Best place for 4th of July fireworks on property?

[cousininmiami]

Hey there, I need some suggestions... we are going to WDW for 9 days Jul 2-11, but not planning to be at a park on the 4th... it's too crowded. So where is the best place to catch fireworks? On the beach at Grand Floridian, or Polynesian maybe? I want to stay on property.

[Jacca5660]

EPCOT! Get there early, they go over capacity about noon. They bring out the Armageddon barge, they only do this on the 4th and New Years Eve.

[boilerbabe]

I've never been there on the 4th, but I can imagine the crowds are insane! I would say the Poly, that's one of our fav. spots to watch Wishes!!! I would just say get there early to reserve your spot!

[theBIGyowski]

Yeah...I would say the Poly as well. If you could get a spot on the beach that would be ideal. Will they let you bring chairs out there? I thought about doing this to watch Wishes while I am down there later this year. Only downside is that I have never seen Wishes from inside the MK...which is crazy...so I'll want to do that this time around. Who knows...we might catch it a second time during our trip so we can watch from the Poly beaches.

[cousininmiami]

Can you actually see Wishes from the Poly beach? If we can't bring chairs, then a blanket might do!

[theBIGyowski]

Here is a YouTube video of what it looks like:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uO30P4mL7XM

[boilerbabe]

cousininmiami, the Poly is an excellent spot to view Wishes! They also pipe in the music so you can hear what the people in MK hear! It's wonderful!

[Amy]

EPCOT! Get there early, they go over capacity about noon. They bring out the Armageddon barge, they only do this on the 4th and New Years Eve.

That might be worth braving the crowds to see the armageddon barge!

[Mr.ToadWildRider]

Well I can't speak for from outside the parks but I'm from Boston and we're pretty proud of our 4th of July fireworks but I have to say we were at MGM for the 4th in 2006 and while the show as a whole paled in comparison to the Esplanade (Boston), their finale was the most insane 5 seconds of pyrotechnics I have ever seen. It looked like someone blew up a small sun right over our heads. It was brighter at 9/10 pm (I don't remember other than being in line for the late Fantasmic show when they did it) than it was at 12 noon in Florida in July.

[NaCler]

What about one of the EPCOT resorts? If you get park view on Swan or Dolphin wouldn't those be an excellent view of Illuminations? Has anyone stayed there and would know???

[theBIGyowski]

What about one of the EPCOT resorts? If you get park view on Swan or Dolphin wouldn't those be an excellent view of Illuminations? Has anyone stayed there and would know???

That's a good question. I wonder though how much you would see because a lot of the Illuminations fireworks and effects are done right on top of the water.

[cousininmiami]

Here is a YouTube video of what it looks like:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uO30P4mL7XM

Wow, thank you so much! Just watched the You Tube video and this is for sure what we will do! We just really don't want to be at an over capacity park on the 4th and this will work to see the fireworks. Although the Armageddon barge sounds like an over the top fun time at EPCOT!

[Len90]

cousininmiami: just out of curiosity which resort are you staying at. This is really important since there is a lot of traffic around Downtown Disney on the 4th of July.

My suggestion to you is to do this: On July 3rd go to the Magic Kingdom. They will be running their 4th of July fireworks preview show on the 3rd. It is the same thing as the show on the 4th. On the 4th of July go to EPCOT and watch Illuminations. The Armageddon barge is just amazing. We did this exact thing last year when our vacation was the 3-11. MK is not too bad on July 3, but it will be slightly busier than normal (typical of summer crowds). You should have no issues with capacity. EPCOT has a very large capacity and they do deal with the crowds very well. On July 4th they even open up the Millenium Pavilion restrooms. As for viewing locations, I would suggest standing on the Tomorrowland Bridge in MK since it will offer you the ability to see fireworks over Tomorrowland and skewed off to the side of the castle. The best part about this location is that after the show you will be able to exit through some backstage areas which is really amazing to see. In EPCOT make sure you stand someplace where you can see the American Pavilion. During the ending there will be fireworks launching from the Armageddon barge and someplace behind the American Pavilion. As for the great escape following fireworks, I left through the International Gateway and they had the Friendships all lined up ready to load and go unlike after Illuminations on a normal night.

Crowds last year were nothing like what people are posting here. On July 3 (after flying in and feasting at O'hana) we got to the park at 8:30PM and they were not in any major phase closing. On July 4, we got to EPCOT in the early afternoon with no issues. I had to run back our room at the Yacht Club and did ask about the capacity situation before leaving the park. I was told they were still WAY under capacity and there were no signs of them reaching it for the 4th of July. The crowds are not really that bad on the 4th of July. Some of the attractions will have wait times that are a few minutes longer than usual, but EPCOT is not bad at all for 4th of July.

IF you don't want to go to a park, you can hang around Downtown Disney for a special fireworks there. However, crowds are WORSE over there and Disney does not have the capacity to handle them at all. It was the only time I saw the FHP doing traffic at WDW.

I hope this helps you out with all your planning.

[cousininmiami]

Hmmmmmm, thank Len. Love your ideas! Since we have annual passes anyways, we just might try your MK on Sat and EPCOT on Sun. I will for sure report back about the crowds! As a Floridian from Miami, we don't normally go to WDW during Easter, the 4th of July, and Christmas week, but my son is playing in the big Salute to Baseball tournament July 2 - 10. So we have to go! He is getting so big, his age group gets to play on the big field where the Atlanta Braves have their spring training games! I can't wait to hear his name announced and see his name on the big screen! All of his games will be in the mornings, so we will have the balance of every day to park it! Hopefully his team comes back home with the championship! As for where we are staying, the whole team is at the All Star Sports with all the teams and families in the tournament.

[Jacca5660]

Hmmmmmm, thank Len. Love your ideas! Since we have annual passes anyways, we just might try your MK on Sat and EPCOT on Sun. I will for sure report back about the crowds! As a Floridian from Miami, we don't normally go to WDW during Easter, the 4th of July, and Christmas week, but my son is playing in the big Salute to Baseball tournament July 2 - 10. So we have to go! He is getting so big, his age group gets to play on the big field where the Atlanta Braves have their spring training games! I can't wait to hear his name announced and see his name on the big screen! All of his games will be in the mornings, so we will have the balance of every day to park it! Hopefully his team comes back home with the championship! As for where we are staying, the whole team is at the All Star Sports with all the teams and families in the tournament.

GOOD LUCK to your son and his team!! Enjoy, they do grow up sooo very fast! ;+>