What nighttime entertainment would you skip?

[jacobsmommy]

We will be at WDW for six nights from May 30-June 5. It'll be me, dh, 13 yo ds, and 9yo dd. We are staying at PO Riverside (first time at a moderate)!! We for sure want to see Fantasmic and the new MK fireworks. Not sure about Illuminations or Rivers of Light. Are the Star Wars fireworks worth seeing? Would you recommend seeing any of those or skipping them? We've seen Illuminations before but the kids don't remember it. We want to make sure we spend some extra time at the resort.

 

[pitpat]

if you've seen Illuminations, may as well check out Rivers of Light instead

 

[FastPasser]

.

 

[cassie58]

You'll hear many different opinions on this I'm sure, but Illuminations is our least favorite, so would skip that. You could hop the boat over to HS if you were going to skip it, and see one of the shows there on your Epcot day. Star Wars fireworks are supposed to be very good, just want to try to get a spot early to be in front of the projection towers for a good view of everything, with Chinese Theater as the center.

Also plan to see ROL since it's new. You may want to try and get a dinner package or FP for ease of getting seats.

 

[Disney Khaleesi]

There's so many different opinions on this. For me personally, I'd skip RoL and Fantasmic. Definitely do the new MK show, the Star Wars fireworks, and Illuminations.

 

[Micca]

FYI the Star Wars show at DHS is not strictly fireworks, it's a multi-media show with some pyro added. Maybe check out some YouTube videos with the kids and make a decision based on what looks like fun?

 

[PetePanMan]

skip fantasmic

 

[disneyvoice]

I'll be honest, I always schedule all the night time shows into our itinerary and then - it never fails - we decide we don't want to waste precious time camping out at a good spot or we decide we are too tired to hang out and watch something we have seen 100 times before. That's not to say I don't think all the shows are great, I do enjoy them. Our next trip we are only really planning to watch the new MK fireworks. I watched the video for ROL and, sadly, I wasn't super thrilled by it so I'm not sure I even want to try this one.

 

[CAS239]

I'd easily skip Illuminations.

Star Wars and RoL are must see

 

[friendoffigment]

another vote to skip illuminations. find it boring

 

[VACamm]

Awwww I LOVE Illuminations. It would be hard for me to skip it!

 

[cmsb]

The Star Wars fireworks were our favorite last summer. Unfortunately, that was pre-ROL, so I can't comment on that. I would say skip Illuminations, but we have seen it at least 2 or 3 times in the last few years. We always say we are going to watch the MK fireworks, but wind up going on the rides with shorter lines instead.

 

[afinnteach]

We have skipped Illuminations and Fantastic in the past and still had amazing trips!

 

[heidijanesmith]

We skip Fantasmic every year, not our favorite nighttime show.

Illuminations is our not to be missed show of every trip.

 

[maryj11]

I would skip Fantasmic and Illuminations. Star Wars fireworks are awesome almost right up there with Wishes. Definitely see ROL.

 

[ilovebassets]

Most of them. Fantastic is good every few trips, and the Star Wars fireworks are enjoyable if you're a Star Wars fan, but most the nighttime entertainment feels like a lot of work for not a whole lot of return. For our family anyway.

 

[hooch11bear]

We only spend one day at HS. It was hard to decide what we wanted to see since Fantasmic is one of our favorites. If you are a Star Wars fan, I would say watch the Star Wars fireworks. I wanted to see them because they were new. We aren't into Star Wars so we were disappointed we didn't watch Fantasmic. I don't think I would miss ROL though. It looks amazing.
Since you are new to Riverside, I would save an evening to watch Yehaa Bob. He performs in the River Roost Lounge Wednesday through Saturday starting at 8:30. He is not to be missed. You can find videos on YouTube if you want to check him out before you go.

 

[jawa7400]

I'd easily skip Illuminations.

Star Wars and RoL are must see

We are going in late June and it doesn't show the Star Wars fireworks on the schedule. Will that show be running then? We saw it from our room in BWV last summer but would like to see it up close this trip.

 

[cmarsh31]

We had to prioritize - had them all scheduled... then huge torrential rain. Fantasmic got cut. There was NO way I was going to be there the opening weekend of ROL and not see it DS wanted all Star Wars. DH & I love Illuminations and the kids had never seen it. We watched Wishes from the Contemporary Resort (where we were staying) and then from Fantasyland, just to change it up a bit and avoid the Main St. wait & crush.

 

[CAS239]

We are going in late June and it doesn't show the Star Wars fireworks on the schedule. Will that show be running then? We saw it from our room in BWV last summer but would like to see it up close this trip.

It'll be going on. If you went prior to June 17th, 2016, this is a new show