Ooooh! I LIKE this question!
First of all everything they say about
last minute people blocking you is true. These late comers often have the attitude of "me first" and they have no qualms about standing it front of you,
or in my case, attempting to push my tripod over with a stroller to make room for themselves! They will also give you the business about how
You are blocking
EVERYBODY ELSE so YOU need to move it..... ( so
They can do the blocking
)
This was the main reason why I set up in front of the railing by the Crystal Palace. No one is allowed on the grass on the other side of the railing and the Cast members
will shoo them away when they undoubtedly climb over the fence to stand in front of you on that grass!
I actually brought a length of yellow CAUTION tape from Home Depot and I tied it to the railing-tripod-other side of railing for about 3 feet to keep people from squeezing in and bumping my camera which they or the fidgety kids they are with invariably do. I only took up enough space for the 3 of us just to be considerate to everyone else.
I arrived at my spot close to 2 hours early and I set this rig up strategically right next to one of the black lamp posts a foot away to my side. I sent my husband and son off to get closer to the Spectro Magic parade since my location was too far away to see that. I gave them strict instructions to get back to me as soon as the parade was over so they could body block on my right and left sides because I knew people would be absolutely cramming in up to that fence.
Being the dense one in the family, my husband didn't "get it" and leisurely hoofed it over after a bathroom break and some other distractions. The number of people jockeying for better position was astounding. The late comers cared not whether the early people had staked out a spot and just pushed and squeezed in front of them with no shame.
My husband and son finally made it back and I put them in position, holding lenses for a swap out and other equipment. I know I said a number of times to late people who were complaining about my 3 feet of space that I had been there for close to 2 hours in advance and if you want a better view then they needed to get there earlier so they wouldn't have walk in front of all the other people who had been waiting.
Keep in mind it's always the last minute people who try to pull this crap but you are also surrounded by other people who have been waiting hours and the "mob mentality" is on your side.
I made the mistake of letting a late comer family (who hopped the fence and were busted by Cast members) have their kids stand in front of my taller son in return for the promise that they wouldn't touch the tripod. The 7 y.o. boy couldn't keep his hands off of it and I had to ask repeatedly in a nice way for him to stop. Thank God his parents intervened and made him stop.
So the morale of this story is don't let this happen to you. Choose a spot where you have the best chance of no one standing in front of the camera. Get there early. Set up and defend your turf. Be prepared for an unbelievable show of lack of consideration and poor manners. Don't be tempted to cut the kids a break because it could back fire on you. If it was so important then their parents should have made it a priority to get the better views earlier.
The good news is that I spent the whole 2 hours experimenting with my camera for exposure settings and lens types so I was ready when the show started and I needed to make fast final adjustments (and you will!)
I have read so many stories of people getting set up early only to realize they have the worst spot due to the last minute rush of people. I spent a lot of time trying to figure out the best spot with the least amount of problems and at the time the Crystal palace seemed like the best choice.
I'll include some of my pictures below so you can see what that spot encompasses.
Good luck!
Marlton Mom
The bridge to adventure land is to my left maybe about 25 to 30 feet away.
This is now zoomed in and you can see that the fireworks are not centered but I didn't mind that as much.
What I did was take a front and center "beauty shot" of the Castle after the fire works. I then photo shopped in my best fireworks exposures into the beauty shot to get this picture.
Heaven forbid! Everyone was pretty much in place and I was looking for an unobtrusive place to set up. I found a trash can just before Casey's with no one around. I set my tripod on top of the can. It wasn't the best place because I had to shoot around the extended facade. You can see it in my photos on my thread. Shortly into the show, a boy showed and started swinging around the adjacent light pole kicking the trash can!
He was not watching the show, just swinging on the pole. Three times I politely asked him to stop. I never saw his parents and finally he ran off. Between hanging onto the trashcan, camera, re-leveling and recomposing, I didn't have enough hands. I was fortunate to get any shots!
Here we are MAYBE 20 minutes before Wishes and she's trying to leave with a stroller down a crammed Main Street. Well, she proceeded to try and go past DW where she then looks down and kicks my camera bag out of her way. Fortunately I did not see this, but I did not have to as it turns out. The very lady and DW almost pounced on her like a spider monkey for me!! 
