Seeing Illuminations from Epcot Hotel Rooms?

[Mkrop]

Can you see Illuminations from any of the Epcot area hotels, even Swan and Dolphin?

Which ones of these can you walk to Epcot and MGM from, or is it all boat?

Thanks for the help.

 

[Bob P]

Hi,
You can walk to Epcot and the Studios from any of the Epcot Resorts.

You can not see/hear Illuminations clearly from the hotels. You may be able to see the highest fireworks and/or hear some of the soundtrack.

 

[AKLRULZ]

This was our view of Illuminations from Yacht Club Room 3087 at Christmas 2005:

 

[rcraw45425]

This was our view of Illuminations from Yacht Club Room 3087 at Christmas 2005:

Great photo! We were at the YC in February of '05 and would have been able to see more of the fireworks from our balcony if the humidity levels hadn't been so high. They combined with the smoke from the fireworks to make a fog over the lake, obscuring our view nightly. Otherwise we would have had the same view that trip. Had a room in the same area Spring Break '06 and were able to see them nightly. Let me guess, that room was really close to the marina area, right?

 

[antmaril]

We could see high fireworks from our Boardwalk Inn balcony.

 

[jenjersnap]

We had a lovely view of the Illuminations fireworks from the Dolphin. Couldn't see the ball, of course.

 

[Sammy]

We had a pretty great view from the 8th floor of the Dolphin! Obviously we couldn't see the water-level effects, but we could see most of the higher fireworks and the laser effects. It was very cool!

 

[AKLRULZ]

Let me guess, that room was really close to the marina area, right?

Pretty darn close to it. To the left of the room the view overlooked the wedding gazebo. It was a great room!

 

[Mkrop]

To all that posted, did you pay for these views (like at CR you pay for a Tower Mk view room) or did you just luck out???

 

[rcraw45425]

Actually, both of my YC stays have been booked as standard view, but upon check in both times we've been sprinkled with Pixie Dust and upgraded to water view (actually marina and Boardwalk view). I feel truly blessed.

 

[rcraw45425]

Pretty darn close to it. To the left of the room the view overlooked the wedding gazebo. It was a great room!

We were around the corner from that room, next to the corner closest the fire stairs. That became our secret entrance and exit . It beat the heck out of walking forever to exit through the main lobby.

 

[grimley1968]

You might be able to see the high fireworks from some of the BC/YC rooms (only a small number of them actually as most rooms face away from EPCOT), and from some BWI rooms, but you would not be able to see the heart of the show, which is the light show played out on that globe in the lake and with the countries.

I'd just walk into EPCOT to really see the whole show.

You can walk and/or boat to both EPCOT and MGM from the EPCOT area resorts.

 

[mx3man123]

We had a one bedroom at BWV last year and our room faced the parking lot and we could look to the left and see the fireworks from there.

 

[antmaril]

To all that posted, did you pay for these views (like at CR you pay for a Tower Mk view room) or did you just luck out???

No. We had a standard view room at the Boardwalk Inn. We were facing the courtyard.

 

[buzzgirls&dad]

If you are staying @ the BCV and have an Epcot view you can see the high fireworks and hear the sound track faintly. The sound is very loud and can even wake you up if you happen to fall asleep on the couch.

 

[happymommy]

Hi,
You can walk to Epcot and the Studios from any of the Epcot Resorts.

You can not see/hear Illuminations clearly from the hotels. You may be able to see the highest fireworks and/or hear some of the soundtrack.

No, not true. We just got back from the Dolphin. Saw Illuminations including part of the globe (12th floor suite) AND part of Fantasmic (not too much of that but don't care) every night. It was beautiful, as we're too tired to stay for that most nights. At the Dolphin, they usually reserve those rooms for higher starwood members or you pay for "Epcot view". Ours was an upgrade as we have gold membership.

 

[grimley1968]

No, not true. We just got back from the Dolphin. Saw Illuminations including part of the globe (12th floor suite) AND part of Fantasmic (not too much of that but don't care) every night. It was beautiful, as we're too tired to stay for that most nights. At the Dolphin, they usually reserve those rooms for higher starwood members or you pay for "Epcot view". Ours was an upgrade as we have gold membership.

Maybe so, but the vast majority (I'd estimate 95% or higher) of the rooms in those resorts will not be able to see the globe at all, and even fewer will be able to see any part of Fantasmic, as MGM is slightly further away.

The best bet to really see it, hear it, and fully experience Illuminations is to go inside EPCOT. There's so much going on inside that the fireworks seem like almost an afterthought to those watching from inside the park.

If you're just seeing some of the higher fireworks, or even just a portion of the globe then you're not really experiencing Illuminations, IMHO.

 

[Bob P]

No, not true. We just got back from the Dolphin. Saw Illuminations including part of the globe (12th floor suite) AND part of Fantasmic (not too much of that but don't care) every night. It was beautiful, as we're too tired to stay for that most nights. At the Dolphin, they usually reserve those rooms for higher starwood members or you pay for "Epcot view". Ours was an upgrade as we have gold membership.

I'm not trying to be difficult, but I said you can not see it "clearly" from the hotels. You said in your post you could see "part of the globe." I guess we just have different definitions of "clearly."

 

[Mkrop]

Maybe so, but the vast majority (I'd estimate 95% or higher) of the rooms in those resorts will not be able to see the globe at all, and even fewer will be able to see any part of Fantasmic, as MGM is slightly further away.

The best bet to really see it, hear it, and fully experience Illuminations is to go inside EPCOT. There's so much going on inside that the fireworks seem like almost an afterthought to those watching from inside the park.

If you're just seeing some of the higher fireworks, or even just a portion of the globe then you're not really experiencing Illuminations, IMHO.

We have seen Illumnations in Epcot. The reason for my question was that when we went to WDW in the spring DS4 konked out early one night and it was nice when the rest of us could go out on the balcony and watch Wishes from the CR.

We are thinking of going again in spring 2008 and we were considering the Epcot resorts bc of cost and bc of ease of getting to the parks. DH is anti buses so if we can get to the most places w/o a bus the better. So I mentioned that they were walking distance or boat to MGM and Epcot. And he asked if we could see fireworks from Illuminations from any of those rooms like we did at CR. He thinks it would be nice to have if the same scenario happen and we were stuck in the room one evening. So even though we cant see the ball and stuff from most of the views, I think he would be ok if we can see some fireworks.

 

[AKLRULZ]

If you're just seeing some of the higher fireworks, or even just a portion of the globe then you're not really experiencing Illuminations, IMHO.

Agree, but having seen it probably no less than 50 times, it's a treat to just sit on the balcony and see part of the show. Just another layer to enjoy!