2012 Citrus Parade Questions

[momoftwins]

Hi all! My DS will be marching in the Citrus Parade this year. I need to make plans so I have a couple of questions if you please:

1. I see there are tickets for a Grandstand area along the route. Is this worth the money or is it easy to find a place to stand along the parade route?

2. Are there any hotels in the area that have a "parade package" that might perhaps have parking and tickets as part of the stay?

3. Is it super crowded along the parade route? Do people line up at the crack of dawn?

4. Is parking readily available at the parade route?


He marched in the Pasadena Tournament of Roses parade two years ago and there is no way we would have tried to just "wing" it for that parade. I do not want to get stuck not being able to see him for the Citrus Parade. This is his first year at Drum Major. There are over 300 kids in the band and they are awesome.

He will also be marching in Disney although I do not know which park yet. I will try to use my DVC points so I do not get locked out of the parks due to capacity issues.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

 

[Traveliz]

Hi all! My DS will be marching in the Citrus Parade this year. I need to make plans so I have a couple of questions if you please:

1. I see there are tickets for a Grandstand area along the route. Is this worth the money or is it easy to find a place to stand along the parade route?

2. Are there any hotels in the area that have a "parade package" that might perhaps have parking and tickets as part of the stay?

3. Is it super crowded along the parade route? Do people line up at the crack of dawn?

4. Is parking readily available at the parade route?

He marched in the Pasadena Tournament of Roses parade two years ago and there is no way we would have tried to just "wing" it for that parade. I do not want to get stuck not being able to see him for the Citrus Parade. This is his first year at Drum Major. There are over 300 kids in the band and they are awesome.

He will also be marching in Disney although I do not know which park yet. I will try to use my DVC points so I do not get locked out of the parks due to capacity issues.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

It's been a few years but my daughter did this combo in high school too. We bought the tickets for the grandstand and then sat at the top so we could get good pictures. It's really just like the moveable bleachers that you see at baseball fields. I think there was plenty of places along the parade route if you wanted to do that. I don't recall the grandstand tickets being very expensive and I did that for peace of mind.

We drove over early (just because we are like that) and got a spot on the street a few blocks over. Nothing was open but a lone Starbucks and we spent some time in there. People were definitely not lining up early.

I am not sure if any Downtown hotels have packages but I don't think that would be much easier than driving over from Disney.

Our Disney parade time was afternoon parade on NYE...that was fun too!

Liz

 

[caa1000]

Hi all! My DS will be marching in the Citrus Parade this year. I need to make plans so I have a couple of questions if you please:

1. I see there are tickets for a Grandstand area along the route. Is this worth the money or is it easy to find a place to stand along the parade route?

2. Are there any hotels in the area that have a "parade package" that might perhaps have parking and tickets as part of the stay?

3. Is it super crowded along the parade route? Do people line up at the crack of dawn?

4. Is parking readily available at the parade route?


He marched in the Pasadena Tournament of Roses parade two years ago and there is no way we would have tried to just "wing" it for that parade. I do not want to get stuck not being able to see him for the Citrus Parade. This is his first year at Drum Major. There are over 300 kids in the band and they are awesome.

He will also be marching in Disney although I do not know which park yet. I will try to use my DVC points so I do not get locked out of the parks due to capacity issues.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Hello! I can help you with the Orlando Citrus Parade question. First, grandstand price is $25 dollars. Although the parade route is FREE. The $25 is for sitting in the TV viewing section. I have done this for free, by sitting across the street from the grandstands! If you like, you can go to my YouTube page under nickname caa1000 and see some videos from the parade that where done across the street from the grandstand seats. About the hotels, they don't do parade packages. I'm assuming that the charter bus will pick the band at the hotel and drop them off at the event for set up. If you are coming in a separate transportation, like rental car, you park at the public parking lot in Downtown Orlando and walk to the parade route. When is the best time to be at the parade event? I'll say 8:30 AM and it does not get overcrowded, until 10:00 or 10:30 AM. This is quite easier than the Tournament of Roses! Again for parking, depending on how you are coming, if by car, there are public parking lots, but need to pay $10.00 to park in the parking lots around the parade route. If coming by bus, I'll recommend riding LYNX for $2.00 one way to the Downtown Orlando terminal, then walk a short distance to the parade route. Have fun!