Best place to sit/relax and view Illuminations?

[Geoff_M]

Our family tradition is to get some supper at the Fish & Chips windows and then walk to the bridge between the UK and France and sit down at the railing, eat the supper, and then watch the show. If you look down, you'll see the Fireworks Cruise boats moored right below you!

 

[tngriffith]

Thank you, these are great tips. We did fastpass last year and it was crowded and hard for my son to see. I wouldn't do it again.

 

[Geoff_M]

Thank you, these are great tips. We did fastpass last year and it was crowded and hard for my son to see. I wouldn't do it again.

The last place I will watch from are the flat open spaces where people congregate. Pre-show it's usually all well and good. People sit down and everyone has a great view... and then the show starts. The next thing you know the people up front stand up for some unknown reason (perhaps they think the fence railing blocks too much of their view), and everyone behind them follows suit like lemmings. No more decent viewing except for the people in the front row and if you're a kid you cannot see squat! The next thing you know the people in front of you, whose small kids now cannot see, start putting their kids up on their shoulders... and then you're even more screwed.

 

[pooch]

I totally agree - not worth it!!

 

[siskaren]

The next thing you know the people up front stand up for some unknown reason (perhaps they think the fence railing blocks too much of their view), and everyone behind them follows suit like lemmings.

I've always done it that way for exactly that reason, and as far as I can tell, that's what most people do.

 

[Simba's Mom]

I'm following this closely. Our favorite spot to sit and relax while watching Illuminations is sadly gone. For years, we loved sitting in the outdoor cafe next to Tangerine cafe. We'd get dinner or a snack about 8:30, then be able to sit and eat during Illuminations. Sadly, they went and built Spice Table Road and blocked our view. And we don't want to fight what we figure is a busy spot to try to see Illuminations from Spice Table Road. I did it from Rose and Crown once, and the view was great, but LOTS of people.

 

[DrivenByDisney]

For those who asked, I recommend arriving at the spot I was talking about an hour before the show begins. You can try closer to show time though people realize soon they have a good spot and just hang out for the show.

 

[disnut8]

The trouble with being on the backside, is the aftermath. If you are staying at the resorts that way: BC/YC/Bwk/Swan/Dolphin- you're good. If you need a bus or monorail - not so good. With monorail down, you could easily be looking an well over an hour wait to get to your resort after the show.

Can agree on the Epcot resorts since I've stayed there. Can;t agree with the monorail since I've never done that. However, for the buses, we've stayed at the back of Epcot for Illuminations (around Germany) lots of times. We stayed until the end, walked slowly around to the front, took bathroom breaks (Norway is basically deserted by this time - two ladies room stalls occupied every time if even that many), then slowly walked to the front. Mind you - there are plenty of people still exiting the park but we just walked the way we wanted. Got the the Pop Century bus which isn't shared with any other resort and we've had a long line. But, there has always been a bus loading and then driving away once full and there have been times when we've had to wait a minute or two for another bus to pull up and the topper - the absolute worse! - we had to wait ten more minutes for a bus to pull. So, a nice walk, a bathroom break, and ten whole minutes to wait for a bus isn't that bad in my opinion. Your mileage may vary but that's after four different Illuminations viewings and the same resort.