Babalu

Flying in to Disneyland on a Saturday in January for a four day family trip but I've just found out that this will be the only day that the fireworks will be on while we're there.

We'll be checking in to our hotel (Holiday Inn @ the park) early evening so we won't start using our 4 day pass until Sunday. Therefore, we won't be able to view the fireworks from inside the park. Any suggestions on where we can get a good spot to view the fireworks from outside the park?

Also, is it walkable from our hotel to Disneyland? (I have 2 young boys, aged 5 and 9, that are used to walking.)

missypie

There is a big plaza between Disneyland and California Adventure where you can see the fireworks...but the music is not piped in.

mlgb

The music is not piped in, and you can't see the effects on the castle, only the top half of the fireworks. I've seen them from the "Esplanade" and it's not even half the full effect, which is really spectacular. A lot of annual pass holders go to the park in the evenings when the crowds (on the rides) are supposedly less.

I think your hotel would have a fairly good view, if you decide to not go inside the park. You could ask the desk at checkin.

noryglory

Oh, it is SO worth it to be inside the park for this particular 50th anniversary fireworks show. Like you we had a 4-day but i had heard from so many people how much better it is from in front of the castle that we used one of our days on Saturday night. We were there from about 6-almost midnight, went on a lot of rides and saw the fireworks in a primo spot so we felt it was worth using for that short period of time. I staked out a spot right in front of the castle while my son and husband played more. (I held our spot for about 90 minutes.)

I don't know if you're interested in seeing Fantasmic also, but that might only be showing on Saturday night as well, and you could see the later showing potentially and get your shows done on Saturday night.

I would upgrade your hopper to a five-day if you can, for the minimal amount it costs. The show is definitely worth $20, which is what we figured our "day 4" cost for each of us, as each day you add the price drops considerably.

If you are interested in much more Disney info, go check out the Disneyland forums at disboards.com. I got that tip from here at Fodors and it's a lot more comprehensive as it's just Disney, Disney, Disney.

Good luck and have lots of fun!

janisj

I 100% agree w/ noryglory. Either use one of the 4 days for Saturday or add a day to your pass. The fireworks this year are terrific and you won't see them at their best from anywhere outside of the park. (You can see pretty much everything at DL in 3 days anyway, so you wouldn't really be losing out on anything starting the pass on Sat night)

sfamylou

I agree....I could not believe how incredible these fireworks were! We have annual passes and see them from our house actually; I was kind of blase about them, but I wanted to see the Christmas snow. I plan to go back to get a better view. I couldn't get over the Tinkerbell flying back and forth, the music, the effects. It's so worth taking time to see them, and get good seats by the castle!

Babalu

We're not set to arrive into LAX (international) till 8pm and after factoring in the shuttle and check-in we just might be able to view it from around our hotel, which I realize is located behind the park - beside the large parking lot.

The disney shedule does indicate that both Fantasmic (@ 9pm)and the fireworks (@ 9:30pm)are scheduled for Sun night on Feb 22 so I'm hoping to see them both then.

Any suggests on how to best achieve this feat? Is this even possible since they happen right after each other? Since we always catch to the Vancouver Symphony of Fire (fireworks), I thought it would be more important for the kids to not miss Fantasmic but I would like to try to get a good view of the fireworks also.

Where should we view Fantasmic so that we can either view the fireworks afterwards, or quickly move from point one spot to the other?

Also, any suggestions on which FP I should try get first? Indiana or Space mtn or even Buzz or Autotopia?