We’re still only a month removed from 2025 so there’s still time to look back. Right? As loyal readers know, I make my own rules on this site and then break them. My rules say that any post looking back at the previous year has to be completed by the end of January and I’m well within that time frame. We all might need a break from 2026 already anyway! That means it’s time for my most self-indulgent post of the year, a look back at my favorite Disney Parks photos from 2025.

I’ve mentioned this in other posts but 2025 saw us in 10 different Disney theme parks – 4 in Disney World, 2 in Disneyland, 2 in Paris and 2 in Tokyo. There were a lot of photos to comb through and the real reason for the delay is because I wanted to finish editing some late-in-the-year photos. As usual, looking at all of these photos has us reminiscing about different trips and how lucky we are to travel.

I want to say that there are (much) better Disney Parks photographers out there. Some of my favorites include Mark Willard, Tom Bricker, Todd Kemp and several Japanese photographers I’ve found on Instagram. For a more thorough list, leave me a comment below and I’ll get back to you. I do enjoy this exercise every year, albeit self-indulgent, to see where I’ve improved in my photo taking and where I need to keep improving.

Picking my top ten was a collaborative effort. My dear friends, Shelby and Ben, along with Melissa, helped me narrow the list after I came up with some initial favorites. I’ll list the top 10 photos below, along with a little blurb about each. Of course, there are some honorable mentions including the photos above. Everyone knows that a top ten list actually means listing 20 things! Like I said, I make up the rules and then break them.

I took less firework photos in 2025. This one has a nice energy to it but narrowly misses the top 10 because, well, there are some issues. That’s the norm for trying to shoot any fireworks show handheld. I do like the lights and all of the color though!

Some on-ride photos here, both from Tokyo DisneySea! Cheese is just so darn photogenic. As long as you get him framed right, and have a good seat in the vehicle, it’s hard to screw it up. Sinbad is a little tougher at times but there are so many great scenes on the ride that I feel like a quarter of my photos come from there.

The clouds and sky cooperated for this photo of the Disneyland Hotel waterslide. Technically, it’s not in a park so it won’t make the top 10. I thought about incorporating photos outside of theme parks (and at Universal) into these rankings but, for the sake of my friends, we kept the pot a little less full.

Our last of the honorable mentions goes to two castle photos, one at Tokyo Disneyland and one in Disneyland Paris. The latter is a little basic but I just love that hill with the cube trees so much. The former has good color for a nighttime photo. I was going to write another sentence here but then got distracted by the cube trees and now am daydreaming about that castle and a baguette. Let’s carry on to the top 10 before this really gets derailed.

Taken from Tokyo DisneySea’s American Waterfront, this photo gives a slightly different angle of Mount Prometheus. I had just entered DisneySea with an evening ticket and the blue hour was beautiful. This was my first trip with a new wide angle lens (14mm, f/1.8 Sigma) so I spent the first hour in the park running around, having the time of my life. The park looks peaceful from this spot, with the cool night setting in and the glorious blue, green and gold lighting package coming up over DisneySea.

Animal Kingdom might not have many rides but it’s still beautiful! This is a frequent photography spot in the park for me and others. This particular day brought big puffy clouds and Everest reflecting in the smooth water. Shot with my 24-70 mm lens, the image turned out really sharp even while keeping things wide.

Time to cheat the rules again! In 8th place, I have two photos of Enchanted Tale of Beauty and the Beast in Tokyo Disneyland. I prefer the nighttime photo, as it’s a much harder photo to get and captures the entrance well. My friends preferred the daytime one and I get it. The clouds feel like an extension of the steam/mist under the castle. This facade is so stunning and picturesque from different angles. Great job by Imagineering in getting multiple viewing points of the castle despite there being a queue to build around.

Some sunsets you just want to live in, wishing they’d go on for hours. I timed my ride on Tokyo Disneyland’s riverboat just right, as there were pink and purple skies throughout the loop. This is my favorite photo of the bunch, as the train passed right below Splash Mountain. Sunset photography is an area I need to keep improving in but I always get a high off of snapping photos when the sky turns pink, purple and orange.

The 8th wonder of the world, the backside of water! I’ve been trying for this particular shot for a few years. This one isn’t perfect but it’s the closest I’ve gotten. Being able to see the genuine reactions of the other boat through the waterfall is my favorite part of the photo and it feels like it accurately portrays the best parts of the Jungle Cruise.

Shoutout to Disney World’s horticulture team for this one. I did mull around this area for a while, figuring out the best way to frame the 6 (Dopey is on the other side with Snow White) dwarfs. But after that, I can’t take much credit. These topiaries are so lively, colorful and detailed. This was my favorite photo from last year’s Epcot Flower & Garden Festival and makes me excited about going to another soon.

In many ways, 2025 felt like the year of nighttime parades. We saw the premiere of Disney Starlight in Magic Kingdom, enjoyed the return of Paint the Night at Disneyland, met new friends while waiting for it, and took thousands of photos throughout all of the experiences. I settled on this photo of Whimsy the Train coming down Main Street. This was actually our last 2025 viewing of the parade and it felt like an appropriate summation of the year.

We’re into the top 3! This is also the yearly entry of a Tron photo. Some are calling it a tradition unlike any other. I love the lady with her arms stretched out! The Tron: Ares overlay adds a nice red tint to the usual blue canopy. Is this the most interesting attraction to take photos of in Walt Disney World? It’s definitely near the top of my list, according to the last few years of this blog post.

A picture of the river was always going to end up on this list. Turns out that this was the last photograph I took of Rivers of America with the riverboat in the water. It may not be as flashy or grabby as other photos on the list but the soft lighting sums up what made this area so special to me – a respite from the busyness of the most popular theme park in the world. I’ll miss this area deeply, especially at the end of a park day when it was just me, my tripod and camera, and this view.

My favorite photo of the year comes courtesy of Disneyland Paris. The Orbitron has a cool purple and gold glow to it and the shutter speed is long enough to give the feeling of the orbit while still showing what direction the ride is going in. The wet ground (thanks to the rain!) soaking up all of that color is a fun touch too.

Thank you for looking at and reading about my favorite photos that I took in 2025! Let me know what your favorite ones are in the comments below! Planning a trip to a Disney Park? Check out all of our Planning Guides to help you along the way. If you enjoy what you are reading here on Wandering in Disney please share this post with your friends, as well as like our social media pages. You can also subscribe to the blog via WordPress or email. All of those links are on the right side of this page. Thank you for reading, we really appreciate it!