Fireworks view from FW?

[jtjarvis]

Do any of you FW vets know if there's a view of the MK fireworks from the FW marina? We won't be heading to the parks till the day after our arrival and were hoping for a sneak preview!

Thanks!
JT

Leaving 21 days from today! Can't believe it--

 

[Memph1s]

Yes, There is a very good view of the fireworks from the beach and marina area. There is also the Electric water parade that comes around every night.

 

[DisneyMom5]

We're leaving in 21 days also, what days will you be there?
We're there the 31st - Feb. 5th.
See you there!

 

[bigdisneydaddy]

We had the pleasure of viewing the New Years eve fireworks from Clementines beach at the FW marina. It was awesome.

 

[jtjarvis]

Wow, cool everybody-- thanks for weighing in. Clementine's Beach -- is that a particular area or just what the beach is called? We'll mosey on over to the marina after the 5 p.m. Hoop Dee Do show on 1/30 and hope to see some fireworks to get us started just right!

Disneymom, we'll be at Ft. Wilderness cabins nights of 1/30 and 1/31 and leaving late afternoon 2/1 -- just hitting Magic Kingdom this time with ages 4 and 6 yr olds. We're coming from Atlanta, hitting "town" Thursday night with a quick overnight at Radisson Resort Pkwy. Will you be at FW cabins too?

JT

 

[bigdisneydaddy]

You are correct, Thats the name of the beach at FW. I was just trying to show off !
Be sure to check online for ther fireworks times during your visit.
hanging around the beach watching the fireworks and then the electric water parade is a nice relaxing way to spend an evening. The bonus is that they are both free.
If you happen to get over to the campfire movie be sure to tell Sundee (the sing along CM) that I said hello.

 

[jtjarvis]

Thanks Disney Daddy-- now I can show off too by knowing the name of the beach!

And will definitely pass along a hello to Sundee! I hope we'll get the chance to catch a movie one of our two nights.

Have a great day,

JT

 

[DisneyMom5]

Yes, we are at the cabins. We are staying in Orlando at the Sleep Inn Suites at Universal on the 30th (not hitting the park this time) then arriving at FW on the 31st. This is our first time onsite, and the first time our kids are going (we went for our honeymoon). We will be at MK itself on the 31st watching the same fireworks. Have a great trip!

PS - we will be driving through Atlanta, so we'll wave as we go by.

Any advice on Atlanta? We are planning on taking the bypass off of 75, but other than that? (We will be at Chattanooga the night before, so will be hitting Atlanta at rush hour )

 

[jtjarvis]

Hi DisneyMom,

Your trip sounds great too!

About Atlanta-- the first thing I would say about passing through particularly at rush hour (3:30 p.m.--7-ish p.m. on Fridays) would be to avoid the I-285 bypass like the plague. It's terrible and often turns into a giant parking lot at that time -- it can also be quite dangerous. It's hardly a bypass anymore, just gets you all tangled up and not even on your straight path. A shame!

Not to scare you-- but let's see, Chattanooga is 2 hours away North. Depending on when you left Chattanooga you could beat the bad rush hour easily if you leave by mid-day and of course if you left in the morning. Friday traffic is always the worst of the week but nothing like rush hour! Or, if you had things you want to do in Chattanooga and would be there till mid-afternoon or so, you know what I'd say-- I'd say stick around a little longer there and spend the time doing something rather than sitting stock-still in Atlanta traffic. The time spent might turn out to be close to the same!

Another thing about traffic patterns -- coming in Atlanta south on I-75 at rush hour is better than when you continue south leaving the city. It's because most commuters are traveling back north to get home after working in the city. But when you get south of the city, those southern commuters are going home! Just something to keep in mind. For instance you could grab a bite just north of Atlanta and hang out a little while to give traffic a chance to thin out some before continuing on.

Traffic in Atlanta is always worse than in the average city but controlling your timing helps a lot. Hope this helps some! Let me know if you have any more questions about it.

Have fun counting down!
JT

 

[jtjarvis]

DisneyMom,
I just goofed and now realize of course you're talking about hitting morning Atlanta rush hour after being in Chattanooga. Duh! Sorry-- some of the advice stays the same but there's a little more--

Morning rush hour coming in south to Atlanta is worse than afternoon, because that's of course when your morning northern commuters are driving in. That goes for I-75 and I-285 is just as bad, probably worse. I'd still say not to get on 285. It would be a very frustrating couple of hours. I'm not sure if you were going to stay overnight in Chattanooga, but if you were just driving on through, if you hit Atlanta before 6 a.m. you would be absolutely best off. But it might be time to, like, sleep some, ha, so if you stay over in Chattanooga and leave at 7:30 a.m. or preferably even a little later you'd be OK as long as you get to Atlanta after 9:30 or 10 a.m. This might be precisely what you were planning to do, in which case forgive unnecessary advice! But I'd say hang out and have breakfast in Chattanooga and try to get through Atlanta at exactly midmorning.

Well, again I hope this helps a modicum!
JT

 

[DisneyMom5]

jtjarvis - yes, your second post is on the money. That is what I wanted to know. We were hoping to leave by 7 am, but if it will take as long either way because of traffic, we might leave a 1/2 hour later. Hotel in Chattanooga has free breakfast, so we were planning on that anyway. Of course, when we take off will depend on what time we get in the night before.
I am a little aprehensive about the loooong drive from Michigan, but there is NO way we can afford flying seven people down there! Anyway, thanks for the input. Had no idea the bypass was bad also. Have heard terrible stories about staying on I-75. Guess we'll have to play it by ear. When we are coming home we will probably hit it about 5 at night. sheesh. can't win.
Oh, but wait, that will be SATURDAY! Yippee, that should be better, right?

 

[jtjarvis]

DisneyMom,
Yes, I fear it is true that whichever main roads you take through Atlanta are equally bad ideas, ha. I-75 South to Atlanta is indeed very bad in a.m. rush hour because of all the northern suburb commuters, but to me 285 just seems to be bad constantly and literally "all around" as it circles the city and just everybody in the world is on it. But you're smart to play it by ear and see how traffic's looking. You know what too, why don't you tune in to local Atlanta radio as you travel down there and listen to the traffic reports, which are constant. 94.1 FM is a pop music station; 104.7 FM Christian; 99.7 FM alterna-rock (entertaining morning show but perhaps a little risque for little people); 90.1 FM National Public Radio; and maybe the best place for traffic news, talk radio at 750 AM. You would have the additional benefit of listening to Neal Boortz and empathically agreeing or empathically disagreeing.

Yep and you should be clear for Saturday. Lots of people running around all day but NOTHING like weekday rush hour a.m. or p.m.! Good timing there.

JT

 

[mom2bandp]

JT-- Do you think the HOV lane would help DisneyMom at all, or is it just as clogged as the rest of I-75 during peak rush hour through downtown? I know it's helped us many times, but then again we try to avoid rush hour like the plague whenever we come through Atlanta.

 

[R_Judy]

After all these years, I never knew that the beach had a name. Where have I been?

 

[jtjarvis]

Hey Mom2, GREAT idea about the HOV lane on I-75! From what I've noticed, it actually seems much less busy than the other lanes because people either don't know what it is, or they're busy looking to get off at a particular exit.
DisneyMom, the HOV lane is designed for commuters carrying at least two people in their car. It's the lane farthest left, well marked. I think that is a super smart insight Mom2!

JT

 

[bigdisneydaddy]

I have driven from MI to FL many times and always go through Atlanta on I75. My advice is to stay in the middle and follow the flow of traffic. We went down on 12/22/03 and passed through about 6PM (I forget now what day of the week it was).
The trip home we came North around 7PM on a Friday night. That was a little rough pulling a 29 ft Travel trailer.
My wife always comments that she is glad I am driving when we get to Atlanta
The only other comment I would add is to stay to the right traveling between Atlanta and Macon. This stretch in notorious for speed, so you dont want to get caught being pokey in the left lane

 

[bigdisneydaddy]

I have driven from MI to FL many times and always go through Atlanta on I75. My advice is to stay in the middle and follow the flow of traffic. We went down on 12/22/03 and passed through about 6PM (I forget now what day of the week it was).
The trip home we came North around 7PM on a Friday night. That was a little rough pulling a 29 ft Travel trailer.
My wife always comments that she is glad I am driving when we get to Atlanta
The only other comment I would add is to stay to the right traveling between Atlanta and Macon. This stretch in notorious for speed, so you dont want to get caught being pokey in the left lane

just curious... what does HOV stand for ???

 

[jtjarvis]

HOV (lane) stands for High-Occupancy Vehicles-- designed to entice commuters to carpool. Not sure it's still working as intended-- because nobody remembers what HOV stands for! LOL

JT

 

[FredS]

On topic: We saw the July 4th fireworks from the FW beach last year. All I can say is that they were incredible. Easy in, easy out and very memorable.

Off topic: We usually travel through Atlanta on our way to WDW. In my experience, weekday commuter rush hour is much easier and faster to deal with than I-75 on the weekends when there always seems to be construction and lanes closed. We seem to hit 9:00 am on our way down and it isn't a big deal. Coming back on Saturday mid-afternoon, though, is a real headache, and adds quite a bit of time to the trip.

 

[bobbiwoz]

Is there also a nightly wagonride to the beach to view the fireworks, or is that a different beach?

Bobbi