Happily Ever After can be the highlight of a trip to Walt Disney World, but due to heavy crowds wanting to see this brand new show and other factors, finding good spots can be difficult.

This post covers the best fireworks viewing locations for Happily Ever After, the new Magic Kingdom fireworks show, complete with a map of the best and worst spots.

1. Main Street Train Station

Our favorite spot to grab the show is at the Main Street Train Station – guests get an elevated view of the show from the second story.  The show is perfectly framed by the stores and buildings along Main Street.  Additionally, if it is a particularly hot night, guests may also be treated to a nice breeze to cool them down.  Another plus to this viewing location is what happens afterwards – guests can make a quick exit from the train station, or climb aboard the Walt Disney World Railroad and ride off for an evening ride on Splash Mountain or Thunder Mountain in Frontierland!  We are sure you’ll love it!

2. Main Street Plaza Gardens

Located in the Hub, the Main Street Plaza Gardens is reserved for guests who take part in the Happily Ever After Dessert Party.  This party gives guests an opportunity to have some delicious desserts before the show begins and a reserved place right in the center of the Hub in the perfect viewing spot for the show!  If you are looking to avoid spending the money, we also recommend grabbing a sundae from the Plaza Ice Cream Parlor and finding a spot anywhere in the Central Hub or along Main Street for a similar experience!

3. Ohana

There are few things that can make fireworks better, but one of the them is a fantastic meal!  Guests who dine at Ohana at the Polynesian Village Resort are able to see the Magic Kingdom across Seven Seas Lagoon.  While enjoying their meal of peel-and-eat shrimp, lo mein, chicken, dumplings, and steak, they will also be treated to the fireworks display in the distance.  To enhance the experience, the restaurant dims the lights and plays the soundtrack to the show over the speakers so it feels like you are standing right on Main Street!

4. Behind Cinderella’s Castle

Again, this viewing location will not allow guests to see the projection portion of the show, but the crowd sizes will be much smaller.  There is a small portion of Fantasyland that is closed during the show because it is a possible landing area for shells from the show, but viewing the fireworks from Fantasyland offers a unique perspective of the show!

5. Frontierland

From Frontierland, guests are still able to see the fireworks display, but they do miss out on the projection aspect of the show.  However, crowd levels are going to be much lower and guests can enjoy some delicious snacks during the show – the Magic Kingdom triad of snacks are all available in Frontierland – churros, Mickey pretzels, and popcorn are all available there.  Guests will also still be able to see Cinderella’s Castle from this vantage point, too.

7. The Castle Hub- By the Partners Statue

Back up on the Castle Hub there is a gem of a spot on the left of the Partners Statue (Adventureland Side). You don’t want to be right next to the statue but fairly close. This is a great spot if you have a fancy camera and a tripod to take photos with. It’s unlikely that you’ll have to do “the shift” here, and you can set up early to get some great photos of the sun setting behind Cinderella Castle. Another plus of being on this side of the hub compared to the Tomorrowland side is that you don’t have the Castle stage arches obstructing your view a little bit. 

8. The Castle Hub- Tomorrowland Side

This is where I watched Happily Ever After when I was at Magic Kingdom over Memorial Day Weekend and it was great! My friends and I picked a spot to sit right by a trash can that had great views of the castle about an hour before the show started. About 15 minutes before Happily Ever After was set to go off, we were told by Cast Members to stand and make the shift towards the Castle, and we actually ended up with a WAY better view. So note if you’re going to sit and wait for a spot, where you start is probably not where you’re going to actually watch the show from until the popularity of this show dies down a little bit more.