Fireworks: OOOH! AAAH! NOOO WAY?

[TeresaWen]

Fireworks from the California Grill with a glass of wine is one of my favorite things!

 

[pad406]

Love the fireworks shows, try to see as many as possible. One of may favorite memories is on our first visit in 2010, sitting on the beach at the Poly with DW and the kids watching the NYE show. Have no idea how they managed to do a 10 - 1 countdown with fireworks showing the numbers, but it was fab.

 

[MainMom]

Forgot about Frozen fireworks. Those were truly amazing and I'm not a big Frozen fan.

 

[5DisneyNuts]

IMO, nothing compares to the fireworks at WDW especially because of the overall experience and story (although I have never been to the July 4th NYC fireworks)

Personally I wouldn't miss seeing Wishes every time, Illuminations multiple times, Fantasmic most times and have extended our trip by a day to see Holiday Illuminations, but haven't seen a parade (other than walking by) in years.

 

[Boopuff]

Fireworks from the California Grill with a glass of wine is one of my favorite things!

Now for that I'd say "oooh ahhh!"

 

[pens4821]

Do they play the wishes music all throughout the park? Just curious. We have FP for one day and not sure if we'll make it for another, but just wondered if on another day we went behind or side if we'd still hear the music (would think it makes them even better).

We want to see illuminations once while there (honestly watching it on YouTube seems boring but still wanna see it) as well as fantasmic (I liked it last time but think I was the only one) and the HS fireworks hopefully a couple times (as they seem to be the only true fireworks show there).

The only thing is I don't really plan on staking out a spot more than about 20 minutes before so not sure if we will get do see them all or not. If we do, good, if not oh well.

Same way with the parades. I'm not big on parades but wanna see the Disney ones. I know showing up later will not give us front row, but I'm ok with that. As long as I can see what's going on (whether blocked or not) will be ok with me.

 

[Disneytam]

On our last trip my husband mentioned that he wasn't in love with the fireworks! All this time (we've been married 24 years!) and I didn't know that. So this year we will be spending 3 nights at the GF RPC theme park view and we have compromised, I will still get to ooh and ahh over the fireworks but we will do it from the comfort of our balcony. Add a glass (or 3) of wine from the lounge and then the short stroll to our bed when it's over and everyone will be happy! It's all about the compromise!

 

[SunnyKYLake]

I love Wishes, parades, Fantasmic!, all of it! Wishes is breathtaking, parades are pure fun and whimsy, and Fantasmic is magical! (Ask my 4 year old niece, she'll tell you)


We won't stand to wait for any of them though. We almost always watch the parades from Frontierland. We sat down on the corner of a walkway about 20 minutes before the Electric Parade (if we had been willing to stand, we could've walked up to the spots right next to us as the parade passed by). For the 3:00 parade, we got a place next to the rope about 10 minutes before. We watched the Christmas parade from Main Street, on a bench on the porch in front of the bathrooms beside ... City Hall? I think. Near the Fire Station. There weren't many people along that whole stretch, I was suprised.

We watched Holiday Wishes from the benches outside Tomorrowland. It wasn't crowded, we could see the castle, and we could sit! Perfect!

We've only made it to Fantasmic! once. Somehow we lucked out on our timing and walked right in without a wait and found some seats we were happy with. I don't remember how early we were, at least 30 minutes, but we were tired by then and wanted to sit and relax and have some snacks.

But, you know, it's okay if you don't like this stuff or don't "get it" I certainly don't get why my brother needs extra blood pressure medicine when he watches basketball (well, just the Cats) or why people like to watch other people kick and throw funny looking balls down a big field. Or, for the love of God why any one would want to walk around swinging a club, trying to get a tiny ball in a hole they are to far away to even see. (Or even more incomprehensible, watch that on TV cough, brother-in-law, cough)
But, that works out for me - the guys want to leave the park early to see a game back in the room - go ahead! That means I get magical memory time with my niece and nephew!

 

[JacknSally]

I love fireworks. I love photographing fireworks. I do not love the crowds and crazy and need to claim a spot ahead of time that comes with Disney's fireworks, though, so we don't generally do them anymore, especially because they change so infrequently. Once you've seen them, you've seen them. We watched Hallowishes, which is by far my favorite fireworks show, from the Peoplemover during this last trip because we didn't want to deal with the crowds and take party time to sit on the curb and defend concrete instead of getting in rides. On another night, though, we were able to walk up and get a great spot for Illuminations just a few minutes before it started so we did wait for that one, but it's usually high on my skip-list. I don't even bother with Fantasmic.

 

[d-train]

I also love the fireworks, Wishes. Have seem the. Many times I front of the castle and Mainstreet. Love the view, but the crowd is rough to handle. Will usually do the first showing of the trip in front, then the rest from the dessert party...I know, extra cost, but so worth it to get out of the crowd for 90 minutes or so, some great desserts, and again, out of the crowd. Not the perfect view, but still a great one. Love all the projections on the castle and the timed music matching it all. Always a highlight of the trip.

Would tend to agree with other opinions of Illuminations and Fantasmic. Love the fireworks, lose the sphere in the water and the evil vs. good plot...

 

[MinnieSweetheart]

Love me some Disney fireworks.

Now... "moving" lights on buildings? That's another story. Pretty sure I'm completely alone in NOT getting the appeal there based on the weeping and gnashing of teeth that they are going away all over these boards.

Are you referring to "celebrate the magic" going away? I hadn't seen that yet. If so, I won't miss it either. It's so dumb to me b/c unlike most of Disney, I don't get the "story" it just seems like someone threw together a series of clips from Disney movies. Is it supposed to be cool because it's on the castle? Projection technology is not that innovative and novel to excite me for that.

As for the OP, I'm in the BTDT crowd. We enjoy them when we happen to be there at the right time and place, but we don't boo hoo about missing them. Fantasmic! we really enjoy, but that isn't so much fireworks, but more of a play. We also really enjoyed Hallowishes; that is a SHOW, but maybe it is as a PP referenced that the music is more upbeat and I thought it had bigger bursts.

 

[Robo]

Do they play the wishes music all throughout the park?

Yes.

 

[nooneshome]

Love Wishes, fireworks and Fantasmic. Don't know why but we never watch Illuminations.

 

[Dug720]

Are you referring to "celebrate the magic" going away? I hadn't seen that yet. If so, I won't miss it either. It's so dumb to me b/c unlike most of Disney, I don't get the "story" it just seems like someone threw together a series of clips from Disney movies. Is it supposed to be cool because it's on the castle? Projection technology is not that innovative and novel to excite me for that.

As for the OP, I'm in the BTDT crowd. We enjoy them when we happen to be there at the right time and place, but we don't boo hoo about missing them. Fantasmic! we really enjoy, but that isn't so much fireworks, but more of a play. We also really enjoyed Hallowishes; that is a SHOW, but maybe it is as a PP referenced that the music is more upbeat and I thought it had bigger bursts.

No. I'm referring to the Osborne lights. Got dragged through that mess once and totally didn't get the appeal. They are LIGHTS. LOL.

 

[W.E.D.]

The key is, go somewhere to watch that the crowds don't go. of course it won't be a prime view, that's why the crowds don't go. For Wishes I like to be back between the Mine Train and Gaston's.

I've taken still photos, not video. with a camera or Iphone, not an Ipad.

and most of all, DON'T LEAVE AS SOON AS THE FIREWORKS ARE OVER! There is still some stuff to do. Stores are open. Grab a bench and watch the throngs move out. No real need to spend all that time waiting in a line for a bus.

THIS. All of it. You don't have to watch from Main Street or the Hub at MK. At EPCOT the farther away you get from the gates the crowd thins.
And for sure, take your time leaving.

 

[OhioStateBuckeye]

If you like rides and fireworks...ride Dumbo! No wait, very nice view of the fireworks.

If you can time a FP for 7 Dwarves Mine Train, this is also very good. The fireworks go off all around you while your riding.

 

[ktlm]

IMO, nothing compares to the fireworks at WDW especially because of the overall experience and story (although I have never been to the July 4th NYC fireworks)

Personally I wouldn't miss seeing Wishes every time, Illuminations multiple times, Fantasmic most times and have extended our trip by a day to see Holiday Illuminations, but haven't seen a parade (other than walking by) in years.

Have you ever been to the DL fireworks? We have seen 2 of their different shows (Magical and the 60 Anniversary show) and thought both were much better than the WDW MK Wishes show. (If you ever make it to DL, you might want to actually watch a parade too. DH is not a parade fan but he was blown away by their new Paint the Night- and we saw it twice!)

 

[MinnieSweetheart]

No. I'm referring to the Osborne lights. Got dragged through that mess once and totally didn't get the appeal. They are LIGHTS. LOL.

Oh we didn't get much out of it either. Maybe because we live in an area with lots of great light displays?

 

[Dug720]

Oh we didn't get much out of it either. Maybe because we live in an area with lots of great light displays?

You would think that I'd be that way with fireworks since NYC is always the televised ones... But TBH I avoid the displays here because the crowds actually make Disney look tame.

 

[bobbiwoz]

I love WDW's fireworks! We go around NYE and 4th of July specifically to see them, and two years ago we made a special mid summer trip just to see Frozen's. Those were spectacular set to music.

I imagine the Star Wars set at DHS will be fabulous and we will see them in March!

Bobbi