Best places to view parades/fireworks at DL???

[Bob O]

What spots are tne best for viewing the daily parade and firework shows???? We are going on weekdays and were also wondering how soon should we set up in our viewing area!!!
Thanks in advance!!!!

 

[Rajah]

IMO, the 3 best places to watch the fireworks are from the Coke Corner end of Main Street just slightly on the Photo Center side, on the Small World Mall so that if you're looking toward the clock face, it's to your left, and I've heard from New Orleans Square looking out towards Thunder Mountain is also great.

For the parade -- anywhere along the parade route is fine.

 

[MandaMom]

For my money --

I plunk myself right in the middle of main street to view the fireworks. There is nothing like watching the fireworks while having a wonderful view of the castle. Also while you save a spot for everyone, one of the members of your party can be grabbing some great Gibson girl ice cream or carmel apples with nuts from Candy Palace and you can be consuming these wonderful treats while watching the fireworks.

Parade --
I love sitting in the island just to the left of the emporium and the mainstreet fire station (if you are facing the castle). It is the area that they put the Christmas tree in during the holidays. Sit on the curb facing main street. Everytime we sit down here to save our spots a CM has come over to comment that we have the best seats in the house. The parade comes right at you!! It makes for some great pictures.

 

[Bob O]

For the places suggested how much time should we leave to scope out our spot for the parade/firworks??

 

[MandaMom]

Bob O

We always give ourselves about an hour before for both Parade and the Fireworks. Of course I have never gone during high volume times. Since we are AP holders if the parks are too busy we just leave and figure we can catch it next time. If you are going during a high attendance period I would stake it out even earlier. You can play it by ear, you can usually see when people start staking our their spots, you may want to follow suit when you see this happening. We always leave one person and lay out jackets or backpacks and then sort of trade off while one person shops or goes to get a snack, etc.

Good luck

MandaMom

 

[Bob O]

We are going in the first week of December and plan on seeing the parades/fireworks on Monday and Wednesday when the parks hopefully wont be busy so we hope not to have to get there too early because the hours are short. We are also going on Friday but plan on hitting the Electrical light parade on Friday night. So how long should we wait to stake out our seats??

 

[MandaMom]

Bob O

I went around this same time last year and we started waited about 30 minutes prior It is well worth it for The Christmas Fantasy Parade.

We always queue up early about 45 minutes for Believe... In Holiday Magic" Fireworks Spectacular. We always try to strategically place ourselves underneath a "snow cannon" or machine that dispenses the baby shampoo they shoot out into the air to mimic real snow. My daughter loves it as I am sure you and your family will. I have never been to WDW during the holiday season so I am not sure if they have something similar there. You can easily spy one of these above main street, just look up. We literally stake out a spot right in the middle of mainstreet. Then after the parade is done we stick around and take pictures. (Everyone else usually files out. ) We eat ice cream or other treats on mainstreet on the porch with chairs. Some of us even just sit on the stairs of the porch. After we finish eating we start taking pictures. Last year security even took pictures for everyone in front of the tree and the little xmas display they had out, I believe a carriage or something in front of the tree (i'll have to check my pictures) Anyway they were very nice and they only asked us to leave about an hour after the official closing of the park this also when the main street shops close for business.

Hope this info helps. Of course I am just giving you advice on what has worked for us in the past so you never know you just always have to keep your eyes and ears open and make the best decisions for yourself. We just went last month for instance and thought the parks would be deserted in the middle of the week but there were actually a suprising amount of people in attendance.

Anyway above all have fun. Your family is lucky that you are trying to plan an easy stress free vacation. I know you are leaving in about a week but if you and your family like the rainforest cafe I would suggest you join the Safari Club. I have been a member for a year now and I would highly recommend it as it puts you ahead of the line (first available seats) and also rewards you periodically with gift certificates. It is also good at all Landry's locations. We have used it at Joe's Crabshack in San Francisco and Anaheim and also at the Crab House in Orlando.

It is 10% off your entire bill or a free chef's appetizer, whichever you specify. It costs $15 to join -- you can enroll at any Rainforest Cafe or call 800-5LANDRY, option 8 and get details about how to enroll by mail. Your benefits include priority seating, guaranteed reservations when made 24 hours in advance, a $10 certificate good toward your next meal at the Rainforest Cafe and 10% off your meals (including meals at other Landry's restaurants, like Joe's Crab Shack). On your birthday and anniversary, you will usually receive coupons by mail for $5 off. The Rainforest cafe is in Downtown Disney

Good Luck Bob O

MandaMom

 

[Jeff in BigD]

Bob - Is this your first trip to DL?

 

[Bob O]

yes Jeff the first time we have been there so everything is new which is nice but also a pain as we have strategies that always worked wll in wdw but here we have to put things together from all ive read.