The average American is expected to spend just a bit under $100 on fireworks this Fourth of July. In total, $1 billion dollars are put towards the dazzling spectacles that burst into the sky. And, although average consumers do contribute to the sales, the two “top buyers” in the pyrotechnic industry are actually, 1. The military, and 2. Disney.
Between the parades, live shows, and nighttime firework spectaculars. Disney Parks spends over $50 million a year on fireworks and pyrotechnic effects.
Here’s how that all breaks down:
In the U.S. there are six total Disney parks (all of which produce some form of nighttime show involving pyrotechnics). It is estimated that Magic Kingdom’s show, “Wishes” costs $41,000- $55,000 a night to produce. If you average that same cost to all the other nighttime shows, and multiply the showings by 365 days…BAM. It’s basically a lot of money.
So then the real question is: how much of your money is really going toward the firework show each night? Magic Kingdom has an average of 56,027 guests each day. If you divide the costs of fireworks between each guest, then each park-goer pays about 98 cents toward funding the nighttime fireworks. And with a ticket price of $114, that mean approximately 0.85% of your ticket price is spent on fancy, colorful explosives.
So there you go.
It costs about $1.00 per guest to put on an infamous Disney Firework Spectacular.
And by that logic, if there was ever a time when only one guest showed up to Disney World, then Disney would have to come up with $54,999.02 in order to go on with the show. But of course that would never happen.
So this Fourth of July, just remember, that if you really think about it…some people are technically paying one dollar to see the coolest fireworks in the world while you spent $26 on some sparklers that won’t work. And that is just another reason to take a trip to the happiest place on earth.
Quintin Walker is a Columnist for the Boardwalk Times
