Advice on hotel choice around July 4 fireworks

[Ursula_Fan]

Hi all--
Heading to Disney for a brief trip with the goal of seeing July 4 fireworks. Trying to decide between BC/BWI, Wilderness Lodge, monorail resort or Saratoga Springs. If we do any parks then we might do half days at MK or HS. Or skip altogether since we'll be living in Florida for a bit this summer and can come back other times.

As far as I can see, all theme park view monorail hotels are sold out (no surprise). Would have loved to watch them from my room, but clearly that idea is not unique. I'd like to see MK fireworks on 7/3 and Epcot on 7/4. But for Epcot--can we see them outside the park? Trying to optimize comfort and transportation. Will have one family member who is a slow walker but can walk a few miles at a time. I don't want to set up shop at Epcot at 2 pm on 7/4 for fireworks later, so def willing to let that one go.

Options:
1) Just bus it. My mom would love to try Saratoga Springs because she's a big fan of DS. I see space and $ as the advantage here but otherwise we still have to finagle busses and figure out a viewing spot for both sets of fireworks. Could also try POFQ which has been on our list for a while.

2) Wilderness Lodge club level because I've always wanted to try it. Can see MK fireworks from the lounge, but not sure that's the best view. Still have to figure out Epcot viewing. Could also save WL CL for a holiday trip.

3) Stay at non-TPV Poly or GF. Get a spot on the beach/other area in resort for MK fireworks. Be on the monorail post Epcot fireworks. Still need to figure out where to see Epcot fireworks outside of the park.

4) Stay at BC/YC or BWI. Bus it over to MK for fireworks viewing from GF, CR, or Poly after a dinner at one of the resorts there, then walk back from Epcot fireworks.

5) Stay wherever, and try to get dinner reservations to see fireworks from Topolino's on 7/4 and a monorail restaurant on 7/3?

WWYD? Thanks, Disney hivemind!

 

[holden]

You can see the EP fireworks (or at least most of them) from the bridge between BC and BW. Afterwards get an Uber/Lyft back to your resort.

Unless you are inside MK you won't see any castle projections. Not sure how important that is to you. You can see fireworks from the bridge between the Contemporary and BLT and from the ground below. The beach at Poly is also good, but I believe they only allow resort guests for 7/3 and 7/4.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

Poly is resort guests only 7/3-7/4. Wristbands and everything.

Epcot fireworks tend to be lower and the views outside the park are not the best.

 

[Ursula_Fan]

TY, this is very helpful!

 

[Anthony1971]

Mk fireworks can be seen from the front of BLT or by the bus stop boat docks area at MK both should be ok to access. EPCOT the bridge at the far end of Crescent lake by the swan and Dolphin has an excellent view as it is high up and center to the fireworks. Most areas that have great views will be paid events or resort guests only. With that we could see shows from AKL (only a small number of rooms) on our balcony although in the distance still a view. We also saw fireworks from the Paddock pool at SSR. OKW you can see the higher EPCOT.... there are many places you will see them but as I said in the distance.

 

[GADisneyDad14]

2) Wilderness Lodge club level because I've always wanted to try it. Can see MK fireworks from the lounge, but not sure that's the best view. Still have to figure out Epcot viewing. Could also save WL CL for a holiday trip.

Just my two cents, but I'd lean WL CL to a holiday trip. You are right, while they fireworks are sort of visible from the lounge balconies, it's not an ideal view. And those balconies are relatively tiny. WL CL when the lobby tree is up is great as the lounge looks over the lobby and everything about it feels like the holidays.

3) Stay at non-TPV Poly or GF. Get a spot on the beach/other area in resort for MK fireworks. Be on the monorail post Epcot fireworks. Still need to figure out where to see Epcot fireworks outside of the park.

Have stayed at Poly for several 7/4's and 12/31s - it'll always get my vote, no matter the room category.

 

[philharmagic fan]

You can see the EP fireworks (or at least most of them) from the bridge between BC and BW. Afterwards get an Uber/Lyft back to your resort.

Unless you are inside MK you won't see any castle projections. Not sure how important that is to you. You can see fireworks from the bridge between the Contemporary and BLT and from the ground below. The beach at Poly is also good, but I believe they only allow resort guests for 7/3 and 7/4.

If they do the traditional July 4/patriotic theme fireworks, there are no projections. We like to watch from the ferryboat dock at TTC; they pipe in the soundtrack and it's never crowded. Also, rideshare pickup for MK is at TTC, so you could get an Uber/Lyft from right there back to your hotel.

 

[Marthasor]

I would choose Poly or GF and just watch from the beach. For EP, it's a long shot and it's not cheap, but I would try to reserve a fireworks cruise out of YC. You could uber/lyft back and forth to YC and not have to deal with the EP crowds at all.

 

[Ursula_Fan]

These are great ideas! Thank you everyone! I knew y'all would have fantastic suggestions.

 

[Ursula_Fan]

Just my two cents, but I'd lean WL CL to a holiday trip. You are right, while they fireworks are sort of visible from the lounge balconies, it's not an ideal view. And those balconies are relatively tiny. WL CL when the lobby tree is up is great as the lounge looks over the lobby and everything about it feels like the holidays.



Have stayed at Poly for several 7/4's and 12/31s - it'll always get my vote, no matter the room category.

A Poly standard just opened up and I snagged that! We have never stayed Poly and it's been on my list. Thanks for the suggestion!