are some candles that replicate fragrances from resorts and areas in the Disney parks.

2.1 Smells Like The Animal Kingdom Lodge Lobby

Sage and Citrus – Yankee Candle

One good thing about Yankee Candle is that they have a huge variety of scents and plenty that actually match Disney scents. This one just so happens to be one of the favorites in our top 25 Yankee Candle scents as well!

Buy Sage and Citrus Online

AKL Candle – Fandoms Fairytales

The reviews speak for themselves with this candle. A favorite among some.

This one was said by quite a few people to be exactly like the Animal Kindom Lodge scent.

Buy The AKL Candle Online

2.2 Smells Like The Disney Beach Club Resort Lobby

The scent that you find in the Beach Club Resort lobby is the same that you will get in the Grand Floridian, Contemporary, and the Yacht Club. These are the candles to go for if you want one that smells like any of these resorts.

Walt’s Wonderful World – Columbia Fragrance

This candle is from one of the first brands to do the green clover and aloe scent like these Disney resorts, and also one of the best. They have countless reviews that say that this scent is spot on.

Buy Walt’s Wonderful World Online

Yacht n’ Beach – Wishes Candle Co.

Wishes Candle Co makes some really good candles. They actually beat out a lot of the other Disney inspired brands in terms of accurate scents overall and they have great throw.

Buy Yacht n’ Beach Online

Beach Resort – Magic Candle Company

I’m surprised I made it this far into the list without choosing a candle from Magic Candle Company. They are probably the biggest company when it comes to Disney inspired fragrances. Most people say that their Beach Club / Grand Floridian / Contemporary / Yacht Club candle is pretty spot on so I had to include it in these spots.

Buy Beach Resort Online

2.3 Smells Like The Contemporary Resort Lobby

I mentioned this above, but if you jumped down to this candle from the table of contents I will mention it again. The Floridian, Contemporary, Yacht Club, and Beach Club are all the same scents.

Contemporary – Magic Candle Company

Ditto what I said above for Beach Resort.

Buy Contemporary Online

2.4 Smells Like The Grand Floridian Resort Lobby

If you jumped down to this section, please note that the scent from the Floridian is the same as Contemporary, Yacht Club, and Beach Club. Any of the candles mentioned in the sections will be a similar scent.

The Grand – Wishes Candle Co.

There’s lots of good reviews for the candle above. If you want something that brings you back to the Floridian, this candle will help you out.

Buy The Grand Online

2.5 Smells Like Main Street Disney

Main street Disney. It’s no surprise that people want scent that remind them of this area. All kinds of sweet scents by day, and fireworks by night.

via GIPHY

The scent emitters in this section of the parks are pumping fragrance at full force, with a combination of bakery and other sugary scents.

These are the candles that will have you wanting to head back to Disney ASAP.

Village Bakery – Spireside

This candle will satisfy the cravings of the sweet baked goods scents that come from main street Disney.

The Smell of Main Street – Bibbidi Bobbidi Candle

That overall smell of main street summed up. Lots of good reviews for this one.

Buy Smell of Main Street Candle Online

2.6 Smells Like The Polynesian Village Resort Lobby

Polynesian – Magic Candle Company

This is one of the best reviewed candles from Magic Candle Company. I was looking on forums online and this was a favorite from the scent list.

Buy Polynesian Candle Online

2.7 Smells Like The Wilderness Lodge Lobby

Wilderness Lodge – Main Street Candle Co.

This one’s an excellent dupe of the Wilderness Lodge lobby scent. Check out some of the reviews for this one here.

Buy The Wilderness Lodge Candle Online

2.8 Smells Like The Yacht Club Resort Lobby

Yacht n’ Beach – Wishes Candle Co.

Again, this is the same scent as a few other Disney resorts that we’ve listed above.

Buy Yacht n’ Beach Online

3. Candles That Smell Like Foods From The Disney Parks

3.1 Smells Like The Dole Whip

Dole Whip – Enchanted City Candles

Smells just like the real thing.

Buy Dole Whip Candle Online

3.2 Smells Like Mickey Waffles

Mickey Waffles – Maple and Whisky Candle Co.

Mmmm, that smells of waffles and syrup. I’m getting hungry.

Buy Mickey Waffles Online

3.3 Smells Like Popcorn Stands

Main Street Popcorn – Maple and Whisky

You can’t have a list of Disney food scents without one that smells like the popcorn cart. This candle from Maple and Whisky looks to be a great choice for that.

Buy Main Street Popcorn Candle Online

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