Disneyland Fireworks Cancellations

[dweitzel0]

We spent 2 days at Disneyland this weekend and the fireworks were cancelled both nights (Saturday & Sunday) due to high winds at higher elevations. In fact the last half dozen times or so that we have been the fireworks have been cancelled. Has anyone else noticed the frequent cancellations?

I don't remember this being such a problem in past years.

 

[spazzyjazzy]

I don't think they had such an elaborate show either in past years. That may be the reason. I don't let the cancellations bother me. Disney is looking after it's guests and neighbors safety.

 

[casaazul]

Maybe it is global warming!


I think that the fireworks shows they are doing now are so elaborate that they do have to cancel them if weather is not optimum. It is a bummer, but safety is more important. At least you got to be at Disneyland, I'm stuck here in the desert for a few more months, LOL!

 

[scooter15]

This show is pretty detailed and complicated. They have fireworks shot from almost every location on stage and backstage. I believe they have to get clearance from the fire department for each show and there is a representative present. We've been in the park when they have started the show and halfway through they stop it. You also have to consider Tinkerbell's safety as you don't her to get hit as well. I could imagine how it could irk someone who hasn't been there for a while and someone who was looking forward to it. For me though, safety is important and I wouldn't want anyone getting hurt or something to catch on fire.

 

[Stacerita]

I was there on Saturday when they cancelled the show. We were fine with it and totally understood why. But you can't believe how many people were completely po'd over it. I'd be upset too if I have never seen it before or if I knew I wasn't coming back. But come on. Cursing, yelling, and loud obnoxious grumbling isn't going to help. There is no big Disney conspiracy going on. One man told us as we were getting up off our bench that Disney does this all the time to save money. And then just blame the wind. Of couse it had nothing to actually do with the wind. Even though my hair was waving around and clearly the trees were blowing. Nope, it was a conspiracy. Had another guy yelling as we were walking by star tours complaining about how dare Disney ruin his trip and they have no right to cancel whenever they felt like it. Yeah, nothing to do with the fire marshall deciding whats safe and whats not. Personally, I would rather have a long wait for a show that doesn't go on than to get burned. But hey, I'm silly like that.

 

[cmwade77]

They are actually canceled less frequently than they used to be, it's just been very strange weather here lately. With all of the new technology using air to launch the high flying fireworks instead of GUN powder they can actually run the show with more wind than the previous shows, the old fireworks shows also could get canceled because of too little wind, now they still can but they don't need as much wind to get all of the smoke blown out of the way.

 

[DisneyMDman]

I'll be there 4 days in August. I guess the moral of the story is (for those with multiple park days) to get your high priority stuff done early.

Rides/Fireworks/shows/etc should be done asap, you never know when something may get canceled or breakdown.

hopefully the weather will cooperate

 

[JenDisneylandlver]

Funny we came out of DCA and stood there debating whether or not we wanted to go in to DL and find a spot for fireworks on Saturday. But had decided we were just too tired. Glad we didn't now! We waited at our hotel room for them to start instead, so we could watch them from there. But wasn't a big deal when we realized it wasn't gonna happen!

We actually didn't even get to see the fireworks on this trip. I think they had them one of the nights that we were there. It's okay though, we've seen that show MANY times. Even though I'd like to have seen it again, that's the way it goes! Saturday did seem a little breezy to me, so I'm sure if there was high winds, I'm glad they didn't do it. I agree with the others that safety has to come first!

 

[VWCat]

we got 5 out of seven days cancelled,but we saw it once by the castle and once via Fantasmic,was pretty amazing show

 

[dxwwf3]

How hard does the wind have to blow for a cancellation? Will even a small breeze cancel the show? Next Thursday, when we plan to see the show, the Weather Channel "predicts" 4 mph winds at night.

How soon do they usually determine when the show will be cancelled? Is it always a last minute decision or will they let the guests know ahead of time if there is no chance the show will run? I don't ever remember fireworks being cancelled at WDW due to wind so this is a new one for me.

 

[scooter15]

Its also not a matter of how hard the winds are blowing but at what direction. Sometimes it looks like the winds are not blowing because you see or feel nothing in the park but there's a lot of higher elevation winds that they are very concerned about. If you must know, this is how you can tell if they are going to cancel or not - certain parts of the park, you will see CMs or fire dept personnel with white balloons. They are usually around the castle, behind Toontown and above or near the Plaza in Main Street. They will release them just before the show and if the balloon is blowing towards the crowd or is just in a frenzy, they will cancel. DH and I have seen it where they released the balloons and they seemed fine but once it reached higher elevation the balloon was being tossed around like crazy. We predicted they would be cancelled and it was. People around us of course we're complaining.

 

[VWCat]

well when it was slightly breezy in the early evening it made us think it would be cancelled and they were...once it was cancelled half way thru and other times they were annouced while we were waiting anywhere from half an hour before to minutes after the showtime,usually it was last minute,maybe in case the winds changed...hey we thought that's what the balloons were for,crazy

 

[dxwwf3]

Thanks for the tip. I'll have to remember that because I think we were going to try and wait about 90 minutes for a front and center view of the castle (Am I dreaming that I'll only have to wait that long in the hub?) and I'll certainly be looking for balloons. That could save us alot of time and frustration.

 

[VWCat]

we waited to the left of the hub in the street with a view thru the trees of matterhorn to see tink and we were there anywhere from 20 minutes to 45 and it was still a good view

 

[tinkerbelt]

Another tip is to watch the flags on the castle and the one on main street. They can sometimes be a good indication of whether or not the show will go on.

Also, if you look at the Matterhorn, you can see the door where Tink comes out. Before the show, there is a curtain pulled across the door. If the show is going to be cancelled for sure, they will close the door completely. So if you can see the curtain, that means that they have not cancelled the show yet.

 

[scooter15]

Also, if you look at the Matterhorn, you can see the door where Tink comes out. Before the show, there is a curtain pulled across the door. If the show is going to be cancelled for sure, they will close the door completely. So if you can see the curtain, that means that they have not cancelled the show yet.

Not necessarily. Sometimes Tink won't fly during the show and its happened on various ocassions.

 

[Hofmanns4]

We were able to see the fireworks our first night in the park of our 5 nights there. The next 3 were cancelled. We then had some friends join us for the last night and were hoping that the fireworks would be on. They ended up being about 40 minutes late, but we were glad to see them our last night there.

 

[tinkerbelt]

Not necessarily. Sometimes Tink won't fly during the show and its happened on various ocassions.

It's pretty rare though, and when Tink doesn't fly, it usually isn't because of wind. More often than not, Tink is a good indicator of whether the show will go on.

Also, they'll usually do a balloon launch between 15-25 minutes before the show, sometimes they'll pick a child out of the crowd to release the balloon in front of the castle.

 

[HydroGuy]

We spent 2 days at Disneyland this weekend and the fireworks were cancelled both nights (Saturday & Sunday) due to high winds at higher elevations. In fact the last half dozen times or so that we have been the fireworks have been cancelled. Has anyone else noticed the frequent cancellations?

I don't remember this being such a problem in past years.

This has been an issue for awhile and occurred frequently in the summer of 2006. See

HydroGuy's Fireworks Rule
www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1199851