Am I the only one who does not watch

[twoeeyy]

any of the parades or fireworks.

We never watch any of these things are we the only ones ?

I do not like crowds so I stay away from these. We see some of the fireworks and parades as we are walking around but never stake out a spot 60 plus minutes in advance. We have a fantastic time at WDW without seeing these so it works for us.

 

[AKLRULZ]

Once you've seen the parade once you've seen it enough IMHO. We're big fans of the fireworks though!

 

[Evil Queen]

We rarely do the fireworks. My youngest can't stand the noise.

We don't stake out a spot for the parades either. Sometimes we will catch it and watch over the crowds, sometimes we take advantage of shorter lines for rides too. Depends on the mood.

 

[AshleyMWC]

We always watch Illuminations and Wishes at a minimum, but we don't believe in waiting for hours for a spot. It's just and my DBF, and honestly,we never have a problem seeing anything. IMO, I would try and catch at least one nighttime show at WDW. Even if you don't like crowds, i think you will have a totally new respect (even more than you probably already do) for the detail and grandeur that Disney puts into its work

 

[js]

We're the ones riding the rides while the parades and fireworks are going on too.
I have two children now 12 and 8 and they couldn't care less if we watched either of the two or not. Sometimes we are in EPCOT and will watch Illuminations but we don't stake out a spot. Next month I have resssies at Rose and Crown and hope to see Illuminations but this is because I want to, not my kids LOL
We have also taken the Illuminations and Wishes cruises which were nice but once was good enough for us.
Parades, watched the regular parades, made sure we had good spots for MNSSHP and MVMCP but that is enough for us.
Perhaps, living outside NYC, we have seen our share of parades (use to go to the Macys Xmas Parades) and have watched the fireworks on the 4th but now very happy the kids could care less and rather hit the rides.
B U T, I still have NOT seen Tink fly from the castle and just hope one day to FINALLY be able to witness it LOL

 

[MomofKatie]

I must see the nighttime shows- I LOVE fireworks!! The parades, though, I could do just once every couple of years or so. However, DD thinks the parades are absolute must-sees, so we usually end up seeing each park's parade at least once each trip. We haven't seen the AK parade, yet, so we are definitely going to do it on our next trip.

 

[Dopey Sharon]

We don't watch them either.

 

[jpeka65844]

Parades? Meh.....I've heard too many stories about rude behavior and bad form to make a parade worth it. On our trip in March '05, we ate during the parade. We had the restaurants to ourselves (Liberty Tree @ MK and Brown Derby @ MGM). March '07 might be a different story. We have a little one now (a souvenir from March '05) and I think he'd dig a parade. BUT, we'll also be a group of 11. Not ideal parade-seat-saving numbers.....we'll see....

Fireworks? Wouldn't miss those! Our first night at WDW, we crashed really early and were in bed by the time they went off. We laid there and listened to them, though. It was hard not be in a park watching them.........



Denice T.
Olathe, KS

 

[Dossgang]

We are riding the rides during the parades. On our last trip we rode TMRailroad and saw the fireworks on the ride. My kids liked that more than sitting for the parade. This really is a good time to ride with lines at a minimum.

 

[MassMom94]

We were there last week and saw Illuminations once, SpectroMagic and Wishes twice. On none of these occasions did we stake out a space ahead of time, nor did we push our way in front of others who had staked out their spaces. As others have mentioned, it wasn't super-crowded last week so I don't know if this works generally. For Spectro, the second time my kids found a spot between Liberty Square and Fantasyland (near a tree) where no one was standing, so they just stood there and watched. (the parade was in front of us at the time.) The first time, my DD and I were on Main Street and found a spot near VMK that wasn't crowded, believe it or not. For Wishes, the first time we were on the Tomorrowland bridge. The second time was Wednesday night during Ernesto (light rain, nothing more!) and we were right up by the Walt statue which I know is REALLY rare. For Illuminations, we got a spot between Mexico and Norway right when it started.

Anyway, I think it's a pity to avoid the displays for fear of crowds. If you go to the less busy places (and for more suggestions, see the Unofficial Guide and Passporter books as well as these boards), you can have a great time with a good if not perfect/ideal view. I would NEVER EVER wait for a parade or fireworks, but we had a great view/time even so.

 

[Plantlady]

My poor kids, they didn't even know there were parades. We were too busy having fun to stop what we were doing for a parade.

We did do the fireworks though. We didn't stake out a spot. Just took what was left. They just love fireworks.

 

[mickeysaver]

I have seen all of the current parades except the Boo To You parade at MNSSHP and we will try to catch that during our upcoming trip. I hear that it's really nifty. So, I am looking forward to seeing it.

As for the other parades, I have seen them, I have no desire to see any of them again. Although, I do admit that SpectroMagic was pretty cool.

As for fireworks, I am a pyrotechnics junkie! I think Wishes and the Holiday Wishes that they do at MVMCP are just about the best shows ever! I heard that HalloWishes is also spectacular, so I have plans to take it in during our upcoming trip too. Illuminations is pretty awesome, especially with the Peace on Earth tag at the holidays. Fantasmic is neat, but we saw it once and haven't felt any overwhelming desire to see it again.

The best ride experience ever.....watching Wishes while riding BTMRR. Maggie

 

[Mickey1122]

We adore Spectromagic, but no other parades are worth our attention. We will do Wishes once or twice, Fantasmic once IF we feel like it which isn't every trip, and Illuminations every other night of the trip.

 

[WaltD4Me]

I don't go out of my way for the parades, but I do enjoy the Jammin Jungle parade at AK. If you head over to the Kilimanjaro Safari AFTER the parade starts you can get a great spot no crowds....the parade begins and ends near Safari so you catch them on the way back after everyone has left.

As for Wishes....I can't miss that. LOVE it. I don't stake out a spot an hour ahead of time though, there are lots of good spots that don't require extended curb sitting!

 

[MScott1851]

We've never watched the parades, we're too busy trying to cram in one last ride on something while everyone else is sitting along Main Street.

This year, however, we are going to watch Spectromagic, at least...not too sure about the daytime parades.

 

[dopeygirl156]

We tend to do one fireworks show during our trip and if we really have to a parade. I personally could do without the parades altogether and my older kids are right with me on that. My younger ones like them though. Our next trip we will be definately doing the parades and spectromagic because my friend is coming with us and has not been to WDW since she was around 14 yrs old so we will do/see as much as possible. I did enjoy watching the fireworks from the beach at the Polynesian though, that was fun and alot less people.

 

[MissMichelle]

There is only 1 single fireworks display I watch and it is from wherever I stop (not caring about perfect spots) ---WISHES. I caught it 3 times last trip and loved every second of it. V-Day had red heart fireworks which was cool and Pres day had red white and blue...I thought it was neat.

Other then that I skip them all and get to ride some rides without much wait as everyone is watching parades and fireworks.

 

[Disneynut71]

I see each parade once and that is enough for me. I didn't see Jungle Jammin parade till just this year and I have been to AK at least 10 times.

Wishes you can see from just about anywhere in MK. My kids were playing in Pooh's playground while I sat on the bench and watched it. No crowds no hours waiting it was great!

 

[winterman]

In 7 WDW vacations we have seen Illuminations just once. I enjoyed it but usually we are just too tired to stand to watch at the end of the day. We'll consider it this year as we have 2 days at Epcot. We have seen Fantasmic several times. (Although the last time it was cancelled by weather 5 minutes after it was scheduled to start.) Part of the attraction here is that we can sit to watch. We saw Wishes last year and will try that again. We have only watched one parade and that was because we came out of an attraction and it was right in front of us.

 

[Manda]

My Mom made us go to all the parades and fireworks as a kid. All I really remember is the mass chaos at the end as everyone tried to flee. I avoid them as an adult. I'm not really a crowd person.