Fireworks viewing Outside Parks

There is a viewing platform at the Contemporary on the 4th floor where Wishes is piped in. If you dine at California Grill, you can also watch them from there. The beach at the Poly is another place to see Wishes.

I'm not sure where to watch the Disney Studios fireworks from outside the park. I know there is a walkway that goes from the Epcot area hotels to the Studios but don't know if that provides good viewing of the fireworks or not.

You can also see Wishes from the TTC - especially around the Ferry dock and the music is piped over. I don't know of any place for viewing at DHS.

When my niece was 4 years old and not very fond of the "loud noise" of up close fireworks (though she loved them from a distance). We watched them from the bus area outside of the Magic Kingdom. Since the fireworks were actively happening - it was not crowded and we were the first ones in line when the bus did arrive. There is zero music piped into that area though (well at that time anyway), we could just hear the actual subdued sound of fireworks and see the ones that went high above ground.

I was actually looking for the DHS info yesterday. When you're walking toward the DHS gate there is a fork in the path that would take you to the boat. They noted the forked area as a good place to view the Star Wars FW. I'll try to find the map again.

we watch wishes from the Grand Floridian

We watched wishes from the 4th floor deck at the Contemporary last week and the music was not piped in. Actually we have watched it there several times and I don't recall hearing the music. Is it supposed to be piped in?

I know it's definitely piped in on the observation deck at California Grill and we could vaguely hear it from there last week when we were on the 4th floor, but definitely didn't sound like it was piped in for the 4th floor.

buzznwoodysmom;2487086 wrote: We watched wishes from the 4th floor deck at the Contemporary last week and the music was not piped in. Actually we have watched it there several times and I don't recall hearing the music. Is it supposed to be piped in?

I know it's definitely piped in on the observation deck at California Grill and we could vaguely hear it from there last week when we were on the 4th floor, but definitely didn't sound like it was piped in for the 4th floor.

It usually is piped in. It was working intermittently when we were there in May and they said they were working on the wiring. Hard to believe they're still working on it. The speakers were near the BLT bridge.

One of my all-time favorite Disney blogs highly recommends watching from the TTC near the ferry- he says it is one of the best places to view Wishes and take photos. His recommendations are usually pretty spot on. I'm hoping to check it out our next trip. He said that location is great.

I was pleasantly surprised several years ago while dining at Ohana during Wishes that we had a window table and a beautiful view of Wishes plus the music was playing in the restaurant. It was the last thing on my mind when I made the reservation and was a great example of Disney magic for us. :mickey:

There will not be any fireworks the two nights we are in MK but will be on our Disney hotel arrival date. Is it possible to go to the MK parking lot, park the car and walk up to the TTC area by the ferry to watch that night?

Strmchsr;2487051 wrote: You can also see Wishes from the TTC - especially around the Ferry dock and the music is piped over. I don't know of any place for viewing at DHS.

I was going to suggest this as well. We often would take the ferry back to the TTC [to avoid the crowd rush after fireworks, and watch from the TTC!

I'm amazed at where can you see the fireworks OUTSIDE of WDW property in general. Didn't realize that you could see them from the Toll Road 417 in Kissimmee/Orlando until I was taking my son to the ED at Nemours one night. Driving down, we saw them!
Then staying all night for a treatment one time we could see them from his room at Nemours! That made the stay a little more fun ;)

As for DHS- take the boat there from the boardwalk area or walk on the path behind the Boardwalk hotel. As you get closer to DHS there is a boat landing but also a rest area very small, we found it while biking.
You can see the fireworks there, but not sure about the sound.

We were at Disney World last week and had an Illuminations cruise scheduled one night. While on that cruise, the captain asked us if we would like to head over to DHS to watch the Star Wars fireworks from the boat. We were more than happy to do that. He had us "parked" right at the front of the lagoon at DHS and we could actually hear most of the music with the fireworks because the wind was blowing the right direction that night. And while we had a great view of the fireworks, the reality is that the fireworks are really a minor part of that night-time show. Like a PP stated, if you stand along the the area between the path to Epcot and the path to the boat dock, you should have a good view -- just be aware that the fireworks are shot off intermittently during the Star Wars show (much of the show is focused on projections on the buildings that you can't see from outside the park) so there will be gaps of time in between them.

cmb;2487265 wrote: There will not be any fireworks the two nights we are in MK but will be on our Disney hotel arrival date. Is it possible to go to the MK parking lot, park the car and walk up to the TTC area by the ferry to watch that night?

Can I ask when you are going that there will be no fireworks?

In answer to your questions, you can most definitely park at TTC and watch the fireworks from there. If you are staying onsite it is free, otherwise there may be a parking fee.