Paint the Night Parade and Disneyland Forever Fireworks Strategy

[calilou]

VIP tours and Club 33 members with their guests have access but not sure about signature suite stays, as I have never stayed in one of the new signature suites! The areas do fill up just about every night and my understanding is many nights not all who qualify for the VIP sections can get a seat or even get in the standing room area! With the newness of PTN and the fireworks the VIP section at F! is much easier to get into but unless you get the seats closest to the center of the island the view isn't that great. F! VIP is first come first seated so if anyone is on that list get there early!!!

Got it! Thanks! Forgot about those lucky Club 33ers.

 

[dsny1mom]

Thank you so much! We have fireworks viewing at the hub. Was the parade a clear view from where you were, or were you having to stretch to see over others?

We sat about 3 or 4 benches back from the first row on the left side. We were able to remain seated and had a nice view of the parade. If I recall correctly there are trees in that direction but where we sat we had a nice view between the trees and the people standing in the street towards the castle. The area does have space at the back to be able to stand so if you are planning on recording the parade you might want to get there early and see what spots give you the best vantage point! Since we had the train station view on July 4th and our hub view was on July 7th we where more interested in the perfect view of the fireworks and the projections on the castle and Matterhorn as we had an outstanding view of PTN from the train station! So sorry for not being able to give the best seats for a PTN view from this area. I can assure you will be able to enjoy PTN from this area! Not so sure how much you would enjoy the fireworks from the other hub area.
I can't tell you how awesome this view is!!!
You are in for a REAL treat!!!!

dsny1mom

 

[dsny1mom]

Thanks SO much, Jeri, for the advice!! I just booked Carnation Cafe for 8/4 trip with my daughter and we are going to try your strategy!! I booked an 8:20 reservation though....I hope that is not too late. We usually show up really early for our dining reservations anyway, so hopefully this will work out for us, too!!

Just had breakfast at CC yesterday and I encourage you to get there early and take a look at where the tables are situated to where the cross walk will be. Not all of the outdoor tables give you a straight view through the cross walk. The tables running down the middle of the patio looked to be your best viewing tables.

dsny1mom

 

[lorijohnhill]

We sat about 3 or 4 benches back from the first row on the left side. We were able to remain seated and had a nice view of the parade. If I recall correctly there are trees in that direction but where we sat we had a nice view between the trees and the people standing in the street towards the castle. The area does have space at the back to be able to stand so if you are planning on recording the parade you might want to get there early and see what spots give you the best vantage point! Since we had the train station view on July 4th and our hub view was on July 7th we where more interested in the perfect view of the fireworks and the projections on the castle and Matterhorn as we had an outstanding view of PTN from the train station! So sorry for not being able to give the best seats for a PTN view from this area. I can assure you will be able to enjoy PTN from this area! Not so sure how much you would enjoy the fireworks from the other hub area.
I can't tell you how awesome this view is!!!
You are in for a REAL treat!!!!

dsny1mom

Thanks again for sharing your experience! The fireworks are our main priority. So I'm really happy to know we will have a great view of them!

 

[ejcraft]

so I'm a WDW vet coming to DL to volunteer for the Disney half marthon,(9/2-9/5) so will have 2 1/2 days to see DL, I will also be back in May to actually run the tinkerbelle 10K, I'm wondering is it possible to actually photograph both the fireworks and the PTN parade, or would I be better off, just watching it this time and photograph it in May, hoping that they are still both there? Is it even possible to set up a tripod on Main Street right now. thanks for any help on this

 

[MaleficentRN]

I have both the BB Fantasmic and a WOC dining package. Between the two shows, which area would have the better fireworks view? And then where in that area would you have the best experience?

 

[Zbugz]

Carnation Café + Fireworks + 2nd Parade = Great Experience!

Tuesday morning (6/23/15), I made reservations for that night at 8:00 p.m. We got to the park about 6:45 p.m. and Main Street was fairly packed. I think if you were single, or a couple, you could probably find a place, but you could not spread out a blanket on the curb anywhere.

We checked into the Carnation Café at 7:45 and requested a patio table. We were seated almost immediately at a perfect spot to watch the parade even though this was not our plan. We ordered and ate slowly as they were very efficient, but I was trying to time our escape. At one point a waitress came around inviting the guests to stay and watch the parade from their table, she only asked that we remained seated so those in the back could see as well. As it turned out, this is a really good place to watch the parade!

I have an 8:00 p.m. ressie at Carnation Café. How difficult will it be to get to the restaurant if I am coming from another section of the park? Do I need to worry about this?

 

[Aladora]

I have both the BB Fantasmic and a WOC dining package. Between the two shows, which area would have the better fireworks view? And then where in that area would you have the best experience?

WOC is in DCA and the fireworks are in DL so your F! dining package would have a better view over your WOC one.

 

[calilou]

I have an 8:00 p.m. ressie at Carnation Café. How difficult will it be to get to the restaurant if I am coming from another section of the park? Do I need to worry about this?

You should be fine making your way there before 8pm. We arrived in the park at 8:30 and CMs tried to direct all traffic into the side corridor, but would still allow you to walk down Main St if you insisted or just ignored them. The parade starts at 8:50 from It's A Small World. Shortly before it starts and then into fireworks is when they close areas.

 

[Zbugz]

You should be fine making your way there before 8pm. We arrived in the park at 8:30 and CMs tried to direct all traffic into the side corridor, but would still allow you to walk down Main St if you insisted or just ignored them. The parade starts at 8:50 from It's A Small World. Shortly before it starts and then into fireworks is when they close areas.

Thanks for the help!

 

[MaleficentRN]

WOC is in DCA and the fireworks are in DL so your F! dining package would have a better view over your WOC one.

Thank you. Does it have the projections, like WOC, during the fireworks? Where is the best seating for the fireworks at F!?

 

[mdsd8700]

Carnation Café + Fireworks + 2nd Parade = Great Experience!

We checked into the Carnation Café at 7:45 and requested a patio table. We were seated almost immediately at a perfect spot to watch the parade even though this was not our plan. We ordered and ate slowly as they were very efficient, but I was trying to time our escape. At one point a waitress came around inviting the guests to stay and watch the parade from their table, she only asked that we remained seated so those in the back could see as well. As it turned out, this is a really good place to watch the parade!

Jeri

I would think that many people checking in at this time would prefer a patio table. Of course things can change on a day to day basis and depending on the cast member of course but what is the possibility that they tell you they are not taking requests for the patio and it is simply what ever table is next?

 

[ktlm]

We did the Blue Bayou F! Package last night and we thought the fireworks with the projections were amazing from there. We loved the way the fireworks were over or sometimes through all the projections. Get there early though. They told us at BB they opened the area at 8:30 and that we could go up at 10 or even 5 minutes before the show and get a great spot. Not true. The area was packed last night. We saw a few people get very upset and leave about 8:45 or 8:50. We got in line about 5 minutes after 8 as we had gotten off pirates and didn't really have time to do much else. They opened the seating at 8:10. We couldn't even get a spot anywhere on the rail being that early. We were in the 2nd row. By 8:30 the area was totally packed. My friend did it a couple of weeks ago and said they got there 10 minutes before the show and got a great spot easily with a ton of room to stretch out it move if they wanted. It was not like that last night. It is a terrific spot though and much better than standing somewhere even though it was crowded.

 

[calilou]

We did the Blue Bayou F! Package last night and we thought the fireworks with the projections were amazing from there. We loved the way the fireworks were over or sometimes through all the projections. Get there early though. They told us at BB they opened the area at 8:30 and that we could go up at 10 or even 5 minutes before the show and get a great spot. Not true. The area was packed last night. We saw a few people get very upset and leave about 8:45 or 8:50. We got in line about 5 minutes after 8 as we had gotten off pirates and didn't really have time to do much else. They opened the seating at 8:10. We couldn't even get a spot anywhere on the rail being that early. We were in the 2nd row. By 8:30 the area was totally packed. My friend did it a couple of weeks ago and said they got there 10 minutes before the show and got a great spot easily with a ton of room to stretch out it move if they wanted. It was not like that last night. It is a terrific spot though and much better than standing somewhere even though it was crowded.

Thank you very much for the warning. We will be doing BB F! package thurs night. I wonder if the area is more crowded because it seems they're now combining the BB and RBT areas into one? I read that in the main F! fastpass thread. Did you notice if they were combined?

 

[ktlm]

I'm not sure. I remember noticing that some people did not have cushions and I wondered why they weren't using them. Maybe they are combined. We are packed like sardines on Main Street right now waiting to see if they cancel the fireworks and I will tell you, I will take sitting down in the BB section and seeing the late paradeover this any day! I remember last time we watched from Main Street instead of Fantasmic area thinking I wasnt going to do it again...and here I am!

 

[Thundergod]

How was the fireworks show tonight?


We watched Monday night from Main Street USA and it was nice. The snow made me almost cry.

 

[ktlm]

Cancelled unfortunately. So much for seeing it from Main Street too. The snow part is in the Blue Bayou area too. I loved it!!!

 

[PinkBudgie]

We did the Blue Bayou F! Package last night and we thought the fireworks with the projections were amazing from there. We loved the way the fireworks were over or sometimes through all the projections. Get there early though. They told us at BB they opened the area at 8:30 and that we could go up at 10 or even 5 minutes before the show and get a great spot. Not true. The area was packed last night. We saw a few people get very upset and leave about 8:45 or 8:50. We got in line about 5 minutes after 8 as we had gotten off pirates and didn't really have time to do much else. They opened the seating at 8:10. We couldn't even get a spot anywhere on the rail being that early. We were in the 2nd row. By 8:30 the area was totally packed. My friend did it a couple of weeks ago and said they got there 10 minutes before the show and got a great spot easily with a ton of room to stretch out it move if they wanted. It was not like that last night. It is a terrific spot though and much better than standing somewhere even though it was crowded.

We are doing the BB package on Monday night at 5pm. Where did you get in line at 8pm?

 

[Broncho]

With more of the passes blocked out are people still staking out spots on Main Street and in the Hub around 5 or 5:30 or is it possible to get a spot with minimal standing closer to 7?

 

[dsny1mom]

With more of the passes blocked out are people still staking out spots on Main Street and in the Hub around 5 or 5:30 or is it possible to get a spot with minimal standing closer to 7?

We were there July 3-12 and from what we saw seating was not available on the curb by 6 pm. There could be some room for standing behind the curb seats once all were made to stand up, but we made sure we were not on MS any time close to PTN starting! In case you did not know Deluxe passes are still good all days but Saturdays and Premiums are good every day. It looks like the lower passes being blocked are just being replaced by ticket holders!