This year, there are lots of places around the country where
you can go to see Fourth of July fireworks. The bank of the Charles River in
Boston, South Street Seaport in NYC as well as the National Mall in my hometown of Washington
DC.
But what if you’re one of those “too much ain’t enough”
types and you’re just not willing to settle for a single fireworks display? You
want the entire Fourth of July weekend to be one long “the rockets’ red glare,
the bombs bursting in air” fest.
Well, if that’s really the case, then you need to “rocket” on down to
Orlando ASAP. Because this coming weekend, virtually every theme park in town
will be presenting its very own Fourth of July fireworks display.
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If you want to get the most bang for your buck, you should
probably start off your trip to Central Florida with a stop at the Magic Kingdom.
Where – on Friday night, July 3rd at 9 p.m. – this theme park will
presenting the exact same display that it’ll be presenting on July 4th,
its “Celebrate America! A Fourth of July
Concert in the Sky.”
That way, once you’ve got the Magic Kingdom’s display under
your belt, you’re then free to explore some of the other fireworks shows that
will be presented around town on the Fourth.
Of course, if you’re more of a patriotic music fan, then
maybe you should think about spending Friday night over at SeaWorld Orlando.
Where the U.S. Army’s 82nd Airborne All-American Chorus will be
present a concert which will then be followed by a special fireworks display.
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Mind you, if you’d like to fold some funk in with your
Fourth, then you should plan on spending Saturday at Universal Studios
Florida. Where – as part of that theme park’s Summer Concert series – the O’Jays will be
performing live. This concert will then be followed by a special extended
version of the “Universal 360 – A Cinesphere Spectacular” lagoon show which
will be capped off with fireworks.
SeaWorld Orlando will also be taking a cinematic approach to its in-park Fourth of July
celebration. In addition to that theme park’s usual fireworks display, SeaWorld
will also use a huge projection screen to illuminate some of the great moments
in U.S. history. This 12-minute long patriotic program will be presented twice
on the night of July 4th at 9:15 & 10:45 p.m.
Back at Walt Disney World,
the Magic Kingdom will be presenting its very last “Celebrate America! A Fourth of July Concert in the Sky”
fireworks display for 2009 at 9 p.m. Then at 10 p.m., Epcot’s already
spectacular “IllumiNations: Reflections of Earth” because even more spectacular
thanks to its one-night-only patriotic finale.
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What’s that you say? You want to enjoy even more fireworks
on the Fourth of July? Okay then. This coming Saturday night, you’ll need to be
up in a fairly tall building around Lake Buena Vista. Where – precisely at 10
p.m. – you’ll want to look off toward the west. Where – for one brief 10-minute
long interlude – you’ll be able to simultaneously watch Downtown Disney’s
fireworks, Disney’s Hollywood Studios’ Fourth of July display as well as
“IllumiNations.”
As you can see, nobody beats Orlando when it comes to the
sheer number & variety of fireworks displays that will be presented in
& around this town over the Fourth of July weekend. So if you’re looking to
do a lot of “Ooohing” and “Aaahing” this Friday & Saturday, there’s no
better place to be than O-town.