Orlando Hotel before DCL Cruise...looking for advice

[mickeyluv]

We are cruising on the DisneyMagic in October. We would like to stay in Orlando the night before our cruise. We are not going to WDW and are not planning on staying at any of the on-site WDW hotels/resorts (that's what I'm thinking for now anyway). Is there somewhere we might could see any of the fireworks that are done at either Magic Kingdom or Epcot? I was thinking one of the hotels inside WDW but not a Disney-labeled hotel (Values, Moderates, Deluxes, DVC). I think I've read that you can see them from other places even if you're not staying onsite but I can't remember. Also, didn't know if we could actually go to the beach at the Poly and sit there just to watch the Wishes even though we're not staying there? For instance, can we go to dinner at Ohana's and then go to the beach and watch Wishes? Thanks in advance for any help on this subject!!

 

[Shelebeen]

We stayed at the Poly last summer. I don't think it would be an issue to walk over/take the monorail and wander to the beach to watch the fireworks at all. Even from the Transportation hub place you could walk over to the water along the paths and watch... we also really enjoyed watching the water parade..

We are looking into outside places to stay pre cruise in Dec as well... right now looking at vrbo.com for houses/condos... I think that is the way we will go.. way more space

 

[taliategan]

I would just pick a hotel you want to stay (on-site or off-site) and go to the Poly to see Wishes. The only hotels you can get a good view are the monorail hotels by MK. I believe there are some off-site hotels where if your high enough you can see the fireworks in a distance (but you will be miles away.) A lot of Illuminations at Epcot is a ground level show, so I think you should favor Wishes over Illuminations if you are interested in seeing fireworks. If you make a dinner reservation at one of the monorail hotel restaurants you will be able to park a that hotel, or you can take a Disney bus from Downtown Disney whether you want to eat at the hotel or not.