Review of Star Wars Fireworks at Hollywood Studios

We first saw the Star Wars fireworks event at DHS as part of the dessert party in January 2016 when the event was fairly new.  We saw the event again in October 2016, again as part of the dessert party.  So, we can compare the two events and offer some comments.  The desserts were just as good in October as January, although the current venue in the Star Wars Launch Pad is a bit cramped.

In January, the fireworks were closely synced to the Star Wars music.  The dramatic themes of the music were well matched to equally dramatic fireworks.  There was very little projection of movie clips, so the event was definitely a fireworks event.  The fireworks were centered behind the Great Movie Ride which made for nice framing.  That fireworks event was arguably as good or better than Wishes at MK.

Fast forward to October and things have changed.  Disney has gone crazy with projecting Star Wars film clips on the buildings around the Great Movie Ride.  Clips of the early movies and the newest ones were projected onto the buildings.  Sounds good except for some problems.  First the clarity of the images was less than ideal- projecting on buildings doesn't always work very well.  Second, there were trees and light posts in the way even when standing in a preferred viewing area.  Third, it was difficult to focus on the movie clips because of the very wide viewing angle and the fast changes.  It was difficult to take in the whole scene.  There were fewer fireworks compared to January and, strangely, they were off to the side of the Great Movie Ride.  Remember, our viewing area was directly in line with the center of the movie ride.  This really reduced the effect and was actually somewhat annoying.  The fireworks no longer seemed tightly synced to the music and the whole presentation seemed poorly integrated and somewhat cluttered.

So, we'll see if Disney is happy with this event or will make some changes to tighten it up and improve the dramatic effects.

Chilling out one last time at the DVC Lounge before we leave for the airport.

Strolling thru F&W festival center.

At Epcot on our final day.

Spending the last night at Disney Springs.

Nothing better on a warm afternoon than kakigori from Japan pavilion.

Doing another round of F&W festival.

We did soarin twice in half hour BEFORE we even use our fastpasses. That's not bad!

Zz.

Getting in line to soar over the world.

A full day at Epcot today.

Waiting for the start of the Star Wars fireworks.

Christmas shopping in October.

LWaiting to check in to the Hollywood Tower Hotel.

DHS has been captured!

Finally got into toy story mania after the tech prob this morning.

Hocus pocus.

Waiting for HalloWishes on main st.

A great evening so far at MNSSHP. Just finished dumbo.

MNSSHP is in full swing. On its a small world.

Hanging around at Splash Mountain waiting for MNSSHP to start.

Nutella waffles.... yum!!

At sleepy hollow waiting for the Nutella waffles.

We are sitting down on Main Street waiting for the 3 o'clock parade. Wonder what time it will start?

Yum! Mickey mini sink ice cream sundae!

In line for Buzz. Even fastpasses line is very long!

In Tomorrowland and about to go on Buzz.

The one and only dumbo!

Having my favorite item for lunch: the grilled salmon with couscous and steamed broccoli at Columbia Harbour House.

The Starbucks attraction has lines almost as long as toy story mania!

At the magic kingdom. It is busy already.

Another perfect morning. We are off to MK and MNSSHP tonight.

Waiting for the lighting of the tree of life.

Flame Tree BBQ..... yum......!

Chilling out at the Harambe Market food court while we wait for our safari fast pass time.

About to get onto Everest.

Chilling out at the DVC lounge.

Eating our way through the F&W festival at Epcot.

Starbucks at Epcot is a zoo!

Starting the day at Epcot. It is a gorgeous day!

We are off the ship and waiting for the Avis shuttle.

We just arrived at Port Canaveral. Our cruise is about to over! 😞

Up on deck 13 in the fore section waiting for the ship to pull out of port.

Goodbye, Jamaica!

Zz.

At port before embarking onto ship.

We are done with our excursion on Mystic Mountain. Had a great time. We are now heading back to the ship.

Getting ready to do the zip line. Wheeeeeee!

Just finished the bobsled in POURING RAIN! But it was a lot of fun.

Good morning from Jamaica. We have a full day of zip lining and bobsledding.

On the tender boat heading back to the Fantasy. Goodbye Grand Cayman!

Having a great time at a turtle farm. One of us got to pick up a baby turtle. Too bad we.didnt get to eat any.

We are now heading back to the ship.

Zz.

Shopping? Of course we found places to shop!

We are taking a break on Grand Cayman. Found a nice cafe with smoothies and a great view.

Greetings from the Grand Cayman

On the bus for our excursion to the ruins.

Zz.

Greetings from Cozumel!

We are about to dock after a later arrival. We will be doing the ruins this afternoon and then shopping.

The sky is clear, it is breezy, and 85 degrees.

Zz.

Greetings from Miami m. Making an unscheduled stop to medvac a sick passenger, then off to Cozumel.