Disneyland’s Fireworks Can Be a Real Bomb : Neighborhoods: For those living nearest the park, Labor Day and end of summer’s nightly shows come as blessed relief.

For most, Labor Day is a time for back-yard barbecues and re-energizing for school and work. But for Betty Ronconi and scores of residents who live only blocks away from Disneyland, the holiday means the shelling finally stops.

While the Magic Kingdom’s spectacular “Fantasy in the Sky” fireworks may leave countless summer visitors cheering, the nightly display rates near zero on the applause meter with the theme park’s closest neighbors.

Sunday marked the end of a long summer siege for some residents.

“Labor Day is always a relief for us because the fireworks are over,” said Ronconi, 65, who lives on Walnut Street. “Earlier this summer, they were practically blasting us out of our house. In the front bedroom, the walls and windows were shaking. It was frightening, and I don’t frighten easily.”

“We literally count down the days to Labor Day,” added Sharon Hoffman, 48, also a close neighbor of the theme park. “They really are a nuisance.

“I don’t see why they couldn’t just limit the show to Saturday nights,” she added.

Disney’s fireworks have long been a sore point. Residents railed against them during May hearings about Disney’s proposed $3-billion expansion. They urged planning commissioners to impose stricter noise standards on the park, but their appeals fell upon deaf ears.

“We are disturbed with the city for not showing any concern for neighbors of the Disney park area,” said Richard Anthony, who has lived blocks away from Disneyland since 1957. “The city just cares about Disney.”

The neighborhood pounding begins each summer night a little after 9:30 p.m. when--as park officials put it--Tinkerbell flies from the Matterhorn to Sleeping Beauty’s Castle to ignite the famed pyrotechnics. During the 10-minute show, 196 fireworks shells are sent exploding skyward.

“It sounds like thunder,” said Disney neighbor Shylie Lewis, 71. “The dogs jump over their fences and go yipping down the street.”

Because of the noise, Anthony leaves his home several times a week at the dreaded hour.

“I take off and go to the Dairy Queen and celebrate the fact I’m not at home listening to that garbage,” said Anthony, 53. “What else can you do?”

Disney officials say they try to be attentive to their neighbors’ concerns. But park officials would not disclose the number of complaints they receive because of the fireworks.

“Our goal is to make sure the neighbors are happy,” said Pam Espinosa, a Disneyland spokeswoman. “When they complain, we listen.”

For example, Disney officials customarily end the fireworks on Sunday because a show Labor Day night might “interrupt the sleep of neighboring students” who return to class Tuesday, Espinosa said.

Neighbors who live seven or eight blocks from Disneyland say the fireworks are indeed noisy but are worth the assault on the ears.

“The fireworks have provided us with so much entertainment over the years,” said Bob Ball, who lives across the street from Disneyland Hotel. “I’m 68 years old and I still go out in the front lawn and look at them. And you can bet when the grandkids are here, we are out there watching them too.”

But closer to ground zero, residents still resent the nightly fireworks show.

“They really make me jump,” said Lewis. “Can’t they make fireworks that look pretty but don’t make noise? Why do they have to go boom?”