Originally Posted By markcanada I'll admit, we're not the "sit in one spot for an hour and wait for fireworks type". Must be from being Canadian - if you sit too long in one spot in November, you freeze to death -- have to keep moving, you know. So, anyway, want to catch fireworks then 10:30 Fantasmic on Friday, Nov. 4th. What would be the best alternate spot to watch fireworks from, which would then allow us to move into a good position for the late Fantasmic show. Someone suggested that from in front of a Small World is a good spot? And if so, I'm wondering, rather than fight the postfirework crowds, is it possible to hop onto the train from either Fantasyland or Tomorrowland to New Orleans square, and then move eastward towards the Rivers of America for a semidecent Fantasmic spot? What do you think?
Originally Posted By MsLindanne Regarding Fantasmic, I guess you didn't want to make those "special" reservations along the river or in the balcony huh? They are rather expensive, but you get great seats and of course lots of little treats to eat. Now I am trying to picture sitting in front of Small World to see Fantasmic and it isn't quite happening. If you want to see the "Fireworks", that would be a great view, but not Fantasmic. You need to be along the river. I've always gone to the early show, and people start sitting down as early as 5:00pm, this is of course during the summer. So for the later show, I bet people start finding a spot as soon as the first show ends. We found a spot right in front of the Golden Horseshoe Saloon and we had a pretty good view and it wasn't to bad getting out of there when it was over. Anyone else have any ideas?? Good Luck and enjoy!! ºoº
Originally Posted By markcanada Party of six times $56 times conversion Cdn to US dollars would have been a price of about $375. I was tempted. I understand that we can't see Fantasmic from Small World, I was just trying to figure out a way to get to the other side of the park by going around the park via the railroad, instead of trying to go through the crowds. Is this possible?
Originally Posted By RangerPooh It *might* be, depending on how fast you can make it to the train and how long it takes the train to arrive in NOS. The challenging part would be trying to get a spot to view Fantasmic from. As this late space is very limited and hard to come by. Have you considered catching the first show of fantasmic and then watching the fireworks from there? The view isn't as good but the music is piped in.
Originally Posted By markcanada The guide books tend to indicate that the second showing of Fantasmic tends to have a smaller crowd, so I thought we'd have better chances of getting a decent view for the second show. I just thought that if everyone in the park is near the hub and main street anyways for fireworks, and the first show of Fantasmic crowd is probably heading south and east towards the hub and exits, we might be able to get behind the crowds using the train, rather than trying to walk against the people flow, which would be pretty well impossible.
Originally Posted By Dalia3001 I had the same problem when I was at Disneyland on Friday, 10/14. Unfortunately, I don't have a good solution to offer. We had Fantasmic Balcony Reservations for the 10:30 show, and wanted to watch the fireworks from the hub before that. We were advised NOT to do so by the staff at the concierge lounge at the DL hotel, they thought that with the crowds it might be impossible for us to make it to NOS from the hub after the fireworks in time! This scared us enough that we gave up on the idea of watching the fireworks at all. I was told that they close the train down during the fireworks, and that it doesn't start running again until 15 mins after they're over, making it not a great way to get to NOS after the fireworks. I thought it would be smart to watch the fireworks from the trainstation, which is supposed to be good, then take the train to NOS. But what with the 15 minute delay, I don't think that would work. Hope that helps, sorry I don't have any really great ideas. I would love to hear someone come up with a good solution to the problem though...
Originally Posted By markcanada Thanks for the info. I'm wondering, though, even with the crowds, if even waiting the 15 minutes it still might be a faster way to get to the other side of the park, then trying to go through the middle. Don't they try to make the crowd move counter clockwise around the castle, making it impossible to move against the flow if you want to come from the northeast (behind Big Thunder)?
Originally Posted By MsLindanne We were there on 7-17 and the crowds were unbelieveable. Then we were there over Labor Day weekend, and the crowds weren't that bad. I do remember though, after the fireworks/Fantasmic, the cast members really urge you to go in one direction and it is never the way you want to go. I even remember them closing the Castle so you couldn't even go thru it prior/during/after the fireworks. All you can do is try I guess. Since it is off season now, hopefully it will be a little easier walking around the park. Otherwise hold on tight and go for it!
Originally Posted By Dalia3001 well, i think the fireworks start at 9:30 or 9:25 or something, and last for around 20 minutes. so even if we are very generous in estimating when they might finish, that makes the end time 9:45 at the earliest. add 15 minutes and it's allready 10, then it takes allmost 25 minutes to do a round trip on the train, so fantasy land to NOS would be about 15, again being very optomistic, which would get you to NOS with only 15 minutes to spare. And thats assuming there is a train there, ready to go after the 15 minute delay, it might take the train another 15 minute to even get there!
Originally Posted By Dalia3001 Another note, I really wanted to see both shows, then gave up on the fireworks and just waited around for my Fantasmic reservations. Even without fighting the crowds trying to get prime viewing for the show, I was pretty tired from a crowded day at the parks and a long week of fun. I didn't enjoy the show as much as i might have the earlier show, I think i tried to cram to much into my last day, even trying very hard to be conservative. Just being in the park with that many people was exhausting for me, and i ended up wishing that i had just gone back to the hotel and calmly watched the fireworks from the concierge lounge, a little. We still had tons of fun, but in my great zeal to experience everything, i ran out of energy a little and was a bit to sleepy to really enjoy fantasmic. if someone had told me that before going i would have ignored them though, LOL. I sort of hold the opinion that if you are not the type of person who wants to wait 2 hours to see a show, and who thinks the idea of watching fireworks in a mob of people is a little scarey, there is not much point to being in the park while they are going on then, because even if you are trying to aviod the crowds, they will still be there and they are exhausting!! Just my opinion, I'm sure others have found a way to deal with it all...
Originally Posted By Dabob2 I would think watching the fireworks at Small World - let's say they end at 9:45.... then walking by StorybookLand and Dumbo, west to the Big Thunder Trail should get you by the river in time for the 10:30 show. The only thing is I know they close part of FaL for the fireworks; the part closest to the castle, but I'm not sure how far north that extends. If it doesn't extend as far north as Dumbo, you ought to be able to go that route, no? I'm sure locals will know better than I how much of FaL they close during the fireworks.
Originally Posted By MsLindanne I totally agree Dalia3001...sometimes going to the park, as much fun as it is, is totally exhausting. I don't like crowds, but we always go during the summer, so that's something we've learned to deal with. We saw the early show of Fantasmic with ressies along the River so it was great being able to get in there without waiting but a few minutes. Then just sat in our chairs and waited for the fireworks to start. Afterward....we just started toward the exit and got the "hey" out of there. By the time we got back to the hotel it was about 10:30pm and I was ready to crash. We don't see Fantasmic everytime we go..but we always see the Fireworks. Just depends on how we feel. Another thought, you can plan your trip "until the cows come home" but ya just never know until you get there how things are actually going to go..lol...If you go during the peak times, be prepared for lines and crowds. That is pretty much a given. If you don't like long lines and crowds, then ya go during the off season, but when you do you might miss your favorites as they maybe out for refurbishing. Just take a couple of "patience" pills before leaving the house, you'll be fine.... ºoº
Originally Posted By markcanada Good advice. It's why I've been reading all the trip planning reports, all the good advice, etc. so that if something unexpected comes up, I'll have some ideas about how best to react and adjust.
