Will we regret missing Wishes and a night in MK?

[disneydreamer23]

Do not skip Wishes. IMO: Wishes is more important to see than Illuminations. If you're worried about getting back late consider watching from the beginning of Main Street. Stand near the train station. It's not the best view, but it's better than missing it completely. This will put you in front of thousands of people who will be exiting alongside you.

We are not night time people...early to bed suits us very well.

We are staying at an Epcot resort, so we are planning on seeing Illuminations one night and Fantamic one night. Since we can walk back to our resort and they are both an hour earlier than Wishes...I think we can handle them.

I can't imagine staying in MK until after Wishes (at 10:00) and then dealing with getting back to our resort. But i hope we don't regret it!

It's me, DH and DD9.

Thoughts?

 

[Babe the Blue Ox]

We are not night time people...early to bed suits us very well.

We are staying at an Epcot resort, so we are planning on seeing Illuminations one night and Fantamic one night. Since we can walk back to our resort and they are both an hour earlier than Wishes...I think we can handle them.

I can't imagine staying in MK until after Wishes (at 10:00) and then dealing with getting back to our resort. But i hope we don't regret it!

It's me, DH and DD9.

Thoughts?

We're night owls, and we count on families like yours leaving early so that we can enjoy lower crowd levels in the evenings. But in this case, I can't imagine going to Disney and not giving my daughters the opportunity to see Wishes. I do think you will regret it.

 

[martikus]

I will be the lone naysayer...don't worry if
You miss it. we find the way we toured pre-kids Is so different with DS. He is always awake by 6am no matter the bedtime so we go and enjoy early mornings at park and return to room about 4pm for day. It means no evening shows for us, but we are
Rested And enjoying each day. We figure we will see evening shows when DS is a teen and finally embraces the art of
Sleeping in.

We haven't regretted missing evening in any of our 3 Visits. IT works for us.

 

[Mouse of Mystery]

Since no one has answered your question, I will give you the answer you seek: Don't miss Wishes!

Go back to your room at mid day and take a nap, sleep in the next morning if you must, but do not miss the amazing light show, beloved characters, and fireworks above one of the most famous icons in the entire world. The Magic Kingdom at night is, well... magical!

 

[lllGurulll]

We make it a point to see Wishes and Illuminations one time on each trip. I don't bother with Fantasmic though. Too much of a zoo for me.

 

[DOOM1001]

All the nighttime shows are a major part of a Disney trip,not seeing one is just wrong!!

 

[DOOM1001]

We make it a point to see Wishes and Illuminations one time on each trip. I don't bother with Fantasmic though. Too much of a zoo for me.

Wishes and Illuminations are clearly the top 2,some people have Wishes as their favorite and some have Illuminations,a smaller minority has Fantasmic but if you've never seen it it's also a must do,it might be your favorite.

 

[lllGurulll]

All the nighttime shows are a major part of a Disney trip,not seeing one is just wrong!!

Matter of opinion of course. I like that with Wishes and Illuminations you don't have to scope out a spot 2 hours ahead of time if you don't want to. We generally just work our way to a decent view 20 minutes prior. You can't do that with Fantasmic.

 

[lllGurulll]

Wishes and Illuminations are clearly the top 2,some people have Wishes as their favorite and some have Illuminations,a smaller minority has Fantasmic but if you've never seen it it's also a must do,it might be your favorite.

Saw it on Youtube and showed the kids as well. They all agreed it wasn't something they wanted to spend 2 hours of prime park touring doing.

Backstory. We tried to do it in 2008 and showed up nearly 45 minutes early for a 7pm show and there wasn't a seat to be had. We were clear in the back at standing room only and the kids were not going to be able to see anything. They asked if we could leave to ride rides. I obliged. Never even bothered to try again due to what I said in the above post.

 

[Mouse of Mystery]

Fantasmic is in need of a refresh, in my opinion. I loved it when I first saw it, but so many things get broken from time to time and it just doesn't look as sharp as its DL counterpart (should be no surprise there).

Having said that... we'll probably still drop everything and spend a couple of hours to see it. A boat full of characters and sorcerer Mickey just tug at our heartstrings.

 

[Ashley Christensen]

I understand the late issue; it's way too late for our kids too!

 

[perkinsrose]

OP, I am with you. I have seen Wishes many times and love it. We are an early morning family and enjoy the convenience of the Epcot area resorts and walking "home" at night.

A trip or two, we have (gasp) skipped the late night chaos of walking out of MK after fireworks and getting back to resort.
I did miss it esp. seeing Tinker Bell's flight... maybe next trip we will sacrifice the sleep.

I think Wishes, the Electrical Parade and TinkerBell ARE a must-see --at least once, but we were able to skip it without too much disappointment.

 

[Tonka's Skipper]

I think you will be missing a wonderful fireworks show and the Magic Kingdom is just that at night magical!

I would suggest trying to see them 1 night.

Have a wonderful vacation.

AKK

 

[kaetra]

You have to do it once. Bring tissues.

 

[nancipants]

Don't miss Wishes.

Leave during the second Main Street Electrical Parade. If you have a car, drive to the TTC instead of taking a bus. I'm a local and never get stuck in huge crowds/traffic when I do it this way. Yeah, you'll be back at your resort late, but you can sleep in the next day.

 

[Hisgirl]

We are also early to bed folks and had never seen wishes. After seeing SO many folks mention it, last year we checked it out...with a fast pass to boot so we could sit in the nice area. WOW!!! I was STUNNED at how incredible, fascinating, innovative, totally unexpected, this night time celebration turned out to be!
We've been to Illuminations multiple times and honestly, the old show was SO MUCH BETTER. We went to it last year and left saying, "won't be doing that again!" But wishes....wouldn't miss it for all the tea in china!

 

[Babe the Blue Ox]

Matter of opinion of course. I like that with Wishes and Illuminations you don't have to scope out a spot 2 hours ahead of time if you don't want to. We generally just work our way to a decent view 20 minutes prior. You can't do that with Fantasmic.

That's not necessarily true. We always go during the summer when there are 2 shows. It's been years since I've see the theater much more than half full or so for the late show.

We never show up more than 10 minutes before showtime.

 

[Chitownpeeps91]

Wishes was honestly out Worst experience last week. With no fast pass plus for it there was honestly no where to watch it.

Rude workers, way over crowding. We kept trying to find a spot. Unless we got a spot an hour and a half a head of time it was tough to see. This was according to the non rude worker who finally tried to help us.

I say you are fine with skipping it. Yes fireworks over the castle are cool but the show was not very long and the crowds were not worth it to us.

We finally saw a bit through the trees. Fast pass plus is taking many of the decent spots.

You should do what works best for your family and not feel pressured to do it all.

 

[butterfly71076]

We are not night time people...early to bed suits us very well.

We are staying at an Epcot resort, so we are planning on seeing Illuminations one night and Fantamic one night. Since we can walk back to our resort and they are both an hour earlier than Wishes...I think we can handle them.

I can't imagine staying in MK until after Wishes (at 10:00) and then dealing with getting back to our resort. But i hope we don't regret it!

It's me, DH and DD9.

Thoughts?

Without reading the entire thread:

You will regret not seeing Wishes at least once. It is one of the most beautiful nightly fireworks displays we have ever seen. For us, Fantasmic is a must see at least once also. Illuminations, while good, is not one we mind missing. Maybe try going to the park later that day and sleeping in the next morning.

 

[Greenfield1984]

We skip Wishes. Yes, it's a great show and when we do watch it it usually makes me cry, but since we've had kids we just can't do it anymore. It's too late to keep our little ones out (especially since they don't particularly enjoy the loud fireworks), and I absolutely cannot stand being pushed and prodded and run over while waiting to see the show and then trying to exit the park. To us it's just not worth it. When our kids are older we'll probably start scheduling it in again.