missjackiemcg
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Sep 2, 2013
Friday, December 30th: Fantasy in the Sky
In 2007, we spent New Year’s Eve at Magic Kingdom but having been in the parks for the business of Christmas Day thought we knew well enough how crowded Main Street U.S.A. would be for the evening parade and fireworks…We. Were. Wrong. I ended up standing INSIDE someone’s stroller in the stroller parking area outside of Casey’s near First Aid. Behind trees and all. This was NOT the magical moment I had envisioned, obviously.
That being said, THIS TIME we were going to be MUCH smarter and MUCH more prepared for experiencing the amazing fireworks that are Fantasy in the Sky! Disney does a sort of New Year’s Eve rehearsal of the fireworks on the night before NYE, so that was the only thing we had planned for tonight. The park was also open til 3 a.m., so our original intent was to stay until then (spoiler alert: we aren’t gonna make it!!)
We walked in and slowly made our way down Main Street, stopping in to pick up the Cinderella’s Coach Pandora charm I had had my eye on.
DSC06618 by Jackie Lagoni, on Flickr
When we came out, there was a PP photographer taking magic shots with mistletoe! Of course, I had to have this!
wdw2016366636936889_396236676589 by Jackie Lagoni, on Flickr
wdw2016366636927430_7909343712 by Jackie Lagoni, on Flickr
wdw2016366636936887_7909358243 by Jackie Lagoni, on Flickr
With some time to kill before I felt we needed to stake out a spot for the fireworks, we crossed the bridge and walked over to Tomorrowland. What’s a trip to MK without a ride on the People Mover!? There was a DJ over on the Tomorrowland stage playing the Cha-Cha Slide, so while I took the obligatory foot rest picture—I also videotaped our feet “slide to the left, slide to the right, one hop…” It was such a simple little thing, but just made me smile and feel so thankful to have this time just the two of us!
DSC06620 by Jackie Lagoni, on Flickr
After our ride, we crossed the bridge back toward the castle and saw how the hub area was already filling up and the crowds were forming everywhere. There were already CMs lining the middle of the bridge to keep everyone walking to their right and there was a DJ dance party happening in front of the castle. There was a taped off area on the castle side of the bridge, and we asked a CM which side was OK to stand on. We picked the corner and figured this would be good because no one could stand on the other side of us. Before long people started parking strollers beside us and “reserving” their spot while they went off to get food, etc. At about 11:45 the CMs came and removed the tape from the area we had been so careful to stay in…grr.
DSC06621 by Jackie Lagoni, on Flickr
DSC06622 by Jackie Lagoni, on Flickr
With 10 minutes until midnight, music started to play through the park speakers and we heard, “Second start to the right and straight on til morning…..” All of a sudden, down came Tinkerbell right over our heads!!
The fireworks were beautiful and of course I was crying because when you witness Disney fireworks, it’s just what you do.
DSC06625 by Jackie Lagoni, on Flickr
With about a minute til midnight this woman and her brood of children run by and stop right in the middle of the bridge. CM says, “Ma’am you can’t stand here.” She shuffles her whole troop of unruly children of all ages over to the side DIRECTLY in front of Rob and I. I almost lost my mind as I said pretty rudely, “WELL, YOU CAN’T STAND IN FRONT OF US!” I was so annoyed, but it only lasted a moment as they quickly relocated further back along the bridge and Mickey, Minnie and Goofy could be heard counting down…10, 9, 8…
DSC06626 by Jackie Lagoni, on Flickr
I have never seen fireworks like Disney’s anywhere, but the NYE ones are even more spectacular! As the countdown goes on, number-shaped fireworks go off in the sky from left to right all the way around where you are standing looking at the castle! And when they get down to 3, 2, 1….HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!! More fireworks than you’ve ever seen go off in every direction all around us while Disney character voices can be heard singing Auld Lang Sign and at the end, Mickey’s voice, “Oh, boy, that was some show!”
Even though the park was open til 3 a.m. we had already planned to spend the entire next day on New Year’s Eve at Magic Kingdom (a lofty goal, to be sure!), so we figured we should head back to the hotel. But SOMEDAY I WILL stay at the park until 3 a.m. …..y’know, when I know I can sleep in the next morning
Up next: New Year’s Eve a.k.a. 13 hours in the Magic Kingdom
In 2007, we spent New Year’s Eve at Magic Kingdom but having been in the parks for the business of Christmas Day thought we knew well enough how crowded Main Street U.S.A. would be for the evening parade and fireworks…We. Were. Wrong. I ended up standing INSIDE someone’s stroller in the stroller parking area outside of Casey’s near First Aid. Behind trees and all. This was NOT the magical moment I had envisioned, obviously.
That being said, THIS TIME we were going to be MUCH smarter and MUCH more prepared for experiencing the amazing fireworks that are Fantasy in the Sky! Disney does a sort of New Year’s Eve rehearsal of the fireworks on the night before NYE, so that was the only thing we had planned for tonight. The park was also open til 3 a.m., so our original intent was to stay until then (spoiler alert: we aren’t gonna make it!!)
We walked in and slowly made our way down Main Street, stopping in to pick up the Cinderella’s Coach Pandora charm I had had my eye on.
DSC06618 by Jackie Lagoni, on Flickr
When we came out, there was a PP photographer taking magic shots with mistletoe! Of course, I had to have this!
wdw2016366636936889_396236676589 by Jackie Lagoni, on Flickr
wdw2016366636927430_7909343712 by Jackie Lagoni, on Flickr
wdw2016366636936887_7909358243 by Jackie Lagoni, on Flickr
With some time to kill before I felt we needed to stake out a spot for the fireworks, we crossed the bridge and walked over to Tomorrowland. What’s a trip to MK without a ride on the People Mover!? There was a DJ over on the Tomorrowland stage playing the Cha-Cha Slide, so while I took the obligatory foot rest picture—I also videotaped our feet “slide to the left, slide to the right, one hop…” It was such a simple little thing, but just made me smile and feel so thankful to have this time just the two of us!
DSC06620 by Jackie Lagoni, on Flickr
After our ride, we crossed the bridge back toward the castle and saw how the hub area was already filling up and the crowds were forming everywhere. There were already CMs lining the middle of the bridge to keep everyone walking to their right and there was a DJ dance party happening in front of the castle. There was a taped off area on the castle side of the bridge, and we asked a CM which side was OK to stand on. We picked the corner and figured this would be good because no one could stand on the other side of us. Before long people started parking strollers beside us and “reserving” their spot while they went off to get food, etc. At about 11:45 the CMs came and removed the tape from the area we had been so careful to stay in…grr.
DSC06621 by Jackie Lagoni, on Flickr
DSC06622 by Jackie Lagoni, on Flickr
With 10 minutes until midnight, music started to play through the park speakers and we heard, “Second start to the right and straight on til morning…..” All of a sudden, down came Tinkerbell right over our heads!!
The fireworks were beautiful and of course I was crying because when you witness Disney fireworks, it’s just what you do.
DSC06625 by Jackie Lagoni, on Flickr
With about a minute til midnight this woman and her brood of children run by and stop right in the middle of the bridge. CM says, “Ma’am you can’t stand here.” She shuffles her whole troop of unruly children of all ages over to the side DIRECTLY in front of Rob and I. I almost lost my mind as I said pretty rudely, “WELL, YOU CAN’T STAND IN FRONT OF US!” I was so annoyed, but it only lasted a moment as they quickly relocated further back along the bridge and Mickey, Minnie and Goofy could be heard counting down…10, 9, 8…
DSC06626 by Jackie Lagoni, on Flickr
I have never seen fireworks like Disney’s anywhere, but the NYE ones are even more spectacular! As the countdown goes on, number-shaped fireworks go off in the sky from left to right all the way around where you are standing looking at the castle! And when they get down to 3, 2, 1….HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!! More fireworks than you’ve ever seen go off in every direction all around us while Disney character voices can be heard singing Auld Lang Sign and at the end, Mickey’s voice, “Oh, boy, that was some show!”
Even though the park was open til 3 a.m. we had already planned to spend the entire next day on New Year’s Eve at Magic Kingdom (a lofty goal, to be sure!), so we figured we should head back to the hotel. But SOMEDAY I WILL stay at the park until 3 a.m. …..y’know, when I know I can sleep in the next morning
Up next: New Year’s Eve a.k.a. 13 hours in the Magic Kingdom