Fireworks/Meal Combos

Montegut

Mouseketeer
Joined
Oct 28, 2011
My husband loves fireworks, and I was wondering if there are and how many fireworks/meal combo packages there are.

We will have the Deluxe Dining Plan, and if I can use my Dining Plan for some of these reservations, that would be great.

Also, are the fireworks shows only on specific nights, and will the fireworks schedule be posted when the 180 day period opens up for dining reservations?

I have not been to Disney in 29 years, 30 when we go there, so I have lots to learn and lots to see and eat!

It will be our 30th anniversary, and we went to Disney for our honeymoon. I haven't been back since, and husband went with son for a father-son school sponsored trip about 7 years ago, where they did not have the meal plan, so we're both ignorant about it.

Thanks for any advice!
 
My husband loves fireworks, and I was wondering if there are and how many fireworks/meal combo packages there are.

We will have the Deluxe Dining Plan, and if I can use my Dining Plan for some of these reservations, that would be great.

Also, are the fireworks shows only on specific nights, and will the fireworks schedule be posted when the 180 day period opens up for dining reservations?

I have not been to Disney in 29 years, 30 when we go there, so I have lots to learn and lots to see and eat!

It will be our 30th anniversary, and we went to Disney for our honeymoon. I haven't been back since, and husband went with son for a father-son school sponsored trip about 7 years ago, where they did not have the meal plan, so we're both ignorant about it.

Thanks for any advice!

I'm a newbie, but here is what I have learned while frantically planning my family's vaca. The Fantasmic package is available on the WDW website and you can pick from three different restaurants to dine in before the show. From what I can gather this is a dinner show with fireworks or some kind of electrical imaging. :confused3 Since your hubby likes fireworks it might be worth checking out. There are a few other packages, but I can't remember them...:headache: (Disney brain overload). Sorry if that wasn't much help, just thought you might to check into Fantasmic since many rave about it.
 
The Fantasmic package is available on the dining plan and takes 2 TS credits. You can dine at Mama Melrose, Hollywood & Vine, and Hollywood Brown Derby.

Tomorrowland Terrace Frieworks Dessert Party is at the MK. It's a dessert buffet and you have a special area to watch Wishes from. I don't think it's on the dining plan.


Around the holidays after Thanksgiving at EP they have a Candlelight Processional dinner package. You can eat at a resturant in the World Showcase, listen to the Christmas story and get a special area to watch IllumNations from. You use 2 TS credits with the dining plan.
 
So Fantasmic is at Hollywood Studios.

The Dessert fireworks party, oh, yes, don't care that it's not on the dining plan, is at Magic Kingdom?

Is there one at Epcot as well?

I'm assuming there wouldn't be one at Animal Kingdom, but please correct me if I'm wrong?

When can we start making reservations for these fireworks shows?

Would love to surprise husband with reservations for all of these!
 
I'm a newbie, but here is what I have learned while frantically planning my family's vaca. The Fantasmic package is available on the WDW website and you can pick from three different restaurants to dine in before the show. From what I can gather this is a dinner show with fireworks or some kind of electrical imaging. :confused3 Since your hubby likes fireworks it might be worth checking out. There are a few other packages, but I can't remember them...:headache: (Disney brain overload). Sorry if that wasn't much help, just thought you might to check into Fantasmic since many rave about it.

Oh goodness. I think you've been a bit misinformed.

I've never done the dinner package, but I do know that it's not a show DURING dinner. Fantasmic! (F!) is an evening "spectacular" (more a show than fireworks) that is presented many nights at DHS. What the dinner package does is allows you to eat dinner at your selected restaurant, and then wander over to the venue for F! You will get to sit in a reserved seating section, without arriving as early as you would need to if you did not do the dinner package. If I recall correctly, at a certain time -- 30 minutes before showtime? The reserved section becomes available to anyone, so you still need to arrive somewhat early.

The only fireworks at DHS are on special holidays -- 4th of July, New Years Eve.

The Magic Kingdom offers "Wishes" every night of available operation. There are alternate versions -- "Hallowishes" and "Holiday Wishes" -- which take place during the parties, and Holiday Wishes runs the end of December, party or not. Like DHS, they have "special" fireworks shows on certain holidays -- but they usually run them the night BEFORE the holiday as well. (EX: July 4, they offer "A Salute to America"-style fireworks -- I can't recall the exact name, so I stole from Sam Eagle, lol -- but it does a "dress rehearsal" on July 3 as well as running on July 4. NYE is the same way; I'm not sure about other holidays.)

The easiest way to dine and see the fireworks is, as previous posters have said, to invest in the dessert party. It's a bit pricy, and not on the dining plan, so look up reviews before you invest. For my group, it is perfect -- I can't handle the sit-and-wait-in-crowd thing so we usually watch fireworks from Fantasyland. The dessert party lets us see the fireworks from the front of the castle. (ETA: The dessert party, unlike all other dining events, is not released at 180 days. It's released two-ish months out... check the dessert party watch thread for details. :))

You can also see the fireworks somewhat from 'Ohana; a popular strategy is to eat at 'Ohana and then go down to the beach at the Polynesian for a great view of the show. California Grill (I believe) has a viewing deck you can watch the fireworks from. It's one of the signatures at the monorail resorts -- I'm sure someone will correct me if that's not it! I believe you could also see the fireworks from the Plaza if you were in the right seats and it were open when the fireworks went off -- which it usually is not.

Animal Kingdom has no nighttime entertainment.

Illuminations is at 9 at EPCOT, and has fireworks within the show, low on the water. The only dining I can recall is people being seated on the outdoor patio at Rose & Crown (UK) although there may be others -- I think Mexico has an outdoor eatery as well. You can enjoy Illuminations from anywhere around the World Showcase lagoon.

Schedules are released slightly more than 180 days out, and although park hours might change, the timing of events usually does not. (The 'special' fireworks are often not on the schedule, they get added later.)

I think that's a fairly comprehensive overview -- too much time on the board here, clearly! -- but if I've missed anything or misspoken, I'm sure someone will be along to correct me shortly. :)
 
Thanks so much for the info! I understood Fantasmic the way you described. Thanks for the warning on the arrival time. Will do the package so we can get reserved seating, so will make sure to arrive early.

I will make sure we stay around Epcot late enough to see Illuminations on the days we've allotted for the F&W, which should be taking place while we're there.

We're staying at the Contemporary, so maybe we'll do the Signature dining restaurant there, perhaps California Grill, for our day of arrival, so we can eat and watch the fireworks before hitting the sack after a long travel day.

I love the idea of the Polynesian beach watch. That sounds awesome!

Oh, the Dessert Party. Even though we'll be on the Deluxe Dining Plan, I'm definitely springing for that. I've seen pictures, and I am so ready for that!

So, the Fantasmic is different than the Fireworks! Good to know.

If we do the Contemporary dinner viewing, it will be different than what we'll see at Fantasmic, but perhaps the same fireworks as what we'll see from Contemporary? If so, good for me, as I can nibble on desserts while the crowd is watching the fireworks!

We also plan to eat at Kouzzina's at least one night. Are there any fireworks near there we can catch after dinner?
 

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