The arrival of Summer Nightastic brings several new events.....New Magic Kingdom fireworks - which promise to be unbelievable from what I am hearing, the return of the Main Street Electrical Parade (with new and improved floats), and some extra fun at Disney's Hollywood Studios. Summer Nightastic is scheduled to begin on June 6, 2010 and run until August 14, 2010...but hopefully due to popularity they will extend the dates...even if they have to call it Fall Nightastic LOL.
Nobody does parades and fireworks like Disney does. I remember our first family trip to WDW waaaayyy back in February of what I believe was 1976 or '77. My sister and I were dying to know if we were going to be lucky enough to be there during some Magic Kingdom fireworks. Back then, the MK evening fireworks were not a nightly event....they were only shown on weekend eves or holidays - and really mostly during the more crowded busy seasons......Before our own February trip I recall going to my uncle's house and he was showing us a slide show of HIS family's trip to the world the summer before...and summer in Magic Kingdom meant fireworks! So after seeing those photos we HAD to see some for ourselves. Fireworks over Cinderella Castle were something dreams were made of. I remember bugging my mom over and over...there was no internet, not a lot of WDW planning guide books....no real way of knowing what to expect in the way of evening spectaculars in the Magic Kingdom...but I remember just wishing and hoping we'd be lucky enough to see Disney fireworks. We were 10 and 9 years old back then....and a fireworks show was not something we'd seen often. Not sure if this was unusual to us, but growing up in the sticks of northern IL in the 1960s and '70s the only fireworks we saw were the annual July 4th fireworks...back when they were shown ON July 4....not the 3 or the 5th. LOL If you missed July 4th fireworks for whatever reason, that was it....you blew it until next year.....and those were podunk small town displays...nothing like what we had seen on TV commercials glowing over Cinderella Castle advertising the magic and wonder of Walt Disney World!
Well....on that February trip we WERE lucky enough to view the show ONE TIME! It was miraculous!!! Just like we expected from the TV commercials, but even more special in person. Nothing we had seen before prepared us for the continuous colors and display of glittering sparkles in the sky over the castle - and the continuous cacophony of bangs and booms!! It was pure magic.
The views from the three monorail resorts are amazing. From a Contemporary Tower room, you feel right in the midst of the show - and you can put your room tv on channel 25 to hear the music. The Polynesian has the most direct, head on view from the beach or some of it's Theme Park View rooms & the Grand Floridian also has a beautiful view of the castle and fireworks - and if you watch near the marina and Gasparilla's Grill you can hear the soundtrack coordinated with the display over the castle. We've spent evenings viewing from all three - and FYI you can watch from the Polynesian beach or the Grand's marina even if you are not a guest at these resorts.
Along with celebrating summer with the new fireworks show, the Main Street Electrical Parade will be returning to Florida's Magic Kingdom. I am not normally a "parade person" but Disney knows how to run parades and I find myself enjoying each of them at least once per trip. Try and see the latest parade shown....those are the least crowded. We have our "secret" parade viewing spot in the Magic Kingdom and usually have great luck arriving near the start time and getting great seats. I'd tell you....but then it wouldn't be secret. :) Hint...it's not on Main Street. Check the park maps for parade routes. Everybody seems to want to choose a seat on Main Street...there are other options.
The last time we saw the Main Street Electrical Parade in WDW we were eating dinner at Tony's Town Square...we had been lucky enough to have the option of outdoor seating...it was wonderful! Talk about front row seats....that's another good hint...Tony's is not my favorite restaurant but if you can snag a table outside about 8 pm or so when a parade goes by soon after....you are set for magic - so so food included. That was probably in the year 2000 or 2001 right before the parade left to return to Disneyland. I remember walking back to our room at the Contemporary shortly afterward with tired little kids in strollers.....*if you have little kids - walking back to the Contemporary is a great option, but make sure you bring strollers! Don't rely on park rentals because kids are too tired to hoof it all that way back and inevitably somebody will have to go potty... you can RUN with a kid in a stroller LOL*
OK...I've had my trip down memory lane....here are the facts so far on what's to come in June.......
Beginning June 5, 2010 and running until August 14, 2010 Summer Nightastic will be a magical addition to evenings in the WDW parks.
Walt Disney World Resort glows like never before this summer with the exciting, after-dark entertainment of Summer Nightastic! Magic Kingdom will treat guests to a special summer fireworks spectacular, Tinker Bell's "pixie magic" in "Disney's Electrical Parade", there will be new lighting effects and a new addition to Twilight Zone Tower of Terror, A Rock N’ Glow Dance Party will be held in the courtyard of Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, and a new high energy Magic Kingdom street party will get guests moving and dancing.
If you are tempted at all to book a WDW summer trip, contact me for a free quote. There are some terrific deals running right now through summer on Disney Resort rooms. I hope to see the new magic they are bringing to the parks! It looks like it is going to be amazing.
Channing@TravelWithTheMagic.com or 800-670-4312 X124
