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Did you know that EPCOT theme park at the Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Florida recently debuted a brand new fireworks show? That new show is Luminous The Symphony of Us. When my family found out about it, of course we wanted to come see it.
And of course we wanted a front row seat. This is exactly what we did the last time Epcot debuted a brand new fireworks show, when they debuted Harmonious at Disney World’s fiftieth anniversary. How we got a front row seat is that we booked a Rose & Crown Fireworks Dining Package.
How the package works is that you pay one flat fee. It gets you an outdoor table at the Rose & Crown Dining Room. If you’re not familiar with that restaurant, it is the British-themed restaurant that’s part of the United Kingdom Pavilion of Epcot’s World Showcase. It’s one of my family’s favorite restaurants at Epcot just for the food and atmosphere alone.
But during a fireworks show, it has a great location. It is right on the water with plenty of outdoor seating right by the water. So by sitting in one of those seats, you get a perfect view for the show.
And this worked perfectly back when we saw Harmonious for the first time. We ate our meal, watched the show, and had a wonderful time. You can read about our experience in our Harmonious Rose & Crown Dining Package review. In this review, we wholeheartedly recommended getting the package.
But what about this time? Did we have a good time? Or have we decided this package is no longer worth it?
Well, keep reading and find out!
Weather
So I mentioned that the set-up for watching the fireworks is perfect. You are outdoors so you get a perfect view of the fireworks with no obstruction from a glass window. You are right there.
The only wrinkle there is the weather. And this was not a problem at all when we did the dining package for Harmonious. We were there on a very nice day in October. There was no rain and it wasn’t too hot or cold.
But this wasn’t the case when we came this time. Luckily, it wasn’t raining. But it was cold. It was, after all, December, and that can make a difference (though with Florida, you never really know).
So because it was cold, they actually did not seat us at the tables directly by the water. We were outdoors, but in a covered section right next to it. You still had wonderful views and could see the fireworks. But the tables had heating. And the heating worked very well. So well in fact I actually started to get hot!
So that can work really great. Although I really wanted to be closer to the fireworks so I wouldn’t have an obstructed view. And that turned out to be no problem.
We just told our server our wish to be by the water during the fireworks. And then when it got closer to the time for the fireworks, we walked to that section. They reserved a table for us (this table also had a bit of an obstructed view but when we mentioned this to the server they changed our table to another table with no obstructed view). They even brought out our dessert to us which we could enjoy during the fireworks.
So it was nice to learn this time that even if the weather doesn’t quite cooperate the way you hoped, you can still enjoy your experience.
Drinks
So as I mentioned earlier, Rose & Crown Dining Room is one of my favorite Epcot restaurants just for the food. But it’s not the normal menu during this event. Instead, you get to select from a special menu.
One of the best parts of this is the selection of unlimited beverages. Because unlike with other dining experiences at Disney World, this includes alcoholic beverages.
Drink Menu
Ales, Lagers & Stouts
- Old Speckled Hen English Pale Ale
- Guinness Stout
- Bombardier Amber
- Harp Lager
- Strongbow Cider
- Smithwick’s
Pub Blends
- Black Velvet (Half Cider & Half Guinness Stout)
- Golden (Halp Harp Lager & Half Bombarder Amber)
- Golden Fox (Half Old Speckled Hen English Pale Ale & Half Bombardier Amber)
- Half & Half (Haf Guinness Stout & Half Harp Lager)
- Bombardier & Guinness
- Cider & Blackcurrant
- Irish Hen (Half Old Speckled Hen English Pale Ale & Half Guinness Stout)
- Shandy (Half Harp Lager & Half Sprite)
- Snake Bite (Half Cider & Half Harp Lager)
- Blacksmith (Half Smithwick’s & Half Guinness Stout)
Wines
- Kim Crawford Sauvignon Blanc (Marlborough)
- Mirassou Pinot Noir (California)
Assorted (Non-Alcoholic) Beverages
- Coca-Cola
- Diet Coke
- Sprite
- Fanta Orange
- Minute Maid Zero Sugar Lemonade
- Twinings Iced Tea
- Freshly Brewed Joffrey’s Coffee
- Twinings Hot Tea
Featured Beverage
The featured beverages is the Sparkling Duchess, which is Prosecco and St. German Elderflower Liqueur topped with a splash of Ginger Ale. It is garnished with Fresh Mint.
Specialty Character Drink
This is for guests ages 9 years old and younger. It consists of Minute Maid Zero Sugar Lemonade with flavors of Cotton Candy. It’s served in a souvenir Character Cup.
Best Drinks
As for what drinks we liked, we really liked the wines.
They were both good and the Pinot Noir in particular was very smooth.
Food
Appetizers
- Coronation Salad
- Crisp Salad with a Madras Dressing on top of a crunchy grain cracker
- Scotch Egg
- Golden friend hard-boiled cage-free egg wrapped in sausage with mustard sauce
- Potato Leek Soup
Now the potato leek soup was not listed but our server mentioned it before we ordered.
So let’s start with the potato leek soup.
I did not love it, but I have to say I do not like soup or onions so I was not the best judge of it. If you do like soup and an onion or leek flavor, then you are going to love it because they do a really good job with the soup. The leeks in particular are the standout of the soup. It reminded me of the leeks they used to serve at the Welsh Burger here at Rose & Crown before they sadly took it off the menu.
The soup was a little thicker and creamier than the one Disney sells at the nearby France Pavilion restaurant, La Creperie de Paris (see our review for La Creperie de Paris here).
The coronation salad was also really good.
The Madras dressing gave the salad a great kick.
By the way, the salad and the name of the salad have a neat backstory. Evidently, Queen Elizabeth II liked this salad and requested they serve it during her Coronation, thus the name, Coronation Salad!
And finally, there was the Scotch Egg.
Now, not everyone in my family loves sausage, but this still got a good review from a family member who doesn’t care for sausage. So that tells you something right there.
Entrees
You have a choice between four different entrees:
- Fish and Chips
- The traditional British meal which is a Rose & Crown Signature Meal that’s served with tartar sauce
- Shepherd’s Pie
- Ground beef, seasonal vegetables, English peas & mashed potatoes with Irish cheddar
- Savory Impossible Hot Pot
- Seasonal vegetables in a plant-based meal casserole baked with a Mashed Potato Topping
- Bangers & Mash
- Traditional sausage with colcannon potatoes, onion, mushroom & red wine demi
We were pleased they had Bangers & Mash, as the Irish pub near my house we go to back home recently took it off the menu. And the Bangers and Mash here is great.
They do a great job with this dish. Though having said this, most everyone in my family chose the fish.
I have always been a fan of the fish at Rose & Crown since I first had it here when I was a kid. This may have actually been the first place I had fish and chips.
Having said this, I do not recommend visiting here just for the fish and chips. If you like fish and chips, you can actually order the same fish and chips from Yorkshire County Fish Shop, you can read more about it in our Yorkshire County Fish Shop review.
I will say depending on the piece of fish you eat, some can be harder than others. Luckily, they give great portions though so it’s not a problem. Just find the pieces of fish that are the best and eat those!
Dessert
You had a choice of two different desserts. You could choose a Plant-based Seasonal Gelato with Mixed Berries or Sticky Toffee Pudding, which is steamed pudding “cake” along with a warm vanilla custard and hot butter-rum sauce.
Everyone in my family chose the Sticky Toffee Pudding.
And we all liked it! This was surprising since not everyone in my family even likes sweets. But it was really good. It made for the perfect ending to our meal and was great to enjoy with the fireworks.
And speaking of the fireworks show…
Luminous The Symphony of Us Review
So, what did we think of the show, Luminous: The Symphony of Us? Well, first of all, I really loved the actual fireworks themselves. There were plenty of fireworks. The last show, Harmonious, had a lot of projections of different Disney characters. But I feel like here, the focus was the fireworks.
In addition to fireworks, there were great light projections. There was one neat effect in particular where the different world showcases lit up. And I really liked the fountain effects. It really was a nice mix of fireworks, water, and lights.
All of this was set to music, and it was choreographed well. They had original music but a lot of the music was Disney music. Other than that, though, they didn’t really focus on Disney IPs as much as Harmonious did. That could be good or bad, depending on your perspective.
I overall liked the message of the show and it fit Epcot. But if I had one complaint about the show, at one point they talked about how during our lives we’ll lose people. And I know that Epcot has always been a more serious park than Magic Kingdom. But part of what I like about Disney World is the ability to escape, so for me when I am relaxing and enjoying a fireworks show I don’t really want to dwell on death and loss. This this wasn’t , however, enough to damper my whole experience. But I did want to give you a bit of a warning about it.
Conclusion
Overall, this made for a wonderful evening. We had delicious food, a nice relaxing time with the family, and then had a perfect view of the fireworks. They even figured out how to keep us warm while getting a great fireworks view.
And the best part? No having to stand around for hours to get that perfect place for the fireworks. And no having to stand period. You do enough standing around waiting at Disney World. It’s nice to have an evening where you are waited on, you can enjoy the fireworks, and you can rest your feet.
Now, it is not cheap. It is $92 per adult (ages ten and up) and $41 per child (ages three to nine), though this s inclusive of tax and gratuity. But when you consider all you get from that, I think it’s worth the price if you have it in your travel budget. Especially since alcoholic beverages are included in the price!
One note, however: you will need a park ticket for this experience. But we tell you how to save money on Disney World tickets here.