Disney apologizes for overnight fireworks testing

Orlando-area residents living in the west side of Orange County said they woke up to some surprising sounds early Wednesday morning. 

“Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!'” was how Lee Goldberg described it, not what he and his neighbors in the Summer Lake subdivision were expecting around 1:30 a.m.   

“At first I thought it was lightening,” said Luis Rivera. 

A video posted on Twitter by user @ORLParkPass showed bright booming fireworks over Walt Disney World Resort early Wednesday -- the same fireworks that Goldberg saw and heard. 

“We do hear Disney fireworks. It's the allure living in this area.  I'm a realtor; I sell a lot of houses here. People want a fireworks view.  That's a good thing to have, but at 1:15 in the morning when no one was expecting it, you know? I woke up like, am I dreaming? What's going on right now?” said Goldberg.  “It was really really loud last night.”

A spokesperson for Disney said this was part of final testing for their incoming “Happily Ever After” show.  Goldberg watched the display from bed.  

“I put it on Facebook at 1:20.  Disney fireworks at 1:20.  It was like 'Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! People were up. People were hearing it.  Not just here, but across the lakes. People as far as Bay Hill,” said Goldberg as he showed us the comments friends left on his Facebook post. 

He said he enjoyed the display, but pointed out some less favorable comments.  One commenting, “North Korea,” referring to the noise.  Another posting, “I thought someone got into Disney and got a hold of the fireworks and let them up.”

Rivera is thankful he didn't have to work today, saying he and his family are exhausted, especially the kids. 

“They couldn't fall asleep after that they were up until an hour two hours after the fireworks went off.”

As for this morning?

“They were a  little grumpy, and my fiancé is agitated. She kept falling asleep behind her desk at work,” said Rivera. 

He said he likes the nightly fireworks displays he can see from his house during park hours, but he didn’t appreciate the early morning show and he’s got a message for Mickey. 

“Please re-think what you're doing because You're waking up the whole neighborhood,” said Rivera.

A Disney spokesperson tells FOX 35 any further testing of the “Happily Ever After” fireworks will be done earlier.  She said Disney regrets any inconvenience they may have caused, and they apologize for that. 

“Happily Ever After” is set to open in less than two weeks.