No Park Tickets for July 4- Where to see best fireworks?

[kapica3]

During our fist 4 days of trip we will be without park tickets. We will not have the privilege of being in a park for fireworks. Who has the best fireworks which can be seen from an outside point?

I imagine from Poly beach, MK is nice.
I'll bet EPCOT can be seen from Boardwalk area.

Does anyone know if Downtown Disney has fireworks and if they are nice enough to spend July 4th there?
Thanks everyone!

 

[CastMemberDWA]

definitely the Poly beach....
or you can try from the Contemporary resort lookout/observation deck.

Grand Floridian has a nice viewing area as well....just hang out near the boat dock or the marina.

 

[Trails End Server]

Yes downtown disney has fireworks on the 4th. Every night they launch a couple for a nightly "New Years Eve" celebration. On July 4th, they go all out. I was there last year, right in front of the main stage. By mid launch there was so much smoke some of them were getting hard to see. I could honestly feel myself being hit with falling pieces of the fireworks. Talk about an up close and personal display. Most city run displays usually keep people several hundred feet from the launch site. At downtown disney, they are launched not 50 feet behind some of the shops.

 

[kaytieeldr]

Rumor has it, Poly Security is now checking for room keys on such potentially crowded nights as July 4.
You can see the fireworks from the TTC, or you could ride the ferry between there and the MK and back while the fireworks are being shot, or you could pay an astronomical amount for the California Grill party, or you could try to get on the fourth floor deck of the Contemporary, or you could watch from the beach at Wilderness Lodge or Fort Wilderness (both involve more travel time, but I think you're less likely to be bothered as a non-that-Resort Guest.

 

[TSR6]

Trails End - They will not be doing the nightly fireworks at Pleasure Island. Whether they will be doing them for special events anymore is still up in the air as far as I know.

They are removing the West End Stage. I know that the pyro tech's are being re-cast to different locations, thus it should spell the end for fireworks at DTD.

 

[eeyoreiscool]

For the MK resorts, the security shack makes sure that you either have a room there or ADR's for one of the restaurants for the busy days. Christmas and the fourth of July have been times that we were asked. Since we have been allowed, we aren't sure how they turn people away or if they just give them a very limited parking pass.

 

[Minniedap]

Last 4th we watched the fireworks at the Contemporary Resort on ground level just outside the north wing. They were shooting off the same fireworks from the Poly and MK, you could see both very well from this spot. They were the best I've ever seen. I don't think the people on the observation platform could see in the Poly direction because there is a cement wall at the end of the platform. There was only a few people watching there.
The monorail and the boats stop during the fireworks.

 

[TheresaNY]

We had PS for Ohana's on 4th of July. Everyone went to the windows when the fireworks went off. We were staying at WL so it was a very short distance to the Poly and we took our car. It took us about 20 minutes to get there !! There was security and traffic like I have NEVER seen !! They did ask us if we had PS but never asked for the number or any other proof. They did seem to be more thorough with others however. Guess it is just depends. I would highly recommend Ohana's but make sure to give yourself PLENTY of time to get there !!

 

[mjmcca]

Do you have a car? There were free fireworks and other events in celebration this past year. I wasnt there for the holiday but i was there in June and drving around i saw the billboard advertising it. They had stuff all weeeknd long.

 

[trudycanada]

How crowded were the parks this time of year?