Fireworks..outside vs. inside the park?

[team_paz]

Hi, this is my first post (thanks in advance for reading!) but I've been addicted to this site since we started planning back in March for our upcoming very first trip to WDW! So, our family of four (DH, myself, DD5 and DS2) will be in WDW June 11-16 (staying at POP). We live in Southern Calif and have been AP at DLR on and off for the past five years, and I KNOW that in DL the crowds for Dreams in summer/christmas are absolutely beyond horrendous, literally a sea of squashed people (especially during the 50th, not that it wasn't beautiful!)...main street is insane, and after the fireworks I've spent close to an hour shuffling inch by inch to get out of the crowds and that is just too many humans stuffed together to be safe or pleasant! We usually watch the fireworks from outside the park or from some far off corner during peak season, and we just miss out on the pirates climbing the matterhorn/tinkerbell's flight/etc.

I imagine that at MK it's a similar scene after Wishes, and I am trying to get a plan going. I really don't want my DD to miss out on Tink, the music, etc., but I know that June is just that time of year at Disney and watching from inside the park might be too hard. Other than missing Tink, is watching Wishes from a resort nearly as good? Is MK's main street better suited to fireworks viewing or will it be the same crazy mob in front of the castle that I described at DL? Is there a non-main street spot that works well for any of you? If watching from a resort is really better, do any resorts at least synch the music? Like I said, we've never been to WDW and I really want to plan ahead...I'm a bit of a superplanner so I suspect I'll be posting about Spectromagic soon...any input would be appreciated and thanks again!!

Can't wait for our first trip to the "World'! :mickey:

[Queen Stephanie]

I understand your concerns regarding the crowds, so I have a suggestion for you. A lovely place to watch the fireworks is at the California Grill, which is located on the roof of the Contemporary Resort at WDW:thumbsup: Trust me, they play the music which is playing in the park and you feel like you are in MK, just not with the crowd...however, you will need a dinner reservation to get to the CG. I would recommend a dessert at the particular time of the evening. The prices are little expensive, but the atmosphere is worth it. Queen

[jodijo]

We stayed at the Poly in Nov. and watched the fireworks from the lounge outside Ohanas. In fact we were just sitting relaxing when they started to play the music. It was wonderful and not crowded. We were also able to see them from WL but they did not play the music.
Have a wonderful trip!

[team_paz]

Wow, thanks for the quick replies! So I take it MK gets just as bad!!! But that's so cool that some restaurants play the music, that would be such a surprise for DH and DD! And I almost booked a late dinner at Ohana and I took the earlier one instead...I doubt the late one is still open but I can try...these ADR's are tricky. The idea of fireworks in a comfortable setting sounds soooo good! What to do??

Anyone else try a late dinner with a two year old? Maybe with the time difference it won't matter anyway...:confused:

[team_paz]

Just wanted to say thanks again! A follow up question if anyone can help out? Considering this is our first trip, will the experience from outside the park (somewhere like Ohana/California Grill), be nearly as good as in the crowds? I mean, other than seeing Tink fly, will we miss much else?

Thanks again for any help!!

[2Epcot]

I mean, other than seeing Tink fly, will we miss much else?

Missing Tink at WDW will not be such a big deal if you've seen Tink (as I know you have) at Disneyland. The Tink fly-by at WDW is just a single line where she flies over and is gone. You will not see her fly up and down and around the castle during the fireworks show like you do at Disneyland.

[bdm@pga]

Another suggestion is to watch them from the train station...if you get there early enough...it is a great view and when they are finished..you are at the front of the park....:thumbsup:

[MNNHFLTX]

I've also watched the fireworks at Disneyland during the summer, and in my opinion the crush is not quite as bad at the Magic Kingdom display. Watching from the inside the park is amazing. I would recommend staking out a table down by the water near the Tomorrowland Noodle Station. Tink practically flies over your head at this location. Another place that we've found less crowded is to watch from behind the castle (Fantasyland). You do miss out on some of the effects that are projected onto the face of the castle, but the fireworks are literally exploding right over head here.

That said, I love watching the fireworks from a bit of a distance too. We watched them nightly from our room when we stayed at the Polynesian one year and you really got a sense of the big picture. Even if you are not staying at the Polynesian, you can go down to the Beach and watch them from there. They do pipe in the music the enhance the experience.

[King Triton]

I've always liked watching Wishes from the bridge to Tomorrowland. It isn't crowded, the view is spectacular and Tink flies right over you. This is very close to the Tomorrowland Noodle Station that Beth just mentioned. (and to add to her comments, I think the Noodle Station is usually closed by the time the fireworks start, so there's no problem hanging out there).

Anyway, the only drawback to this is that it does take awhile to navigate back down Main St. to the exit. Sometimes I'll walk thru the Main St. shops on the way out, since they're all connected.

[BelleBeauty]

My suggestion is to see the fireworks in the park if this is your first visit! Though it is similar to DLR, the WDW show is different and you have to expirience the magic of Wishes inside the park.

If you are worried about the crowds, try to scout out a seat on the train platform just before the exit - though you will have to get there early. Another thing to try is sitting in Frontier Land to watch the show, you can then hop on one last ride as the crowds die down a little while. Have you looked to see if there will be EMH the evening that you are there? If so, it splits the crowds and buses won't be too crowded after normal park hours and you can stroll for a bit then go back.

For SpectroMagic (which is my favorite), if you can get a seat on the bridge between Main Street hub and Liberty Square that is ideal, if not, get a seat on the hub just before the bridge. You will have to move to see Wishes (since there is a tree blocking your view). I've never experienced the sardine can moving by inches exit from the park - so hopefully you won't either!

[team_paz]

Thank you all so much! This is just what I needed to figure out. Now I feel like I've got a plan and we won't be standing around in the most people-mashed spot! I think we'll try for the train station, if we're too late for a spot then Tomorrowland sounds perfect too! Luckily MK is our first full day into our trip, so if we don't catch Wishes we still have an early Ohana dinner later in the week and we can watch from the beach (I tried to change the ADR for later, but it seems Ohana is a popular place and the rest of the night's booked up!). At the very least DD has seen Tink in DL, and she will see her again...that makes me feel better no matter what happens. Of course as a mom I can't help but want to at least try to make it to Wishes in the park, but either way I know she'll love it! And thanks also for the Spectromagic tip... I was just about to ask about that!

Sorry, I don't mean to sweat the small stuff! I'm just used to knowing exactly where to go and what to do at DL, and basically being the go-to Disney expert whenever my friends or family make the trip to DL. Now I'm the novice and it's kinda weird! I'm relieved to have found intercot!

[indytraveler]

Having read the posts some have mentioned that you should try to catch Wishes from the train station. If you play your cards right (depending on how much time you want to devote to this) then you watch Spectromagic from the same spot as well. Since the parade will be literally underneath you and you get to watch it go all the way down Main St. heading to the castle. Like I said I have never watched the Parade or Wishes from this spot so I don't know how long in advance you have to wait to see either. If you want less people to deal with then catch Spectromagic in Frontierland and by the time it goes by you walk towards the castle and find an opening on one of the bridges and watch Wishes.
After doing this if you can people watch for awhile maybe get a treat and relax until the crowd disperses a little. Maybe even shop your way down Main St.
Good Luck on your vacation planning.