Best Place for Kids Afraid of Loud Fireworks

[SnackCredit]

I used to hate being outside for fireworks as a kid, too! (but now I love them and have gone to certain events just because they advertised fireworks)

For Illuminations, how about standing inside the lobby of the Mexico Pavillion? You won't see everything, but it's a shield from the loudest noises.

 

[ktlm]

At age 2, my DD loved the 4th of July fireworks at home, but a few months later was absolutely terrified of the fireworks at WDW. At MK, we had to take her inside of a store where they were not as loud shortly after they started and missed the rest of them. The fireworks are extremely loud inside the park. I would highly recommend the noise reducing headphones if you really want to watch them inside the parks. If you really do want to watch from inside the parks, down by the train station is not a bad idea- you might actually go up the stairs and watch from the landing of the train station. Be prepared that you might have to make a hasty exit- the noises will be greatly reduced if you go inside one of the main street stores. A better place might be to watch them from the ferry landing at the TTC or the Poly beach (depending on construction and views there now). We watched them from the ferry landing one night and that did not seem to bother her. They also piped in the music there which was nice, and I assume they still do that. It was a good view too. We have watched them from the dock at the GF, and I would say I much preferred the view from the ferry landing as it was at a much better angle. As far as Illuminations, if he is really scared of the fireworks and noise that probably is not going to be for him. For a little one to be able to see Illuminations you have to be close to the rail, otherwise all the little one sees is the back of the person in front of them. When DD was small, getting to where she could see Illuminations made it too close, too loud and too intense for her. She has been every year since she was 2, and the first 3 years we tried Illuminations each year, and each year we left Illuminations within a minute or two of it starting because she would flip out. At age 5, she finally decided she liked it. It is definitely worth a try, but be prepared to have an exit plan if he can't stay and watch. I hope you have a wonderful trip with your new family!!!

 

[figment_jii]

I second the recommendation to watch MK fireworks from outside the park if you're trying to minmize the noise. There really aren't any locations inside the park where you can't hear the bursts.

Inside MK - From within the MK, about the only location I can think of is CRT. You will need to be dining there and it's a limited view (fun, but limited). They do dim the lights and pipe in the music. Some of the fireworks are visible through the stained glass windows. It's not the best view, but it's a fun view.

Contemporary - You can watch the fireworks from the CR 4th Floor Observation Deck or California Grill (if you are dining there). There is a slight chance you'll hear some of the bursts, but it's not nearly as loud or as intense as in the parks. The fourth floor observation deck is open to the general public. They pipe in the music. I would guess the view is similar to that of California Grill, but from a lower angle (photo below is from CA Grill).

Polynesian - If you dine at 'Ohana there is a chance you can see the fireworks from a few of the tables with the view, but I would not go with the plan to see fireworks from your table. There are some reports indicating that folks do get up and move around to see the fireworks. This would be the approximate view (you can see the castle to the left of the main wall support).

Beach - guests can watch the fireworks from the beach (intermittent). They do pipe in the music, but it can be hard to hear. The view is straight on, but at a distance. There have been reports that the beach is only accessible by guests staying at the Poly due to the construction.

Grand Floridian - Guests are able to view the fireworks from the boat dock area. They pipe in the music. Again, you might hear a few of the bursts, but it's more of a muffled sound than anything.

WL Boat - if you happen to be lucky and be taking the boat to MK from WL (or the opposite), you might be able to watch Wishes from the boat.

I've not as familiar with the layout of watching Wishes from WL or the TTC.

In terms of IllumiNations, there really aren't any great options where the bursts won't be audible. You can see a handful of the upper bursts from International Gateway, but you won't see the globe (which is a big part of the show) and you can still hear the bursts. Sadly, if you can't see the lagoon, it's probably not worth seeing the show. This is a photo of IllumiNations from IG.

You can also see the high bursts from the Boardwalk Convention Center parking lot. You can still hear the bursts (not quite as loud as being there), but still no globe.

If you're willing to risk not seeing the show, then you could look into one of the WS restaurants. Tokyo Dining, La Hacienda, Rose & Crown all have indoor seating areas that may offer some view of the show (often times restricted). The glass may help to muffle the sounds.

 

[IBLarsen]

At a minimum if you can't watch from outside the parks, definitely go to the train station end of Main Street. We ended up beside the castle last year, and it was SO loud I didn't even want to be there. We usually watch from the far end of Main St, and it's never bothered me, so I didn't realize how much louder it would be beside the castle (doesn't seem far enough away to make that big of a difference). The other good thing is the music does drown out the booms a bit, only so much of course, but easier to concentrate on the music.

Also, about the dark rides, you mentioned talking about them to make them less scary. I would suggest letting the kids watch the rides on youtube, so they can see for themselves, and being familiar with what to expect may make all the difference in the world. Watch them over and over until they know it's not a big deal. We did this when my dd was 3, and we were worried about her freaking out. It seemed to help a lot! And that trip was for DLR in CA, and when we showed her the Matterhorn, she was afraid of the Yeti, so we watched it over and over and told her that I had read the Yeti will throw marshmallows at you, so to watch carefully to see if she can see it. Something so silly made the yeti seems no so scary and during the ride it gave her something to focus on. My dd now 9 just wrote a paper for school about Disneyland and the yeti that throws marshmallows....

 

[dragitoff]

We are actually watching those YouTube videos now. We are too late for ADR for that large of a party at many of the restaurants mentioned. About the only place I was able to snag an ADR recently was a character lunch at Tusker House. The idea of watching from the CR is not a bad idea either. I've stayed there and watched the fireworks from my room which was right next to the observation deck and it was a great view but not as loud. We are going to try some things with the earplugs/headphones beforehand. These are some great suggestions and proof why this board is so good.

 

[BuckeyeBama]

Maybe get the music/show on your iPhone and let him listen with headphones while watching the show? That way he can hear the show without the noise.

 

[CaptainCook]

The TTC dock is a great place to watch, not too loud, music piped in, and blissfully uncrowded.
My dd is also terrified of fireworks. For her, illuminations is worse than wishes because of the pyrotechnics involved. Ymmv.

 

[cgattis]

It's extra $$ on top of the $$$$$ you'll already be spending with that many folks, but if you can swing it, a Wishes cruise would be awesome. Not having to worry about keeping up with that many kids in the dark in that crowd would be worth it to me! But I'm used to a man-to-defense (two parents, two kids) . You may be more comfortable playing zone LOL. The cruise is my favorite thing we've ever done there, and you'd have the boat all to yourselves. Its sooooo peaceful out there...all you can hear is the music and the poofs in the distance. Hardly any sounds from other people, and the only sweaty people touching you are your own family.

 

[dragitoff]

I love the m2m and zone references. That is truly the perfect description of it. If we count our daughters, which we do, we can have M2M. They're good about corralling a single kid on their own.

 

[MomForFrozenAddicts]

For Illumination, I would suggest an ADR at Rose & Crown inside the Dining Room (as oppose to Patio) You can still see the firework very nicely from inside the restaurant. For those in your party who would like a closer look, guests can go out to the reserved area at the patio during Illumination.

For Wishes, leave the park around 9pm. You can see the Water Pageant around that time by the dock. Then take the ferry around the time of Wishes. You can see the firework and escape the crowd when the park closes.

 

[hipporina]

I don't have anything to add for your question, but I wanted to say congrats! Your story sounds so much like ours! We adopted our 8 big kids through foster care too. Back in 2006, we added 4 as a sibling group too (we had already adopted the other 4 in two pairs). We got them in July and did WDW in September. The kids were 11, 8, 8, 6, 6, 5, 4, and 4. It was a crazy trip but so much fun!

My biggest piece of advice - get matching shirts for every day of the trip. It makes it way easier to keep up with everyone, and if you lose someone like we did, it is easier to find them again. And it makes your pictures look great!

 

[mickeyfan32]

I'm bringing ear protectors for my 4 year old. He freaked out as we were walking to illuminations when he was 2 but now I told him it's not scary if he can't hear them. Hoping for the best. good luck.

 

[prudence64]

My 8 year old is scared of fireworks - more the fire part than the sound. Made the mistake of watching from fantasyland and she hated it - the fireworks were overhead. But, she did fine with illuminations which weren't over us. I would suggest near the front gate so that you don't feel like part of the fireworks show and combined with earplugs.

Or, skip them. Certainly not a requirement of a disney trip and why push it. Good luck and congratulations.

 

[dragitoff]

I don't have anything to add for your question, but I wanted to say congrats! Your story sounds so much like ours! We adopted our 8 big kids through foster care too. Back in 2006, we added 4 as a sibling group too (we had already adopted the other 4 in two pairs). We got them in July and did WDW in September. The kids were 11, 8, 8, 6, 6, 5, 4, and 4. It was a crazy trip but so much fun!

My biggest piece of advice - get matching shirts for every day of the trip. It makes it way easier to keep up with everyone, and if you lose someone like we did, it is easier to find them again. And it makes your pictures look great!

Wow! And people think we're crazy! That's so awesome. Your family is so beautiful. We actually became fosters in order to adopt our boys, which are a sibling group. We had some rough times in the past working with DFCS and fostering to adopt through the agency that had our boys seemed like a better alternative. We still had to work with DFCS, but through the agency. It's made the process much more tolerable. The matching shirts idea was definitely noteworthy!

 

[I M Fearless]

I look after a gentleman with startle reflex syndrome and cerebral palsy. He's generally fine upstairs inside the station (you can see them through the glass) he wears headphones to deaden the sound. Another option is to split up. We have on occasion ridden Mermaid continuously four times in a row. The cast members were happy for us to stay on as there was no line. Again with headphones this was fine.

 

[hipporina]

Wow! And people think we're crazy! That's so awesome. Your family is so beautiful. We actually became fosters in order to adopt our boys, which are a sibling group. We had some rough times in the past working with DFCS and fostering to adopt through the agency that had our boys seemed like a better alternative. We still had to work with DFCS, but through the agency. It's made the process much more tolerable. The matching shirts idea was definitely noteworthy!

Thank you! I understand completely- it takes a special type of crazy to have families like ours! We only fostered to adopt and used a private agency as well. It was a bit of a nightmare at times, but totally worth it. Our last adoption (that took us from 4 to 8) kicked us into the "group home" category and that was insane. To make it worse, the CPS caseworker didn't "believe in large families" and drug the process out for almost a year. Our agency caseworker advocated for us as much as she could, but it was still rough. By the time we got the adoption final, we were done! I wish you the best of luck with your boys! Kids that have experienced trauma can be really challenging, but they are definitely worth the effort!!! And when you hit those rough patches, just know that it will get better!

 

[dragitoff]

Thank you! I understand completely- it takes a special type of crazy to have families like ours! We only fostered to adopt and used a private agency as well. It was a bit of a nightmare at times, but totally worth it. Our last adoption (that took us from 4 to 8) kicked us into the "group home" category and that was insane. To make it worse, the CPS caseworker didn't "believe in large families" and drug the process out for almost a year. Our agency caseworker advocated for us as much as she could, but it was still rough. By the time we got the adoption final, we were done! I wish you the best of luck with your boys! Kids that have experienced trauma can be really challenging, but they are definitely worth the effort!!! And when you hit those rough patches, just know that it will get better!

So true. I just sent you a PM to continue the adoption discussion. I know that's not what the original thread is about and I don't want the mods getting upset.

 

[ammag]

You parents who adopt are beautiful people and I hope all your trips are amazing! Absolutely do not go behind the castle. Super loud and it feels like they are going to land on you. We do earplugs for my daughter or end up skipping them all together

 

[dragitoff]

Follow up question that I haven't seen answered yet. It appears most are suggesting an off-site viewing. I checked into the Wishes cruise, and I don't know that I want to drop that much $ just for that. If we choose to see the fireworks in the park, I'm really leaning towards watching them from near the train station. That should also give us a good viewing spot for the parade as well. For a party of 10 (7 of which are children), how early would you recommend us getting there?

 

[ilovebassets]

The beach at Fort Wilderness is a great place to watch. Very uncrowded and very easy to get to if you're already in the Magic Kingdom (it's just one fairly quick boat ride there and back.) Plus there's a playground right near by for the kids.