Electrical Water Pageant
The Electrical Water Pageant is a Disney classic that has been showing every night since 1971! This quirky little water parade features lights and music and is a fantastic hidden gem to make your vacation special. Let’s dig a little deeper into what what this show is and how you can see if for yourself!
A Little History
When Disney World opened, Imagineers wanted to create a special little ‘kiss goodnight’ for guests to have one last bit of magic before heading home. Their idea was to create a parade of sorts with thousands of lights and music. They were coming up with how to do this and how to float these massive structures and Imagineer Ted Kellogg had just the thing at his own house! He had a Float Boat made by Harris Float Boats of Fort Wayne, Indiana.
This is where it gets pretty funny! He called up the company and asked if they would be able to make 33 of the type of boats needed for this water pageant and they assured that they could and gave him a cost estimate that Ted relayed to his boss.
Nothing further was done until a few weeks later unannounced 33 of these pontoon boats showed up at Disney’s gates without a purchase order or approval from anyone at Disney. Apparently there had been a misunderstanding and they had to scramble to get approval and purchase orders made up so that they could deliver these boats.
Construction began to add these large aluminum structures outfitting with thousands of lights and the Electrical Water Pageant was debuted on October 21st, 1971 and has been running ever since! It was very popular and later gave way to the idea for the Main Street Electrical Parade.
What is it?
The Electrical Water Pageant is a small parade of water floats that performs in various locations around Bay Lake and 7 Seas Lagoon. This 10 minute long show lights up with thousands of lights that create a sea dragon, a turtle, crocodile, octopus, and other creatures set to music that then finishes off with a red white and blue tribute to America.
It is a free show for guests to view and is performed every night rain or shine.
Where to Watch it
This show performs several times throughout the night at each of the monorail resorts as well as Fort Wilderness, Wilderness Lodge, and in front of Magic Kingdom. Here are the different viewing locations at each resort:
Grand Floridian
This is where the water pageant begins! The best spot to view is from the main beach in front of the pool. You can also watch from the Boat Dock to Magic Kingdom or the private dock at Narcoossee’s (if you have a reservation).
You can check out our review of Narcoossee’s here:
You may also be able to see this from your room if you have a Water/Lagoon view room (preferably a theme park view)
Polynesian
Next up is this resort! You can watch from the beach or boat dock here as well, OR if you are really fancy and are staying at one of the Bungalows, you’ll have the best views from there! If you have a lagoon/water view room at this resort on an upper floor, you may also be able to see it from your room!
This is my personal favorite place to watch as you can get fantastic views of the Magic Kingdom Fireworks AND a great view of the Electrical Water Pageant.
That’s exactly what we did in our YouTube Video:
Wilderness Lodge
After the Polynesian, these floats take the looong trek over to Wilderness Lodge. You can watch this from Gyser Point Bar and Grill. The best seating are the loungers and tables outside of the restaurant closer to the water. You may also be able to see this from the boat dock here!
Fort Wilderness
You are going to want to head to the beach near the boat dock for this one. This is also a great place to watch fireworks. You won’t see the castle, but the fireworks will still light up the sky and then you can hang out with a drink from Crockett’s Tavern while you wait for the Water Pageant to come by.
The Contemporary
This one may have my favorite view of the the water pageant. The beach on the back side of the resort is MASSIVE and even has a super long dock that you can also watch from! It’s a little darker over here, so you can see the floats really well. You won’t be able to see the fireworks from here, but since it usually doesn’t get to this resort until last, you could do a fireworks dining at California Grill and then head out back to watch the Water Pageant!
Check out our California Grill Review Here:
Magic Kingdom
Finally the Electrical Water Pageant makes its last stop in front of the Magic Kingdom. This one is a little tricky to catch since you have to time it just right with boarding one of the ferry boats. I don’t recommend on planning on this one, but if you happen to see it while you are headed home, it’s a great little treat to end the night!
Private Fireworks Cruise
If you are up for a bit of a splurge, you can consider booking a Fireworks Cruise! These are private pontoon boats for up to 10 guests for a front row view of the Magic Kingdom Fireworks. If you talk to your boat captain, they can usually take you up close to the Electrical Water Pageant before heading back to the dock. But be warned! You’ll want some earplugs because the music on those floats is LOUD. This is a really cool and unique way to see these floats AND get a fantastic view of the fireworks! You can learn more about this experience HERE.
Or watch our full video!
How to find showtimes
You can find the showtimes for each location in the My Disney Experience App. When you search ‘Electrical Water Pageant’ make sure to click on the one that lists the resort you wish to see and it will give you the showtime for that resort!
Typically it will start at Grand Floridian about 10-15 minutes after fireworks and then work it’s way around to the Polynesian, Wilderness Lodge, Fort Wilderness, Contemporary, and then ending at Magic Kingdom.
Transportation
You can absolutely use Disney’s Complimentary Transportation, even if you are not staying on Disney Property! There is monorail transportation to the Contemporary, Polynesian, and Grand Floridian, and Ferry Boat Transportation to the Grand Floridian, Polynesian, Wilderness Lodge, and Fort Wilderness. You can board these from the Magic Kingdom.
If you are staying off property, you will need to park or drop off at Disney Transportation and Ticket Center (TTC) and then take the monorail resort line to your desired resort OR if you are headed to Fort Wilderness or Wilderness Lodge, you’ll have to take the Ferry or Express Monorail to Magic Kingdom and then the resort Ferry to those resorts.
If you are looking for Free Parking (or a more direct route to Wilderness Lodge or Fort Wilderness) and you do not have a reservation, you can always park at Disney Springs and then hop on a bus to any of these resorts! Keep in mind, the buses DO NOT go to the parks from Disney Springs and it opens much later than the theme parks too, so don’t use this as a hack to avoid parking for Magic Kingdom.
If you have a dining reservation at any of these resorts, you can of course park directly at these resorts. Keep in mind that some of these may have a 3 hour time limit, so plan accordingly.
If you are staying at a Disney Resort, the free way to get here (if you aren’t already staying at these resorts) is to go to Magic Kingdom and then hop on your transportation of choice from there OR you can take a Minnie Van or other rideshare option for a fee if you are looking for a more direct route.
This is a fun and quirky little show that is often overlooked, but its a big part of Disney history and a great thing to add to your itinerary on your next trip!
