DH, myself and DD7 tend to do better at rope drop and daytime activities. We will be seeing Holiday Wishes at MVMCP and will be able to watch the fireworks portion of HEA from the Poly beach. I would like to schedule one night for us to see another nighttime show but I’m not sure which one - HEA, Jingle Bell Jingle Bam, Illuminations or ROL. Willing to do a dessert party or a dinner package for better viewing and space. I was leaning toward Illuminations until someone I trust told me HEA is a must do and Illuminations would be their last choice. Which of these would you choose?
It would be between HEA and Jingle Bell Jingle Bam, which I haven’t seen but have heard is brilliant.
With a 7 year old, I’d pass on Illuminations or ROL in favor of one of the other two.
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I would choose Illuminations.
HEA would be my last choice - behind going back to the resort and sit in the hot tub. Though I know I’m in the minority on this one.
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I have seen HEA, Holiday Wishes, Fantasmic, Illuminations and Rivers of Light and out of those I would say my favorite was Rivers of Light. Part of the experience for me was getting their a little ahead of time, getting a photopass shot with the lanterns, and watching as the characters come out and board the boats… the anticipation was part of the enjoyment. I think Fantasmic was my second favorite, just for the sheer 'over the top’ness of it. Out of curiosity did you exclude that one on purpose?
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I absolutely love HEA but have always done it in conjunction with a dessert party to avoid the crowds in the hub but still see all the projections which are really critical to the show.
I would definitely choose illuminations just because you will be there to see the Christmas holiday ending which is supposed to be spectacular. They play peace on earth and have a huge finale. It is an absolute must do for us when we will be there in December. You don’t need to book a dessert package for that one, I am not planning to but the Frozen dessert party does look very fun with a ride on FEA after.
If I do a dessert party during December I plan to do the Jingle Bell Jingle Bam. The desserts are supposed to be great and you get to meet Santa Goofey.
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Yes, I think it might be a little too dark for DD based on the things she found scary last trip, plus it was one less to choose from since there are so many we haven’t seen.
I didn’t know about Santa Goofy… that does sound like fun.
It is a matter of personal preference . I have seen them all. I do love RoL but my two favorites are holiday wishes and HEA. I would definitely book a HEA dessert party.
There are things I like about them all. If I had to pick only one it would be HEA. The view from the garden area is great, but I can’t afford to do that every trip. Oddly if I had the chance to do another dessert party it would be FEA–the view of Illuminations was great; you were able to sit throughout dessert and the show and then you get to ride FEA.
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DH and I watched you tube videos last night and we decided HEA with hopefully a dessert party is the winner.
Thank you everyone for your input!
When I saw pics of the HEA crowds that’s what I first thought lol. I thought Illuminations looked awesome, and DH thought it was “just fireworks.” He said if DD handles the nighttime shows well he would consider adding a third, so if we do I’m thinking Illuminations for me.
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I think HEA is a great choice, especially with a dessert party if you can. We’ve seen it once and it was stunning (no dessert party) but very crowded! Illuminations with the holiday tag was amazing, we saw it from the FP area but have also dined at the Rose & Crown and watched it from there too which was great.
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We watched illuminations last night. I was a bit disappointed since I expected a lot more fireworks. It was definitely a good show though. I could see HEA in the background and kept thinking I wish I was underneath that right now. They were still going off 5 minutes after illuminations was over. Hopefully we’ll see HEA this Monday if it isn’t storming.
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Easy call for me: HEA.
I did all the shows last year: HEA, ROL, F!, Star Wars, and IllumiNations. This year I’m only doing HEA and IllumiNations again. And I’m really only doing IllumiNations because I’ll be in Epcot and I may as well.
Turns out I’m not really that into shows as such. Because I was with a friend who is into shows, I also did Nemo, Lion King, Beauty and the Beast, and Indiana Jones last year, too. I’m not doing any of those again this year.
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My personal ranking…
1 - Illuminations. No question AT. ALL. now that Wishes is gone. 
2 - Rivers of Light
3 - Fantasmic (though I haven’t seen it in a while)
And if I absolutely had to see something, “Happily” Ever After. Really did NOT like this one. If you want to do projections, do projections. If you want to do fireworks, do fireworks. But combining them just leads to a disjointed, schizophrenic experience IMHO. Of course, that matched the musical jumps, so…maybe they’re going for the schizophrenic, disjointed experience. From now on if I’m in MK when it’s happening I’ll take advantage of shorter lines while other people gawk at the randomness.
I’m 100% with you.
Sounds like we should have a meetup during HEA for short line attractions someday!
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That would be awesome!!