News Magic Kingdom and Epcot Fireworks to Resume July 1st

[rogerrabbitfan9]

Maybe they’ll just decide to spend the majority of their trip at USO instead.

Disney is still (rightfully) concerned about getting massacred in the National press. You can argue that the press is unreasonable all you want, but it doesn’t change the amount of damage a bad story could do to Disney with the demographic that Disney is relying on to buy everything from Disney+ subscriptions to theme park tickets.

You can think those people are crazy all you want, but there long term business is worth more than getting a few extra people into a theme park for a few months.

With that being said, I’m super excited for fireworks coming back. I have a huge soft spot for the night time shows.

 

[GhostHost1000]

I know Disney is more than ok with this.

Disney’s new marketing slogan

The Happiest Place where less costs more!

 

[HauntedMansionFLA]

Dr. Fauci presents

 

[TTA94]

So after July 4th? Seems like a safer bet.

Still surprised MK will be first before Epcot. Unless they axed returning EF and and waiting on Harmonious to be ready. Then that would make sense.

 

[monothingie]

Disney is still (rightfully) concerned about getting massacred in the National press. You can argue that the press is unreasonable all you want, but it doesn’t change the amount of damage a bad story could do to Disney with the demographic that Disney is relying on to buy everything from Disney+ subscriptions to theme park tickets.

You can think those people are crazy all you want, but there long term business is worth more than getting a few extra people into a theme park for a few months.

With that being said, I’m super excited for fireworks coming back. I have a huge soft spot for the night time shows.

Both Disney and USO have each been opened for the better part of a year, they’ve been opened though major covid surges, they’ve been open when there was no vaccine, and yet nothing.

Now with Covid in the US turning the corner quickly, the differences in the two can’t be more apparent.

 

[mattpeto]

Disney has been quietly testing fireworks at Magic Kingdom. Assuming 1st dose vaccination rates keep going up and case rates keep going down in Florida, the goal is for nightly fireworks to return to the Magic Kingdom by July. This seems to be very achievable. Shows could resume before then, but July is the goal that management really wants to hit. Physically distanced markers would be placed around the hub area and Main Street for fireworks viewing, similar to how Shanghai Disneyland is operating.

This is great and hopeful news. It's still hard to see a 50th celebration kickoff without the nighttime entertainment. I'm glad they have approached cautiously, but it might be time to crank it up over the next month or so. Of course, countries like India is heartbreaking and worrisome - but this shouldn't stop Disney from moving forward either.

@The Visionary Soul - do you think Happily Ever After will be the show that returns or will they create (or modify) a current show that gives the guests a little bit more viewing flexibility?

 

[TTA94]

The return of Wishes along with its seasonal versions would be ideal. Of course if that happens along with a 50th Tag, we might not see HEA until 2023 or possibly never again. WDWs meaning of “Limited Time” is a few years or so lol.

 

[arich35]

Disney has been quietly testing fireworks at Magic Kingdom. Assuming 1st dose vaccination rates keep going up and case rates keep going down in Florida, the goal is for nightly fireworks to return to the Magic Kingdom by July. This seems to be very achievable. Shows could resume before then, but July is the goal that management really wants to hit. Physically distanced markers would be placed around the hub area and Main Street for fireworks viewing, similar to how Shanghai Disneyland is operating.

When have they been doing the testing? We are at Disney now and it would be cool to see some fireworks in the distance

 

[marni1971]

Still surprised MK will be first before Epcot.

Watch this space. That’s all I’ll say.

 

[GhostHost1000]

So after July 4th? Seems like a safer bet.

Still surprised MK will be first before Epcot. Unless they axed returning EF and and waiting on Harmonious to be ready. Then that would make sense.

Barges are in the way now for some of the EF things (kites)

 

[wishiwere@wdw]

Cautious.

Exactly. They are waiting to see cases not just locally but nationwide continue to trend downward along with increased vaccination rates. Everything Disney does/has done thus far has been very deliberately cautious. Even the temperature checks could have simply stopped the next day like Universal but they have no problem waiting. Not saying i agree or disagree...just the way they are doing this whole process. Great news though! Plus, my kids will know what time it is again each night without needing to look at a clock

 

[doctornick]

So after July 4th? Seems like a safer bet.

Yeah, it seems to me that they either need to start them in June to start spreading out the pent up demand (particularly from locals) before the big holiday or they need to wait until after July 4 and bail on having any holiday show. If they start at or right before July 4, that day will be a disaster IMHO.

 

[The Visionary Soul]

Watch this space. That’s all I’ll say.

Personally I’d rather see a show come back at Epcot before Magic Kingdom, but it doesn’t seem like it’s in the cards unless they can pull Harmonious out of their @$$ before then. I’m not saying they’ll wait till October though…

 

[marni1971]

Personally I’d rather see a show come back at Epcot before Magic Kingdom, but it doesn’t seem like it’s in the cards unless they can pull Harmonious out of their @$$ before then. I’m not saying they’ll wait till October though…

They won’t wait Forever.

 

[jrhwdw]

Watch this space. That’s all I’ll say.

Now I know this a good thread! Thanks Martin!

 

[WDW Pro]

When have they been doing the testing? We are at Disney now and it would be cool to see some fireworks in the distance

As I've covered, and subsequently been maligned for without merit, Disney has been been doing testing mostly using fuses (i.e. shells without pyro effects), but there have been some real fireworks around 3 AM. Also, what we've been hearing is that August is the target date. July might happen, but that would be very best case scenario.

 

[monothingie]

They won’t wait Forever.

 

[monothingie]

They won’t wait Forever.

Any relation to Epcot closing at 9PM down from 10?

 

[ToTBellHop]

Any relation to Epcot closing at 9PM down from 10?

That is unlikely to stick, either. They won’t start F&W with 9 pm closures every night.

 

[Lil Copter Cap]

I’m still surprised that people continually compare Disney to Universal in most things, but especially regarding COVID policies. Magic Kingdom alone brings in twice the amount of guests annually than either Universal park.

Regardless, it would make sense to remain cautious when reintroducing offerings. Once it’s announced and implemented, it’s near impossible to remove them.