Carthay Circle Restaurant Fireworks View
One of the best aspects of a dinner at Carthay Circle Restaurant at Disney California Adventure is that you can watch the fireworks from the terrace if you dine at the right time. If you’re considering dining at Carthay Circle Restaurant you will want to read our full review, but for now let’s take a look at the fireworks. As far as viewing the fireworks goes, the view is one of the best in all of Disneyland Resort. The relative distance between Sleeping Beauty Castle and many of the fireworks bursts is greater, giving the normally modest fireworks displays put on by Disneyland (at least in comparison to those at Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom–where there is no City of Anaheim to contend with) much more grandeur.
Photographing the fireworks from Carthay Circle Theatre’s terrace is a different story. In fact, it’s such a poor spot to photograph the fireworks that I almost didn’t bother posting these, but I have received a number of questions about the view, so I thought I’d share these shots for illustrative purposes only! After about two frames into the Magical! fireworks, I realized the spot was awful for photos, and only went through the motions (I mean, the camera was already set up, so why not?!) with the rest of the photos. As you can see, Red Car Trolley wires, poles, and trees make for a decidedly uninteresting fireworks photography location.
To cleanse your palate after those photos that might have you thinking, “Tom has lost it,” I give you this:
For this photo of Magical, I set up in my favorite spot right in front of Partners, and decided to use my brand new variable neutral density filter. I was a little reluctant to use this CHEAP-O variable neutral density filter due to concerns about image quality and color cast, but I’m pretty pleased with the results.
To read other Disney restaurant reviews from Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Tokyo Disney Resort, Disneyland Paris, Hong Kong Disneyland, and Disney Cruise Line, organized by location, check out our Disney Dining Reviews Index.
Your Thoughts…
Have you dined at Carthay Circle Restaurant at Disney California Adventure? Did you watch the fireworks from there? What did you think of the food? If you have any questions or thoughts to share, please post them in the comments. We love hearing from readers!
Big fan of your blog. Lobster nachos and and zombies are the best things that have ever happened to me at an amusement park!
Wondering about the crowds on the Carthay terrace when it’s time for fireworks. Do you have to request a table outside? or is it ok to sit inside and mosey over to the terrace, drink in hand, to see the show? And how secret is this spot? Meaning, should we find a spot an hour early to get a good view, or is it ok to wander up there when we hear muted booms in the background?
Since this is in DCA, I assume they don’t pipe in the music, right?
And my biggest criticism of the new DCA so far is those wires! They serve no purpose (trolly’s are electronic I think?) and they’re just ugly. I know it’s supposed to be realistic but I hope Disney gets ride of the wires.
And I just want to add I think these are beautiful photos no matter what you think!
Haha, thanks for the kind words…but they aren’t! 😉
They, appropriately, do not pump in the music.
I like the wires. They make it a lot more difficult for photos, but I think they add a layer of depth and realism that you wouldn’t have otherwise.
Bah! Here’s a link to it:
http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v283/eighthave/?action=view¤t=CarthayCircleTerraceFW.jpg
Dave
I dunno, a little finessing in photoshop and it’s not too bad. Not awesome, but not so busy, minimizing the wires without erasing them and muting the distracting colors in the foreground without wiping them out entirely. I could have taken the wires all out by healing or stamping them out, but wanted to see what I could do without altering the subject. Hope you don’t mind that I took the liberty for illustrative purposes only!
Dave
That doesn’t change anything for me. It’s still uninteresting from a compositional perspective. No matter how you edit them, these fireworks photos will be bland and uninteresting. It isn’t a matter of edits.