This weekend, our family wanted to see the new shows in DL, so I planned for us to make sure we saw
Disneyland Forever on Friday night, in case they were cancelled for Saturday. So,we shopped in the Candy Palace until 9:15pm or so, then waited for the last PTN float to come through. We went out into the street, but not quite as far to the right hand side as I would have liked. The trees on the left hand side of the castle obscured some of the fireworks, but not too badly. We were able to see the projections on Main St. and my husband could see them on the castle. No matter where you stand, though, if you are 5 feet tall, as I am, I will miss things due to much of the population being taller than I am. On Saturday 8/1, I decided to camp out on the curb for a front row seat for the PTN parade. We have 2 kids, plus my height makes it difficult to see, so I wanted to make sure we had a great view for our first time watching it.
I brought our Fantasmic cushions from a previous trip and a Monkey Mat for us, and held down our spots right after the Soundsational parade finished up. I grabbed a very good spot between a trash can on one side and a white horse head post on the other. These 2 markers were a good way to keep the same amount of space and not get too squished. There was another family with 3 littles on our right (directly next to the trash can) who were there with me from the get go. I was there from 5:15 until the parade, and I loved it. I was sitting relatively comfortably on the curb, in the shade with a cold Starbucks in my hand. I caught up on email, and then just people watched and talked to others while I waited. As it was a very hot and humid weekend, I was grateful for the opportunity to take a time-out on Main Street to enjoy the atmosphere.
Another large family came up behind us and I chatted with them for quite a while - there was no pushing and shoving at all - just polite people all waiting for good spots for the show. I shared my cushions so we could all sit for a while - I can't imagine standing for 3+ hours! My husband and kids all came over and checked in from time to time, but were off riding rides for the most part. Once it was 7:50, all people had to be present, so they came back and gave me a break, so I could go get chili dogs from Refreshment Corner for our picnic dinner. By 8:30, the crowd was really thick. CMs were going up and down answering questions, making sure people were all sitting on the curb and those behind the curb were all standing.
One of the best things was the All-American College Band that came by and played a couple of times during the wait. They were really good!
The parade reached us about 9:05, and I was so, so, so grateful for our spots. We all had perfect views of the show, we were comfortably seated on the curb (although my DS who is 19 mos, sat in his stroller in the 2nd row with a perfect view) and had a great time chatting with the others around us just enjoying the evening.
Once the parade was done, we gathered into the street - further over this time - and saw the fireworks again. Alas, I had very tall folks in front of me, so I missed the castle view again, but I was glad to have seen it the previous evening a little better.
I all, I was thrilled to have had such a great parade experience. I won't probably camp out again for our Oct. trip, but I was very glad to have done it once - and would recommend it to anyone who hasn't seen the parade yet, and would like a great view.