Leaving the park after Illuminations

[ruzer28]

I'm just wondering if any of the shops or restaurants are still open after Illuminations. I thought it might be easier to sit and have a drink or do some shopping rather than try to join the herd right after the show. What do you all do?

 

[rgf207]

There are a few shops open near the main enterance which would mean that you had to fight the crows to the enterance to get to the shops which would defeat the purpose . I'm not sure about world showcase shops though. We usually find a bench and do some people watching and then leave about 10-15 minutes later.

I

 

[ElmosMom44]

The information I just looked at shows that most restaurants are open until 10 or 11. These are the "sit-down" places. I can't find information about how long counter places or shops are open.

 

[Mickeyistheman]

MouseGear is open after Illuminations I am not sure which restaurants are open.

 

[stacy6552]

Even if nothing is open, just grab a bench a chill for about half an hour. We do this at MK, rather then fight the crowds inside the shopping along main street.

 

[civileng68]

All of the stores are open right after Illuminations. For how long I dont know. However, we normally hit MouseGears on our way out.

As the other person said, it's also nice to grab a bench and sit down for a little while and just enjoy the atmosphere. If you want some very good pictures.

After Illuminations, go to the back of WS (the back gets empty first) and just hang around a while (we did this and LOVED IT) and it literally will get nearly empty. You can take pictures of nearly everything with NOBODY in them.

If you have a cam with nice manual settings, you can get INCREDIBLE pics of Spaceship earth. It's empty enough to use a tripod. Just a tip.

 

[afc104]

Last time we were there we parked in Boardwalk area and took the World Showcase entrance. After it was over we left that way, much less crowded, and then spent some time wondering around the Boardwalk. We really liked doing it this way.

 

[swilshire]

We usually try to watch from the side closest to the exit. When the last booms are done, we grab and run (well .... walk quickly) to the exit. It's true that it's a bit of a mob scene (particularly since we're pushing a wheelchair) but we usually get out pretty fast. We jump into the car and DH heads for the exit. Usually we do quite well making a fast exit.

Sheila