Best place to see the fireworks outside of the park

[mickeyhereicome]

This will be our first trip to DL. We arrive late afternoon on Monday Feb 16. I see on the schedule this day will have the fireworks show, but the days we will have passes, Tue-Thurs will not. Is there anywhere we can go to see the fireworks from outside the park? I can not see paying for one more day of tickets, for just 4 hours in the park.

 

[MouseEXP]

I like being at the top of the Mickey and Friends parking structure.

 

[ludari]

The area between Disneyland and Disney California is a popular location.

 

[chickapin parterre]

$24.00. What can you buy for 24.00?

This is for the folks who come to this busy travel sight not as registered visitors but folks just checking out the threads for information on their upcoming trip.

Fireworks at Disneyland are just not bursting pyrotechnics over the visible or invisible peaks of the castle and Matterhorn. Fireworks at Disneyland is a show that performs at, on and over the castle. Lights, special effects, overlays and quality sound. A soundtrack that will bring you to tears. Joy. An ache to seek magic. And you are in a crowd of folks that you are thematically connected as a viewer.

This is not July 4th. This is Disneyland Magic in the finest hour in the park.

Buy the four day park hopper for $24.00 more, after all, that dinner at the Cheese Cake factory can be purchased anywhere in the good old USA. But there is only one Castle Hub in the USA

 

[Eeee-va]

The fireworks they have right now before the 60th anniversary are a short show, about 5 minutes, not involving the castle in any way--in videos of the first day, the castle was actually dark.

If you could economically upgrade your tickets for a few hours in the parks (like if you didn't buy discounted tickets that you'd have to pay full price to upgrade), I think upgrading is a decent idea anyway...but I wouldn't do it for the current fireworks show.

 

[gottalovepluto]

Definitely not worth it with the current show running. According to a mice chat review it's four and a half min runtime & nicely above the castle (which isn't lit up with this show). I'd try watching from the esplanade between the parks at the end of downtown Disney because I still feel like I'm kinda in the parks there. I don't know if the parking structure suggested above might give a better view though.

 

[dtnrhi]

Another vote for the parking structure! There's a giant aisle over on the side, covered. I personally think they planned for this sort of thing, at least it looks that way.

We did this in December and it was awesome. I'd do it again, and likely will if I am ever in the area without park tickets.

I have done the esplanade on the compass in the middle, and enjoyed the top of the structure a lot more.

 

[Halloweenqueen]

We watched the fireworks while riding Grizzly. The show started as we went down the first hill. The show was over before our ride was! We thought it was technical difficulty at first, but found out it was the entire show from one of the CMs during our 4th or 5th Grizzly ride. Brrrrrrrrr.

 

[figment_jii]

Another vote for either the parking structure or the Esplanade. You won't be able to really hear the music at either location, but you will be able to see the bursts.

 

[mickeyhereicome]

$24.00. What can you buy for 24.00?

This is for the folks who come to this busy travel sight not as registered visitors but folks just checking out the threads for information on their upcoming trip.

Fireworks at Disneyland are just not bursting pyrotechnics over the visible or invisible peaks of the castle and Matterhorn. Fireworks at Disneyland is a show that performs at, on and over the castle. Lights, special effects, overlays and quality sound. A soundtrack that will bring you to tears. Joy. An ache to seek magic. And you are in a crowd of folks that you are thematically connected as a viewer.

This is not July 4th. This is Disneyland Magic in the finest hour in the park.

Buy the four day park hopper for $24.00 more, after all, that dinner at the Cheese Cake factory can be purchased anywhere in the good old USA. But there is only one Castle Hub in the USA

We are military. We get a three day pass for $132. So I would assume if we wanted 4 days it would cost us a bit more!

 

[mickeyhereicome]

I like being at the top of the Mickey and Friends parking structure.

I assume you do not have to park? We can just take the stairs/elevator? Any idea of the walk from the Hojo to the parking garage? I will have to look at the map, maybe we will just send time in DTD before the fireworks. I assume the garage is near there.

 

[figment_jii]

We are military. We get a three day pass for $132. So I would assume if we wanted 4 days it would cost us a bit more!

That's a good price! You could almost buy another set of three-day military tickets for the same price as a single day park hopper ticket! Still, sadly, I don't think it's worth that price to see the current fireworks show.

I assume you do not have to park? We can just take the stairs/elevator? Any idea of the walk from the Hojo to the parking garage? I will have to look at the map, maybe we will just send time in DTD before the fireworks. I assume the garage is near there.

Yes and no...the Mickey and Friends parking structure isn't actually connected to DTD. The easiest route is to take the parking lot tram from DTD to the parking structure (it picks up near the start of DTD as you leave the Esplanade). If you walk down the length of DTD, you can also exit the Disneyland Hotel via the main entrance, head north through the parking lot, then east on Magic Way and north on S. West St (which runs along the parking structure). Personally, I would take the tram! You could also probably walk directly from the HoJos along Ball Rd, then south on Disneyland Dr. to get to the structure, but I haven't tried that route. Once at the structure, take the escalator up to one of the upper decks.

 

[chickapin parterre]

I keep forgetting. Not everyone has volcanoes that capture alpenglow, watched a setting sun in the desert, sat in Cold Springs Harbor on a humid summer day with a military band or have a Vancouver, Washington as choices to close out July 4th.

As I had stated previously, the post was more for the volume of folks who read this site as non registered visitors for tips about an upcoming trip. Many times at a family dining table in helping families plan their Disneyland trip, I encounter a bit of skepticism about investing time for fireworks . So weary had I become of fireworks that on my visits to the resort I never paid attention to the event for decades. Then by accident, during a Thanksgiving week, I discovered the most valuable hour of my time in the park. And that has made all the difference.