Hey Becky - here's my two cents as an "every other week at the park because my 3 year old asks really nicely" local...
Pixar Parade and Electric Parade - sit near the entrance to the Hollywood Studio area. The Pixar Parade comes out of the very large Backstage gates (FYI - HSM2 show also comes out of these gates), so the folks who sit in the area where the strollers are parked for the Playhouse Disney show get the first view. They also avoid getting the setting sun in their eyes.
For the Electrical Parade (which we just did Saturday and I noticed this option), my recommendation is to get a spot in front of the left side of the Hollywood Avenue "Gate". If you are leaving that area of the park and walking toward the hub/Sun fountain, go through the right arch and aim for straight ahead of you. This parade comes from the back of the park and goes "home" through the gates that the Pixar Parade starts from. If you sit in this area, the parade literally comes straight at you visually, and you can then watch it disappear backstage with an unobstructed view. Also, you can then walk over and stand under the Golden Gate bridge - just in time to see the DL fireworks over the train station. A perfectly clear view of the larger fireworks, so it's a nice bonus to have, if you aren't park hopping that day.
Disneyland parade - depends which one you want to attend.... the 3:30 parade starts by Small World and ends on Main Street - the 6:30 goes from Main Street to Small World. We have a couple places. The important thing to understand is that the parade moves and then has a "performance stop" where the floats stop and characters will get off or interact with the crowd in some manner. If she has favorite characters or movies, then you may want to position accordingly.
If your niece is a Princess lover - there are 3 spots for the 6:30 parade -sit by the right hand cannon (facing the castle) in Town Square for the 6:30 parade - which you can always find a seat in front of it around 5:45 - 6pm, as people think the brick work is a curb cut and don't sit there until they see other folks do it. (You can also always grab this spot if you do the Pixar Parade at 5:15 and then run back over to DL for the 6:30 parade.) The princess float stops here for the performance. Other spots are by Coke Corner at the end of Main Street (where it meets the hub). Take a spot next to the walkway cut they make next to the camera shop (where the float escorts and performers with technical difficulties get out of the way during the performance), or on the other side of the street - up just a few feet past the Coke Corner seating. The bonus - Tink and Peter stop here for the performance, as well as the Princesses (Tink stays on the float, though.)
Other performances of interest - the Lion King float has bird "aerialists" on the back of it's float, there are bouncing flowers behind the Alice float, Ariel's seaweed dancers do a nifty ball routine.
Fireworks - too many good places - we like the immediate hub entrance to Tomorrowland. They block off a connecting path between it and the center of the hub at the last minute and they keep a walkway open to the side of it for access to the Matterhorn, so it's a fairly unobstructed view.
Have fun!
Nancy
