DHS partail shutdown for Symphony in the Stars fireworks

[Goofy4TheWorld]

When I first read that DHS was going to have fireworks I thought "great, I like anything that will thin the nighttime heard at the MK."

After experiencing the fireworks at DHS last month, I have changed my mind. I was not prepared for the fact that the back half of the park would be CLOSED for 2+ hours of prep time, show time, and post-show cleanup and/or safety something-or-another. I am sure the closings were for a combination of fallout zones and minimum distance between guests and loaded shells, but good grief! The park is simply too small to be shooting fireworks if this is what it takes. When there are lots of CMs visibly patrolling these areas in orange construction vests in order to monitor pyrotechnics, something just isn't working IMHO.

So for an 8:00 show it appears to me that by 7:15 large chucks of Streets of America, The Great Movie Ride, Toy Story Mania, Voyage of the Little Mermaid, and anything else beyond the main stage (where the Hat used to be) was closed for several hours

I can't believe they close TSM for this! It was mind-boggling to me. So I assume that they are not giving out FP+ for TSM past maybe 6:15-7:15 even if the park is open until 10pm because of Star Wars fireworks!

To close my rant, I would like to know if anyone has the specifics of what actually occurs. When exactly do they halt entrance into TSM's lines, and what happens if it rains the fireworks out. I'm particularly curious as to whether or not TSM still has people exiting the ride well into the 7 o-clock hour, or if they are cutting the line off early enough to guarantee an empty building by 7:15 (which is the time I noticed the sudden lockdown of pathways).

[DisneyGiant]

I have no info to offer, just that this happened to us too - as we were trying to squeeze in another ride on Toy Story Mania around 9:00ish - we were told to come back after the fireworks show. We left instead.....

If they do this now - really - why waste a day there.......

[Goofy4TheWorld]

I have no info to offer, just that this happened to us too - as we were trying to squeeze in another ride on Toy Story Mania around 9:00ish - we were told to come back after the fireworks show. We left instead.....

If they do this now - really - why waste a day there.......

It would take a lot for me to speak ill of the home of my beloved RnRc, but this particular letdown has been a tough pill to swallow.

We found out just like you (the hard way) and since we were two adults without our kids with us, we decided to wait it out to ride TSM. It turned out to be a moving sardine can of people standing around at the Mermaid entrance waiting for them to open the flood gates.

Being at rope drop was childs play compared to that experience (of course, we will probably do it again).

[ibelieveindisneymagic]

This was our experience over the past couple of years for the "Frozen Fireworks". All of a sudden, we're walking around the park and then we're told "Please turn around, this area is now closed". So, we'd turn and then "Please turn around, this area is now closed".

Seems like a bit of a design flaw, to set off the fireworks, they have to close the back half of the park. In a park so small, with so little going on, the loss of more attractions, even for a few hours is just too much.

[ginger19]

I had no idea that they did this. It's good to know so that we don't plan to be in that part of the park late!

[Lizzy]

We were just there last weekend, let me tell you, DHS is not designed for this type of show. There is nowhere to watch that you aren't obstructed.

That being said, the shutdown of the park included almost every single food cart and stand. My daughter was crying she was so hungry but the two stands that were left open had lines that were so long the people that were in line before the show were still in line after. It was so stupid. The addition of the star wars launch bay and fireworks is not enough to make me go back to that park anytime soon.

[Goofy4TheWorld]

We were just there last weekend, let me tell you, DHS is not designed for this type of show. There is nowhere to watch that you aren't obstructed.

That being said, the shutdown of the park included almost every single food cart and stand. My daughter was crying she was so hungry but the two stands that were left open had lines that were so long the people that were in line before the show were still in line after. It was so stupid. The addition of the star wars launch bay and fireworks is not enough to make me go back to that park anytime soon.

I too was there this weekend (was at DHS during Saturday's all-day-rain) and the whole thing remains a big self-inflicted mess IMHO.

I had not even noticed the shutdown of food, but now that I think about you are right that everything was mothballed by 8pm.

After only a 5 minute delay Saturday, Disney shot the fireworks despite moderate rain and, IMHO, pretty stout winds. I was stunned that it went on, especially since Fantasmic had been cancelled an hour earlier. There was significant firework fallout in our area, my sister even got a little bit of it on her arm. Everything being shot is just too up-close to be a good show, and I hope that this doesn't become a staple at DHS.

To update my original post a little, I did see that on the Times Guide where they list attractions with special hours, it said "Toy Story Mania FP+" closed at 7pm. I still don't know it for fact, but I speculate that perhaps the MDE website doesn't give out any FP+ beyond the 6:00-7:00pm window right now. Having TSM sit idle for 90+ minutes seems to be such an incredible waste of resources for WDW management.