Why are the fireworks so darn late?

[rebekahw]

Walt Disney wanted the fireworks to be "a kiss goodnight" for his guests so they are always at the end of the night

 

[Jadyreen1282]

Walt Disney wanted the fireworks to be "a kiss goodnight" for his guests so they are always at the end of the night

That's the beginning of ours. Lots to do outside the parks after wishes.

 

[MermaidMommy]

Well, last week Disney did move up Holiday Wishes from 9pm to 8pm, and moved MSEP from 10:15 to 9:30 for part of December, so, while moving up fireworks time is unusual, it's not unprecedented. It's surprising to see fireworks at 8pm on nights when the park is open until midnight.

 

[kiramay]

I hear you! We skipped fireworks our first trip and missed Wishes last year because it was at 10. This year the kids are older so I'm planning to stay for Wishes one night and sleeping in the next morning. It's understandably frustrating though when the times fluctuate between 8, 9, and 10 pm.

 

[svecchitto]

Last year our daughter couldn't hang and passed out in the stroller. We still stayed and watched wishes. Now my daughter is a night owl but with waking early and such I'm not sure how it would or is going to go for us. I think your best bet is to do like others have said and sleep in plan a good nap and try for it. The worst possible situation is you have to leave with some cranky kids (and heck cranky adults too) but I would try my best to see it.

 

[thr33boys]

Any chance that your parents can stay with your daughter while you and DH stay later to watch the fireworks?

 

[Aliceacc]

Could you tag team? One (or some of)the adults see Wishes on Tuesday, the rest on Wednesday?

 

[Micca]

They schedule them late such that DW can look out of our resort window and exclaim "Oh Wow" while I'm already conked out.

 

[Nancyg56]

We always planned one Wishes and one Illuminations night. I figured if we made it fine, if not, there would be a next time. I usually kept those evenings towards the back 1/2 of the trip because by then, my DGD would have gotten a little used to the excitement so all her adrenaline had evened out, and she was taking an afternoon nap, along with everyone else, i might add! LOL (but me, I hang at the pool with a cocktail and a book)

I would build them in, planning on a later arrival and perhaps dinner in the park to give a break.

 

[nkereina]

The week of 11/9 coincides with Jersey Week and Veteran's Day, as well as the last week of Food & Wine. It's considered a relatively busy week and because of that, park hours are extended. When they extend park hours, they push back Wishes.

 

[peacefulmama]

We just skipped the, last time we went with little ones. With all the walking and activities we did all day there were times that the kids fell asleep at dinner and none of them made it past 8pm any night we were there. I'm not confident that they'll make it to fireworks this fall and they'll be 6 and 8 years old; but making rope drop is more important to me when it's crowded and my kids don't sleep in even when they're exhausted so pushing back the start of the day one day doesn't really work.

 

[jacksgirl]

Sorry. No help here. We are night owls, so we don't really get started good until around 10 or 11 in the morning, and we're usually one of the last ones to leave the parks at night. My parents will be going with us too. They are night owls too, so I hope they can hang. But if not, I have told them to just take it at their own pace -- go with us when they need to, rest when they need to, etc.

 

[Catvondita]

I wouldn't really consider 10PM late but I guess if you have youngin's it can be. I've never seen 8PM Fireworks and I think they are pretty rare. Wishes really should not be missed I would say the best thing would be to go out early in the morning, have your kids come back to the hotel for an extra long nap and come back to MK for the show.

 

[PurpleKomodo]

I agree with what others have said. Play it by ear. You kiddo may surprise you. Mine sure did. He is the same age as yours and we maintain a pretty tight 8pm bedtime at home. Usually if we try to do something that is late, he turns into a little monster (witching hour). But at Disney, he was so engaged and excited that he made it until the fireworks for Wishes and the Frozen Fireworks at DHS. We tried not to do 2 late nights in a row and made sure he got a nap each day, but he really handled it all like a pro and I was genuinely surprised.

 

[PirateD]

Recently, Disney seems to be all over with their schedule for Wishes and MSEP. Surprisingly they have moved Holiday Wishes to 8:00 during the weeks of Christmas and NYE and MSEP is slotted for 9:30. Several Dis members reported getting notifications of the change in time for the Wishes Dessert Party which alerted me to the change. Wishes is still scheduled at 10:00 and MSEP at 9:00 earlier in the month.

For Thanksgiving week, MSEP has been moved to 8:00 with Wishes at 9:00. Other days in November show MSEP at 7:00 and Wishes at 8:00 except for the week that the OP is going.

Just glancing at the March calendar (which happens to be on the same webpage for the updates on EasyWDW, it shows MSEP at 7:00 and Wishes at 8:00 for the first week and then the rest of the month shows either MSEP at 9:00 with Wishes at 10:00 or MSEP at 10:00 and Wishes at 9:00.

I'm not sure that I can find a pattern to their current schedule. It used to seem like if the park was going to be more crowded and staying open later, than Wishes would be later, but that doesn't fit with Wishes being changed to 8:00 during the busy Holiday season. Can anyone else make sense of it? I'm just curious and happen to be watching all of the updates for December closely since we are going during the week of Christmas.

I guess with all of the changes, it's possible for them to move Wishes up for your week, OP. I would keep an eye on the schedule. Good luck!