Wwyd-MK wishes or Narcoosse

[lisa rios]

hey guys! I have q trip planned for thanksgiving week. We arrive to Orlando at 6pm sat nov 18. I have a dinner ressie for narcoosse we wanted to watch wishes there. Now I am thinking of skipping dinner and going to MK to see the fireworks and nighttime activities there. (We will be in MK another full day but have dinner ressies for BOG. Would it be too tight in time to get to MK at 8pm? They close at 11 that day. What would you do ?

 

[mickeyfanachey1999]

If I had an AP I would go to MK for the night. If not, I would have dinner, see the fireworks and/or do some resort hopping.

 

[DisneyWishes14]

I would go to MK. There is nothing like seeing Wishes from inside the park.

 

[DisneyWorldbuff]

November 18th is actually a Friday. Don't know if the calendar for park/show times on that day is different for the things you are trying to do.
I don't think you can go wrong wit heather of your choices though! Hope you have a great trip.

 

[lisa rios]

November 18th is actually a Friday. Don't know if the calendar for park/show times on that day is different for the things you are trying to do.
I don't think you can go wrong wit heather of your choices though! Hope you have a great trip.

Ops i meant to say nov 19.

 

[lisa rios]

If I had an AP I would go to MK for the night. If not, I would have dinner, see the fireworks and/or do some resort hopping.

I dont have an ap. I dont have tickets for that day in fact but i called Disney and it would Cost about 15 bucks to upgrade for the extra day so its not bad. We probably would even squeeze a ride or two that night.

 

[figment_jii]

That's a tough call because Narcoossee's is my favorite restaurant in WDW. The food is amazing and the service is outstanding. It has a pretty good view of Wishes from the veranda (they pipe in the music), but it's not as immersive as when you are in the parks. In my experience, dinner takes between 1.5 and 2.0 hours, depending on the number of courses and how fast you eat. So if your reservation is for 8:00 pm, I highly doubt you'd make to the MK in time for fireworks at 10:00 pm.

 

[lisa rios]

That's a tough call because Narcoossee's is my favorite restaurant in WDW. The food is amazing and the service is outstanding. It has a pretty good view of Wishes from the veranda (they pipe in the music), but it's not as immersive as when you are in the parks. In my experience, dinner takes between 1.5 and 2.0 hours, depending on the number of courses and how fast you eat. So if your reservation is for 8:00 pm, I highly doubt you'd make to the MK in time for fireworks at 10:00 pm.

Yea i wouldnt ve able to do both, it would Either be eat at narcossee and watch wishes from these or go to MK and watch them there.

 

[DBWDW]

Putting aside that you're going during one of the busiest weeks of the year...

Personally, I'd take the money you're spending at Narcoose and see if you can get a dessert party reservation instead. That will ensure you have excellent viewing, without being jammed in or shuffling to find a spot among the horde. I haven't searched the board to others' experience, but our experience viewing the fireworks from Narcoose is that it's, eh... ok, but you'll likely be disappointed. You won't be able to see much from inside, so everyone goes out on the porch. You're at a distance and an odd angle, so your view of the fireworks is off a good bit. What's more, the viewing deck is not much different of a view than the boat landing, which the price for it is included with your stay . Meanwhile, the viewing location (get the terrace GREEN party option) for the Wishes dessert party is the best, full stop (from someone who's seen the show probably 30 times from all over the park. If you can't get a dessert party, if you can get anywhere near the front rail or back of the walkway behind the viewing area early, you'll have a good view. For my money, the food is not worth the price at Narcoose, and the view isn't worth it either.

DPT: if you can't get a reservation, call dining reservations an hour before the party begins to see if there are any openings. Occasionally, people cancel at the last minute and you can pick up the vacancy. Have gotten lucky this way twice now. Just be standing near a guest relations building when you do, so you can walk right in and get your confirmation, which you will need since they probably won't have your name on the check in sheet at the terrace.

 

[figment_jii]

Yea i wouldnt ve able to do both, it would Either be eat at narcossee and watch wishes from these or go to MK and watch them there.

Have you seen Wishes before?

For my family, we'd opt to have dinner at Narcoossee's, but we've seen Wishes before and while a fun show, it isn't my family's favorite fireworks show, so it's low on the evening entertainment priority list. If you've never seen Wishes and this is your only chance, I'd probably go to MK and see the show.

If you do opt to go to Narcoossee's, I would plan to go out to the veranda (I'm not a huge fan of watching fireworks through glass, so we go outside when we eat at Narcoossee's or California Grill). This is the view:

 

[lisa rios]

Putting aside that you're going during one of the busiest weeks of the year...

Personally, I'd take the money you're spending at Narcoose and see if you can get a dessert party reservation instead. That will ensure you have excellent viewing, without being jammed in or shuffling to find a spot among the horde. I haven't searched the board to others' experience, but our experience viewing the fireworks from Narcoose is that it's, eh... ok, but you'll likely be disappointed. You won't be able to see much from inside, so everyone goes out on the porch. You're at a distance and an odd angle, so your view of the fireworks is off a good bit. What's more, the viewing deck is not much different of a view than the boat landing, which the price for it is included with your stay . Meanwhile, the viewing location (get the terrace GREEN party option) for the Wishes dessert party is the best, full stop (from someone who's seen the show probably 30 times from all over the park. If you can't get a dessert party, if you can get anywhere near the front rail or back of the walkway behind the viewing area early, you'll have a good view. For my money, the food is not worth the price at Narcoose, and the view isn't worth it either.

DPT: if you can't get a reservation, call dining reservations an hour before the party begins to see if there are any openings. Occasionally, people cancel at the last minute and you can pick up the vacancy. Have gotten lucky this way twice now. Just be standing near a guest relations building when you do, so you can walk right in and get your confirmation, which you will need since they probably won't have your name on the check in sheet at the terrace.

I chose the worst week... I didn't even think about it when planning my trip until it was too late. The worse part is that it is just my husband and I so I could have chosen literally any other week in the year..but o well. I actually called and they did have dessert party slots available as of this morning. I will try to call again to see if they still do! Thanks for the tips.

 

[lisa rios]

Have you seen Wishes before?

For my family, we'd opt to have dinner at Narcoossee's, but we've seen Wishes before and while a fun show, it isn't my family's favorite fireworks show, so it's low on the evening entertainment priority list. If you've never seen Wishes and this is your only chance, I'd probably go to MK and see the show.

If you do opt to go to Narcoossee's, I would plan to go out to the veranda (I'm not a huge fan of watching fireworks through glass, so we go outside when we eat at Narcoossee's or California Grill). This is the view:

I haven't seen wishes. Last time I was in MK or Disney itself was about 2003-2004 and my husband has never been. We were planning to rope drop on our full day to get rides in but I also didn't want our first time in MK to be running to beat the crowd to a ride. This would be the perf opportunity to just look around and watch the fireworks. Plus I had a BOG dining ressie (I've heard it's not great but It is one of the places I most want to visit) for our full day that I was thinking about giving up because I wanted to see the night time entertainment (also on my list of must dos). we will for sure do MK.

 

[DBWDW]

OH! If this is your first time seeing Wishes, you have to do it in the park. The show has panorama effects that are staged for viewing from in front of the castle and up main street. They're meant to be immersive and lose the awe factor significantly at a distance. If there's a silver lining to your week choice, it's that in past years they've extended Wishes by adding an encore holiday song with extra red and green fireworks. Illuminations at EPCOT does the same thing. Don't forget to find a spot for Wishes early (if you don't get dessert party res); for one, you can pick your spot vs your spot picking you, and for two, there is a new pre-show projection that you cannot see very well from the resort viewing spots outside the park.

ps: seconding w/Figment re: the California Grill. It has the best experience outside of the park. It's not the best viewing location, but is better than you'd expect and it's definitely a memorable experience to watch the show from the roof of the contemporary. Bonus: the food is excellent.

 

[mom mom]

Also Saturday Nov. 19th Magic Kingdom has EMH and is open until 1am I believe so you may be able to do more rides after Wishes than you anticipated.

 

[lisa rios]

Also Saturday Nov. 19th Magic Kingdom has EMH and is open until 1am I believe so you may be able to do more rides after Wishes than you anticipated.

Not staying on site

 

[jenilynn]

FWIW I went to MK and Narcoossee's for our anniversary this past week and I would pick Narcoosee's. He hadn't been to Disney before and I hadn't been to World in 15 years. Granted we did watch Wishes from behind the castle by the carousel on Wednesday and watched Hallowishes from Narcoossee's on Thursday I felt the overall experience at Narcoossee's was well worth it. The service was excellent, the food was fantastic and I had a beautiful view of the castle from my seat though we chose to go outside to view the fireworks. I agree with the poster who said watching them from the dock is also a great spot.

 

[DBWDW]

If it helps, this is your view from Narcoosee's:

This is your view from the viewing green (where the buildings on main street end):

And this the view from behind the castle:

Think of it like a concert. The castle is center stage. The courtyard in front of the castle is a mosh pit (almost literally, if we're being honest). The outer ring and main street are the floor seats. Narcoosee's is a VIP lounge sort of in the back of the arena. The Poly beach is the far end zone and California Grill is a skybox. And behind the castle is like sitting with the roadies. It remains business as usual in Fantasyland throughout the performance; they even leave all the lights on. The show is staged for the middle of main street.

 

[Monki]

Some people can leave Disney without seeing Wishes and be OK. For me, if I don't see Wishes, standing somewhere approximate to the hub, before we leave Disney, I am not happy. I always say Wishes is the one thing I must see. Tinkerbell must fly overhead before my vacation is over. I tear up everytime. I am a Disney Nerd. LOL

I have never been to Narcooses, I have heard great things. If you have seen Wishes before inside the park, sounds like a great option to see it while or after dinner. Whichever you choose, I hope you have a wonderful time!

 

[Grand Admiral]

See Wishes from inside the park. I was unimpressed with Narcoosee's. I've had better seafood for less money at the Oceanaire at home. Spend your fancy dinner money at Artist Point. We ate there on Friday and it was excellent. The mushroom bisque is amazing.