Does WDW cancel their fireworks as often as DL?

[DisneyIPresume]

I was at DL yesterday. It was very warm, about 91 degrees. At about 5 a breeze kicked in which felt very nice because it was a cool breeze and overall it helped to cause the temp to go down a bit.

Unfortunately, this breeze continued up to the time the fireworks were supposed to start, and the show was cancelled.

I understand they do this mainly because DL is so small and there are hotels literally beneath where the fireworks go off at. High winds may cause fallout to land on people or structures, causing potential harm.

Does this ever happen at WDW? Or more specifically does WDW ever cancel their fireworks show due to high winds (or in the case of DL, strong breezes)? Or are there other weather conditions at WDW that may cause their show to be cancelled? I wouldn't think winds cause cancellations at WDW simply because it is a huge area but I could be wrong.

[Bill]

Hardly ever. The only thing that causes a full cancel of a show at WDW is heavy lightning. High Wind will cancel certain individual fireworks, but not the whole show. (Though if it is like a tropical storm, there won't be a show, but that is fairly obvious.)

[Grizzly]

Just because there was a small breeze at ground level doesn't mean that there are not strong winds 100's of feet up in the air where the fireworks actually explode.

[WDW1974]

I can't tell you the last time I was at WDW and a pyro show was canceled. It almost never happens. ... Even sometimes when it should and the wind is blowing embers/fallout all over spectators (Epcot is the worst for this), the show goes on.

The only reason they cancel them in Anaheim is because the city has restrictions and they don't want smoke causing problems in neighborhoods or on the Santa Ana Freeway. Disney has no choice or rest assured, the fireworks would go on.

[BigPigletFan]

I can't tell you the last time I was at WDW and a pyro show was canceled. It almost never happens. ... Even sometimes when it should and the wind is blowing embers/fallout all over spectators (Epcot is the worst for this), the show goes on.

The only reason they cancel them in Anaheim is because the city has restrictions and they don't want smoke causing problems in neighborhoods or on the Santa Ana Freeway. Disney has no choice or rest assured, the fireworks would go on.

Not just that, but WDW has fireworks every night... even in the off season! Something I wish Disneyland had because it's no fun when they are cancelled over your visit. I mean, I don't understand why guests would want to watch Wishes in the pouring rain and they can't really see any of it - but if that was their only chance to see it, I can understand why they continue to show them.

[TDLFAN]

TDL has the highest incidence of firework show cancellations... They cancelled the show last tuesday when I was there due to winds, which happen to pick up often due to the proximity to Tokyo Bay. I have yet to see the fireworks show cancelled at HKDL. And in Paris... well, they hardly ever put on a fireworks show.

Not just that, but WDW has fireworks every night... even in the off season!

fireworks also play nightly, regardless of season at TDR and HKDL.

[Coheteboy]

Not just that, but WDW has fireworks every night... even in the off season! Something I wish Disneyland had because it's no fun when they are cancelled over your visit.

I bet the neighbors would LOVE that!

I can hear the fireworks from my house every night it's on. But it doesn't bother me. It's actually quite comforting.

But I only say that because it's not directly behind me like many people's homes are.

[Peterwhite171]

The way things are going I can see HK Disney doing a Paris and cutting their fireworks to busy Summer Days only.

When I was at TDR in March/April the winds where quite high and I got to see a reduced version of BraviSEAmo after it was cancelled for a few days and the Fireworks for both parks (think it was called Disney in the Sky?) also did not play sometimes. But yeah, thats the price you pay for having the parks by the Sea. I guess it depends when you visit, I was there at the end of Winter so winds are to be expected.

WDW on the other hand is all about Fireworks. WDW have the best shows at any Disney Park IMHO.

[SummerInFL]

Hardly ever. The only thing that causes a full cancel of a show at WDW is heavy lightning. High Wind will cancel certain individual fireworks, but not the whole show. (Though if it is like a tropical storm, there won't be a show, but that is fairly obvious.)

Even then that isn't always true either. Remember when Tropical Storm Barry blew through, they had Illuminations that night at Epcot.

But I have to agree, since WDW is so vast and isn't surrounded by much, they tend not to cancel much of anything, lightning seems to be the key factor down here.

[WDW Monorail]

The ONLY reason why a show would be cancelled is if lightening interferes with the loading process. Or if there is a SEVERE drought like there was in the early 90s.If there are high winds, Tinkerbelle will not fly for wishes and some of the closer proximity devices will not launch. Even when there was a Wishes' fireworks shortage, the show designers improvised and the show continued.

As for RoE, if there is high wind or a guest caused hazard, the sea wall will not launch. Other than that, the show always goes on. If I am not mistaken, the IllumiNations series is on a 13 year roll without any cancellations with the exception of very few cases such as in the event of a severe hurricane. I was at EPCOT when Dennis hit and the show went on. Of course, not all of these shows are for guests' enjoyment. The show still goes on for press events and such. Also, there have been some recent test run shows.

[Cmash95]

i do remember being at MK and the cloud cover was so thick you couldnt even see the fireworks go off, you just heard the explosions. it's really rather boring on nights like that and thankfully those nights are rare. I havae been to epcot when the wind was so strong they considered cancelling parts of illuminations but then the weather cooperated so they could do the whole show.

[CUatDL]

A thought on why DL may cancel FW more often than WDW.

DL is in a city, there are many hotel and other businesses as neighbors, and a stray ember could cause damage.

At WDW the parks are in the middle of Disney property, so the only damage would be to Disney property, and the resorts and other things may have been built with the FW in mind, so FW doesn't need to be cancelled as often.

This is the difference when your business is in an area vs. when you own the whole thing.

I don't know if this is a reason, but it makes sense to me.

Just MHO, YMMV

CU@DL

Andy

[BigPigletFan]

I bet the neighbors would LOVE that!

Yes, but really at this point - how many of the locals living close enough to Disneyland to hear them have been there BEFORE the park opened v. after? The point being, they should expect to hear that when they decided to live there.

DL is in a city, there are many hotel and other businesses as neighbors, and a stray ember could cause damage.

At WDW the parks are in the middle of Disney property, so the only damage would be to Disney property, and the resorts and other things may have been built with the FW in mind, so FW doesn't need to be cancelled as often.

Yes, this is a major factor as well. At WDW when they do larger firework shows, (with perimeter fireworks, etc.) they are prepared in the event of an emergency and such.

[Parisi]

I was at DL yesterday. It was very warm, about 91 degrees. At about 5 a breeze kicked in which felt very nice because it was a cool breeze and overall it helped to cause the temp to go down a bit.

Unfortunately, this breeze continued up to the time the fireworks were supposed to start, and the show was cancelled.

I understand they do this mainly because DL is so small and there are hotels literally beneath where the fireworks go off at. High winds may cause fallout to land on people or structures, causing potential harm.

Does this ever happen at WDW? Or more specifically does WDW ever cancel their fireworks show due to high winds (or in the case of DL, strong breezes)? Or are there other weather conditions at WDW that may cause their show to be cancelled? I wouldn't think winds cause cancellations at WDW simply because it is a huge area but I could be wrong.

When I was down there about 2wks ago, I was eating dinner at Ohana's on Friday June 1st, right when TS Barry was kicking in, and it was raining, and I mean raining... and they still had the fireworks show... It was hard to see them from Ohana's because ofthe cloud cover, but they still had them.

[Stitchy]

I bet the neighbors would LOVE that

one of my husband's students grew up with WDW practically in her backyard. Said she could watch the fireworks from her house....and she loved it.



Our last trip, it was really windy the night we were n MGM.....we sat right in the middle and almost froze to death. The mist kept spraying us, and since it was already a little chilly....we froze. But, we froze happy. I would have cried if we missed the show.