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.
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 which can pump out a good amount of fragrance similar to what Disney parks do. However, the parks will be pumping scent directly through their HVAC systems and so it won’t be exactly the same thing.
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 the ScentAir Whisper, off Amazon, along with the fragrance cartridges used.
Below is a quick list of a couple of the fragrance cartridges that will match popular Disney scents!
- The Grand Floridian, Contemporary, Beach Club, and Yacht Club (all use the same scent)
- The Polynesian Village Resort
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 (Pin it!)
disclaimer: I may receive a small kickback at no extra cost to you from many of the links on this list
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 you’re interested in the brands that specifically try and recreate Disney fragrances here is a list of a few that I found:
1. Candles That Smell Like Rides and Attractions
1.1 Smells Like The Flight of Passage Ride:
Coastal Linen – By Opalhouse at Target
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.
I found a few 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.
D.S. & Durga – Concrete After Lightning
Leave it to D.S. & Durga to come up with an awesome and unique scent idea like this! While this candle is on the pricey side, I can actually attest to how good it smells. I love this brand. I love this candle. This is the best combo to go with that coastal linen candle to replicate the scent from the ride.
Grizzly Candles – Rain & Soil
While I’ve been coming back to update this post with current candle picks, I realized that Grizzly candles on Etsy has a few more candles that match perfectly for Disney dupes. For example, this one is just what I was looking for to match that Avatar ride in Animal Kingdom.
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).
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.
Either way, these are my picks for the best Haunted Mansion candle dupes from reading online message boards and various reviews. Try one of these and let us know how you think the scent compares in the comments below!
Haunted® – Magic Candle Company
Magic Candle Company is well reviewed by everyone nowadays and their scents are better than ever. Haunted has that slight vanilla scent that people were saying the actual haunted mansion has and is one of Magic Candle Co.’s most loved and best selling scents. Plus, you can now get these scents in room sprays, bath products, fragrance oils, and more!
Ghostly Grounds – Lux Illume Candles
Lux Illume is know for nailing their scent dupes and Ghostly Grounds is one of their best reviewed and best selling candles from their collection. Perfect candle for superfans of the Haunted Mansion
Dusty Attic – Grizzly
Well, a dusty attic is what the haunted house ride is probably trying to replicate and Grizzly candles has a dusty attic candle! Awesome.. or rather just what we were looking for!
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.
Another scent that everyone loves is the Philharmagic recreation from Main Street Melts.
Philharmagic – Main Street Melts
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. The 3 wick as usual, has the best fragrance throw.
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.
Pirate Life® Or Splash – Magic Candle Company
Since I’ve come back around and given this blog post some love and updating, Magic Candle Company has really upped their scent game. Their Pirates dupe Pirate Life® has that lovely scent of Bromine and makes for one of the most accurate Disney dupes around. Just look at the reviews for this candle! They also have a newer scent called ‘Splash’ which smells of the musty water ride scent even more heavily which I think matches the Pirates of the Caribbean ride even better!
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
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.
Soarin’ Over the Fiji Islands – Lux Illume
Lux Illume now has their take on Soarin’ Over Fiji as well and it is perfect!
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. But I’ve also got another pick that captures it incredibly well, but be warned, it’s a luxury 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!
Feu de Bois – Diptyque
Not only is this candle one of our favorite luxury candles period, it is a candle that unintentionally nails the scent from the ride at Disney.
If you’re looking to dip your toe into luxury candles for a treat, give this one a try, I highly recommend it.
Note: This candle also made our list of the best Diptyque candle scents, which you can find here.
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!
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Main Street Confectionary – Walter & Rosie
This one from Walter and Rosie candles on Amazon captures the sweet side of Main Street Disney perfectly! If you got a sweet tooth and are missing Disney, this is your candle friend.
The Smell of Main Street – Bibbidi Bobbidi Candle
That overall smell of main street summed up. Lots of good reviews for this one.
2.6 Smells Like The Polynesian Village Resort Lobby
Poly Lobby – Park Scents
Park Scents is a newer brand that is recreating Disney scents in candles and they are nailing the scents that they are inspired by. This one which is a Polynesian Resort lobby dupe is one that proves that fact.
2.7 Smells Like The Wilderness Lodge Lobby
Wilderness Resort – Magic Candle Company
Magic Candle company seems to be getting better and better lately. They have wooden wicks and some of the most accurate Disney dupe fragrances anywhere. Wilderness Resort is amazing if you’re a fan of the Disney scents.
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.
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. I love Dole Whip. I want some right now. *Droooool*
3.2 Smells Like Mickey Waffles
Mouse Waffles – Magic Candle Company
Once again.. Magic Candle Co. is killing it with the dupe scents! Honestly, at this point, any of the candles from their website are a safe bet on being accurate.
3.3 Smells Like Popcorn Stands
Main Street Hot Buttered Popcorn – Disney Nation (Magical Disney Gear on Etsy)
You can’t have a list of Disney food scents without one that smells like the popcorn cart. These candles are 100% soy wax and have gotten some great reviews from their buyers.
Frequently Asked Questions – FAQs
What scent does the Grand Floridian use?
The scent that the Grand Floridian uses is Green Clover and Aloe from Scentair. Most likely, they have a proprietary scent that is similar to this one but for home use this is the fragrance that is most similar.
What is the candle that smells like Pirates of the Caribbean?
There are a few candles that smell like the Pirates of the Caribbean ride at Disney. In my opinion, the candle that smells most like it is Pirate Life from the Magic Candle Company.
What is the smell at Disney?
The smells that you will find throughout various areas of the Disney parks are pumped through their HVAC systems and vented throughout the park in their rides, hotel lobbies, bathrooms, and even out onto places like Main Street Disney. Scentair is the brand that is believed to have partnered with Disney to create the fragrances that they use.
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